The aria is the climax and the plot is as follows: the Tower of Babel, the home of the termites, collapses. The whore (Babylon) - now without home - resides in the canals of an imaginary city, opens a bar and casts pearls before swine. We accompany a not so young couple for a little stretch of the desperate life on their odyssey through the canals : one more down here = one less up there! They land before the meat pots of Babylon that invite them for a cannibalistic dinner. Babylon can sing EVERYTHING and must leave.
