Magda, Where Did You Go?

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[Intro: Horst, low male voice] Hamburg, ninety-one, the ballroom sweats A paper moon above the bets The clock keeps turning, nobody asks Why Magda wears two different masks [Verse 1: Horst] Horst built a train from a telephone wire It ran in a circle through smoke and choir He said, “The future is an empty room” Then danced with a coat that smelled of perfume [Transition: overlapping voices] Four names on the guest list, one chair pulled away A glass keeps its lipstick long after the day [Verse 2: Ellinor, gritty female voice] Ellinor kicked through the gala doors Pinned a black ribbon to the marble floors “Your fine little speech has a hole in its hem” The brass band stopped; she counted to ten [Chorus: Ellinor with Horst underneath] Magda, where did you go? Past the coat check, past the snow Magda, leave us a sign The ballroom’s laughing out of time [Verse 3: Dan, raspy female power-ballad voice] Dan found the diary beneath the stage Blue ink folded into a cage Each page said “Berlin” in someone else’s hand Each date was crossed like a shifting sand [Chorus: Dan, soaring; Ellinor answers] Magda, your name won’t stay still It climbs the staircase against our will Magda, the dawn comes undone We follow the road that nobody runs [Bridge: four voices overlapping] Horst: The train has no station Ellinor: The guests all deny her Dan: I kept every page Anatoli: The snow remembers fire [Verse 4: Anatoli, plaintive male voice] Anatoli hummed through the border-town rain A small red radio repeated her name The folk tune bent where the signal grew thin And Magda’s handwriting started again [Refrain: Anatoli, then all voices] Berlin, Berlin, the map folds twice A diary opens like a pocket of ice Magda, are you ahead or behind? We carry your silence across the line [Finale: all four voices, returning fragments] Hamburg, ninety-one, the ballroom sweats A paper moon above the bets The train goes round; the brass cuts through The diary ends with “I was with you” Magda, where did you go? Past the coat check, past the snow Berlin, Berlin, the map folds twice We found your name, but not your eyes [Outro: Anatoli, alone] The radio sleeps beneath the rain Tomorrow reads the page again