Pieces And Parts Lyrics - Laurie Anderson

They say that in 1842 on a plantation in Alabama 

The slaves unearthed a huge skeleton, 

the bones of a giant whale, 

a leviathan, 

from the time when all the world was covered with water 

from the Andes to the Himalayas 

and even Alabama was deep down under. 

And the slaves looked at the huge bones and they said: 

These must be the bones of a fallen angel 

These must be the bones of a fallen angel 

Out on the ocean, out of the water 

We look for signs of him 

He looks like a giant snow hill, a fountain 

Then he disappears. He's a speck on the horizon 

We see him only in parts 

The flash of a tail, his beating heart. 

He's in pieces and parts. 

It's easier for a camel to slide through the eye of a needle 

Than to find a whale who hides at the bottom of the ocean 

It's easier to sail around the world in a coffee cup 

Than to see a whale when he comes rising up 

We see him only in parts 

A fountain, fins, a speck on the horizon 

Giant teeth, an open mouth 

Look out, look out, look out, look out 

So hit an elephant with a dart 

and he just reaches around and pulls it out with his trunk 

But hit a whale in the heart and the whole ocean turns red, 

It turns red. 

We see him only in parts 

The flash of a tail, his beating heart 

He's in pieces and parts 

So get hit in your head 

And there may be a few things you can't recall at all 

But you get hit in your heart 

And you're in pieces and parts 

Pieces and parts.