Big Eastern (Parts I-III)

A three part set of storylines which move us from the very poorest parts of rural farming in China, with a landscape beset by terrible weather conditions and natural disasters to a migration and resettlement in San Francisco. The journey and upheaval comes at a price. It is not always easy to hold onto the rich culture and original beliefs/values once held when one is forced to confront a more hedonistic Western way of life.

One microcosm of this tale is personified by a very young farming family working the land shown in contrast to teenagers of the same ages living in modern New York.
Although one life may seem to be 'better' to a western eye, it is by no means trouble or danger free.

The Chinese in some counties in Gansu Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan provinces (generally in western China) have a hard life. 

Great Chinese Famine

Guan Yu

Golden Dragon massacre

Lyrics

PART ONE - CRUEL SKIES

i) The Good Earth?

The valley moves from the village
stretching to the far barren hills
From granite to sky I can see my home
Just being is hard, but from my hands I pull life from the soil
My wife beside me, our child on her back

The hot Sun and Autumn rain mix in twilight
Feeding my soul, but not my body
And in the fading light I can see the shadows grow
“Not long now!” they seem to cry

We dream under Big Eastern skies
And sail down the rivers to wash up on distant plentiful shores
And life under Big Eastern skies is so cruel,
our flesh lies in the dirt, but our hands are raised to the Sun…
Walk into Sun

Our gathered earth collects the stars tonight
With names on stones and bones below
and soon there'll be nothing left to recognise that we once lived here
Old and new dust make up the ground 

ii) Intermezzo – following the Sun

iii) Once upon a time in the West

Western lovers, City life dwellers
Wishing for Summer to push back the rain

These two kids are waiting for each to get older
Still growing up, feeling the warmth on their faces
Holding hands, sly glances,
embarrassed pausing for missed chances

We have it all, we lack for nothing!
And yet we crave for still more
Here in New York, we are no longer safe within our houses
A shadow grows across the Sea

We dream under Big Western skies
And act as the great life givers
Whilst keeping our wealth behind closed doors
Your life under Big Eastern skies is too cruel, your flesh lies in the dirt
but your hands are raised to the Sun…
Walk into Sun

PART TWO - THE SHAKING EARTH

The mountain awakes and starts to roar
It rattles and shakes from the treetops to the floor
The footpath breaks and the valley’s no more
In the boiling lake, where the waves now breach the shore

Nature is violent
Nature forces a way
And all in its path gets turned to clay
As it was at beginning, so it's at the end
Bend or be broken my friend!

And all we do is stand and watch
In the artificial rain
Hand in hand to feel the touch and share the pain

The clock is turned back to the start
And even though we played a part
There is no mercy here
No conscious, feeling, beating heart

So, get on your knees and look in your soul
Find some comfort in a World not controlled by man or machine, by Gods or belief
The lesson’s hard and the lesson’s brief...

So get on your knees...

PART THREE - A LIFE IN CHINATOWN

The Black Society boys speak only in Cantonese
They're meeting at the Tong tonight
Wah Ching are planning a showdown

Joe Fong and his friends make out for the harbour
Armed and ready for what is to come
Two already "ride the water..."

Guan Yu we fight for you...
Guide us out into the night
Hold onto the cultural World
as we make a life in Chinatown

At the Golden Dragon massacre
There was so much blood spilled that day
But not one gangster lay upon the floor
Only tourists who stood in their way

Guan Yu we fight for you...
Guide us out into the night
Hold onto the cultural World
as we make a life in Chinatown