Where nowhere is...
Drawing by Mary Thomas
EREWHON is an anagram for NOWHERE. It's a Utopian novel by Samuel Butler. I don't remember the book. I read it young. I remember the idea: a place that doesn't exist.
The front cover is a familiar geography (Cleveland) dotted with Siberian city names.
What does Siberia represent? Exile. Turn the package over. Read the text.
The exile is voluntary. Open the package. Read the Blue Hole text. The songs are about people who live in places that don't exist.
Imaginary places? No. What kind of places? Real places cease to exist when they lose meaning. The opposing flap is a take on "The New Yorker's View of America" except the map is the American continent reshaped by the expansion of the Blue Hole of Castalia.
The text to Nowheresville suggests that we live in a world in which culture is reduced to pleasantly interactive push button choices available at lifestyle boutiques in shopping malls everywhere.
Some of us simply refuse to cooperate. How? By refusing to acknowledge that the Aeronautical Shot Peening Company was torn down; that the Blue Hole was "disappeared" because of wheelchair access regulations. It requires strength of will and concentration but when we drive down Old River Road these days we don't see a beer palace, we see the Aeronautical Shot Peening Company. It's safe with us now. They can't get their hands on it.
ENGLISH
Places that don't exist
People who live there
EREWHON
If you lived here you'd be home now
FRENCH
L'endroit qui n'existe pas
Ceux qui y habitent
LE PARTNUL
Si tu y habitais tu serais chez toi
SPANISH
Los lugares que no existen
Los que viven alli
SINISEXTENCIA
Si vivieras alli tendrias tu casa
GERMAN
Plaetze, die nicht existieren
Leute, die dort leben
NIRWOGEND
Wenn du dort lebtest, waerest Du jetzt zuhause
DUTCH
Plaatsen die niet bestaan
Mensen die daar wonen
SNEGREN
Als je daar woonde zou je nu thuis zijn
DANISH
Steder der ikke eksisterer
Mennesker der lever der
EGNEV NEGNI
Hvis du levede der ville du vaere hjemme nu
