Consider for a moment
you’re in someone else’s shoes,
living their life, now
what would you choose?
Would you abandon your past
and find a new life?
Or would you stand your ground
and put up a fight?
You don’t know until you see
with your own eyes;
So come along and join me
on this empathy ride.
The first stanza takes place in the boarding area of a roller coaster ride. It’s a blue sky fluffy white clouds kind of day, and everyone and everything we see appears bright and cheerful. We, as the viewer, are all ready seated, and are watching as others get into the seats around us. Each roller-car is in the shape of a vehicle. The vehicle that we are sitting inside is a rather shortened cartoonish convertible-ized cropped top version of a Toyota Sienna Mini-van in light tan-ish silver. We even have our own little steering wheel, though we are never in control of the ride. Our Conductor, the ride employee that would typically recite the safety instructions, is instead singing the lyrics to the song playing. This character stands out, as they are somehow completely black and white. In the meantime, a strangely similar looking character sits in the same ride-car behind us holding a small stack of note cards up in front of themselves, as if they are getting a jail photo taken. The lyrics are written onto the note cards. The expressionless character inexplicably flicks and flips the cards to the rhythm with odd but enthusiastic poses – but their face never changes.
CHORUS
You’re going home
You’re going home
You’re going home,
please enjoy the ride
The moment the first word of the chorus leaves the Conductor’s mouth, they pull the lever and we lunge forward into a nosedive through the darkness of the tunnel ahead. Occasionally there are flashes of light, and what could be __TBD__, but for the most part the viewer only see darkness.
Wake up now,
it’s time to go.
Prepare your mind and
mind your soul.
Pack your clothes
and pack your things.
Pack away all
of your selfish dreams.
One, two, three steps
towards the door.
You’re moving towards a life
you don’t know no more.
Suddenly there is light peeling open and blinking as though we are sitting in darkness from inside an eyeball. There are two sets of lids blinking open- the front and back. When they meet in the middle, there is no more darkness. The front eye is facing the door of exiting a bedroom. The back eye is facing our ride-along buddy with their notecards, flipping along to the lyrics. Suddenly a set of eyes, a mouth, and two gloved hands appear as if floating in thin air. They belong to the Conductor who continues to sing the lyrics. The Conductor’s hands wave around the room pulling items from shelves and placing them in suitcase now sitting in our lap.
On One, two, three… the ride lurches through the door.
CHORUS
You’re going home
You’re going home
You’re going home,
please enjoy the ride
The other side of the door opens up to a highway. We see a sign for Manitowoc ### Miles. We drive under an overpass – it’s suddenly another season. We see a sign for Manitowoc ## Miles.
The nation knows
about this tiny sliver.
Murder in the yard,
and a rape by the river.
It’s a messed up world
you’re living in.
Capitalizing on
each other’s sin.
Small town. Small world.
Small mi-i-i-inds.
Fucking with each other
just to pass the time.
When we hear the lyrics, “please enjoy the ride” we pass under an overpass, but on the other side we see the opening of a sunlit forest. The forest thins opening up to a salvage yard stacked with cars along with a crowd of reporters and cameras. Newspaper pages whip in the wind, each one of them a headline. ___TBD___ The ride veers up, up, up. Above the salvage yard. Above the world.
CHORUS
You’re going home
You’re going home
You’re going home,
please enjoy the ride
Above the universe into darkness. The ride then suddenly plunges down and around. Everything is a blur of color before slowing into another clearing of trees.
Brother in the basement
and two upstairs.
A sister here and
a sister there.
People see us all and say,
“it can’t be true.
You’re different from them
and they’re different from you.”
Dirt floors, dirt walls,
di-i-irt life.
You’re privileged with good
but they’re still living in strife
We move through the archway of tree’s into a foliage filled backyard. On our left hand side stands a house with a steel metal door hanging open from the concrete basement wall. Wes stands in the doorway.
The ride weaves up and around to be level with the wooden wrap-around porch that was once above us. Across two different windows we see Quintin, Lester and even a little glimpse of Paul.
The ride winds around the corner through another archway of trees, but when we reach the other side it is actually a road in Manitowoc. A few confederate flags sprinkled amongst the old houses. Kimi is on the right side sitting on the steps of a junk house, and Steph is on the left in front of a jail-like apartment building.
Then we pass through a set of ornate doors at the end of the road which leads into a church where everyone is mouthing the lyrics together ‘You’re different from them and they’re different from you’
We move towards another door, the basement door from earlier. ::Wes’s basement apartment:: The ride continues pushing forward into darkness.
CHORUS
You’re going home
You’re going home
You’re going home,
please enjoy the ride
We’re in complete darkness for only a moment before various items float/fly past us.
Baby sister’s got
no more teeth.
They’ve rotted away
right down to the meat.
She’s got a factory job
and it pays ok.
It pays the bills,
but not to run away
from her hazy, crazy,
deadbeat mom;
Destroying her life
so she can never move on.
CHORUS
You’re going home
You’re going home
You’re going home,
please enjoy the ride
A foster Grandma,
who’s a goddamn saint,
dedicated her life
to healing others pain.
But still she regrets
the one’s that got away.
The ones she loved
but just couldn’t save.
Her light saves lives,
but wont save her own.
Alone with her thoughts now
that the children have grown.
CHORUS
You’re going home
You’re going home
You’re going home,
please enjoy the ride
A divided United and
the big orange man.
Giant ego
and tiny hands.
Now we’re tearin’ at each other
like cats and dogs.
Actin like we ain’t got
nothin’n common at all.
Good folk. Bad folk.
We’re all the same.
Just creatures on a rock
hurt’lin through outer space.
CHORUS
You’re going home
You’re going home
You’re going home,
please enjoy the ride