Pulp Musicals
Township Number Nine
NARRATOR:
The jungle of British Guiana appeared at sunrise
The sailors watched the bay approach in awe
It was the opposite of Printing House Square in Manhattan
Samuel wrote down everything he saw
SAMUEL:
We passed a settlement at the river’s mouth
Then, not a man in sight for hours and hours
A canopy of leaves, a cathedral of green
With trees surrounding us like emerald towers
Further down the Rio Essequibo
Crocodiles were basking in the dunes
Rainbow birds sang lofty salutations
They’d havе been at home on Herschel’s moon
Thеn on, and on, and on, and on
Deeper down into the Amazon
We went on, and on, and on
Till we came upon
Township Number Nine
Where civilization and wilderness intertwine
The air is very clear here
‘Cause nobody is near here
At the end of this river serpentine
Township Number Nine
MARGARET:
How did you find this place?
HERSCHEL:
A member of the administrative council of Guiana
Owed me a favor. When I asked for a location to
Work in total secrecy, I was directed here
ROSE:
And you couldn’t do this in England?
SAMUEL:
Or South Africa?
HERSCHEL:
You’ll see… an experiment of this magnitude
Cannot be easily hidden
MARGARET:
It’s that important?
HERSCHEL:
Miss Cavendish, it’s that massive
SAMUEL:
See it there, it waits for us to anchor
The jungle watched us every time we moved
Closer towards this scattering of shelters and a steeple
I’d never felt so totally removed
Then on, and on, and on, and on
Deeper down into the Amazon
We went on, and on, and on
We followed John
You’ve arrived in Township Number Nine
An ideal place for everything clandestine
If you want shelter from the elements
Start building your own tenements
Land so remote, it has no name assigned
Township Number Nine
MARGARET:
Do you hear that? It sounds…
ROSE:
… Mechanical
HERSCHEL:
We should be able to see it as soon as we pass this
Stretch of jungle
MARGARET:
See what?
ROSE:
I don’t see any- Wait a minute. Oh my God…
ROSE, MARGARET, SAMUEL:
What is that?!
SAMUEL:
Poking above the treetops
A pair of wheels
Spinning in opposite directions
Both pointing towards the sky
Built on giant platforms
Titanic wheels
Standing on opposite riverbanks
They were hundreds of feet wide
The water spun them faster
Impossible speed
It gave them all the power
They’d possibly need
The jungle then revealed the full machine
It was the most amazing sight I’d ever seen
ROSE:
Are those flywheels?
HERSCHEL:
Yes, Miss Stratford, the perfect storage device for
Rotational energy. You’re looking at the largest
Flywheels ever built
MARGARET:
They’re spinning in opposite directions - if
Something were to fall between them, it would
Become the world’s largest slingshot
SAMUEL:
Just above the water line
Built from timber, solid, strong
Running in between the wheels
A ramp hundreds of meters long
Angled towards the clouds
Into whatever lay beyond
And waiting on the ramp
Was a giant sphere…
HERSCHEL:
Our voyage has just begun, friends
It’s time to tell you why we’re here
SAMUEL:
Welcome to Township Number Nine
The home of Herschel’s latest grand design
It’s drawn in every shade of
The stuff that dreams are made of
What new frontiers await us down the line
In Township Number Nine
In Township Number Nine