ME = Moderately Easy
M = Medium
MD = Moderately Difficult
D = Difficult
The Journey (adapted from Evelyn K. Dudley)
TTBB a cappella - SEA-075-00 - $3.00/copy6 minutes - M
NEW FOR 2009! - SATB a cappella - SEA-075-01 - $3.50/copy
6 minutes - M
Commissioned by Cincinnati Men's Chorus, Patrick O. Coyle artistic director Winner of the Athena Festival Almquist Award
Commissioned as a tribute to the life and work of Coretta Scott King, this song gives musical voice to the words of Evelyn K. Dudley, one of Mrs. King's caregivers during her last months. This meditation of contemplation and resolve does not place a single individual on a pedestal, but rather speaks to the difficult journey inherent in any life lived with integrity — a journey taken by the rich and disinherited, the powerful and disempowered, the famous and the unsung.
The lyric's refrain, "I'll go alone if I have to," speaks to the loneliness and difficulty of the less traveled road. In performance, ensembles may choose to feature three prominent soloists or use a larger number of incidental soloists.
The composer writes: "When I was writing this song, I was surprised that Evelyn Dudley's words found their way into a style I'd never before used in my choral writing: a soulful idiom reminiscent of mountain gospel. How sweet and delightful that, while making my home in St. Paul, MN at age 44, I find myself returning to a language from my childhood in Appalachian Ohio, about a hundred miles upriver from the musicians who commissioned this piece, Cincinnati Men's Chorus.
SATB - Score (excerpt)
Murray State University Choir ~ Bradley Almquist, conductor
TTBB - Recording (excerpt)
(MP3, .8 MB)Cincinnati Mens Chorus ~ Patrick O. Coyle, conductor
I'll go alone if I have to.
If you're behind me when I begin this journey, stay there, for you will only hinder me.
I'll go alone if I have to.
My footprints will vanish from this trail someday, but the seeds that I sow will remain and grow.
The fragrance from the fruit that is borne will draw those who hunger and thirst, those who seek God in Spirit and Truth.
I'll go alone if I have to.
For at the end of this journey waits a festive table filled with blessings and prayers that I prayed and had forgotten.
Have your fill of these blessings!
Oh, I am tired from the journey, and Jesus bids me rest.
And I will sit on the porch of the kingdom,
And realize the destination was no more important than the journey.
I'll go alone if I have to. On this journey, I'll go alone.
Original text copyright 1998 © by Evelyn K. Dudley
Adapted text © 2007 by Elizabeth Alexander, for use in musical setting only.
I'll go alone if I have to. I'll lay aside every sin and weight which so easily beset me. So if you're behind me when I begin this journey, stay there, for you will only hinder me.
In my basket, in case you are wondering, are seeds to be sown. You see, this is a road less traveled and only a few they'll be that will find it. My footprints will someday vanish from this trail, but the seeds I sow will grow and bear fruit that will remain. The fragrance from this fruit will draw hungry souls to sojourn with me, as we all seek God in Spirit and Truth.
Dust from this road tempts my thirst, but it is not mere water that I thirst for. The cup of destiny contains the substance that will quench my thirst, so only from destiny's cup will I drink.
Eternity has allowed me only a few moments in time, so I must be about my Father's business and find my way back to where I belong. My steps are ordered towards a destination that has been waiting for me since the laying of the world's foundation. If I deviate from this journey, I'll only delay my arrival.
Although my feet are shod with preparation, they still grow weary, so I must stand on the promises of God to gain strength for miles of this road left untrodden.
At the end of this journey waits a festive table filled with blessings and prayers that I prayed and had forgotten. Have your fill of these blessings! Divide them among my progeny to the fourth and fifth generation. For along the way, I've eaten of bread you know not of. I am full.
Tired from my journey, Jesus bids me to rest and extends His hands with an invitation. I'll gladly accept and sit on the porch of the Kingdom to recap my travels, and realize that this journey was just as important as the destination.
© 1998 by Evelyn K. Dudley. Reprinted by permission of the author.
If you can't see the score after the file finishes loading, click here to download the Scorch plug-in.
If you can't see the score after the file finishes loading, click here to download the Scorch plug-in.