"The Town."

Years ago there was a place called the Land of Point, and that was because everything in the Land of Point had one--the barns, the houses, the carts, even the people Everyone in the Land of Point had a point on the top of his head; everyone, that is, with the exception of Oblio. Although Oblio was born to a set of normally pointed parents, and although he was born physically perfect in every other respect, he was born without a point. He was round-headed. As time passed, Oblio became increasingly aware of his uniqueness, and so did everyone else, which made life in the Land of Point rather uncomfortable for him and his parents. You see, Oblio became sort of an involuntary celebrity, and was subject to the sometimes cruel and unusual harassment from his schoolmates. It wasn't easy being the only pointless person in the whole Land of Point. And in an effort to make life easier, his mother knitted a pointed cap for him to wear, which was to conceal his pointless condition. But it didn't do much good because everyone knew he didn't have a point. So it only managed to make Oblio a little lonelier. In fact, the only real friend he had was his dog, Arrow.

"The Game"

The national pastime in the Land of Point was a game called Triangle Toss, and Triangle Toss was a game for people with pointed heads. The object of the game was to toss a triangle as far as you could and then run to the opposite end of a field and catch it with the point on your head. Since Oblio had no point, he would throw a triangle, and Arrow would jump up on his shoulders and the two of them would run to the opposite end of the field, Arrow making the catch with the point on the top of his head.

Now most of the kids in the town thought it was alright to allow Oblio and Arrow to compete as a team. But there was this one kid, who was the son of the evil Count, who was the aid to the king. And the Count's kid insisted that since triangle toss was for people with pointed heads, and Oblio obviously didn't fall into that category, he should not be allowed to play. Well, to settle the dispute, it was decided to have a contest--the best two out of three tosses and catches. If Oblio won, he'd get to play, but if the Count's kid won, Oblio wouldn't be allowed to play. And that brings us to the game.

"The Trial and Banishment"

At the end of the game, Oblio had beaten the Count's kid two out of three. When the Count heard of his son's disgraceful defeat at the hands of this pointless Oblio, he was outraged. So he went to the king and reminded him of the law of the land, which was that all things and all people in the Land of Point must have one. And since Oblio didn't have one he was in violation of that law, which called for his banishment. Now the king, who was a good king, was painfully aware of his duty, which was to convene the tribunal. And upon the Count's assistance, that's what he did. When the tribunal reviewed the case, it could only arrive at one conclusion: Oblio had no point and was therefore guilty of being in violation of the law. And so it was that he and Arrow--for Arrow was found guilty of complicity--be banished from the Land of Point to the Pointless Forest.

The next day Oblio's mother and father and all the townspeople gathered to bid a sad farewell to Oblio and Arrow. Now everyone thought that banishment to the Pointless Forest was a bit excessive, but the law was the law, and the people were good law-abiding citizens. Well, it was the first time that anything like this had every happened, and no one knew quite what else to do. So Oblio and Arrow set off for the Pointless Forest, where all things are pointless and nothing is pointed. By the way, the distance between the Land of Point and the Pointless Forest is directly proportional to the amount of time it takes to sing a song.

"Think about Your Troubles"

Sit beside the breakfast table.
Think about your troubles
Pour yourself a cup of tea
and listen to the bubbles.
You can take your tear drops
and drop 'em in a tea cup.
Take 'em down to the river side,
and throw 'em over the side.
To be swept up by a current,
then taken to the ocean
to be eaten by some fishes,
who were eaten by some fishes
and swallowed by a whale,
who grew so old,
he decomposed.
He died and left his body
to the bottom of the ocean.
Now everybody knows
that when a body decomposes the basic elements
are given back to the ocean. And the sea does what it ought to,
and soon there's salty water--
Not too good for drinking.
'Cause it tastes just like a tear drop.
And you run it through a filter,
and it comes out from a faucet.
And it pours into a teacup,
which is just about to bubble.
Now!
Think about your troubles!

"The Pointed Man"

Finally the two travelers reached what appeared to be the entrance to the Pointless Forest. There was a huge, thorny barrier with a small sign at its base which read, "This Way." Once on the other side of the barrier Oblio and Arrow had their first encounter with the Pointless Man or the Pointed Man depending upon your point of view. You see the Pointless Man did have a point; in fact, he had hundreds of them, all pointing in different directions. But as he so quickly pointed out, "A point in every direction is the same as no point at all." Speaking of points, I don't know if you've ever been to a pointless forest, but a forest is a forest, and one of the first things Oblio and Arrow noticed about the Pointless Forest was that all the leaves on all the trees had points, and all the trees had points. In fact, even the branches of all the trees pointed in different directions, which seemed a little strange for a pointless forest. When the Pointed Man disappeared, Oblio and Arrow were left standing alone wondering what to do next when suddenly they were aware of a strange sound coming in from the North. When they looked up, there was a giant swarm of bees headed straight for them. So to seek cover, they jumped inside a hollow log. But when the bees attacked, the log was jarred loose, and it tumbled down a steep hill, and it careened and crashed finally into the base of the most unusual rock pile--in fact, the Rock Man.

And the Rock Man said, "Say, what's happening with you boys. You look like you pretty shook up. You been goofin' with the bees?" And Oblio told the Rock Man that they were banished and asked him whether or not this was the Pointless Forest.

The Rock Man said, "Say, babe, there ain't nothing pointless about this gig. The thing is you see what you want to see and you hear what you want to hear. You dig? Did you ever see Paris?"

"No."

"Did you ever see New Deli?"

"No."

"Well, that's it. You see what you want to see and you hear what you want to hear." And with that the Rock Man fell soundly asleep, leaving Oblio and Arrow once again all alone. So they continued on through the Pointless Forest until, suddenly, Arrow, who had been running a few yards ahead of Oblio, disappeared in to a hole--the Point of No Return.

"The Clearing in the Woods"

After the incident with the bottomless pit, the two adventurers continued along the winding path, which lead them through the Pointless Forest. Along the way they met the three Fat Sisters, who giggled and laughed and danced and at which point was fun and merriment. They also met the Leaf Man, who told them to plant their roots in the Pointless Forest and by Spring time reap the harvest of green and golden leaves, which the Forest had to offer. Well, needless to say, Oblio and Arrow were not interested in planting roots in the Pointless Forest. In fact, they had no roots to plant. So they thanked the Leaf Man and continued on their way. Little by little Oblio was learning a great deal about the Pointless Forest and its inhabitants, but unfortunately for him and Arrow, his knowledge couldn't possibly help him anticipate what was hovering directly above them. Until suddenly the whole area in which they were standing grew dark from the shadow of a giant, prehistoric pterodactyl, which swooped down and lifted Oblio and Arrow high above the Pointless Forest. The giant bird flew Oblio and Arrow high above the floor of the Forest and towards its final destination --a huge dome-shaped object, which rested high on a plateau, overlooking the entire Pointless Forest. As the bird landed, it released Oblio and Arrow, and the two of them slid down the side of the dome, which in reality turned out to be a giant egg. Well, at last it appeared as though they had finally found something in the Pointless Forest which was obviously quite pointless, an egg. At that moment the egg began to crack, and from inside the egg came the strangest noise, followed by the appearance of a large point, attached to the head of the strangest bird--with the exception of the giant pterodactyl--either had seen. And after the exchange of a few astonished glances, the bird flew away off in pursuit of the larger bird, who apparently was its parent. Once again leaving Oblio and Arrow quite alone and as lost as ever. So the two travelers set off again hoping to find a place to rest before nightfall. Finally they came to a clearing in the woods where they paused to rest beneath a tremendous boulder, and no sooner had they sat down when both weary travelers fell fast and deeply into sleep.

"Oblio's Return"

The next morning Oblio noticed that the rock under which they had slept was in the shape of a giant pointing hand. And there was an inscription on its side which read, " Destination Point." So they set off in the direction indicated by the hand, and before long they found themselves on a road, which led them out of the Pointless Forest, and on and on through the pointed hills and valleys until finally they paused. In the distance they could see the spires and the steeples of the Land of Point. Now when the townspeople heard that Oblio and Arrow had returned, they ran out to the edge of town to give them a hero's welcome. For you see, not only were the people glad to see them, but Oblio and Arrow were the first to have ever been to the Pointless Forest. When word of Oblio's return reached the Count, he was so mad he ran to the courtyard and he grabbed Oblio and said, "What are you doing here? You were banished to the Pointless Forest!"

And Oblio said, "B-but we went to the Pointless Forest, and not only that but it's not pointless at all."

"What?" There was a huge gasp from the crowd.

"Nonsense," said the Count, "you're in trouble!"

Just then the King arrived and he said, "Not so fast, Count, what do you mean, 'not pointless,' Oblio?"

And Oblio said, "Well, it's just that we did go to the Pointless Forest and it's not pointless at all. In fact, the trees pointed."

"No," from the crowd.

"And, and the leaves on all the branches pointed."

"No," from the crowed.

"In fact, even the branches pointed. And not only that, but everyone we met in the entire Pointless Forest had a point. And it's just that, well, it's just like here. And we figured that since everything has a point then I must have one too."

And just then someone in the crowed yelled out, "He's got a point there." And at that point, the bells sounded in the pointed steeples, and all points on the tops of all the buildings in the whole Land of Point began to melt. And at that point, the points on the tops of the heads of all the people in the whole Land of Point began to melt--all that is except for the Count's, his just sort of flopped over on its side, and he split, presumably for the Pointless Forest. Before he did, he reached over and he grabbed Oblio and he pulled off his cap, and, you know what, there on the top of Oblio's head was a point.

Well, that's about it. That's the end of the story and it's also the end of the album. So thank you and good night.
The Soundtrack