HOPE
Music and lyric by Jason Robert Brown

Sheet music available on SheetMusicDirect.com.

I come to sing a song about hope.
I’m not inspired much right now, but even so,
I came out here to sing a song. So here I go.
I guess I think
That if I tinker long enough, one might appear.
And look! It’s here.
One verse is done.
The work’s begun.

I come to sing a song about hope.
In spite of everything ridiculous and sad,
Though I’m beyond belief depressed, confused and mad,
Well – I got dressed.
I underestimated how much that would take.
I didn’t break
Until right now.
I sing of hope
And don’t know how.

So maybe I can substitute “strength,”
Because I’m strong.
I’m strong enough.
I got through lots of things I didn’t think I could,
And so did you.
I know that’s true.

And so we sing a song about hope.
Though I can’t guarantee there’s something real behind it,
I have to try to show my daughters I can find it,
And so today –
When life is crazy and impossible to bear –
It must be there.
Fear never wins.
That’s what I hope.
See? I said “hope.”
The work begins.

New York, NY
November 9, 2016

‍

Melinda

‍

Friday morning, early summer

Mama's still laying deep, dead asleep

With the curtains drawn and her head underneath the blanket

Out the front door, up the stairwell

Past the stink of the frying and the dying

'Till I hit the roof, pull my transistor out and crank it

Friday morning, seven-thirty

New York City, grand and dirty

Creeping out of the shadows like a whore

Look around, I can hear, in the ground

Somewhere near, there's a sound, something no one ever noticed before

Down there on the street

Someone's playing salsa

Someone's playing disco

Someone's making something burn

Someone plugged in a guitar and is shooting fireworks

And I said Melinda, when's it gonna be my turn?

Oh

Friday, midnight, try to find me

I'm the boy with his feet on the street

Hunting down the sound with his ears like an antenna

Hit the back door, past the bouncers

Those cabrons with the blades and the shades

Enjoying their latest shipment from Cartagena

Couples shouting, couples swaying

All the while the band is playing

Old shit any wedding band could play

No one knows, no one cares

But that kid by the stairs has a song inside him

That'll blow you all away

Down here on the street

They've been playing mambo

Someone's playing bebop

Like Abuela's old LPI can hear the sound of the Bronx exploding

And I said, Melinda, when they gonna notice me?

Out there on the street

Someone's tagging subways

Someone's jumping fences

Someone's cursing at the moon

Meanwhile, some clown gets a million dollar contract

And I said, Melinda, this story better change soon

Out there on the street

They've been shooting cop cars

They've been torching high schools

There ain't nothing that can grow

All I got is a crazy fortune teller

And I said, Melinda, tell me where I got to go

‍

‍

Invisible

‍

Guess what I’m doing sitting in this chair.

I’m shooting lightning bolts across the sky.

You hear that thunder rolling through the air?

That’s how you know that I’ll be rolling by.

You think that isn’t how I’m meant to be?

You don’t know my secret identity!

Here I go – look at me!

There’s a lot I can be, but I won’t be

invisible.

Here I go!

Breaking out, breaking free – no, I won’t be

invisible.

Don’t try to tell me what I cannot do.

Take down the barricades, I’m coming through!

Here I go – now you know!

Just ‘cause you can’t see me,

It don’t make me

invisible.

You see me coming in your rear view fast

–You duck and weave and try to block my way.

But like a lightning bolt I slip right past.

I don’t have time to waste on you today.

No point in telling me I won’t succeed

–I’ve got a better life I’m gonna lead!

Here I go – look at me!

There’s a lot I can be, but I won’t be

invisible.

Here I go!

Breaking out, breaking free – no, I won’t be invisible.

Don’t try to tell me what I cannot do.

Take down the barricades,

I’m coming through!

Here I go

– now you know!

Just ‘cause you can’t see me,

It don’t make me invisible.

I was lost in the dark,

I was deep in the ground,

I was hidden away

When the light came around.

But I clawed my way out

–And I’m on the attack.

I will not disappear

And I’m not going back!

Here I go – look at me!

There’s a lot I can be,

but I won’t be

invisible.Here I go!

Breaking out, breaking free

– no, I won’t be

invisible.

Don’t try to tell me what I cannot do.

Take down the barricades,

I’m coming through!

Here I go – told you so!

Just ‘cause you can’t see me,

You can’t see me,

You can’t see me,

It don’t make me invisible.

‍

Fifty years started in West Pennsylvania

Coulda been Paris or Rome or Duluth

But fifty years started in West Pennsylvania

And that′s how you know that I'm tellin′ the truth

'Cause fifty years isn't some fairy tale story

Some Hollywood horseshit, some old country song

It starts out as nothing and grows till it′s fifty years long

One year is easy, five years, whatever

And ten years or twelve, now you′re starting to learn

It's climbing and driving and giving up something

And praying you like what you got in return

And what is this city? And who are these people?

And how did we get here? And did we go wrong?

Well, keep holdin′ hands, kids

You grew something fifty years long

It's fifty years fightin′ and fifty years dancin'

And fifty years chancin′ the wheel

It's fifty years reachin' and fifty years growin′

And fifty years knowin′ it's real

It′s real

It's funny how someone looks fifty years different

But still looks the same, give or take, more or less

It′s funny to think eighteen thousand days later

What you might have been if you hadn't said yes

But look at us cryin′ and look at us laughin'

And here's what we′re thinkin′, in case it's not clear

If that love could happen in West Pennsylvania

Who knows what could happen right here

So come tell the story of how you can do it

It′s love and it's luck and it′s sacred and strong

It starts out as nothing and grows till it's fifty years long

You start out with nothing and grow something fifty years long

‍

I’m walking on hallowed ground.
I’m breathing in ancient air.
I’m hearing a long-lost sound
From the water down there –
It’s a distant beat
Pulsing through the heat of the long ago.
I’m walking on hallowed ground.
I’m stepping on sacred bones.
Another new fossil found
In the silt and the stones,
Just beyond this hill
In the sultry still of the summer.
I am trying to find
Something I left behind in the long ago.
I’m walking on hallowed ground.
I’m holding my daughter’s hand.
I’m taking a look around
Where my Dad used to stand
When he’d watch me play
On some sun-scorched day in the long ago.
I’m following faded trails
From when I was twelve years old.
I’m fi shing out new details
In the stories I’ve told,
Like the hearts I broke,
Like the truth unspoken in summer.
Turn a corner and then
I am right back again in the long ago.
See that kid in the breeze?
I keep telling him “Easy does it.”
That’s the problem with him,
It was never that simple, really, was it?
I’m walking on hallowed ground.
I’m checking out every clue.
I’m seeing my life unwound
And assembled anew.
Then I hear that line:
“Dad, relax, I’m fine,”
And she’s running off.
And she’ll stand here one day
Watching me walk away in the long ago.
You can run, you can learn,
But you’ll always return to the long ago.

‍

Between the look and the look away,
I saw paragraph on paragraph of wanting
Written in the space around your eyes
And the corners of your smile.
Between the look and the look away,
I heard, louder than the bells of a cathedral,
Everything you wish that you could ask
If we only were alone,
If you only could be sure
That your wife would never know...
But that’s one more thing than I can handle,
One more cross than I can bear.
God, you’re beautiful,
God, it would be easy to say yes,
But that’s just
One more thing than I can handle,
One more way I mustn’t care.
Take me like a photograph,
Put me in a drawer beside your fantasies,
And leave me there.
Between the look and the look returned,
I made hundreds of frenetic calculations,
Measuring the distance to my train,
And the light inside the bar,
And the force beneath your arms,
What I’d say if we got caught...
But that’s one more thing than I can handle,
One more choice that isn’t fair.
God, you’re beautiful,
God, it would be nice to acquiesce,
If only, if only it weren’t
One more thing than I can handle,
One more never answered prayer.
Close me like a bank account,
Drop me at the bottom of your memories
And leave me there.
Leave me empty,
Leave me dry,
Leave me hanging on the branch to rot.
You might be strong enough,
You might be strong enough...
But I’m not.
I’m not.
It’s just one more thing than I can handle,
One more cross than I can bear.
God, you’re beautiful,
God, it would be easy to say
If only, if only, if only, if only it weren’t
One more thing than I can handle.
One more castle in the air.
Hide me like an accident.
Watch me walk away,
Light me in the window of your could-have-beens,
And leave me there.
Leave me there.
Leave me there

‍

All things in time.
If not today, if not tomorrow,
Then all things in time -
We can’t predict
What comes to pass.
All we control is how we react
And how we recover.
Something like faith,
Deep in our skin:
Everything in its time.
All things in time –
Some things come quick, some things come easy,
But all things will come
Given the chance,
Given the room.
I can’t decide the length of a day,
The depth of an ocean –
I just decide what to explore.
Maybe it’s just wanting it more –
Want it enough,
Want to begin.
Everything in its time.
No way to know –
No guarantees,
Nothing but choices.
Plenty to lose,
Plenty to fear –
Let’s make a deal:
I will be here,
Waiting with you,
Trusting what’s true,
Stumbling blind
But knowing we’ll find
Everything –
Everything in its time

‍

Who’s gonna sing a song about your gun?
Who’s gonna sing a song about the way you feel protected
When you hold it in your arms when day is done?
Who’s gonna sing that song, sir?
Who’s gonna sing a song about your gun?
Who’s gonna tell the world that you feel
grounded and connected
When you wrap your hands around your Remington?
Who’s gonna sing a song about your gun?
All those people at the rodeos and ranges
Putting Freedom First and nothing else above –
Surely one of them could play a couple changes
And then write a verse in praise of what you love.
Someone’s gotta think it would be fun
To sing a little song about your gun, sir.
I can’t sing a song about your gun.
I’ve got twenty-seven other jobs that I’ve
neglected,
And in fact, right now I’ve kinda gotta run,
So I can’t sing a song about your gun.
See, I’m too busy singing songs about my
daughters
And the news I have to hide from them today.
I’m too tired from reading stories about
slaughters
In some little town a half an hour away
By some kid who looks a little like your son,
So I can’t sing a song about your gun, sir.
I’m not interested in your justifi cations
Or the patriotic sermons that you’ve preached.
Pardon me, sir, but I ran right out of patience
Sitting waiting for consensus to be reached.
So honestly, the odds are one-to-one
That I don’t give a shit about your gun, sir.
Who’s gonna sing a song about your gun?
Who’s gonna tell the world you’ve been maligned
and disrespected
And you’re never understood by anyone
Who wouldn’t sing a song about your gun?

‍

Hold up, don’t be mad,
I’ve got some news but it isn’t bad,
Exactly,
It’s just, you’re on your phone a lot less than I
And so this thing might have passed you by.
The other night when we were both at the gala,
I never knew,
Selena Gomez took a pic of me staring at you
And put it up on her Instagram for all to see,
And wrote, “Why can’t someone look like that
at me?”
And within about an hour, yikes,
It had 47 million likes
And a national conversation
About my look
In the pic that Selena took,
And I never told them, but everybody knows,
Everybody knows that I love you.
I never told them, but everybody knows,
Everybody knows how I feel.
I was hoping
You were unaware
Of what I’d never dare express...
Nevertheless,
Apparently it shows,
‘Cause everybody knows.
All right, now look, what I meant,
This doesn’t have to be a big event,
I know it’s been re-grammed, re-posted and
retweeted,
But I’m expecting you to still delete it.
I mean, I’ve been staring like that for at least
a year
And you don’t even know I’m here,
So in spite of all the encouragement the
commenters wrote us,
You can keep on pretending not to notice.
But hey, in case the public response
Makes the lady reconsider what she wants,
I am ready and willing, completely gratis,
To change your relationship status.
I never told you but everybody knows,
Everybody knows that I love you.
I never told you but everybody knows
Everybody knows how I feel.
I was planning
Just to lay down dead
If you never read the clues,
But based on the news,
I might as well propose
‘Cause everybody knows.
I never told them but everybody knows
Everybody knows how I love you.
I never told you but everybody knows
Everybody knows how I feel.
I was dreaming
That you’d be in sync
With what I’d been thinking of –
‘Cause people say that love
Invariably grows
When everybody knows...
And everybody knows.

‍

He passes by,
You catch his eye,
He tilts his head and smiles,
And just like that, he strips away
Your half-hearted denials.
He turns to go
And you don’t know
If it was even real,
But how on Earth can you explain
This uneasiness you feel?
Maybe some primal recognition, baby.
Maybe some signal from the sky.
Tell me why is falling in love so easy,
But staying in love gets harder all the time?
Why is falling in love so easy,
But holding on to love is the hardest hill to climb?
You oversleep
And so you keep
Her waiting for an hour.
You used to charm your way out of this,
But lately you’ve lost that power.
The silence stings;
You think of things
You know you shouldn’t say.
You reach across the table
But she pulls her hand away.
How did you get in this position, baby?
How can you get those tears to dry?
Tell me why is falling in love so easy,
But staying in love gets harder all the time?
Why is falling in love so easy,
But holding on to love is the hardest hill to climb?
Why, when we know how it’s all gonna go,
Do we still find a way to justify
Why?
Hiding inside the heart of each hello, baby,
Is the beginning of goodbye…
Tell me why is falling in love so easy,
But staying in love gets harder all the time?
Why is falling in love so easy,
But holding on to love is the hardest hill to
climb?
Why is falling in love so easy,
But staying in love gets harder all the time?
Why is falling in love so easy,
But holding on to love is the hardest hill to
climb?

‍

I know a room in Memphis, Tennessee
With our names written over the bed.
There is a rose in southern Italy
Growing right in the spot where you once laid
your head.
I have a picture from Mexico
Of a hammock built for two
And there’s you and me and a caravan of angels
Following us close behind.
There goes you and me and a caravan of angels
Any way the road will wind.
Maybe we’ll find the wine has turned,
The fireworks are gone –
There’s still you and me
And the caravan we’re leading on.
In Illinois, I’m told that there’s a ghost
In the house where I first made you cry.
And there’s a phone, just minutes from the coast,
Where you don’t know I heard you tell me a lie.
Right at Columbus and 81st,
There’s a challenge we came through…
And there’s you and me and a caravan of angels
Harmonizing every note.
Observe you and me and a caravan of angels,
Making sure we stay afloat.
And if we wrote a thousand lines
But couldn’t find the song,
There’s still you and me and the caravan to
sing along.
There on the freeway, there on the plane,
There on the playground slide,
Crowding around us, forming a border
Two whole lifetimes wide.
I wrote some words on a Hallmark card
That I wasn’t sure were true,
Until you and me and a caravan of angels
Trusting how the river flows.
There goes you and me and a caravan of angels –
How they found us, nobody knows!
And only those who see this well
Can tell how love is blind.
‘Cause there’s you and me and the summer and the sea
And the big red sun and the tall oak tree
And the people that we call a family:
There’s just you and me and the caravan that
we defined.

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