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Elizabeth Alexander
Elizabeth Alexander (Seafarer Press)
Conversation on a Train (vocal duet, piano)
A courageous conversation across a deep divide.
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Conversation on a Train
Low voice, high voice piano
After facing off at an abortion rights rally, two protesters find themselves sitting side by side on a long train ride. This duet follows their halting steps toward a conversation neither one could ever have imagined.
Performance Notes for the Choral Version (SA or SSAA):
Sopranos and altos should be visibly divided into two “camps,” separated, if possible, by a few feet of physical space. Emotional distance may also be suggested through body language, with singers at times looking or turning away from the opposing side.
The choral arrangement may be performed as a two-part setting, a four-part setting, or a combination of the two. In two-part performances, singers should sing the upper notes unless otherwise indicated. Because the tessitura of the second sopranos lies on the low side, some may wish to sing first alto, and vice versa. Regardless of voicing choices, all singers should stand with the “camp” to which they are aligned.
Composer’s Notes
It took four years, multiple performances, a music theater workshop, a collaborative recording session, and many courageous conversations for me to figure out how to tell this story with grit, honesty, and compassion.
I’ll be writing more about the background of this song soon. In the meantime, have a courageous conversation or two yourself!
-Elizabeth Alexander
Text
Wouldn’t it be just my luck that she’d be on this train,
Sitting by the only empty seat.
But between the rally and my walk here in the rain
I really had to get off of my feet.
So here we are.
With a true and righteous pen the battle lines were drawn
God and country, women, children, rights, and sin.
You and I locked eyes across the crowded courthouse lawn:
The fight was on and you and I were in.
So here we are.
We’ve been riding half an hour now, trying not to touch,
Well aware we’ve got no common ground.
But I’m just as tired of this silent, angry clutch
As of all the fury and the sound.
So here we are. So here we are. So here we are…
None of us expected such a downpour. Can we agree on that?
Not the weather we came into town for. Can we agree on that?
Here’s a picture of my youngest boy, he just turned three last May,
Getting all dressed up in daddy’s shoes and hat.
I wish every child could know such love and laughter. Can we agree on that?
Everyone deserves a job that feeds them. Can we agree on that?
And a sense of right and wrong that leads them. Can we agree on that?
If you ask a dozen women why they wouldn’t want a child,
And ten of them say, “Where’s the money at?”
I suspect that’s something both of us find troubling.
Yes, let’s agree on that.
When the howling of the wolf drowns out every other voice,
The miracle of life brings little reason to rejoice.
Oh that ain’t no kind of life,
and Lord have mercy that’s no choice –
Can we agree that this is not how things should be?
Tearing down each other leads us nowhere. Can we agree on that?
And we both love life, so let’s not go there. Yes, let’s agree on that.
We can hem and haw and hammer, we can legislate and ban,
And fan the flames of this unholy spat,
Or for once we could be listening more than shouting.
So here we are. So here we are. Yes, here we are.
-Elizabeth Alexander © 2025
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