LIBRETTo by matt frey

 

PART one

hundreds of

 

Shoes.

There were shoes, hundreds and hundreds of shoes.

Some with the laces still tied up.

The tattered remains…

Ripped shirts.

Stuffed animals.

And hundreds of shoes.

There were hundreds in procession,

       riding the water’s windrows.

Money floating on the surface.

Dollars, marks, rupees, and francs.

And drachmas,

       floating on the surface of the ocean.

Bibles, stuffed animals.

Floating.

Riding on the windrows

       of the water.

Drachmas, hundreds of dollars,

       stuffed animals and rupees,

       dollars and bibles.

Dollars and rupees and hundreds of drachmas

       and bibles.

 

When I arrived there with my children,

       the first thing I saw was the water

       in the back and the front of the lighthouse.

It was like the grave was the water;

       the lighthouse was the tombstone.

It couldn't be a nicer grave.

 

PART two

i guess i’ll

 

I still have nightmares about planes

       for no other reason except that they are in the sky

       and if something goes wrong, they will fall out of the sky.

 

If a car breaks, it stops.

If a plane breaks, it falls.

You have absolutely no control.

You are in an aluminum cylinder,

       and you have nowhere to go.

 

There's no panic, no scream;

       it's a sort of resignation.

I can't think of anything else to do.

I can't think of anything else.

Of anything else.

 

My life didn't flash in front of my eyes.

I saw no bright lights.

I wanted to live.

I cried for my life that would never be.

All I knew at the time was that I was going to die.

It was going to end that day.

I closed my eyes.

I closed my eyes…

 

I guess I'll never get to see that smile.

I guess I'll never get to feel your touch.

I closed my eyes…

I guess I'll never get to find out what could have been.

All I wanted was a phone.

I guess I'll never get to call you.

I guess I’ll never get to tell you how I miss you.

I’ll never see that smile.

It’s been a while.

I guess…

I’ll never get to.

 

PART three

they were going

 

I think it was last Thanksgiving.

I was helping board a Southwest flight.

We were delayed due to some kind of problem, maybe weather.

 

I boarded a really sweet lady and we got talking.

She told me that she had four sons

and that she lost her youngest on Flight One-Eleven.

His name was Patrick and he was her baby.

 

Her son was on his fourth trip to CH.

They were going on a cruise.

I forget the nature of his work.

They were just beginning their life.

Something new he was real excited about.

They had been married little more than a year and wanted a family.

They were heading off on a honeymoon, long delayed.

She had tears in her eyes as we talked and she held my hand.

They were just the kind of people who made you feel at home.

 

She said she had no problem waiting however long the flight was delayed

       to be sure…

They were en route to Geneva.

Off for a two-week vacation.

Flying to Europe to study.

Planning to meet her fiancée.

       …to be sure it was safe to go.

A real sweet lady.

 

 

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