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Elizabeth Alexander
Elizabeth Alexander (Seafarer Press)
Fighting Over What We Believe (SSA + SAB youth choir)
A bold meditation on conflict, communication and compassion.
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Fighting Over What We Believe
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Fighting Over What We Believe
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Fighting Over What We Believe
SSA + SAB youth choir, piano
A compassionate meditation on social and political conflict, with a compelling dialogue of voices and a “call to action” refrain.
Dialogue is a key element of this song, with back-and-forth exchanges between singers reflecting the active engagement present in all powerful conversations. In the intergenerational arrangements of this song, a dialogue is created between adult and youth choirs. In the adult choir arrangements, this dialogue is created by multiple short solos scattered throughout.
To download a free bass part, visit www.elizabethalexander.com.
Composer’s Notes
This commission came with an exciting and irresistible mission: To compose a piece with social justice at its core, which youth and adult choirs could perform together. The church that commissioned the song knew my work already, so I’m sure they suspected that this mission would have me chomping at the bit. And because I already knew of the church’s commitment to unflinching dialogue and bold actions, I knew that this song’s hard edges and difficult questions would be welcome.
While this piece was still in its conceptual stage, Minnesota’s legislature was becoming increasingly polarized and paralyzed. Eventually, this resulted in a full state government shutdown, foreshadowing the federal shutdown that would occur the following year. As I saw the suffering caused by this lack of bipartisan cooperation, I realized I need look no further for my social justice theme. “Fighting Over What We Believe” became a meditation on conflict, communication and compassion, with a dialogue of many voices asking hard, important questions.
-Elizabeth Alexander
Text
Talking left, talking right, talking far into the night,
Splitting hairs, splitting up, splitting off,
Less and more, rich and poor, what to address, what to ignore,
What are we really fighting for?
Persuade, coerce,
Convene, disperse,
Accept or curse?
Deny, confess,
Condemn or bless?
Who lives? Who dies?
My truth, your lies.
Bring in, shut out, what’s that all about?
Who gives out retribution and grace?
What to keep, what to spend,
What to give and what to lend?
Some have not, some have a lot.
Can we learn to share the things we’ve got?
I see us fighting over what we believe, how to love and how to pray.
We begin with hope and resolve and dreams, and end up fighting over what we believe.
I see us fighting over what we believe, leaving spirits poor and lonely.
I want to use my fighting spirit in a different way instead of fighting over what we believe.
I want to wrestle with the angel ‘til the light of dawn,
And struggle with my need for pride.
I want to take on my tendency to turn my head,
And grapple with why it feels so hard to gently lay our differences aside.
(Day, night, wrong, right, no end in sight.)
We all believe in justice. Let’s talk about what that looks like.
And we believe in compassion. Let’s look at what that really means.
We believe in the holy work of listening, to every voice.
Let’s start our conversation there…
Instead of fighting over what we believe. It wears us down and wears us out.
We have eyes to see, we have ears to hear, we have hands that long to give and receive.
I see us fighting over what we believe, leaving spirits poor and lonely.
I want to use my fighting spirit in a different way instead of fighting over what we believe.
(Divide, unite, exclude, invite, day, night, wrong, right, no end in sight.)
We all believe in justice.
Let’s talk about what that looks like.
Elizabeth Alexander
© 2011 by Elizabeth Alexander
$3.00 per licensed PDF
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