Lyrics Saffron - Gavin Bryars, John Berger, Roger Heaton, James Woodrow & Bill Hawkes

Kandinsky asks what shape is yellow
And you make it a circle, like the sun
I think that of the three primary colours
Yellow is the only one which is a stain
That's to say, it takes on the substance of what it is colouring
It has none of its own
Gold and the ochres, no, they are different
And if yellow is a stain, then it has no geometric form of its own
The yellowest thing I can think of is saffron
Which is both a stain and a taste
I love painting with it on paper, although it fades very quickly
I love painting flowers with saffron
It's a kind of short circuit of collaboration, no?
It seems to me the majority of flowers are in fact yellow
After that come the white, then blue, purple
Red flowers are striking but in fact they are relatively rare
Yet, and this is part of the thrill
The saffron yellow comes out of a red
The little red fibres, when moistened, stain yellow
The shock, the little shock of that transformation
Has something to do, no, with the taste of saffron?
P.S
This is a haiku written in the 10th century by Izumi Shikatu
I picked an azalea and brought it home
Now when I contemplate it
In its crimson dye I see the colour of my lover's robe