Home Is – Carol Barnett

Composer: Carol Barnett

Text by: Mia Lopez, Lucy Raymond, Charlotte Warren Jonathon Bailey, Alexia Miller, Caroline Baxter, Sophia Kisler

Instrumentation: SATB divisi

Duration: Approx. 4 minutes

Date Written:  2019

Composer’s note: Home is…many things: a place (or places), the things in those places, the people and pets that you love and who love you, the familiar sounds, smells and tastes. The music is a kaleidoscope of styles – waltz, gentle syncopation, rap-style chanting, and the evocation of a place “where love is endless, everlasting and eternal.”

Texts

HOME IS…

Home is where love is…
Where you can be sad,
Where you can be happy.
Home is the place you leave every day,
Where you fall and where you rise,
Where you can do anything,
Where you can be anything.
Home is where you feel safe,
Safe and loved.

Home is the blanket my mom pulls out of the dryer.
Home tastes like the cake that my mom cooks.
Home feels like my dog cuddling with me.
Home looks like organized books on a bookshelf.
Home sounds like someone saying, “I love you.”

For me, home is in two different places.
For me, I am part of two different races.
My first home was across the land and sea.
That’s where half my heart will always be.
My second is here.
Oh, can you hear
The instant chatter,
The silverware’s clatter,
The call to home
For the days to come?
Even with your heart in two different places
You can always call both home.

Home is love.
Home is family,
Rich in kindness and joy,
Where your heart abides,
And where all your hopes flourish,
Where love is endless, everlasting and eternal.