On The Way To Jerusalem

Laurie Anderson · Ugly One With The Jewels & Oth [1995]

There was a devout nun in the XVth century who decided

to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; and she belonged

to an order that wore bags over their heads.

And the mother superior told the nun that if she walked

through the countryside with a bag on her head,

she would scare people. But the nun insisted,

so the mother superior allowed to her to walk around

and around the cloister, every day for three years

until she covered the equivalent distance to the Holy

City. At the end of her journey the nun was so exhausted

that she collapsed. A doctor was called.

After examining her he announced that she was too weak

to make the return trip. The nun died shortly after.