“Actually, we do have karaoke but you mustn’t breathe a word about it to anyone. Ever.”

If there is to be singing in Utopia, we have to make room for false notes, too! We can’t imagine getting to the new world and all of us being perfectly in tune. Utopia can’t be an excuse for musical fascism. It’s a place for wild singing under the moon. And the moon doesn’t care what you sound like. We lost all the old lyrics but we made up better ones — in the new language, using brand new words, singing about things we actually care about. We wear special costumes we made from old cloth, stitching magic into the threads since the Dark Days ended. Karaoke is our revolution and finally it’s Commons.

Echo Ballads // Pasián Esba is a live performance and exhibition by Queer collective ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS, and represents the Seventh Chapter of the constellation artwork With Forests in Our Mouths (2024/25).