It doesn't happen all at once - Aria for baritone
$6.00
$6.00
per item
Program Note
In the Velveteen Rabbit, the Skin Horse is an old, worn-down rocking horse, beloved by generations of children in the nursery. The Boy's new toy, a cheaply made Velveteen Rabbit, is teased by mechanical toys in the nursery and told that he isn't modern enough to be real. In this aria, the Skin Horse shares with the Velveteen Rabbit what it truly means to be Real - and that it has nothing to do with having mechanical parts or being made of fancy materials. Rather, it is about the love between the toy and the child.
This aria is available in both baritone and mezzo keys.
This aria is available in both baritone and mezzo keys.
Text
It doesn’t happen all at once.
You become.
It takes a long, long time.
That’s why it doesn’t happen often
to toys who break easily,
or have sharp edges,
or who have to be carefully kept.
I have seen a long succession of mechanical toys
arrive to boast and swagger,
and by-and-by
they break their mainsprings
and pass away.
By the time you are Real,
most of your hair has been loved off,
and your eyes drop out
and you get loose in the joints
and very shabby.
But these things don’t matter at all,
because once you are Real
you can’t be ugly,
except to people who don’t understand.
You become.
It takes a long, long time.
That’s why it doesn’t happen often
to toys who break easily,
or have sharp edges,
or who have to be carefully kept.
I have seen a long succession of mechanical toys
arrive to boast and swagger,
and by-and-by
they break their mainsprings
and pass away.
By the time you are Real,
most of your hair has been loved off,
and your eyes drop out
and you get loose in the joints
and very shabby.
But these things don’t matter at all,
because once you are Real
you can’t be ugly,
except to people who don’t understand.