Who says words with my mouth? (2013)

Music by Nicolas Lell Benavides
Poetry by Rumi
Translation by Coleman Barks

All day I think about it, then at night I say it.
Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing?
I have no idea.
My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that,
and I intend to end up there.
This drunkenness began in some other tavern.
When I get back around to that place,
I'll be completely sober. Meanwhile,
I'm like a bird from another continent, sitting in this aviary.
The day is coming when I fly off,
but who is it now in my ear who hears my voice?
Who says words with my mouth?
Who looks out with my eyes? What is the soul?
I cannot stop asking.
If I could taste one sip of an answer,
I could break out of this prison for drunks.
I didn't come here of my own accord, and I can't leave that way.
Whoever brought me here will have to take me home.
This poetry, I never know what I'm going to say.
I don't plan it.
When I'm outside the saying of it,
I get very quiet and rarely speak at all.

- Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (trans. Coleman Barks)

This song explores a piece by the 13th century poet and Sufi mystic Rumi, who has seen a recent surge in popularity across the world. Translated into American free verse by Coleman Barks, I sought a sound that showed off a more folk-oriented and modern North American approach, since the poem is so applicable to people of every era. The recurring piano figure and the offbeat setting of the text are reminiscent of performers such as Joni Mitchell, who would often ponder these themes aloud onstage in smokey bars or clubs.