New 2016 opening song for Recurring John. The company of the show pose the question, “What is the impact of a life?”.
Choral version: Soprano, Mezzo, Alto (split), Tenor, Bass. Some divisi present.
7-person Ensemble version coming soon.
Lyrics & Music by Kevin Wong. © WovenKing Music 2016.
LYRICS (Click here)
EX-WIFE
A drop.
DAUGHTER
A breeze.
TEACHER
A word.
MOTHER
A breath.
CO-WORKER
A lie.
FRIEND
A vow.
PARK DWELLER
A smile.
MOTHER
A lifetime.
(The words repeat four times as music builds and the company comes into view.)
MOTHER
It all begins with just a breath,
A sudden gasp, and then the light.
The rush of air upon your skin,
So many things at once begin
as your eyes take in your first sight.
PARK DWELLER
A crying babe in someone’s arms,
you start your life so very small.
But, faster than you’re laid in bed,
your life becomes a spool of thread
and then you’re woven through it all.
EX-WIFE
The smallest droplet in the dark,
DAUGHTER
The gust of air that two wings form,
TEACHER
A tiny thought before a word,
EX-WIFE
But, even droplets make a mark.
DAUGHTER
A gust can grow into a storm.
TEACHER
The word, once spoken, will be heard.
COMPANY
There is an impact to a life.
There is an impact to a life.
FRIEND
And who can say what soon may be;
what kind of path you’ll start to take?
CO-WORKER
What problems you might take in stride,
what you might show or keep inside,
FRIEND, CO-WORKER
What vows you’ll keep or choose to break?
EX-WIFE
Watch many drops meet to and fro,
DAUGHTER
See windstorms barrel down a coast,
TEACHER
Feel how one word can pierce a heart,
EX-WIFE
Watch as a river starts to flow.
DAUGHTER
The storm rips towns down to a post.
TEACHER
Feel that word tear someone apart.
COMPANY
What is the impact:
MOTHER, TEACHER, DAUGHTER, EX-WIFE
Of a drop,
of a breeze,
of a word?
CO-WORKER, FRIEND, PARK DWELLER
What is the impact:
of a vow,
of a lie,
of a smile?
COMPANY
What is the impact
of a child as they grow,
touching others as they go,
changing what we think we know,
leaving traces deep below;
To a child, to a beggar, to a teacher, to a wife
to a peer, to a friend, to a mother?
What is the impact of a life?
What is the impact of one life?
What is the impact…
CO-WORKER, FRIEND, PARK DWELLER
…of your life?
EX-WIFE
A drop.
DAUGHTER
A breeze.
TEACHER
A word.
MOTHER
A breath.
CO-WORKER
A lie.
FRIEND
A vow.
PARK DWELLER
A smile.
MOTHER
A lifetime.
EX-WIFE
A drop.
DAUGHTER
A breeze.
TEACHER
A word.
MOTHER
A breath.
CO-WORKER
A lie.
FRIEND
A vow.
PARK DWELLER
A smile.
MOTHER
A lifetime.