mayortergin

MSU Chorale with Director Cameron LaBarr, Inauguration 2017

The Missouri State University Chorale performed an original song for over 40 million people around the world during #Inauguration2017.  “Now We Belong” by poet Michael Dennis Browne and composer John Wykoff, performed January 20, 2017 at the Presidential Inauguration in Washington, DC.

“The opportunity,” Browne said, “is to say something as vividly and wholeheartedly as possible on an occasion which draws the scrutiny of the entire world.”

“Now We Belong” 

Here are the voices of every creature,
Here are the calls of every heart;
Here is the place of strangers’ welcome,
We who once walked in strangers’ shoes.
Once we were strangers,
We were welcomed,
Now we belong and believe in this land.

Here are the rivers of many echoes,
Here are the leaves of every tree;
Within us live the long horizons,
Winds that stir the sacred stones.
Once we were strangers,
We were welcomed,
Now we belong and believe in this land.

Keep faith, keep watch,
Take heart, take courage,
Guard mind, guard spirit.
Feed love, feed longing.

Here are the cities where we have gathered,
Here are the barns where hope is stored;
We are the gleams of every being,
Filled with the dreams that build the day.
Once we were strangers,
We were welcomed,
Now we belong and believe in this land.

Keep faith,
Guard mind,
Take heart,
Guard spirit,
Take courage,
Keep watch.
Feed longing,
Feed love.

MSU Chorale members, #FeedLove!

#ProudMayor #ProudBear!