Cardboard Citizens and Bristol Old Vic Song Project: "I'm Alive"
7 Jan 2020
Photography: Chelsey Cliff
Over the last 3 months, Bristol Old Vic's Engagement Department have been working closely with Cardboard Citizens, a theatre company that makes work for and with people with lived experience of homelessness.
Out of this partnership, a group of talented creatives have formed, who have worked with Musical Director of A Christmas Carol, Gwyneth Herbert, to write and compose a song based on their experience, titled "I'm Alive".
Listen here: https://bit.ly/2sTX8NH
VERSE 1
The cold and distant circle / of the pinprick Saturn sun
The claggy dregs of tepid tea that turn my senses numb
Even my breath leaves me like a broken memory
Bobo softly crying... flicks his tail dismissively
CHORUS:
WAKING IN THE MORNING
THE STRUGGLE TO SURIVE
SEARCHING FOR MY DAY AND ONLY FINDING…
I’M ALIVE
VERSE 2
The bright and blinding sharpness / of the sun-stained heavy light
My breath a suffocating fog that leaves my lungs in in flight
Chewing on my furry tea, the surface starts to breed
Bob creeping, scratching, mewing…. constantly in need
CHORUS:
WAKING IN THE MORNING
THE STRUGGLE TO SURIVE
SEARCHING FOR MY DAY
AND FINDING I’M ALIVE
WAKING IN THE MORNING
THE STRUGGLE TO SURIVE
SEARCHING FOR MY DAY AND ONLY FINDING…
I’M ALIVE…
But I dream of the seeds I could scatter
And I reach for the peace in my mind
And I think of the smiles of my children
And all of the faces I’ve left behind
I feel every feeling that finds me
And find that I’m finding my way
New breathe, new page, new day….
VERSE 3
The warm calico sunlight, the blue glass of the sky
Smoky, shiny Bobo / In my crook resides
My breath is silver pixie dust that shimmers in the breeze
The sweet refreshing hit of tea / the warming glow that stays
CHORUS:
WAKING IN THE MORNING
DETERMINED TO THRIVE
OPEN TO MY DAY
NOW I’M FINDING I’M ALIVE
WAKING IN THE MORNING
DETERMINED TO THRIVE
OPEN TO MY DAY
NOW THAT I’M FINDING… I’M ALIVE
