🌅 Laurie and Moana

Today I have two songs to share: Aaron Copland’s “Laurie’s Song” from his opera The Tenderland, and Lin Manuel Miranda’s “How Far I’ll Go” from the Disney movie Moana. It may seem like a strange pairing, but I find that while these songs are super different in style, they are in essence the same. The characters who sing the songs, Laurie and Moana, both are grappling with the unsettling feelings they are having about wanting to leave the safety and comfort of home to explore what lies beyond. They use almost identical images of the horizon to describe the invisible pull towards the unknown.

Compare these lyrics, for example:

Laurie: That line between the Earth and sky came beckoning to me.

Moana: See the line where the sky meets the sea, it calls me.

And these:

Laurie: Why am I strange inside?

Moana: What is wrong with me?

Both girls feel conflict between how they feel and how they think they should feel, and yet they both end up inspired to move forward, despite the risk and the potential for failure. Laurie contemplates the possibilities she has in the “world so wide,” and Moana sings “If I go, there’s just no telling how far I’ll go.” I feel inspired by their courage, and maybe you will too!

"Laurie's Song" from The Tenderland by Aaron Copland

I first learned “Laurie’s Song” for a performance class in grad school and I have been working on it with the help of my teacher on and off for the last two years. I just  keep coming back to it, and it’s turned into a useful diagnostic for how I am growing vocally. At first I used to really struggle to even get through the whole song consistently, and now it feels pretty ok :) I’ve got a ways to go with my classical singing technique yet, but “little by little” I’ll grow. I really wish I had a recording from two years ago so that you could hear the change that is possible with the help of a knowledgeable, empathetic teacher (Kristen Ruiz- check her out at sonauravoice.com), and lots and lots and lots of practice.

"How Far I'll Go" from Moana by Lin Manuel Miranda

I wouldn’t be singing Moana if it weren’t for one of my newest students. She is so cool- she moved here from Montana for a job at Etsy and she is taking singing lessons (and guitar lessons) as a creative outlet. Anyway, she wanted to sing this song, as so I prepared for her lesson, I sang through the song myself and realized how incredibly fun it was! I do feel rather silly singing the line “maybe I can roll with mine”  because I'm not really cool like that😆...

That's all for now! Thanks for reading and listening.

- Kate