Album: Aida

Every Story

AMNERIS

Every story, tale or memoir

Every saga or romance

Whether true or fabricated

Whether planned or happenstance

Whether sweeping through the ages

Casting centuries aside

Or a hurried brief recital

Just a thirty-minute ride

(AMNERIS steps off of the pedestal and stands before the audience.)

Whether bright or melancholy

Rough and ready, finely spun

Whether with a thousand players

Or a lonely cast of one

Every story, new or ancient

Bagatelle or work of art

All are tales of human failing

All are tales of love at heart

(The lights change violently with a rock and roll chord. Frozen on stage:

the Man staring at a model of the boat. The WOMAN looks at the figure of

the Archer.)

This is the story

Of a love that flourished

In a time of hate

Of lovers no tyranny could separate

Love set into motion on the Nile's shore

Destiny ignited by an act of war

Egypt saw the mighty river as its very heart and soul

Source of life for all her people

That only Egypt could control

Destruction of her southern neighbor justified

Nubia exploited, left with little more than pride

Ohhhhhhhhhh.