In Burroughs’ apocalypse, War and Plague, for example, have become allies; this alliance, Burroughs announces, ‘was cemented with the first germ experiments’ (Burroughs, 1984, p. 12). The danger of these experiments lies in their ability to not only create new viruses but to also turn them into biological weapons. But for Burroughs, there is a significant similarity between a twentieth-century-specific apocalypse, with its radiation and contaminants, and the religious apocalypse of the four horsemen. For Burroughs, both types of apocalypse ‘have no meaning outside of human context, they are in fact human inventions’ (p. 17). More specifically, they are the essential flaws in what Burroughs calls the ‘human artifact’ (p. 17) and in our evolution as a species. For Burroughs, the only way out is to first understand that our biological destiny ‘is in Space and that our failure to achieve this is the basic flaw in the human artifact’ (p. 24). This speech constitutes Burroughs’ first appearance on the scene as an apocalypticist. Previous to this, he was best known as one of the fundamental members of...

​Dead City Radio is a musical album by Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs, which was released by Island Records in 1990. It was dedicated to Keith Haring.

Listen Burroughs's Apocalipse below:

"THE LAST WORDS OF HASSAN SABBAH" 

Oiga amigos! Oiga amigos! Paco! Enrique! 
Last words of Hassan Sabbah, 
The Old Man of the Mountain! 
Listen to my last words, anywhere! 
Listen all you boards, governments, syndicates, nations of the world, 
And you, powers behind what filth deals consummated in what lavatories, 
To take what is not yours, 
To sell out your sons forever! To sell the ground from unborn feet forever? For Eve-R 
Listen to my last words, any world! Listen if you value the bodies 
for which you would sell all souls forever! 
I bear no sick words junk words love words forgive words from Jesus 
I have not come to explain or tidy up 
What am I doing over here with the workers, the gooks, the apes, the dogs, 
the errand boys, the human animals? 
Why don't I come over with the board, and drink Coca-Cola and make it? 

"Now for God's sake, don’t let that Coca-Cola thing out!" 

Thing is right, Mr Whoever is responsible for that Who-Done-It! 
Explain how the blood, and bones, and brains of a hundred million 
more or less gooks went down the drain in green piss! 
So you on the boards could use bodies, and minds, and souls that 
were not yours, are not yours, and never will be yours. 
You want Hassan Sabbah to explain that? To tidy that up? 
You have the wrong name and the wrong number! 
Mr. Luce Getty Lee Rockefeller 

"Don't let them see us, don't tell them what we are doing!" 

Are these the words of the all powerful boards and syndicates of the Earth? 

"Don't let them see us, don't tell them what we are doing! 
Not the cancer deal with the Venusians, not the green deal! Don't let that out! 
Disaster, unevaluable disaster! 
Don't show them that, these things take time and that's my business." 

As usual, Mr Luce! Short time to go. Minutes to go! 
Blue heavy metal people. 

"Don't let that out! Don't show them the blues!" 

Are these the words of the all powerful boards and syndicates of the Earth? 

"And don't whatever you do let them see us." 

Crab men! Tape worms! Intestinal parasites! 
Squeezing the air and shitting it out, and eat it again, forever! 

"Don't let them see us! Don't tell them what we are doing! Don't let us pay!" 

Are these the words of the all powerful boards, syndicates, cartels of the Earth? 
The great banking families of the world? 
French, English, American? 
Like Burroughs, that proud American name? 
Proud of what exactly? Would you all like to see exactly what 
Mr Burroughs has to be proud of? 
The Mayan Caper, the Centipede Hype, 
The Short Time Racket, the Heavy Metal Gimmick? 
All right, Mr Burroughs, who bears my name and my words, bear it all the way 
For all to see, in Times Square, in Piccadilly, 

Play it all, play it all, play it all back! 
Pay it all, pay it all, pay it all back! 

Listen: The word comes before English American German French, 
and pain and live are arsenic for all 
How the bones went - use never you have light 
All of you, all all all, green people crab people blue heavy metal people, 
compliments of Mr Burroughs for the Heavy Metal Gimmick 

”Don’t let them see us, don’t tell them what we are doing! 
Premature, premature, reconversion, reconversion blues." 

Shall I show them the blues? 

"No! No! No! 
Premature! Premature! Premature!" 

Are these the words of the all powerful boards and syndicates of the Earth? 
I say to all: these words are not premature, these words may be too late. 

Minutes to go. Minutes to go. Minutes to goo. Minutes to green goo. 
What I have to say is everywhere now 
Rub out the word Jew and you rub out the word Hitler 
The answer comes before the question 
My words are for all - for all, 
I repeat for all! 
No one is excluded! 
Free to all who pay, free to all who paying pay, for all to see, 
for all to see! 
In Piccadilly, in Times Square, Place de la Concorde, 
In all the streets and plazas of the world! 

Pay, pay, pay! 
Play it all, play it all, play it all back! 
Pay it all, pay it all, pay it all back! 

See my writing the silent - across all your skies, 
The silent writing of Brion Gysin - Hassan Sabbah. 
All out of time! All into space! Forever! 
Take what is not yours to skies squeezing the eye bodies forever 
All out of time! All into space! Forever! 
You cannot take words into space 
That is all all all, Hassan Sabbah 
You cannot take woman into space 
I repeat, you cannot take woman into space 
That is all all all, Hassan Sabbah 
See my writing silent - across all your skies, 
The silent writing of Brion Gysin - Hassan Sabbah. 
The silent writing of space, the writing of Hassan Sabbah. 
Look, Look, Look! 

"Don't let them see us! Don't tell them what we are doing!" 

Are these the words of the great nations, the all powerful boards 
and syndicates of the Earth? 
These are the words of liars, and cowards, and collaborators and traitors 
Collaborators with insect people, 
With any people anywhere who offer you a body forever, to shit forever. 
For this you have sold your sons forever, 
The ground under unborn feet forever! 
Traitors to all souls everywhere! 
You on the board, who want others to pay for you, 
With your deals to take what is not yours! 
And leave your human animals to be eaten alive by the crab people, 
to go down the drain in green shit and piss. 
The green deal 

"Don't let them see us! Don't tell them what we are doing!" 

You on the board, who now say: 

"Protect us from our our gooks, 
Protect us from our human animals." 

Are these the words of the all powerful boards and syndicates of the Earth? 
And you want the name of Hassan Sabbah on your filth deals 
To sell out the unborn? 

"Protect us from our gooks, our dogs, our human animals!" 

Are these the words of the all powerful boards, the all powerful syndicates, 
the all powerful governments and nations of the Earth? 
Liars! Liars! Liars! Cowards! Cowards! Cowards! 
Who cannot even face your own dogs! 
Traitors to all souls everywhere! Sold out to shit forever: 
You miserable collaborators, 
Now ask the protection of Hassan Sabbah? 
Are these the words of the all powerful boards? 

"Protect us from our gooks, our human animals!” 

No, no, no, I will not protect you, 
And you will never use the name of Hassan Sabbah - William Burroughs 
to cover your green shit deals with crab men. 
With the Elders of Minraud. 

Listen, listen, listen: 
I rub out all the words and reports of the board forever 
I rub out your thing police forever, for Eve-R 
I rub out the words of Marx Lenin Einstein Freud fraud forever 
I rub out the formulas of Einstein Oppenheimer forever 
I rub out their words forever 
I rub out the Qabalah forever 
I rub out the Talmud forever 
I rub out all the formulas and directives of the Elders of Minraud forever 
I rub out the word forever 

Listen, all all all, 
In you I cancel all your words forever 
You cannot take words with you into space 
That is all all all, Hassan Sabbah. 

- William S Burroughs, 1914-1997

An excerpt from draft 6 of
"NOVA EXPRESS"
a film by Andre Perkowski
based on the writings of
William S. Burroughs

Readings by William S. Burroughs

(plus End Titles, Post Script of The Regulator)

music by Kristin Palker & Andre Perkowski