Intertwined

A warm, down-to-earth ballad about deep connection

Music: Elizabeth Alexander

Words: Elizabeth Alexander

Intertwined is an invitation into the deep listening that leads to authentic relationship. Its forthright lyrics are paired with rich folk harmonies and resonant vocal lines. Whether sung on a back porch or on a concert stage, this contemplative song is a timely reminder that “a meeting of the minds begins with a meeting of the hearts.”

This publication contains flexible options for your vocal forces and programming needs, from a graceful 2-part duet with optional descant to a fully realized concert arrangement. It also includes a handy program insert in case you’d like to invite your audience to sing along!

The lead sheet for the 2-part duet with optional descant is included in Singing City Songbook, a community singing resource compiled by the Philadelphia’s inclusive and socially-impactful avocational chorus, Singing City.

“I love Intertwined…beautiful text, elegantly simple/wistful musical setting…well done!” Kyle Pederson, Composer, Pianist, Educator (Minneapolis, MN)

Details and Ordering Information

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SSA a cappella or 2-3 part choir

Choral Score

Composer Notes

There are many ways to sing this song!

If you want to keep it sweet and simple, go straight to page 12. There you’ll find an intimate, unvarnished duet for solo or choral singers that feels just as welcome on the back porch as it does on the concert stage.
Sure ’nuff, there’s an optional descant! When you first add the descant you may wish to highlight its lyrics by singing the two other parts on “oo.”
As much as I like partner songs, sometimes concert performances benefit from fully written-out scores. The SSA arrangement gradually weaves everything together into an artfully intertwined braid, closing with a graceful coda.
If you want to invite your audience to sing along, by all means do! On the back of this publication you’ll find the melody line formatted as a program insert. There is no additional charge for printing or projecting the insert in conjunction with your choral performance. Learn about other types of congregational and event licensing here.

However you choose to sing this song, always remember what it’s about. If we long for a meeting of the minds – and I for one dearly long for that – it begins not with logic and persuasion but with openness and relationship. It begins with a meeting of the hearts.

Text

Intertwined

Intertwined with every thought
Is a tender strand that life has wrought.
There’s a hope, a fear, a love or grief
Braided through each deep belief.
Intertwined, intertwined,
That is how we’re all designed.
Look within and you will find
Heart and mind intertwined.

Listen to the daily bread and the nightly prayer.
Listen to the newborn baby and the empty chair.
Listen to the promise made and the story told.
Listen to the hidden need and the inner gold.
Listen to the open hand and the furrowed brow.
Listen to the long lost dream and the here and now.
Listen to the sum of all the broken parts.
A meeting of the minds begins with a meeting of the hearts.