Sun Ra often incorporated his philosophy musings into the Arkestra's live performances; sometimes this presentation took the form of 'traditional' song lyrics, other times he spoke at length over the band's vamp, creating spontaneous sermons that we like to call 'declamations.' Below are the words to Ra's poem, The Dual Change. I invite you to read them as you stream three very different recitations of the verse recorded several years apart from each other.
First is the 1974 version released as There Is Change In The Air on Sun Ra's LP, The Antique Blacks. In this performance, the poem is initially recited in its entirety; afterward, portions are spoken between musical passages.
The second performance of the poem, The Dual Change, is culled from the 1989 release, Somewhere Else, and is entitled Everything Is Space. In this recording, the poem is recited over a decidedly different arrangement.
Finally, a concert performance from New Years 1980/81 during the Detroit Residency. In this reading, Arkestra members recite the poem without musical accompaniment. This particular performance of the poem comes between 'Saturn Rings' and 'Fate in a Pleasant Mood.'
The Dual Change
Things change . . .
There is always change in the air . . . . . .
But the change is different now
From any ever felt before . . . . . .
The music is listening and waiting
While sounding sounds of terrible silence . .
Didn't you hear the silence lately?
Music is silence too . . . . . . .
They cannot stop the silence;
They cannot compel the silence to cease . . . . .
They do not know yet
How loud the silence can become!
There is always change in the air . . .
But there is a different spirit in the wind . .
A bold and daring soul from somewhere there:
Somewhere out and yon!
It is even beyond the time . . . . .
Time is:
. . . . . . . Never-no-more . . . . . . . .
Everything is space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . .It is the space of the dual change.
The street is no longer a street . . . . . . . . . . .
It is the highway of the world.
There is change in the air!
Do you not hear the heavy silence there?
It is the double space of dual change . . . . . . .
The spirit wind is in the air:
It hovers above the street no longer there . .
The street: A highway widened fare . . . . . . .
The emergency decreed it thus . . . . .
All at once, it was seen:
The road . . . the people . . . . .
The wrong direction there . . .
It is the right road . . . .
They are going the wrong direction there!
Some of the must turn and go the other way:
The arrow points to pointlessness . . pointlessness.
A two-way street affair . . . . .
An alter never-[no-]* more-again . . . . . . . . .
The people and the leaders walk hand in hand . . .
They were on the right road all the time . . .
But now there is no time . . . . . . .
That is why they have to turn
And walk the opposite-alter-way.
They must go
To the place of space
For the celebration of the dual change.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Sun Ra - The Immeasurable Equation
The Collected Poetry and Prose compiled and edited by James L. Wolf and Hartmut Geerken
Waitawhile (2005)
pp 142, 143
