Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson & Lou Reed
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
“Tightrope” is the thirteenth track on Laurie Anderson’s 1994 album, Bright Red, and the center of the album’s Tightrope suite.
It describes a dream, as Anderson’s songs often do, and returns to the album’s themes of water, memory, lost love, and ancestry.
Last night I dreamed I died and that my life had
Been rearranged into some kind of theme park
And all my friends were walking up and down the boardwalk
And my dead grandmother was selling
Cotton candy out of a little shack
And there was this big ferris wheel
About half a mile out in the ocean
Half in and half out of water
And all my old boyfriends were on it
With their new girlfriends
And the boys were waving and shouting
And the girls were saying, "Eeek"
Then they disappeared under the surface of the water
And when they came up again they were laughing
And gasping for breath
In this dream I'm on a tightrope
And I'm tipping back and forth trying to keep my balance
And below me are all my relatives
And if I fall I'll crush them
This long thin line. This song line. This shout
The only thing that binds me to the turning world below
And all the people and noise and sounds and shouts
This tightrope made of sound
This long thin line made of my own blood
Remember me is all I ask
And if remembered, be a task:
Forget me
Remember me is all I ask
And if remembered, be a task:
Forget me
This long thin line. This long thin line
This long thin line. This tightrope
Remember me is all I ask
And if remembered, be a task:
Forget me
This long thin line. This long thin line
This long thin line. This tightrope
Tightrope was written by Laurie Anderson & Brian Eno.
Tightrope was produced by Laurie Anderson & Brian Eno.
Laurie Anderson released Tightrope on Tue Oct 25 1994.