"Funeral of Enkidu" is a song whose lyrics are directly taken from a poem of unparalleled antiquity: The Epic of Gilgamesh. It is a narrative that like the poems of the Tewa, speaks to modern readers with astonishing immediacy (Lawall 1994). It is the story of a young and foolish king, Gilgamesh, who comes to accept his mortality, and his responsibilities to his people. This change is brought about largely by the sudden and
unexpected death of Gilgamesh’s twin brother Enkidu. The song’s lyrics come from Tablet VIII of the epic, in which Gilgamesh mourns the death of his friend, and then vows to never die himself. Joe Kendall played bass in this song and also the Rhodes electric piano track, which was actually recorded for a different version of this song at our friend David Day’s home studio in Seattle, WA in August of 2006.
lyrics
Funeral of Enkidu
(Adapted from The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet VIII, as translated by Andrew George)
At the first glimmer of brightening dawn,
Sat Gilgamesh mourning his friend.
Your mother a gazelle and your father, a donkey, did raise.
Whom the wild asses did rear with their milk,
Whom the beasts of the wild did praise.
May the sacred river, may it mourn you.
May the peaks of the hills and mountains mourn you pure,
May the pastures, lament like your mother,
May the pastures, lament like your mother.
Now what is this sleep that has seized you?
He covered like a bride, the face of his friend.
Like an eagle, he circled around him,
He paced to and fro, this way and that.
May the sacred river, may it mourn you.
May the peaks of the hills and mountains mourn you pure,
May the pastures, lament like your mother,
May the pastures, lament like your mother.
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