Intermission Song

Usher, Usher Usher, Usher Usher, Usher Usher, Usher Usher, Usher Usher, Usher Usher, Usher Usher, Usher Usher (Usher, Usher, Usher, Usher) Usher (Usher, Usher, Usher, Usher) (Usher, Usher, Usher) Usher (Usher, Usher, Usher, Usher) Usher (Usher, Usher, Usher, Usher) (Usher, Usher, Usher) Usher, Usher (Usher, Usher, Usher, Usher) (Usher!) Usher, Usher (Usher, Usher, Usher, Usher) (Usher!) Usher, Usher (Usher, Usher) Usher, Usher (Usher, Usher) Usher, Usher (Usher, Usher) Can I really write this? How many minutes 'til the end of intermission? Is that how the show should open? Should there even be a show? No, it should start with what he's thinking Which is just a cursor blinking 'Cause of all of the directions that the narrative could go He wants to show what it's like to live up here (Usher) And travel the world in a fat, black, queer body How many minutes 'til the end of intermission? No one cares about a writer who is struggling to write They'll say it's way too repetitious And so overly ambitious Which of course makes them suspicious That you think you're fucking white He has to fight for his right (Usher) To live in a world that chews up And spits out Black queers on the daily Blackness, queerness Fighting back to fill this cis-het, all-white space With a portrait of a portrait of a portrait of a Black queer face And a choir full of Black queer voices Treble clef and also bass That are casting spells to conjure up a Big, black and queer-ass American Broadway Big, black and queer-ass American Broadway Big, black and queer-ass American Broadway show How many minutes 'til the end of intermission? 'Til he has to face the fact that he is really in a jam? He has no patrons he can call on Nor a backup plan to fall on Just a hamster wheel to crawl on And nobody gives a damn He tries to scramble and dodge and extricate Still, his fate lies in wait Like a scavenging vulture All he wants is to subvert expectations Black and white From the left and the right For the good of the culture Usher, Usher Usher, Usher Usher, Usher Usher, Usher How many minutes till the end of intermission? You're a ball of Black confusion That keeps hitting a plateau You can't just flout every convention Then command complete attention Then a Big, black and queer-ass American Broadway show How many minutes 'til the end of intermission? Some say "write from exploration" Some say "just write what you know!" Either way, you keep careening So it's hard to find a meaning In your Big, black and queer-ass American Broadway show How many minutes 'til the end of intermission? If you can't please the Caucasians You will never get the dough! 'Cause critics clinically deny us Then deny implicit bias With their vanity supported By a system that's distorted Watch them write you off as lazy Not to mention, navel-gazey Lacking both in craft and rigor 'Cause you're just a fucking nig- Big, black and queer-ass American Broadway Big, black and queer-ass American Broadway Big, black and queer-ass American Broadway How many minutes 'til the end of intermission? (Usher, Usher, Usher, Usher) How many minutes 'til the end of intermission? (Usher, Usher, Usher, Usher) How many minutes 'til the end of intermission? (Usher, Usher, Usher, Usher) How many minutes 'til the end of intermission? (Usher, Usher, Usher, Usher) How many minutes (oh my God, oh my God) 'til the end of intermission? (Usher, Usher, Usher, Usher) How many minutes (oh my God, oh my God) 'til the end of intermission? (Usher, Usher, Usher, Usher) How many minutes (oh my God, oh my God) 'til the end of intermission? (Usher, Usher, Usher) How many minutes (oh my God, oh my God) 'til the end of intermission? How many minutes (oh my God, oh my God) 'til the end of intermission? (Usher, Usher, Usher) How many minutes 'til the end of intermission? (Usher, Usher) Less than two