Behrouz Boochani and Katie Noonan - Over the Prison Camp.
Originally commissioned by Archipelago Productions for their theatrical production Women Of Troy, Over The Prison Camp is a collaboration between Katie Noonan and Kurdish-Iranian writer Behrouz Boochani.
With musical compositions written by Katie from Behrouz’s text, this recording features all pieces performed by Katie utilising multi-layered tracks of her vocals to recreate a full chorus.
Available to stream on all services from Wednesday March 8th.
Over The Prison Camp
- Behrouz Boochani and Katie Noonan
1. Drowned in their dreams
2. Last night I escaped death
3. I miss her
4. Your sorrow is boundless
5. I will be born again
6. Deafening silent
7. We are forgotten
8. Over the prison camp
All works ©B.Boochani/K.Noonan (Control)
Commissioned by Archipelago Productions
Artwork by Jo Wheeler
Engineered and Mixed by Zac Hurren @ Zac Hurren’s Rainbow Room Studio - Gubbi Gubbi Country, QLD, Australia. ©Kin Music 2023
Mastered by William Bowden.
DROWNED IN THEIR DREAMS
The waves pummel the boat
And the moon splits up on the ocean.
We have no fear, we shout, our arms locked
Our dreams merging into a robe that cloaks the world
The waves pummel the boat
And the moon splits up on the ocean
We have no fear of the ocean, we shout,
Just as we had no fear of the deserts
Just as we had no fear of the airports
Just as we had no fear of the borders.
You cannot drown those
Already drowned in their dreams.
You cannot drown those already drowned in their dreams.
LAST NIGHT I ESCAPED DEATH
Last night I escaped death.
I crossed minefields and barbed wires
I sneaked by patrols thudding their snow-covered boots
I escaped death last night.
I took the mountain views in,
I took you in,
I took your lips in,
I took your eyes in,
I took your smile in.
I escaped death last night.
My feet trampled upon the fragments
Of my own body.
My feet trampled upon the fragments
Of my own body.
Last night I escaped death, last night I escaped death, last night I escaped death, last night I escaped death.
I MISS HER
I miss her.
I am awake.
I am looking at the clouds,
I am looking at the face of a woman through the clouds
The woman who contains
A large fragment of me.
I miss her in this cage
As much as I will miss her in the next one.
I miss her on this island
As much as I will miss her on the next one.
I have a dream.
I dream of skipping across the clouds
Flying across the ocean
Jumping across the islands.
I miss her.
YOUR SORROW IS BOUNDLESS
Your sorrow has saturated my father’s face
And my mother’s womb.
My hands stiff with your sorrow
When I signed my exile letters.
My feet stiff with your sorrow
When I got off the tugboat.
Your sorrow has cast a shadow on the Syrian woman
Smothered under a veil of fear.
Your sorrow has put down roots across the Middle East
Across Africa into every particle of this poem
O homeland!
Your sorrow is boundless.
O homeland!
Your sorrow is boundless.
I WILL BE BORN AGAIN
I am exiled barefoot
My body all but buried
In the beach sand
They cuff my fears
They cuff my feet
The local people wave at me
And I disappear
Inside the clouds
Outside the law
Behind the cameras recording
A sobbing boy.
I am exiled
Into memories
To die piecemeal
I WILL BE BORN AGAIN
Through the songs
Above the empty deaths
Beyond the island of metal bars Into the ocean and into the forest.
O my neighbour!
You embraced me
Nurtured me
Instilled a storm in me.
I will be born again, I will be born again, I will be born again.
DEAFENING SILENT
A red chested bird
Its wings made of dreams
Flew between the earth and the moon
From the Far East To Antarctica.
It flew by the town of refugees
And witnessed the women
Carrying each other’s wounds.
It flew by my portrait
Nailed to an abandoned wall
Your gaze frozen in my eyes.
My heart is suffocated
By the dust of distant memories
And my head is empty
As though I’ve never opened a book
As though I’ve never gone anywhere.
Only death can become a voice
A voice deafeningly silent.
Only death can become a voice
A voice deafeningly silent.
WE ARE FORGOTTEN We are forgotten in history
In the age of TV shows
In the age of forbidden smiles
We are left behind in the dreams of mothers
We are forgotten even in the hearts of our lovers
We are not walking on the earth
We are walking in the earth
Under the big stones
Into the dark mines
Without image
Without clothes
Without smile
We are walking behind the clouds
Out of the earth's atmosphere
In the sky
But in chains
Out of the city of free people
We are forgotten
Like lonely statues but princely in a cemetery
We are left behind
Everyone left us
We are lonely
Left behind
On the edge of a tragedy that is already forgotten
Here we are
In the memories of the dead brothers
In the memories of sisters who remain with their wounds
We are forgotten
OVER THE PRISON CAMP
Over the prison camp, a black kite flies.
A few youths - still with energy
To bear the difficulties of this prison camp - made it.
Over the prison camp, the black kite flies,
A messenger of freedom for us, the forgotten prisoners.
It circles higher and higher above the camp, above the beautiful coconuts.
Our eyes follow its flight,
It seems to want to tear its rope.
It breaks free, dances towards the ocean, flies far and again farther
Until no one can see it.
Over the prison camp, the youths stare into,
Into the empty sky after their impossible dream.