Unspeakable Lyrics

(In which Mister Hare, spurred by greed and the lack of ethics of the anatomists, proposes a drastic and loathsome course of action)

“...a wretch who is not worth a farthing while alive, becomes a valuable article when knock'd on the head and carried to an anatomist; and acting on this principle, have clear'd the streets of some of those miserable offcasts of society, whom nobody miss'd because nobody wish'd to see them again” - Sir Walter Scott

“If this horrid traffic in human flesh be not, by some means or other, prevented, the churchyards will not be secure against the shovel of the midnight plunderer, nor the public against the dagger of the midnight assassin.” - Editorial, ​The Lancet ​newspaper 1829

“...when there is a difficulty in obtaining bodies, and their value is so great, you absolutely throw a temptation in the way of these men to commit murder for the purpose of selling the bodies of their victims.” - Sir Henry Halford, May 1828

Dr. Knox: ​Cold stiffs may fetch five sovereigns Warmer bodies a few schilling more Trade in death to make a living
Ghastly currency of gore
Your cadaveric chores, so

Chorus: ​Unspeakable!

Dr. Knox: ​The freshest of corpses through most heinous courses Chorus: ​Unspeakable!

Dr. Knox: ​The warmer the corpse The more rich the reward
In this foul trade of flesh, bone and gore

Dr. Knox: ​Fresher specimens are ever needed The scalpel thirsts for still-warm death Law and decorum should go unheeded When prices soar for a pound of flesh
So I may slice up what's left

Chorus: ​Unspeakable!

Hare: ​Just think what we'll gain When we harvest the slain Chorus: ​Unspeakable!

Hare: ​And the throats we would slit Would never be missed Chorus: ​Unspeakable! Burke: ​And so business is furthered By cold-blooded murder? Chorus: ​Unspeakable!

Dr. Knox: ​The demand has increased
For the freshly deceased
And so now the living you'll reap

Hare: ​The cemeteries crawl with sentries
The sexton demands his bribe
Graveyard gates ensure their entries
Remain inhumed inside
Yet another source of bodies
Surrounds us every day
Is not every soul but a corpse to be?
And should we not just speed them on their way?

Solo – Matthew Harvey

Solo – Michael Burke

Chorus: ​Unspeakable!

Burke: ​Compunction be dashed
Though this course may seem rash

Chorus: ​Unspeakable!

Hare: ​There's so much more profit
When we fill the coffins

Chorus: ​Unspeakable!

Hare: ​The tramps and the urchins
We'll make fodder for surgeons

Chorus: ​Unspeakable!

Dr. Knox: ​They live lives without worth
Death cannot be much worse
Wretched ways to make your purse burst

Chorus: ​Unspeakable!