The Voice of Midnight(2007)OverviewTracksLiner NotesLyrics
The Residents have a long history of story-based music projects, starting with 1974's Not Available, continuing with God in 3 Persons in 1988, and more recently The River of Crime in 2006. With The Voice of Midnight, The Residents have now taken a bold step, crossing a line into the world of music theater.
For The Voice of Midnight, The Residents have adapted a short story, Der Sandmann, by Prussian writer E.T.A. Hoffman. The story was first published 190 years ago.
On the surface, Der Sandmann is a simple story of madness. However, it has been recognized as addressing the conflict between the age of reason and the romantic era by scholars who have studied the tale. It has been adapted, in parts, by Jacques Offenbach for his opera The Tales of Hoffman, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky for The Nutcracker Suite, and for the ballet Coppelia. Freud extensively interpreted Der Sandmann in his famous essay Das Unheimliche in 1919. Freud was fascinated by Hoffman's obsession with eyeballs.
The protagonist of the story is Nathaniel (Nate) who carries a deeply-seated fear that the childhood fable character, the sandman, is stalking him. The character of Nate is superbly performed by Corey Rosen who first worked with The Residents on River of Crime in 2006. Nate's fiance, Clair, a steadfast realist, is performed by Gerri Lawler who also worked on River of Crime as well as Tweedles. Long time Residents collaborator Carla Fabrizio performs the role of the other "woman," Olympia (who in the original story is a robot).
The Residents embody the other characters, and perform the music, assisted by soloist Nolan Cook, whose guitar work for the Residents over the last eight years is legendary.
Scene 1 - The Sandman
Scene 2 - Mental Decay
Scene 3 - Claire's Response
Scene 4 - In The Dark
Scene 5 - Professor Caligari
Scene 6 - The Telescope
Scene 7 - True Love
Scene 8 - Seven Cats
Scene 9 - Catatonia
Scene 10 - The Proposal
Scene 11 - The Tower
Scene 12 - Epilogue
E.T.A Hoffman & The Voice of Midnight
By R. Peterson Kane
Writing an intro is a thankless job. Especially when the recording artist is The Residents (no help from them), the subject matter is an obscure 19th century short story (written by an even more obscure Prussian writer), and the album has been described as "music theater" (no singles, lots of talking).
In addition, I've never been a huge fan of "concept" albums (or The Residents for that matter), but, if only because they seem so committed to the arcane and obscure, I've grudgingly come to admire the anonymous band's output. After all, their last album was about a sex addict who wishes he'd become a clown; I mean, come on, it's closer to The Sopranos than Sergeant Pepper. So I said okay, what's the story? And I was told, "Check out the Sandman... as in E.T.A. Hoffman's Sandman."
Dubious, I did a little research on the internet and looked him up. It turns out that Hoffman's pedigree, in terms of who he influenced and inspired, is pretty impressive. And I'll get to that later. But the really fascinating thing about this guy is that he was exactly what he wrote about. Now maybe that's true of any writer to some extent, but every writer doesn't dwell in the ugly gulf spanning the points between reality and OUT THERE.
Hoffman was an artist, both by talent and by temperament, but life seldom supported his artistic ambitions. Between the breakup of his parents' marriage when he was two, and a childhood spent with his grandmother, a religious fanatic, and his oddball Uncle Otto, Hoffman's early years were chaotic. He eventually succumbed to family pressure by entering law school at age 16. But the amazing thing is that, instead of dropping out like any normal artist, Hoffman actually succeeded, passing his final law exam at the age of 24. He then spent the rest of his life bouncing back and forth between the law and the arts, eventually succeeding at both, while ultimately enabling his own insanity in the process.
Hoffman's characters are noted for their vain attempts to tiptoe tightropes between the concrete and the vague; pulled in one direction by their peers and in another by their imaginations, Hoffman's protagonists inevitably lose their balance and fall, screaming and flailing, into the open maw of madness. Now this is obviously not unique territory for a writer, but what Hoffman brought to it was AUTHENTICITY; and not only the authenticity of his character's emotions, but also the essence, their damaged, unbalanced and sadly soiled souls - because they were him. The beauty of Hoffman's work is his uncanny ability to tap into the dark, fluid cesspool of a torn and twisted psyche and make it feel real.
In the early nineteenth century, Hoffman's literary landscape was virgin territory. Even though he died a paralyzed alcoholic, unappreciated in his own time, no one ultimately recognized his breakthrough more than other artists - except, of course, for the psychologists. One of Freud's best known essays, Das Unheimliche (The Uncanny - 1919), was based in part on Hoffman's Sandman, and Jung's theory of the archetypes was influenced by Hoffman's novel, Die Elixiere Des Teufels (The Devil's Elixir - 1815).
From a public perspective, Hoffman is perhaps even more obscure now than he was when he died. However, his writing, which didn't begin until he was almost 30, inspired Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Nikolai Gogol, Charles Dickens, Charles Baudelaire, and Franz Kafka, among others. Jacques Offenbach's masterpiece, the opera Les Contes d'Hoffman (The Tales of Hoffmann - 1880), was based on several of Hoffman's stories including Der Sandmann (1817); Hoffman, portrayed as a dreamy artist, is the central character of the piece. In addition, his story Nussknacker und Mausekonig (Nutcracker and Mouse King - 1816) was the basis for Tchaikovsky's beloved ballet, The Nutcracker (1892).
When The Residents decided to do an album based on the idea of dreams, they too were quickly drawn to E.T.A. Hoffmann. Sensing a certain kinship in the 19th century Prussian writer, the group unexpectedly discovered a fellow bearer of the eyeball, as it were. (Two notes: 1. Eyeballs play an important role in the story of the Sandman. 2. Freud says that eyeballs are symbols for male testicles.) But they felt the original story, taking place in the early 1800s, was too distant, so they set it in contemporary times and modernized many of the elements. The resulting CD, The Voice of Midnight (2007), remains amazingly true to Hoffman's nightmarish vision of a young man haunted by macabre memories from his youth, who tries but ultimately fails to escape the siren song of the Sandman.
Expand allSCENE 1 - THE SANDMAN
CLAIRE
"Hi, it's Claire. I'm not home now, so please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
NATE
"CLAIRE! CLAIRE! ARE YOU THERE? ARE YOU THERE, CLAIRE? IT'S HIM, CLAIRE... IT'S HIM! IT'S THE SANDMAN, CLAIRE! I SAW HIM! I, I JUST SAW HIM FIVE MINUTES AGO! HE KILLED MY FATHER, AND, AND NOW HE'S COME FOR ME!!! He, he's got this little shop near the campus where he sells used books and lab equipment to the students... I, I know that it's him... I know that face!!! And, and the way he walked... I, I'll never forget! NEVER! AND, AND THOSE EYES!!! THOSE EYES!!! He, he tried to fool me with those dark glasses, but I remember those BEADY LITTLE INSECT EYES!!! I KNOW!!! I KNOW!!! I know... I, I... I'm sorry. I know this must sound really weird... It's just, this guy I saw... It was the Sandman. It has to be him... Spring break is next week, so, so... I'll be home in a couple of days and tell you all about it. I, I'm sorry... I, I love you. I love you, Claire."
NATE
He, he tried to steal my EYES when I was little... Then he disappeared after he killed my father... I knew he'd be back.
NATE
"I was alone and so very small
I was alone and dreaming
I heard the hard footsteps in the hall
I heard my heart - screaming.
They were just friends, in my father's room
They were just friends, when he died
There was a voice talking to the moon
It was the voice of midnight."
SANDMAN
"The Sandman can,
The Sandman can,
Provide the serendipity
That turns delight into debris."
CLAIRE
"You surrendered self control when fantasy appeared
You call it truth and purity, but all I see is fear
There's nothing there that cares for silly children on the moon
There's nothing there but air, inhabited by you
You were just a little boy left in a lonely room
So you taught yourself to see a sandman on the moon
You gave him the power that you never had
The power to be everywhere, the power to be bad."
NATE
"I was alone and lingering too long
I was alone and lonely."
NATE
"Oh, Claire! The idea of going on this picnic is, it's, it's just PERFECT! It's so great to spend some time together.
Just the two of us...
No distractions...
Away from everything...
I need you, Claire.
I need you...
I, I can't stop looking at your lips... and your eyes...
I have to kiss you, Claire...
I have to...
I have to."
SCENE 2 - MENTAL DECAY
NATE
"I guess maybe I lost the way
And maybe she's right to say
It may be mental decay - in me
She believes in honesty
She believes that we succeed
When we never overfeed - our dreams
I should believe in what I see
Should believe in her and me
Should believe in sanity
I do believe in sanity
I do believe in sanity
I do believe in sanity
I do believe in sanity
I'll think I'll write a poem to Claire ...that ...that's what I'll do.
"I feel a fire and see the empty-ness that was your sight
And sense a burning, boring penetration, leaking light
Surrounding me with heat and hopeless laughter, I am lost
Until I hear your voice imploring me to walk across
Life is a street, it's just a street and you're on the shadow side
Come over here
Come over here
And look into these eyes
They're still in me, yes, still and feeling peaceful, and desire
Nothing but you... Nothing.
And so I let my soul absorb the love inside of me
And madly move beside the body you are offering
But as my gaze caresses you
I see your flesh is gray, lifeless, languid
And upon the threshold of decay
I long to look into your eyes, but they have turned into
Silent sockets of despair
Festooned with hair and goo
I look away, I look away
I look a way I've never looked before... And cry."
CLAIRE
"You're disgusting!"
SCENE 3 - CLAIRE'S RESPONSE
SANDMAN
"The Sandman can,
The Sandman can,
The Sandman can,
Twist and turn the things that please us
Into a perfect pair of tweezers
Then he squeezes."
CLAIRE
"If this is a reflection of the affection in your heart
Then our ideas of love are an infinity apart
Your crude attempt at sentiment is odious and cold
And conceals the true condition of a damaged soul.
Something's hiding from you, Nate, it's puncture-proof and sealed
You need to separate your sickness from the love you feel
Go away and think about everything I said
Go away and sleep with eyeless shadow shapes instead - of me."
NATE
"I'm, I'm sorry, Claire. I guess it was a pretty weird poem, but, but I had this vision... And it was honest, and passionate, and, and I guess it was kind of mean, too. And yeah, you're right, of course... There's no Sandman. It's ridiculous, you're right... I, I don't know what I was thinking... I get so worked up sometimes... I'm going back to school now, Claire. I'll talk to you soon. I'm sorry... I'm sorry."
SCENE 4 - IN THE DARK
NATE
"Hello. Brad? Hi. SHIT! What's all that noise, Brad? I... I can barely hear you! What? WHAT??? My apartment house is on fire? ON FIRE?!?! MY APARTMENT??? Yeah, yeah... You got all my stuff out? Shit! I mean, thanks, Brad, thanks... What am I gonna do? SHIT! I mean thanks, Brad. What? There's an empty room in your building? And you can move my stuff in there, shit, uh... Thanks, Brad, thanks... Yeah, I know where it is... The train won't there for two more hours, but I'll come straight over... Shit! I can't believe it! Uh, thanks, Brad, thanks, man... Thanks.
"So this is where I live now... Weird... I mean, I've got a nice place, I leave town for a week, I come back and now I live somewhere else... Weird. That looks like Professor Caligari across the street... I have him for biology this year... That must be his house... One of the windows upstairs is open. It kind of looks like someone is sitting there... Just sitting there in the dark."
SANDMAN
"He sees someone moving
She's petting a snow white cat
She sits in the shadows
She sits in the dark"
SCENE 5 - PROFESSOR CALIGARI
NATE
"HEY, PROFESSOR CALIGARI! HEY! Excuse me, it's Nate from your third period class. Uh, excuse me, but could you answer a question for me? Thanks, thanks... Well, I have this astronomy class this semester, lunar astronomy, actually, and, and I need a telescope. Do you know where I can get one cheap? You know, those new ones are so expensive, and I thought maybe you might know of some place. What? What was that? A little shop at the south end of campus? Yeah, I know that shop, but, but the guy that runs it, isn't he kind of... weird? I mean, I've seen him around and he seems like, really weird to me... What? Oh, you say he's a friend of yours? And he's okay? A little eccentric at times... but he's okay... and he loves students... Sells equipment really cheap. Yeah, okay, if you say so, professor... Yeah, okay, thanks... Thanks Professor... Oh Professor, is that your daughter I see in that upstairs room? She... doesn't seem to go out very much... Oh, she's shy... Yeah, okay, thanks again Professor, thanks again.
SCENE 6 - THE TELESCOPE
NATE
"Excuse me, mister, I need to buy a telescope. Not a very strong one, I'll mainly just be looking at the moon. I, I can't afford to spend very much. Don't I know you? You look really familiar to me... HAVEN'T I MET YOU SOMEWHERE? A LONG TIME AGO?!? No? ARE YOU SURE?!?! Yeah, okay... Let me see that one... It's beautiful... I love the way it folds up so small, it even fits in my pocket... It feels so nice in my hand. I guess it must be really expensive. WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It can't be that cheap! Uh, I mean, I mean it's really inexpensive for such quality... Okay, yeah, I'll take it... Thanks, mister, thanks... Uh, I'm sorry if I got so upset a minute ago, it just that you, you remind me of someone. Thanks again, mister, goodbye.
"This thing is really cool, I can see everything... It's, it's like magic. I can't wait to get home and look out the window."
SANDMAN
"Come to the window
Look through the glass
Come to the window
Tell me what you see"
NATE
"I see a hand caressing
A cat in the dark
It sits in the shadows
It touches my heart
It's beautiful"
SANDMAN
"Leaving land again he sucked himself into a hole
Sold himself a polar bear and turned it into gold
But it never suited him
And soon became so cold
That he found the ground around him had become a grassy knoll."
SCENE 7 - TRUE LOVE
NATE
"What's this? It, it looks like a letter, but it's so formal looking. It's an invitation to a party, for O-Olympia Cali-gar... This must be Professor Caligari's daughter, Olympia. She, she must be the one I keep seeing in the upstairs window! She, she's going to sing and she's going to play the piano."
OLYMPIA
"Beautiful Dreamer, please sleep with me
Bask on a blanket of slumber so sweet
Welcome a world that never decays
And opens to ultimate love everyday
Beautiful Dreamer, King of my song
Pursue my passion with limitless need
Deep in a dream that's lovely and long
Beautiful dreamer, won't you sleep with me
Beautiful dreamer, won't you sleep with me.
Beautiful Dreamer, won't you sleep with me?
Beautiful Dreamer, won't you sleep with me, tonight?
Beautiful Dreamer, won't you sleep with me?"
OLYMPIA CHORUS
"Beautiful Dreamer, won't you sleep with us?
Beautiful Dreamer, won't you sleep with us, tonight?
Beautiful Dreamer, won't you sleep with us?
Beautiful Dreamer, won't you sleep with us?
Beautiful Dreamer, won't you sleep with us, tonight?
Beautiful Dreamer, won't you sleep with us?"
NATE
"Her eyes... Her eyes seem to have this power. When I look into them, it's almost like I can hear her thoughts. I can hear her thoughts and they're singing. It's, it's the most beautiful voice in the world."
OLYMPIA
"Let the trees bend with the breeze
Let the waves defend the seas
Let our love appreciate that life is only borrowed
Let the lame have their disease
Let the truth have Socrates
Let our love become the grease that slides away from sorrow
Let the humble have their knees
Let the pinnacles be pleased
Let our love become the seeds that turn into tomorrow."
NATE
"I guess, I guess even the Sandman must feel some kind of love... I, I'll bet it must be his children... The Sandman probably really loves his children."
SANDMAN
"Love is the feeling you get
Dropping eyeballs into
The mouths of hungry children.
Starving children raise emotions
Like rain raises weeds
Starving children feed the souls
of those that heed their needs
Starving children apply pressure
On a parent's mind
Starving children create pleasure
When they eat their eyes."
SANDMAN & NATE
"Love is a skeleton key
Unlocking a small room
Filled with darkness and hope."
SCENE 8 - SEVEN CATS
NATE
"I love my telescope... And I love looking out my window with it at night. The moon is so close I can almost touch it, but, I can't see Olympia tonight. She's usually right there in her room, sitting, in her calm and quiet way. And her cat, that white cat, glowing like a full moon... He's always sleeping. Sleeping right there in her lap.
There's a cat on a rooftop over me
There's a cat in a doorway under me
There's a cat in window by a tree
There's a cat and he's looking back at me
"But, but there's Olympia's cat... He's up on the roof, peacefully napping in the moonlight, and, and there's another cat... Amazing! He looks just like the other one... And, over there, in that doorway, there's another one... And they're identical... How strange. And there's another... And another... And another, and another, and another.
There's a cat and he's crying in the street
There's a cat and he's hiding quietly
There's a cat and he's not quite right I see
Seven cats and they look alike to me
"There's, there's someone coming up the street. He, he's all hunched over, kind of sneaking along... Like he doesn't want anyone to see him, he's just slinking from shadow to shadow...
"Yeah, it kinda looks like the guy from that shop where I bought the telescope... Yeah, that's him, yeah I'm pretty sure that's him... What's the doing? He, he's stopping in front of the Professor's basement door. He looks like he's - PICKING THE LOCK... HE'S BREAKING INTO THE PROFESSOR'S BASEMENT! I, I'VE GOT TO STOP HIM!!! I'VE GOT TO STOP HIM!!!
"HEY!! HEY YOU!! HEY!! HEY!! OKAY!! STOP!! STOP!! WHAT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHAT' IS IN THAT BOX? ALRIGHT! GIVE ME THAT! GIVE ME THAT BOX!! THE BOX! THE BOX! IT'S FALLING!! IT'S FALLING!!! HEY, COME BACK HERE! HEY!! HEY!! WHAT IS THAT? WHAT'S THAT I FEEL ON THE GROUND... It's so dark in here. Oh, he he dropped his flashlight. Good, now I can see a little. It looks like the box came open... It's, it's EYEBALLS!!! EYEBALLS ON THE FLOOR... AND WHAT'S THAT??? It's A BODY... It's OLYMPIA 'S BODY... AND SHE DOESN'T HAVE ANY EYES!!! SHE, SHE DOESN'T HAVE ANY EYES!!! What is this place, it looks like some kind of a laboratory and THERE'S ALL THESE HEADS, HEADS SITTING ON SHELVES... HEADS, HEADS, HEADS, DOZENS OF HEADS... Eyeless heads... And, they all, they all look... just... like... Olympia, Olympia, Olympia, Olym... oooooohhhhhhhh."
SANDMAN
"Sightless souls and they look alike, he saw
Sightless souls and they look alike, he saw
Sightless souls and they look alike, he saw
Sightless souls and they look alike, he saw
Sightless souls and they look alike, he saw
Sightless souls and they can't look back at all"
NATE
"I saw some swollen seaweed surrounding me like eels
Coming from a cloudy mass of me that never heals
The mass became a blister bursting open and revealed
A dark and luscious liquid that became my favorite meal."
SCENE 9 - CATATONIA
CLAIRE
"Is it true? Is it true? Did Nate really attack his biology professor? WHY!?! WHY!?! WHY!?!"
NATE'S MOTHER
"The police... The police... The police said Nate attacked the professor in the man's basement. He was terribly confused... Confused... confused."
CLAIRE
"WHY? WHY? WHY? Why would he? WHY? WHY? WHY?"
NATE'S MOTHER
"Nate was unconscious when the police arrived, Claire, but he, uh, had his arms around a, a dress dummy, and, and he had knocked all these mannequin heads on the ground... And, and, apparently tried to scratch their eyes out... But no one knows... No one knows... No one knows what really happened."
CLAIRE
"How long has he been like this?"
NATE'S MOTHER
"A little over a week now... Sometimes he wakes up, but there's no one there... No one there... No one there... The doctor's say there's nothing wrong with him, physically... physically... physically... physically."
NATE
"Uuuuhhhhhh... uuuuuhhhhhhh... Mother? Claire? Is that you? Where, where am I?"
SANDMAN
"Sleep, sleep, just like a dog
Underneath a falling log
Sleep, sleep just like a rat
Napping next to a hundred cats
Sleep, sleep just like a child
Sleeping on a sofa while - his mother fades away."
SCENE 10 - THE PROPOSAL
Happy, Happy Birthday to Nate
Happy, Happy Birthday to Nate
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday Nate
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday Nate
Happy, Happy Birthday to Nate
Happy, Happy Birthday to Nate
Happy, Happy Birthday to NATE !
CLAIRE
"OH, NATE! It's so wonderful to see you happy again! I was afraid I'd never see you like this again. Your recovery, it's, it's almost a miracle!"
SANDMAN
"They live for a while, they live for a while
They live for a while and they wonder whether
All of the pain and all of the effort
Was worth it."
NATE
"Claire, it, it's been so wonderful being with you this past few weeks... I feel like a kind of darkness has been lifted, and the light is shining in again... And Claire, it's all because of you."
CLAIRE
"Why, thank you Nate, but I feel like you've been doing all the work here. It seems like you really want to come out into the light again. And that's the most important thing."
NATE
"I, I'm sure you're right, Claire... But, but there's something, there's something I need to ask you, something I've been thinking about a lot. Claire, will, will you, will you marry me? Will you, Claire?"
CLAIRE
"Oh NATE! Now, now that you've changed so much, of course. Of course I'll marry you."
SANDMAN
"The Sandman can,
The Sandman can,
The Sandman can
Make you sing and celebrate
The flowers that he irrigates
On your grave."
SCENE 11 - THE TOWER
CLAIRE
"Nate, you haven't said much since the wedding rehearsal started... Is something bothering you?"
NATE
"No, no, not really... It's, it's just that getting married here on your college campus makes me think about how I can't go back to school now. It, it bothers me a little... But it's not your fault."
CLAIRE
"We could get married somewhere else if you want, if it really upsets you to be here..."
NATE
"No, no, it's okay, it's okay... It's kind of cold in the shadow of this big tower, though, why don't we take a break... Let's climb the tower. It's still sunny at the top. We can watch the sunset from up there."
CLAIRE
"That's a great idea, Nate... I, I've got something I'd like to talk to you about anyway..."
SANDMAN
"The Sandman can,
The Sandman can,
Convince a soul that all is well
While it masturbates in hell"
NATE
"It's peaceful up here, Claire. It's, it's nice to be able to look down at the world, to watch the sky turn from day to night."
CLAIRE
"It is nice, Nate... I've been wanting to talk, and you've been so distant lately... You see that hill over there, Nate? The round one, the one that's kind of glowing in the sunset."
NATE
"Huh? Uh, yeah... Wait, I'll get my telescope out."
CLAIRE
"Does it remind you of anything Nate?"
NATE
"What do you mean, Claire?"
CLAIRE
"Well, does it remind you of something round, and full, that feels like it might explode with new life? I'm pregnant, Nate... We're going to have a baby... Twins actually, the doctor says it's going to be twins. Nate... Nate... Don't you have anything to say? NATE! PUT THAT TELESCOPE DOWN! TALK TO ME! TALK TO ME!"
NATE
"IT'S HIM! IT'S HIM, ISN'T IT? YOU'VE BEEN WITH HIM! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME CLAIRE? HOW COULD YOU?"
CLAIRE
"I, I don't know what you mean Nate. You look so strange... What are you talking about?"
NATE
"IT'S HIM! IT'S HIM! YOU BITCH! YOU FUCKED HIM, DIDN'T YOU?"
CLAIRE
"NATE? WHAT? YOU'RE, YOU'RE GETTING TOO CLOSE, NATE! NATE, YOU'RE PUSHING ME TOWARDS THE RAILING!!! NATE? NATE!!!!"
NATE
"YOU... YOU WANT TO HAVE HIS BABIES, DON'T YOU??!!! HIS DEMON BABIES WITH THEIR OWL BEAKS GOING SNAP-SNAP-SNAP! SNAP-SNAP-SNAP!"
CLAIRE
"NATE!!! YOU'RE CRAZY, NATE! STOP! STOP! NATE! YOU'RE CHOKING ME! STOP! YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE ME FALL!! NATE!!!! People are looking up! STOP! STOP!!! STOP HIM SOMEONE!!! PLEASE!!! STOP HIM!!!"
NATE
"I'LL STOP ALRIGHT!!! I'LL STOP WHEN YOU'RE BOTH DEAD!!! WHO, WHO ARE YOU CALLING? IT'S HIM!! HE'S DOWN THERE, ISN'T HE? IT'S HIM... I SEE HIM... He's looking up at us... HE'S LAUGHING... HE'S LAUGHING... HE'S LAUGHING AT ME!!! I'LL KILL HIM!!! I'LL KILL HIM!!!! I'LL KILL HIM!!! I'LL KILL HIM!!! I'LL..."
SANDMAN
"The Sandman can,
The Sandman can,
The Sandman can,
Turn emotions in meat,
Consequently when he eats
The taste is sweet."
SCENE 12 - EPILOGUE
CLAIRE
"Boys, I'm going to be out for a while... You'll be staying with your grandmother, but I want you to take a nap, you understand? As soon as I leave, she'll put you to bed and tell you a story, but I want to go straight to sleep... Straight to sleep... Do you understand?"
NATE'S MOTHER
"Boys! Come here, come over here, boys. Climb up here on the bed and old granny will tell you a story. SNAP! SNAP! Oh, did you hear that sound, boys? SNAP! SNAP! Did you hear that sound? That's the sound of THE SANDMAN'S BABIES!!! That's the sound they make with their little owl beaks when they think they're about to eat SOME EYEBALLS!!! That's all they eat, you know... The Sandman's babies only eat eyeballs... Eyeballs of bad children..."