I Want to Be Soft for voice & piano
PDF score of I Want to Be Soft for voice & piano
Music & poetry by Lisa Neher
Commissioned by Denise Bird for her Art Songs for New Beginnings Anthology
Length: 3 minutes
Preview the Score (Medium Key)
Low Key Perview available upon request
Vocal Range:
Low Key: A-flat 3 - E-flat 5 (ossia D-flat 5)
Medium Key: B-flat 3 - F5 (ossia E-flat 5)
High Key: D4 - A5 (ossia G5)
Program Note:
This is a song about being our true authentic selves, with all our vulnerabilities, imperfections, and messy needs. So many of us are exhausted by performing capability, success, and happiness constantly, in person and online. It’s easy to worry that if we stop doing that, people won’t like the squishiness they see. I fall into these traps on a regular basis. But the entire reason I make art is to open myself up and share, and to receive and empathize with the experiences of my community. We weren’t meant to go through life walled off from one another. We can’t do it all alone. My wish is that we all can be more permeable, like the salamander and the sponge. I Want to Be Soft was commissioned by Denise Bird for her Art Songs for New Beginnings Project.
Lyrics:
I Want to Be Soft
by Lisa Neher
I want to be soft
like a moon snail outside its shell
like the underbelly of a porcupine.
I’m run down from resilience
camouflaging as confident
walking under the weight of a carapace.
mask on, defenses up.
The arboreal salamander breathes through its skin
water circulates through the pores of the sponge
I want to be permeable, like that.