Resources for the “My Hometown” choir.
The choral parts of “My Hometown” occur during two choruses and one bridge section of the piece. During the first chorus, only the first page of the score is performed. When the second chorus occurs again later in the piece, it is followed immediately by the bridge part, which is page two of the score.
During the recording session, you will be singing a cappella, and Mike, the director, will be listening to the original performance while conducting. The score and part-prominent rehearsal tracks are provided below. To give you a sense of the piece, there is a rough mix of the vocal and guitar performance as well. The lyrics are also provided for context.
Mike and Carleen’s (rough edit) vocal and guitar tracks for “My Hometown”:
My Hometown (Carleen McCornack)
Life was safe, on the streets of my hometown,
I was born in the 50’s, a flower child of the 60’s.
But we saw the troubles, riots and war,
Far from the doors, in our hometown.
Then letters came, to the boys in our hometown,
Their numbers were up and they boarded the bus.
Best friends and brothers, sons and young men,
Called to defend, foreign ground.
Brave and true, they walked the path
Through the darkness of their days,
In the shadows of the past,
Where those before us paved the way,
And they stayed.
Today I walked, through the streets of my hometown,
Walking with neighbors, I was walking with strangers.
Shoulder to shoulder, our signs in the air,
Flags everywhere, upside down.
Today they marched, through the streets of their hometowns,
Marching for neighbors, they were marching for strangers.
Shoulder to shoulder, their signs in the air,
Flags everywhere, upside down.
We will march and we will walk this path,
Through the darkness of our days.
In the shadows of the past,
Where those before us paved the way,
And we will stay.
God, lift us from our knees,
To walk in the light of all our candles.
Burning away the fear,
Of what’s so hard to handle.
Today we walked, through the streets of our hometowns,
Flags everywhere, upside down.