The Cloths of Heaven
for SATB choir
Who Knew
for TTBB choir
Length: 7'56"
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Composition Date: 2008
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Commissioned by: The Colours of Music Festival for the Amabile Boys' & Men's Choirs,
Carol Beynon Artistic Director
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Premiered: by Amabile Boys and Men’s Choir, Carol Beynon conductor, on Friday, October 3, 2008 at Central United Church, Barrie, Ontario.
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Text by Val Brandt
I am a terror
I’m in-destructible
I rose from the primeval goo
Enemies fear me
Girls can’t get near me
My daydreams would horrify you
Who knew, who knew.
I am immortal
All things are possible
I’ve ordered the sky to stay blue
Lovers await me
Fortune is calling
All of my dreams will come true.
Who knew, who knew.
(CHORUS)
Who knew life would be shorter and longer and wider
and stranger and sadder and darker than feared
Who knew things could get better and deeper and sweeter
and wonderfully rich or surprisingly weird.
So hoot if it feels good and howl if it doesn’t
Kiss who will have you and breathe while you can
Cherish what’s working and laugh at what isn’t
Failure is simply a change of plans.
Love til your heart is full to bursting
Dance til you’re dizzy, laugh like a loon
Sing every song that’s ever been written
Make up your own if you don’t know the tune.
Don’t be afraid of the slipperiest slope
Life is still life til you run out of rope
Dream on your deathbed of what could still be
For the last thing to leave us is hope.
Who knew, who knew, who knew
The last thing to leave us is hope.
I’m only human
My stress is relentless
The mortgage is endlessly due
But health is my ally
Love is my fortune
And one or two dreams may come true.
Who knew, who knew.
I am contented
though somewhat redundant
My savings should carry me through
Friends are my comfort
Humour sustains me
I’ve forgotten what dreams have come true.
Who knew, who knew.
(CHORUS)
I am immortal
All things are possible
I have ordered the sky to stay blue
Lovers await me
Fortune is calling
All of my dreams will come true
Who knew.
I knew
All of my dreams would come true.
(CHORUS)
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Score Excerpt