Texts and Translations:

All texts written by composer unless otherwise noted

Er Und Sie (1849), Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)

Text: Justinus Kerner (1786 - 1862)

Er: Seh’ ich in das stille Tal,

Wo im Sonnenscheine

Blumen prangen ohne Zahl,

Blick’ ich nur auf Eine.

Ach! Es blickt ihr Auge blau

Jetzt auch auf die Auen;

Im Vergissmeinnicht voll Tau

Kann ich es erschauen.

Sie: Tret’ ich an mein Fensterlein,

Wann die Sterne scheinen,

Mögen alle schöner sein,

Blick’ ich nur auf Einen;

Dort gen Abend blickt Er mild

Wohl nach Himmelshöhen,

Denn dort ist ein liebes Bild

In dem Stern zu sehen. 

He: If I gaze into the quiet valley

Where beneath the sun

Flowers gleam without number,

I see but one alone.

Ah! Her blue eyes now

Are also gazing at the meadows;

I can see them

In the dew-drenched forget-me-nots.

She: If I lean out of my little window

At the hour when stars are shining,

Though all of them be fairer,

I see but one alone;

There at dusk he gazes

Gently up to heaven,

For a dear image

Is mirrored there. 

Translations by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005) 

You and Me on the Rock (2021) Brandi Carlile (1981-         )

They build wooden houses on frozen ponds

In the summertime when the water's gone

Diagonal lines in their rolled-out lawns

And the sage always smells so pretty

But nobody cares where the birds have gone

When the rain comes down on Babylon

The stonemason's phone rings all day long

And you gotta get back to the city

I build my house up on this rock, baby

Every day with you

There's nothin' in that town I need

After everything we've been through

Me out in my garden and you out on your walk

Is all the distance this poor girl can take

Without listenin' to you talk

I don't need their money, baby

Just you and me on the rock

It's you and me on the rock

I built paper planes when I learned to fly

Like a 747 fallin' out of the sky

I folded 'em crooked and now I'm wonderin' why

I could always end up in the water

But nobody's askin' why she lookin' so thin

Why she's laughin' too hard, why she drinkin' again

A falling star, she's a paper plane

And she was goin' down when you caught her

It's an earthquake, it's a hard wind

It's a record-breakin' tide and it is rollin' in

It's a big sea, but it can't touch you and me

It's just a water view

And what a view

I don't need their money, baby

It's you and me

You and me on the rock

Puisque tout Passe (1951) Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981)

Text: Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)

Puisque tout passe, faisons

la mélodie passagère;

celle qui nous désaltère

aura de nous raison.

Chantons ce qui nous quitte

avec amour et art;

soyons plus vite

que le rapide départ. 

Since all things flit by,

let’s create a fleeting melody;

the one that slakes our thirst

shall be the one to win us.

Let us sing what leaves us

with love and art;

let us be swifter

than a swift departure. 

Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005) 

End of the World (2008) Matt Alber (1975 -         )

‍ ‍

I don't want to ride this roller coaster

I think I want to get off

But they buckled me down

Like it's the end of the world

If you don't want to have this conversation

Then you better get out

'Cause we're climbing to our death

At least that's what they want you to think

Just in case we jump the track

I have a confession to make

It's something like a cork screw

I don't wanna fall, I don't wanna fly

I don't wanna be dangled over

The edge of a dying romance

But I don't wanna stop

I don't wanna lie

I don't wanna believe it's over

I just wanna stay with you tonight

I didn't mean to scream out quite so loudly

When we screeched to a halt

I'm just never prepared

For the end of the ride

Maybe we should get on something simpler

Like a giant balloon

But I've got two tickets left, and so do you

Instead of giving them away to some stranger

Let's make them count, come on

Let's get back in line again and ride the big one

Don't you want to fall, don't you want to fly

Don't you want to be dangled over

The edge of this aching romance

If it's gonna end, then I wanna know

That we squeezed out every moment

But if there's nothing left can you tell me why

That it is you're holding onto me

Like it's the end of the world

Mon Amour Etait Mort (1904) Adela Maddison (1862 - 1929)

Text: Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941)

Mon amour était mort, ma peine était finie,

Et j’errais sous les cieux pour le leur raconter:

La nuit rêvait avec tant d’harmonie

Que je me suis mis à chanter.

Chanter en t’oubliant ! 

Je chantais l’allégresse 

D’avoir conquis la paix qui doit toujours durer.

Mais je chantais avec tant de tendresse,

Que je me suis mis à pleurer.

My love had died, my pain had ended

And I wandered under the skies to tell them of it:

The night dreamed with such harmony

That I began to sing.

To sing while forgetting you!

I sang of the joy of 

Having conquered the peace which must always remain.

But I sang with such tenderness

That I began to cry.

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2020 by Lucy Fitz Gibbon

Jesus to a Child (1996) George Michael (1963 - 2016)

Kindness

In your eyes, I guess

You heard me cry

You smiled at me

Like Jesus to a child

I'm blessed

I know

Heaven sent

And Heaven stole

You smiled at me

Like Jesus to a child

And what have I learned

From all this pain

I thought I'd never feel the same

About anyone

Or anything again

But now I know

When you find your love

When you know that it exists

Then the lover that you miss

Will come to you on those cold, cold nights

When you've been loved

When you know it holds such bliss

Then the lover that you kissed

Will comfort you when there's no hope in sight

Sadness

In my eyes

No one guessed

Or no one tried

You smiled at me

Like Jesus to a child

Loveless and cold

With your last breath

You saved my soul

You smiled at me

Like Jesus to a child

And what have I learned

From all these tears

I've waited for you all those years

And just when it began

He took your love away

But I still say

When you find love

When you know that it exists

Then the lover that you miss

Will come to you on those cold, cold nights

When you've been loved

When you know it holds such bliss

Then the lover that you kissed

Will comfort you when there's no hope in sight

So the words you could not say

I'll sing them for you

And the love we would have made

I'll make it for two

For every single memory

Has become a part of me

You will always be

My love

Well, I've been loved

So I know just what love is

And the lover that I kissed

Is always by my side

Oh, the lover I still miss

Was Jesus to a child

Mystery of Love (2017) Sufjan Stevens (1975 -       )

‍Oh, to see without my eyes

The first time that you kissed me

Boundless, by the time I cried

I built your walls around me

White noise, what an awful sound

Fumbling by Rogue River

Feel my feet above the ground

Hand of God, deliver me

Oh, whoa, oh, is me

The first time that you touched me

Oh, will wonders ever cease?

Blessed be the mystery of love

How much sorrow can I take?

Blackbird on my shoulder

And what difference does it make

When this love is over?

Shall I sleep within your bed?

River of unhappiness

Hold your hands upon my head

'Til I breathe my last breath

Oh, whoa, oh, is me

The last time that you touched me

Oh, will wonders ever cease?

Blessed be the mystery of love

Les Chemins de L’amour (1940) Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963)

Text: Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh (1910 - 1987)

Les chemins qui vont à la mer

Ont gardé de notre passage,

Des fleurs effeuillées

Et l'écho sous leurs arbres

De nos deux rires clairs.

Hélas! des jours de bonheur,

Radieuses joies envolées,

Je vais sans retrouver traces

Dans mon cœur.

Chemins de mon amour,

Je vous cherche toujours,

Chemins perdus, vous n'êtes plus

Et vos échos sont sourds.

Chemins du désespoir,

Chemins du souvenir,

Chemins du premier jour,

Divins chemins d'amour.

Si je dois l'oublier un jour,

La vie effaçant toute chose,

Je veut, dans mon cœur, qu'un souvenir repose,

Plus fort que l'autre amour.

Le souvenir du chemin,

Où tremblante et toute éperdue,

Un jour j'ai senti sur moi

Brûler tes mains. 

The paths that lead to the sea

have kept, of our passing-by,

flowers with fallen petals

and the echo, beneath their trees,

of both our bright laughters.

Alas! of the days of happiness,

radiant joys now flown,

I wander without finding their trace again

in my heart.

Paths of my love,

I still seek you,

lost paths, you are no more

and your echos are hollow.

Paths of despair,

paths of memory,

paths of the first day,

divine paths of love.

If one day I have to forget him,

life effacing everything,

I wish, in my heart, that one memory should remain,

stronger than the other love.

The memory of the path,

where trembling and utterly bewildered

one day, upon me, I felt

your hands burning. 

© translated by Christopher Goldsack

Why Do They Shut Me Out Of Heaven? (1950)

Aaron Copland (1810 - 1856)

Text: Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)

Why do they shut Me out of Heaven?

Did I sing too loud?

But I can say a little “Minor”

Timid as a Bird!

Wouldn’t the Angels try me

Just once more

Just see if I troubled them

But don’t shut the door!

Oh, if I were the Gentleman

In the “White Robes”

And they were the little Hand that knocked

Would I forbid?

Why do they shut Me out of Heaven?

Did I sing too loud? 

That Shadow, My Likeness (2011)

Clint Borzoni

Text: Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

That shadow, my likeness, that goes to and fro, 

  seeking a livelihood, chattering, chaffering; 

How often I find myself standing and looking at it where it flits, 

How often I question and doubt whether that is really me; 

-- But in these, and among my lovers, and caroling my songs,

O I never doubt whether that is really me.

Red Side of the Moon (2018)

Trixie Mattel (1989 -         )

Judy never asked her for forever

Judy never asked her for the moon

Judy knew that loving her was better

And no one knew her heart like Judy

Judy's never mentioned in the papers

Judy's never noted in the news

Judy knew that loving her was safer

Loving from the red side of the moon

Loving you from the red side of the moon

Loving her was funnier than a Saturday cartoon

Someday is a story and it's the one I'm sticking to

Loving from the red side of the moon

Judy grew up stepping right beside her

Loved her from the cover of the crowds

Judy's heart was beating right beside her

Even with the music loud and

Judy's never minded all the waiting

Judy never thought to watch the clock

Judy knew that loving's in the patience

When the red side of the moon is what we've got

Loving you from the red side of the moon

Loving her was easier than a Kristofferson tune

Someday is a story and it's the one I'm sticking to

Loving from the red side of the moon

Judy left her best days in Chicago

Judy had her worst days in the rain

Middle of the winter with so far to go

And she couldn't keep on hitching to that train

And she still listens to the radio

Late night after midnight she tunes in

Sings along to songs and every word she knows

Remembering when the moon was burning red

Loving you from the red side of the moon

Loving her was heavier than a leaded red balloon

Someday is a story and it's the one I'm sticking to

Loving from the red side of the moon

Misunderstood

Eulis Kay (1983 - )

—-

Schon Rohtraut (1886)

Ethel Smyth (1858 - 1944)

Text: Eduard Mörike (1804 - 1875)

Wie heißt König Ringangs Töchterlein?

  Rohtraut, Schön-Rohtraut.

Was tut sie denn den ganzen Tag,

Da sie wohl nicht spinnen und nähen mag?

  Tut fischen und jagen.

O daß ich doch ihr Jäger wär'!

Fischen and Jagen freute mich sehr.

  -- Schweig stille, mein Herze!

Und über eine kleine Weil',

  Rohtraut, Schön-Rohtraut,

So dient der Knab' auf Ringangs Schloß

In Jägertracht und hat ein Roß,

  Mit Rohtraut zu jagen.

O daß ich doch ein Königssohn wär'!

Rohtraut, Schön-Rohtraut lieb' ich so sehr.

  -- Schweig stille, mein Herze!

Einsmals sie ruh'ten am Eichenbaum,

  Da lacht Schön-Rohtraut:

Was siehst mich an so wunniglich?

Wenn du das Herz hast, küsse mich!

  Ach! erschrak der Knabe!

Doch denket er: mir ist's vergunnt,

Und küsset Schön-Rohtraut auf den Mund.

  -- Schweig stille, mein Herze!

Darauf sie ritten schweigend heim,

  Rohtraut, Schön-Rohtraut;

Es jauchzt der Knab' in seinem Sinn:

Und würdst du heute Kaiserin,

  Mich sollt's nicht kränken:

Ihr tausend Blätter im Walde wißt,

Ich hab' Schön-Rohtrauts Mund geküßt!

  -- Schweig stille, mein Herze!

What is King Ringang's daughter called?

 Rohtraut, pretty Rohtraut.

 What does she do the whole day long,

 since she probably doesn't spin or sew?

 She hunts and fishes.

 O that I were her hunter!

 I love hunting and fishing.

 Be silent, my heart!

 And after a little while,

 Rohtraut, pretty Rohtraut,

 so serves the boy in Ringang's castle

 in hunter's clothes and with a horse,

 to go hunting with Rohtraut:

 O that I were the King's son!

 Rohtraut, pretty Rohtraut, I love so much.

 Be silent, my heart!

 At first they rest by the oak tree,

 Rohtraut, pretty Rohtraut:

 Why do you look at me so wonderingly?

 If you have a heart, kiss me!

 Oh! the boy was startled!

 But he thought, I'm permitted,

 an kissed pretty Rohtraut on the lips.

 Be silent, my heart!

 After that they rode home in silence,

 Rohtraut, pretty Rohtraut;

 the boy rejoiced to himself;

 And if you became Empress today,

 I'd not grieve

 Thousands of your leaves in the forest know,

 I've kissed pretty Rohtraut's lips!

 Be silent, my heart!

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Charles James Pearson

Promiscuity (1954)

Samuel Barber

Text: Anonymous Irish Monk

Translated by Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson (1910 - 1981)

I do not know with whom Edan will sleep,

but I do know that fair Edan will not sleep alone. 

Red Wine Supernova (2023)

Chappell Roan (1998 -         )

She was a Playboy, Brigitte Bardot

She showed me things I didn't know

She did it right there, out on the deck

Put her canine teeth in the side of my neck

I'm in the hallway waitin' for ya

Mini skirt and my go-go boots (uh-huh)

I just want you to make a move

So slow down, sit down, it's new

I just wanna get to know ya

Guess I didn't quite think it through (nah-uh, girl)

Fell in love with the thought of you

Now I'm choked up, face down, burnt out

Baby, why don't you come over?

Red wine supernova, falling into me

(Let's pick it up now)

I don't care that you're a stoner

Red wine supernova, fall right into me

I like (I like) what you like (what you like)

Long hair (no bra) that's my type (that's right)

You just told me, want me to fuck you

Baby, I will 'cause I really want to

Well, back at my house

I've got a California king

Okay, maybe it's a twin bed

And some roommates (don't worry, we're cool)

I heard you like magic

I've got a wand and a rabbit

So baby, let's get freaky, get kinky

Let's make this bed get squeaky

Baby, why don't you come over?

Red wine supernova, falling into me

I don't care that you're a stoner

Red wine supernova, fall right into me

Das Lila Lied, or The Lavender Song Misha Spoliansky 

Text:  Kurt Schwabach (1898 - 1966) (1898 - 1985)

English Adaptation: Ute Lemper (1963 -      )

Round us all up, send us away

That's what you'd really like to do

But we're too strong, proud, unafraid

In fact we almost pity you

You act from fear, why should that be?

What is it that you're frightened of?

The way that we dress? The way that we meet?

The fact that you cannot destroy our love?

We're going to win our rights to lavender days and nights!

Duo Cantilena Translations

Ombre Amene

Pleasant shades,

friendly trees,

my beloved, 

my dear friend --

who can tell me where he went?

Flattering little breeze,

fly to him as a messenger --

say to return and to give me

that peace that I do not have.

Quando sarà quel dì

When will that day come,
when I no longer feel you
always trembling within my breast,
poor heart?

O stars, what cruelty!
There is not a single pleasure
that, when it becomes mine,
does not turn to pain. 

Fra tutte le pene

Among all pains
is there a greater pain?
I am near my beloved,
I sigh with love,
and I dare not tell them:
I sigh for you.
I lack the courage
to suffer so much,
I lack the boldness
to ask for mercy.

I will give my love an apple
I will give my love an apple without e'er a core,

I will give my love a house without e'er a door,

I will give my love a palace wherein she may be,

And she may unlock it without any key.

My head is the apple without e'er a core,

My mind is the house without e'er a door,

My heart is the palace wherein she may be,

And she may unlock it without any key.

Sailor-Boy

We go walking on the green grass

Thus, thus, thus,

Come all you pretty fair maids,

Come walk along with us.

So pretty and so fair

As you take yourself to be,

I'll choose you for a partner,

Come walk along with me.

We go walking on the green grass

Thus, thus, thus.

I would not be a blacksmith

That smuts his nose and chin,

I'd rather be a sailor-boy

That sails thro' the wind.

Sailor-boy, sailor-boy,

Sailor-boy for me,

If ever I get married

A sailor's wife she'll be.

Master Kilby

In the heat of the day

When the sun shines so freely,

There I met Master Kilby,

So fine and so gay.

Then I pull'd off my hat

And I bowed to the ground

And I said: "Master Kilby,

Pray where are you bound?"

"I am bound for the West,

There in hopes to find rest,

And in Nancy's soft bosom

I will build a new nest.

"And if I were the master

Of ten thousand pounds

All in gay gold and silver

Or in King William's crowns.

"I would part with it all

With my own heart so freely,

But it's all for the sake

Of my charming Nancy.

"She's the fairest of girls,

She's the choice of my own heart,

She is painted like waxwork

In every part".

Auf dem wasser zu singen

(To be sung on the water)

Amid the shimmer of the mirroring waves
the rocking boat glides, swan-like,
on gently shimmering waves of joy.
The soul, too, glides like a boat.
For from the sky the setting sun
dances upon the waves around the boat.

Above the tree-tops of the western grove
the red glow beckons kindly to us;
beneath the branches of the eastern grove
the reeds whisper in the red glow.
The soul breathes the joy of heaven,
the peace of the grove, in the reddening glow.

Alas, with dewy wings
time vanishes from me on the rocking waves.
Tomorrow let time again vanish with shimmering
wings, as it did yesterday and today,
until, on higher, more radiant wings,
I myself vanish from the flux of time.

Das fischermädchen

Lovely fisher maiden,
guide your boat to the shore;
come and sit beside me,
and hand in hand we shall talk of love.

Lay your little head on my heart
and do not be too afraid;
for each day you trust yourself
without fear to the turbulent sea.

My heart is just like the sea.
It has its storms, its ebbs and its flows;
and many a lovely pearl
rests in its depths.

Ständchen

Softly my songs plead
through the night to you;
down into the silent grove,
beloved, come to me!

Slender treetops whisper and rustle
in the moonlight;
my darling, do not fear
that the hostile betrayer will overhear us.

Do you not hear the nightingales call?
Ah, they are imploring you;
with their sweet, plaintive songs
they are imploring for me.

Gretchen at the spinning wheel

My peace is gone
My heart is heavy;
I shall never
Ever find peace again.

When he’s not with me,
Life’s like the grave;
The whole world
Is turned to gall.

My poor head
Is crazed,
My poor mind
Shattered.

My peace is gone
My heart is heavy;
I shall never
Ever find peace again.

It’s only for him
I gaze from the window,
It’s only for him
I leave the house.

His proud bearing
His noble form,
The smile on his lips,
The power of his eyes,

And the magic flow
Of his words,
The touch of his hand,
And ah, his kiss!

My peace is gone
My heart is heavy;
I shall never
Ever find peace again.

My bosom
Yearns for him.
Ah! if I could clasp
And hold him,

And kiss him
To my heart’s content,
And in his kisses
Perish!

They understand the heart’s yearning,
they know the pain of love;
with their silvery notes
they touch every tender heart.

Let your heart, too, be moved,
beloved, hear me!
Trembling, I await you!
Come, make me happy!

Bachianas Brasileiras

Evening, a rosy, translucent cloud, slowly crosses the drowsy, beautiful firmament!

The moon gently rises into infinity, adorning the evening, like a sweet maiden dreamily getting ready, making herself beautiful, desiring her soul to be beautiful.

She calls to the heavens, the earth, to all of Nature.

She silences the birds’ melancholy laments, and the sea reflects all her treasures…

Softly the moon awakens, a cruel yearning which laughs and weeps!

Evening, a rosy, translucent cloud, slowly crosses the drowsy, beautiful firmament!

El paño moruno
(The Moorish cloth)

On the delicate fabric in the shop
there fell a stain.
It sells for less
for it has lost its value
Ay!

Seguidilla murciana

People who live in glass houses
shouldn't throw stones at their neighbour's.
We are drovers; it may bewe'll meet on the road!

For your many infidelities I shall compare you
to a peseta passing from hand to hand,
till finally it's worn down –and believing it false
no one will take it

Asturiana

To see if it might console me I drew near a green pine. To see me weep, it wept. And the pine, since it was green, wept to see me weeping!

Nana (Lullaby)

Sleep, little one, sleep, sleep, my darling,
sleep, my little morning star.
Lullay, lullay, sleep, my little morning star.

Polo

Ay!
I have an ache in my heart
of which I can tell no one.
A curse on love, and a curse
on the one who made me feel it!
Ay!

Confiding!

Savior! I’ve no one else to tell

Savior! I've no one else to tell—

And so I trouble thee.

I am the one forgot thee so—

Dost thou remember me?

Nor, for myself, I came so far—

That were the little load—

I brought thee the imperial Heart

I had not strength to hold—

The Heart I carried in my own—

Till mine too heavy grew—

Yet—strangest—heavier since it went—

Is it too large for you?

Ample Make This Bed

Ample make this bed.

Make this bed with awe;

In it wait till judgment break

Excellent and fair.

Be its mattress straight,

Be its pillow round;

Let no sunrise' yellow noise

Interrupt this ground.

This is my letter to the World

This is my letter to the World
That never wrote to Me—
The simple News that Nature told—
With tender Majesty