Threads of Dreams and Aspirations

In Meeting We Are Blessed

Music by Troy D. Robertson
Text by R. Gatsnahos, inspired by John Donne

We are met together and in meeting we are blessed.
Peace in coming and in going, peace in labor and in rest
Hold on dear brother! Hold on dear sister! Hold on to me.
You’re not alone and you nevermore will be.
I will be with you and I will carry you with me.
Friendship endures and surely we will prove
It’s not ourselves, but our bodies that move.

Had I The Heavens’ Embroidered Cloths

Music by James Mulholland
Poem by William Butler Yeats

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Imagine

Words and Music by John Lennon

Imagine there’s no heaven. It’s easy if you try
No hell below us, above us, only sky
Imagine all the people livin’ for today

Imagine there’s no countries. It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for and no religion, too
Imagine all the people livin’ life in peace
You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions. I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world
You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will live as one

Corner of the Sky

(from “Pippin”)
Words and Music by Stephen Schwartz

Everything has its season. Everything has its time
Show me a reason and I’ll soon show you a rhyme
Cats fit on the windowsill. Children fit in the snow
Why do I feel I don’t fit in anywhere I go?

Rivers belong where they can ramble. Eagles belong where they can fly
I’ve got to be where my spirit can run free. Got to find my corner of the sky

Everyone has their daydreams. Everyone has their goals
People like the way dreams have of sticking to the soul
Rain comes after thunder. Winter comes after fall.
Sometimes I think I’m not after anything at all.

And maybe some misty day, you’ll waken to find me gone.
And far away you’ll hear me singing to the dawn.
And you’ll wonder if I’m happy there a little more than I’ve been.
And the answer will come back to you like laughter on the wind.

Weaving Lives and Stories Together

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Words and Music by Paul Simon

I’ll be your bridge o’er troubled water. When you’re down, I will carry you
Like a bridge, o’er troubled water. I will lay me down.

When you’re weary, feeling small
When tears are in your eyes I will dry them all.
I’m on your side
Oh, when times get rough and friends just can’t be found
Like a bridge over troubled water. I will lay me down

When you’re down and out, when you’re on the street, my Lord.
When evening falls so hard, I will comfort you. I’ll take your part
Oh, when darkness comes and pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water. I will lay me down

Sail on, silver girl, sail on by.
Your time has come to shine. All your dreams are on their way
See how they shine. Oh, if you ever need a friend
Look around, I’m sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water. I will lay me down

We Rise Again

Words and Music by Leo Dubinsky

When the waves roll on over the waters, and the ocean cries.
We look to our sons and daughters to explain our lives.
As if a child could tell us why,
That as sure as the sunrise, sure as the sea,
Sure as the wind in the trees.

We rise again in the faces of our children.
We rise again in the voices of our song.
We rise again in the waves out on the ocean,
And then we rise again.

When the light goes dark with the forces of creation across a stormy sky,
We look to reincarnation to explain our lives.

Where the Light Begins

Music by Susan LaBarr
Text by Jan Richardson

Perhaps it does not begin. Perhaps it is always.
Perhaps it takes a lifetime to open our eyes, to learn to see -

The luminous line of the map in the dark, the vigil flame in the house of the heart,
The love so searing we can’t keep from singing, from crying out.

Perhaps this day the light begins in us.
We are where the light begins.

Lean on Me

Words and Music by Bill Withers

Sometimes in our lives we all have pain, we all have sorrow
But if we are wise, we know that there’s always tomorrow

Lean on me when you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend. I’ll help you carry on;
For it won’t be long ‘til I’m gonna need somebody to lean on

Please swallow your pride if I have things you need to borrow;
For no one can fill those of your needs that you won’t let show

So just call on me brother when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you’ll understand
We all need somebody to lean on

If there is a load you have to bare that you can’t carry.
I’m right up the road. I’ll share your load, if you just call me
Call me when you need a friend.
Call me if you need a friend.
Call me any time of day.

Selections from YPCC’s Artistic Partner and Host:
SPCA’s Baby Grands

Landslide

Words and Music by Don Macdonald

I took my love and I took it down
I climbed a mountain and turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills, when the landslide brought me down
Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changin’ ocean tide?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?
Well, I’ve been afraid of changin’
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I’m getting older too
Oh, I’m getting older too
Well, I’ve been afraid of changin’
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I’m getting older too
Oh, I’m getting older too
Take my love, take it down
Climb a mountain and you turn around
And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills,
when the landslide brought me down
And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills,
Well the landslide bring it down
Oh, the landslide bring it down

When the Earth Stands Still

Words and Music by Stevie Nicks,
Arr. Maryanne Muglia Smith

Come listen
In the silence of the moment before rain comes down
There’s a deep sigh
In the quiet of the forest and the tall tree’s crown
Now hold me
Will you take the time to hold me and embrace the chill?
Or miss me
Will you take the time to miss me when the Earth stands still?
‘Cause there’s no use running
‘Cause the storm’s still coming
And you’ve been running for so many years
For so many years
Come listen
In the silence of the moment before shadows fall
Feel the tremor
Of your heartbeat matching heartbeat as we both dissolve
Now hold me
Will you take the time to hold me and embrace the chill?
Or miss me
Will you take the time to miss me when the Earth stands still?
‘Cause there’s no use running
‘Cause the storm’s still coming
And you’ve been running for so many years
So stay with me
Held in my arms, like branches of a tree
They’ll shelter you for many years
So many years
For so many years (stay with me)
Stay with me

Embraceable You

Words and Music by George & Ira Gershwin,
Arr. Kirby Shaw

Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you
Embrace me, you irreplaceable you
Just one look at you, my heart grew tipsy in me
You and you alone bring out the gypsy in me
I love all the many charms about you
Above all. I want my arms around you
Don’t be a naughty baby
Come to mama, come to mama do
My sweet embraceable, my sweet embraceable, my sweet embraceable you

Problem

By Ariana Grande,
Arr. MaryAnne Muglia Smith

I got one less problem without you
I got one less problem without you
I got one less problem without you
I got one less, one less problem
Hey baby even though I hate ya, I wanna love ya
I want you-hoo-hoo
And even though I can’t forgive ya, I really want ya
I want you-hoo-hoo
Tell me, tell me baby, why can’t you leave me?
Cause even though I shouldn’t want ya, I gotta have it
I want you-hoo-hoo
Head in the clouds, got no weight on my shoulder
I should be wiser and realize that I got one less problem without you
I got one less problem without you
I got one less problem without you
I got one less, one less prob-
I know you’re never gonna wake up, I gotta give up
But it’s you-hoo-hoo
I know I shouldn’t ever call back or let you come back
But it’s you-hoo-hoo
Head in the clouds, got no weight on my shoulder
I should be wiser and realize that I got one less problem
Smart money betting, I’ll be better without you
In no time, I’ll be forgetting all about you
Saying that you know, but I really, really doubt you
My life is easy, when I ain’t around you
I got ninety-nine problems and you won’t be one, like what
Head in the clouds, got no weight on my shoulder
I should be wiser and realize that I got one less problem

Tapestries of Love and Compassion

Beautiful City

(from “Godspell”)
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

Out of the ruins and rubble, out of the smoke,
Out of our night of struggle, can we see a ray of hope?
One pale thin ray, reaching for the day

We can build a beautiful city, yes we can.
We can build a beautiful city.
Not a city of angels, but we can build a city of man.

We may not reach the ending, but we can start
Slowly but truly mending, brick by brick, heart by heart.
Now, maybe now, we start learning how.

When your trust is all but shattered, when your faith is all but killed,
You can give up, bitter and battered, or you can slowly start to build.

Your Hand and Mine

Music by Marques L.A. Garrett
Words from “The Human Touch” by Spencer Michael Free

’Tis the human touch in this world that counts, the touch of your hand and mine,
Which means far more to the fainting heart than shelter and bread and wine.
For shelter is gone when the night is o’er, ad bread lasts only a day.
But the touch of the hand and the sound of the voice sing on in the soul always.

Halo

Music and Lyrics by Beyoncé Knowles, Ryan Tedder, and Evan Bogart

Remember those walls I built? Well, baby, they’re tumblin’ down
And they didn’t even put up a fight. They didn’t even make a sound
I found a way to let you in, but I never really had a doubt
Standin’ in the light of your halo. I got my angel now

It’s like I’ve been awakened. Every rule, I had you breakin’
It’s the risk that I’m takin’. I ain’t ever gonna shut you out

Everywhere I’m lookin’ now I’m surrounded by your embrace.
Baby, I can see your halo. You know you’re my savin’ grace
You’re everything I need and more. It’s written all over your face
Baby, I can feel your halo. Pray it won’t fade away

Hit me like a ray of sun burnin’ through my darkest night.
You’re the only one that I want. Think I’m addicted to your light
I swore I’d never fall again,  but this don’t even feel like fallin’
Gravity can’t begin to pull me back to the ground again.

Unified in Song

The Road Home

Music by Stephen Paulus
Text by Michael Dennis Browne

Tell me, where is the road I can call my own,
That I left, that I lost so long ago?
All these years I have wandered, oh when will I know
There’s a way, there’s a road that will lead me home?

After wind, after rain, when the dark is done,
As I wake from a dream in the gold of day,
Through the air there’s a calling from far away,
There’s a voice I can hear that will lead me home.

Rise up, follow me, come away, is the call,
With the love in your heart as the only song;
There is no such beauty as where you belong;
Rise up, follow me, I will lead you home.

Man in the Mirror

Words and Music by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett

I’m gonna make a change for once in my life
It’s gonna feel real good, gonna make a difference, gonna make it right.
As I turn up the collar on my favorite winter coat, this wind is blowin’ my mind.
I see the kids in the street with not enough to eat
Who am I to be blind pretending not to see their needs?
A summer’s disregard, a broken bottle top, and a one man’s soul.
They follow each other on the wind ya know,
‘Cause they got nowhere to go. That’s why I want you to know.

I’m starting with the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could’ve been any clearer. If they wanna make the world a better place,
Take a look at yourself and then make a change

I’ve been a victim of a selfish kind of love. It’s time that I realize
That there are some with no hom, not a nickel to loan.
Could it be really me pretending that they’re not alone?
A willow deeply scarred, somebody’s broken heart, and a washed out dream.
They follow the pattern of the wind, ya see,
‘Cause they got no place to be. That’s why I’m starting with me.

Light of a Clear Blue Morning

Dolly Parton, arr. Craig Hella Johnson

It’s been a long dark night and I’ve been waitin’ for the morning.
It’s been a long hard fight, but I see a brand new day a-dawning
I’ve been looking for the sunshine ‘cause I ain’t seen it in so long
Everything’s gonna work out just fine. Everything’s gonna be alright. It’s gonna be okay.

I can see the light of a clear blue morning. I can see the light of a brand new day
I can see the light of a clear blue morning. Everything’s gonna be alright. It’s gonna be okay.