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ASUKAGAWA / after 'Ayakashi' (Ink) & 'Ayakashi (Sirens​)​'

from Three​-​Crossing River (after YOKAI) by Laura Sampson

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about

This track, inspired by looking at Maurer & Moore's 'Ayakashi (Ink)' and 'Ayakashi (Sirens)' retells the story and structure of river-themed noh ASUKAGAWA (The Asuka River), and explores how this relates to the image of the mythical Three-crossing river, and the passing of time.

View these and the other images from YŌKAI at White Conduit Projects gallery, London (until 27/2/22) and at www.maurer-moore.com.

lyrics

The river of three crossings is always changing - the deep places become shallow places, the currents travel wherever they will. The water etches runnels in sand like scratches on plastic, then erases them again.

Once there was a traveller, who made a long journey from a place of comfort to a place of prayer, with a 3-years lost young boy still searching for his mother, to help him find her. They stopped to rest at the bank of the Asuka river.

And there, they met a stranger - a woman planting rice, singing of the rich colours and sounds of life on the riverbank. Pinks and purples fading into green, reflected in the bright water - birds wings displacing flower-scented air, water currents sighing and chittering . Beautiful, deceptive river:

‘where is best to cross?’, asked the Traveller.

The woman ‘Upstream, today: the river changes daily - there is only ever one way to safely cross on foot, if on foot you must cross.’

Everything changes - the river is my teacher here but some things are hard to bear. You, boy, you remind me of my son 3 years lost, and here I still am, watching the other shore.
Do you know, a man dreamed he was a butterfly, woke up, and wondered if he was really a butterfly dreaming they were a man? Everything changes. Come I’ll show you the crossing place.

No, wait! Something clicked - the boy saw a glimmer, under the grief, of a face he recognised. Colour bleeding out under grey. Mother! They sat together on the near bank.

The river flowed on.

credits

from Three​-​Crossing River (after YOKAI), released February 15, 2022
Laura Sampson: Words, vocals
Sam Enthoven: Sounds, mixing
Stephan Barrett: Sounds

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wordbird London, UK

Laura Sampson is a storyteller and writer from London, UK, inspired by world myth and folklore.

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