2020

Come to Me

for Group Singing

This piece was cowritten by Aaron Alon (music and text) and Alex Berko (music) for Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare’s “Songs of Connection” (previously titled the Songbook Project). This global pandemic has created incredible challenges for our world, but also a rare opportunity. Being forced to take a step back from our routines, we have the chance to reconsider the direction in which we’re headed. We’ve lamented the apparent death of good-faith debate in the US and hope that we can use this moment of stillness to try to approach those who hold beliefs contrary to our own not as villains, foes, or fools, but as fellow humans, bound together through shared humanity, love, and respect. We hope for a kind of discourse where we assume the best of each other and have a meeting of hearts if not always a meeting of minds.

In the march toward our tomorrows,
When our gaze stays fixed and true,
We seldom stop to change directions
Or question what we thought we knew.

But there are days when all is quiet,
When all the rush can disappear,
And in that stillness, we can listen,
In that hush, we might hear.

Come to me to find protection.
Come to me when you despair.
Come to me in imperfection,
Help me learn the way to find you there.

Come to me. Come to me.
Come to me. Come to me.

For when we listen not to hear
But stand in wait to share our views,
When our minds are fixed on winning,
We wage a war we both must lose.

Come to me to find protection.
Come to me when you despair.
Come to me in imperfection,
Help me learn the way to find you there.

Come to me. Come to me.
Come to me. Come to me.

And I’ll know your soul is weary,
And you’ll know how my heart aches,
And if we fail to find each other.
We’ll try again, however long it takes.

Come to me to find protection.
Come to me when you despair.
Come to me in imperfection,
Help me learn the way to find you there.
If you’ll help me, I will find you there.

Come to me. Come to me.
Come to me. Come to me.