1. Hope 2. Melinda No one knows, no one cares, 3. Invisible But that kid by the stairs November 9, 2016 2015 2016 Has a song inside him that will blow you all As part of a collaboration with Broadway a w ay. I come to sing a song about hope. Friday morning, Inspirational Voices and the Manhattan chapter of Ronald McDonald House, this song was I’m not inspired much right now, but even so, Early su m m er. Down here on the street someone’s playing mambo written for Josie Ramnanan, a sassy and tough I came out here to sing a song. So here I go. Mama’s still layin’ deep Someone’s playing be-bop little girl in a very big wheelchair whose mom I guess I think Dead asleep Like abuela’s old LP. told me she “just doesn’t want to be invisible.” That if I tinker long enough, one might appear. With the curtains drawn I can hear the sound of the Bronx exploding And look! It’s here. And her head underneath the blanket. And I say, “Melinda! One verse is done. When they gonna notice me?” Guess what I’m doing sitting in this chair. The work’s begun. Crack the front door. I’m shooting lightning bolts across the sky. Up the stairwell, Out there on the street, someone’s tagging You hear that thunder rolling through the air? I come to sing a song about hope. Past the stink of the frying su bways, That’s how you know that I’ll be rolling by. In spite of everything ridiculous and sad, And the dying Someone’s jumping fences, You think that isn’t how I’m meant to be? Though I’m beyond belief depressed, confused ’Til I hit the roof, Someone’s cursing at the moon. You don’t know my secret identity! and mad, Pull my transistor out and crank it. Meanwhile, some clown gets a million-dollar Well – I got dressed. contract, Here I go – look at me! I underestimated how much that would take. Friday morning – 7:30, And I said, “Melinda! There’s a lot I can be, but I won’t be I didn’t break New York City, grand and dirty, This story better change soon!” invisible. Until right now. Creeping out of the shadows like a whore. Here I go! I sing of hope Look around – somewhere near, Out there on the street, they’ve been shooting Breaking out, breaking free – no, I won’t be And don’t know how. In the ground I can hear cop cars, invisible. There’s a sound – something no one ever noticed They’ve been torching high schools – Don’t try to tell me what I cannot do. So maybe I can substitute “strength,” before. There ain’t nothin’ that can grow! Take down the barricades, I’m coming through! Because I’m strong. All I got is a crazy fortune teller, Here I go – now you know! I’m strong enough. Down there on the street someone’s playing And I said, “Melinda! Just ‘cause you can’t see me, I got through lots of things I didn’t think I salsa. Tell me where I gotta go!” It don’t make me invisible. could, Someone’s playing disco. And so did you. Someone’s making something burn. Jason Robert Brown: piano and vocals You see me coming in your rear view fast – I know that’s true. Someone plugged in a guitar and is shooting Gary Sieger: acoustic guitar You duck and weave and try to block my way. fi r e w o r k s , Justin Goldner: electric guitar But like a lightning bolt I slip right past. And so we sing a song about hope. And I say, “Melinda! Randy Landau: electric bass I don’t have time to waste on you today. Though I can’t guarantee there’s something real When’s it gonna be my turn?” Jamie Eblen: drums No point in telling me I won’t succeed – behind it, I’ve got a better life I’m gonna lead! Benny Koonyevsky: percussion I have to try to show my daughters I can fi nd it, Friday midnight – Chris Eminizer: tenor sax solo And so today – Try to fi nd me! Here I go – look at me! When life is crazy and impossible to bear – I’m the boy with his feet Tony Kadleck: trumpets There’s a lot I can be, but I won’t be It must be there. On the street Joe Fiedler: trombone invisible. Fear never wins. Hunting down the sound Mercedes Beckman: alto sax Here I go! That’s what I hope. With his ears like an antenna. Rob DeBellis: tenor sax Breaking out, breaking free – no, I won’t be See? I said “hope.” Todd Reynolds (concertmaster), Tomo Akaboshi, Janey Choi, invisible. The work begins. Through the kitchens, Kiku Enomoto, Katherine Livolsi-Landau, Louise Owen: violin Don’t try to tell me what I cannot do. Past the bouncers, Take down the barricades, I’m coming through! Monica Davis, Pam Jacobson: viola Jason Robert Brown: piano and vocals Those cabróns with their shades Here I go – now you know! And the blades Summer Boggess, Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf: cello Just ‘cause you can’t see me, Enjoying their latest shipment from Cartagena. It don’t make me invisible.

Couples shouting, couples swaying, I was lost in the dark, All the while the band is playing I was deep in the ground, Old shit any wedding band could play. I was hidden away When the light came around. That I’m telling the truth. It starts out as nothing, See that kid in the breeze? But I clawed my way out – ’Cause fi fty years isn’t And grows ‘til it’s fi fty years long. I keep telling him “Easy does it.” And I’m on the attack. Some fairy-tale story, You start out with nothing That’s the problem with him, I will not disappear Some Hollywood horseshit, And grow something fi fty years long. It was never that simple, really, was it? And I’m not going back! Some old country song – It starts out as nothing Jason Robert Brown: piano, Hammond organ and vocals I’m walking on hallowed ground. Here I go – look at me! And grows ’til it’s fi fty years long. Gary Sieger: electric guitar I’m checking out every clue. There’s a lot I can be, but I won’t be Randy Landau: upright bass I’m seeing my life unwound invisible. One year is easy, Jamie Eblen: drums And assembled anew. Here I go! And fi ve years, whatever; Todd Reynolds, Katherine Livolsi-Landau: violin Then I hear that line: Breaking out, breaking free – no, I won’t be And ten years, or twelve, “Dad, relax, I’m fi ne,” Monica Davis: viola invisible. Now you’re starting to learn – And she’s running off. Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf: cello Don’t try to tell me what I cannot do. It’s climbing and driving And she’ll stand here one day Take down the barricades, I’m coming through! And giving up something, Watching me walk away in the long ago. Here I go – told you so! And praying you like You can run, you can learn, Just ‘cause you can’t see me, What you got in return. 5. Hallowed Ground But you’ll always return to the long ago. You can’t see me, And what is this city? 2016 You can’t see me, And who are these people? Jason Robert Brown: piano, Hammond organ and vocals It don’t make me invisible. And how did we get here, Gary Sieger: electric guitar And did we go wrong? I’m walking on hallowed ground. Randy Landau: electric bass Jason Robert Brown: electric piano and vocals I’m breathing in ancient air. But keep holding hands, kids – Jamie Eblen: drums Gary Sieger: acoustic guitar (center) & 12-string acoustic I’m hearing a long-lost sound You grew something fi fty years long. Benny Koonyevsky: percussion guitar From the water down there – It’s a distant beat Todd Reynolds (concertmaster), Tomo Akaboshi, Janey Choi, Justin Goldner: acoustic guitars (left and right) It’s fi fty years fi ghting Pulsing through the heat of the long ago. Kiku Enomoto, Katherine Livolsi-Landau, Louise Owen: violin Randy Landau: upright bass And fi fty years dancing And fi fty years chancing the wheel. Monica Davis, Pam Jacobson: viola Jamie Eblen: drums It’s fi fty years reaching I’m walking on hallowed ground. Summer Boggess, Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf: cello Benny Koonyevsky: percussion And fi fty years growing I’m stepping on sacred bones. Todd Reynolds (concertmaster), Tomo Akaboshi, Janey Choi, And fi fty years knowing it’s real. Another new fossil found Kiku Enomoto, Katherine Livolsi-Landau, Louise Owen: violin It’s real. In the silt and the stones, 6. One More Thing Than I Can Handle Monica Davis, Pam Jacobson: viola Just beyond this hill In the sultry still of the summer. 2006 Summer Boggess, Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf: cello Funny how someone I am trying to fi nd Jesse Warren-Nager (leader), Anne Fraser Thomas, Brad Looks fi fty years different Something I left behind in the long ago. Between the look and the look away, Greer, Capathia Jenkins, Jamison Scott, Julius Thomas III, But still looks the same, Give or take, more or less. I saw paragraph on paragraph of wanting Suzanne Fiore, Rebecca Covington: choir It’s funny to think, I’m walking on hallowed ground. Written in the space around your eyes Eighteen thousand days later, I’m holding my daughter’s hand. And the corners of your smile. What you might have been I’m taking a look around Between the look and the look away, 4. Fifty Years Long If you hadn’t said yes. Where my Dad used to stand I heard, louder than the bells of a cathedral, When he’d watch me play 2015 But look at us crying Everything you wish that you could ask On some sun-scorched day in the long ago. for Dianne and Bill Mooney and the Red And look at us laughing – If we only were alone,

Mountain Theatre Company, Birmingham, AL And here’s what we’re thinking, If you only could be sure In case it’s not clear: I’m following faded trails That your wife would never know... If that love could happen From when I was twelve years old. Fifty years started In West Pennsylvania, I’m fi shing out new details But that’s one more thing than I can handle, In West Pennsylvania. Who knows what could happen right here? In the stories I’ve told, One more cross than I can bear. It could have been Paris Like the hearts I broke, God, you’re beautiful, Or Rome or Duluth, So come tell the story Like the truth unspoken in summer. God, it would be easy to say yes, But fi fty years started Of how you can do it: Turn a corner and then But that’s just In West Pennsylvania It’s love and it’s luck I am right back again in the long ago. One more thing than I can handle, And that’s how you know And it’s sacred and strong. One more way I mustn’t care. Take me like a photograph, 7. All Things in Time When you hold it in your arms when day is done? 9. Everybody Knows Put me in a drawer beside your fantasies, Who’s gonna sing that song, sir? 2009 2017 And leave me there. Who’s gonna sing a song about your gun? Between the look and the look returned, All things in time. Who’s gonna tell the world that you feel Hold up, don’t be mad, I made hundreds of frenetic calculations, If not today, if not tomorrow, grounded and connected I’ve got some news but it isn’t bad, Measuring the distance to my train, Then all things in time - When you wrap your hands around your Remington? E x a c t ly, And the light inside the bar, We can’t predict Who’s gonna sing a song about your gun? It’s just, you’re on your phone a lot less than I And the force beneath your arms, What comes to pass. And so this thing might have passed you by. What I’d say if we got caught... All we control is how we react All those people at the rodeos and ranges The other night when we were both at the gala, And how we recover. Putting Freedom First and nothing else above – I never knew, But that’s one more thing than I can handle, Something like faith, Surely one of them could play a couple changes Selena Gomez took a pic of me staring at you One more choice that isn’t fair. Deep in our skin: And then write a verse in praise of what you love. And put it up on her Instagram for all to see, God, you’re beautiful, Everything in its time. Someone’s gotta think it would be fun And wrote, “Why can’t someone look like that God, it would be nice to acquiesce, To sing a little song about your gun, sir. at me?” If only, if only it weren’t All things in time – And within about an hour, yikes, One more thing than I can handle, Some things come quick, some things come easy, I can’t sing a song about your gun. It had 47 million likes One more never answered prayer. But all things will come I’ve got twenty-seven other jobs that I’ve And a national conversation Close me like a bank account, Given the chance, neglected, About my look Drop me at the bottom of your memories Given the room. And in fact, right now I’ve kinda gotta run, In the pic that Selena took, And leave me there. I can’t decide the length of a day, So I can’t sing a song about your gun. The depth of an ocean – And I never told them, but everybody knows, Leave me empty, I just decide what to explore. See, I’m too busy singing songs about my Everybody knows that I love you. Leave me dry, Maybe it’s just wanting it more – daughters I never told them, but everybody knows, Leave me hanging on the branch to rot. Want it enough, And the news I have to hide from them today. Everybody knows how I feel. You might be strong enough, Want to begin. I’m too tired from reading stories about I was hoping You might be strong enough... Everything in its time. slaughters You were unaware But I’m not. In some little town a half an hour away Of what I’d never dare express... I’m not. No way to know – By some kid who looks a little like your son, Nevertheless, No guarantees, So I can’t sing a song about your gun, sir. Apparently it shows, It’s just one more thing than I can handle, Nothing but choices. ‘Cause everybody knows. One more cross than I can bear. Plenty to lose, I’m not interested in your justifi cations God, you’re beautiful, Plenty to fear – Or the patriotic sermons that you’ve preached. All right, now look, what I meant, God, it would be easy to say Let’s make a deal: Pardon me, sir, but I ran right out of patience This doesn’t have to be a big event, If only, if only, if only, if only it weren’t I will be here, Sitting waiting for consensus to be reached. I know it’s been re-grammed, re-posted and One more thing than I can handle. Waiting with you, So honestly, the odds are one-to-one retweeted, One more castle in the air. Trusting what’s true, That I don’t give a shit about your gun, sir. But I’m expecting you to still delete it. Hide me like an accident. Stumbling blind I mean, I’ve been staring like that for at least Watch me walk away, But knowing we’ll fi nd Who’s gonna sing a song about your gun? a year Light me in the window of your could-have-beens, Everything – Who’s gonna tell the world you’ve been maligned And you don’t even know I’m here, And leave me there. Everything in its time. and disrespected So in spite of all the encouragement the Leave me there. And you’re never understood by anyone commenters wrote us, Leave me there. Jason Robert Brown: piano and vocals Who wouldn’t sing a song about your gun? You can keep on pretending not to notice. But hey, in case the public response Kate McGarry: vocals Jason Robert Brown: electric piano and vocals Makes the lady reconsider what she wants, Jason Robert Brown: piano 8. A Song About Your Gun Gary Sieger: acoustic guitar (right) I am ready and willing, completely gratis, Keith Ganz: acoustic guitar (left) 2016 Justin Goldner: acoustic guitar (left) To change your relationship status. Gary Sieger: acoustic guitar (right) Randy Landau: upright bass Randy Landau: electric fretless bass Jamie Eblen: drums I never told you but everybody knows, Who’s gonna sing a song about your gun? Everybody knows that I love you. Brian Dunne: drums Todd Reynolds: violin solo Who’s gonna sing a song about the way you feel protected I never told you but everybody knows Everybody knows how I feel. And you don’t know Jamie Eblen: drums That I wasn’t sure were true, I was planning If it was even real, Judy Yin-Chi Lee: French horn Until you and me and a caravan of angels Just to lay down dead But how on Earth can you explain Todd Reynolds (concertmaster), Tomo Akaboshi, Janey Choi, Trusting how the river fl ows. If you never read the clues, This uneasiness you feel? Kiku Enomoto, Katherine Livolsi-Landau, Louise Owen: violin There goes you and me and a caravan of angels – But based on the news, Maybe some primal recognition, baby. Monica Davis, Pam Jacobson: viola How they found us, nobody knows! I might as well propose Maybe some signal from the sky. And only those who see this well ‘Cause everybody knows. Summer Boggess, Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf: cello Can tell how love is blind. Tell me why is falling in love so easy, ‘Cause there’s you and me and the summer and the sea I never told them but everybody knows But staying in love gets harder all the time? And the big red sun and the tall oak tree Everybody knows how I love you. Why is falling in love so easy, 11. Caravan of Angels And the people that we call a family: I never told you but everybody knows But holding on to love is the hardest hill to climb? 2010 There’s just you and me and the caravan that Everybody knows how I feel. w e d e fi n e d . I was dreaming You oversleep That you’d be in sync And so you keep I know a room in Memphis, Tennessee Jason Robert Brown: piano, Hammond organ and vocals With what I’d been thinking of – Her waiting for an hour. With our names written over the bed. Gary Sieger: electric guitar ‘Cause people say that love You used to charm your way out of this, There is a rose in southern Italy Randy Landau: electric bass Growing right in the spot where you once laid Invariably grows But lately you’ve lost that power. Brian Dunne: drums your head. W h e n e v e r y b o d y k n o w s... The silence stings; Jimmy Greene: tenor sax solo And everybody knows. You think of things I have a picture from Mexico Tony Kadleck: trumpet You know you shouldn’t say. Of a hammock built for two Joe Fiedler: trombone Jason Robert Brown: electric piano and vocals You reach across the table Gary Sieger: electric guitar But she pulls her hand away. And there’s you and me and a caravan of angels Mercedes Beckman: tenor sax Justin Goldner: electric guitar How did you get in this position, baby? Following us close behind. Rob DeBellis: baritone sax There goes you and me and a caravan of angels Randy Landau: electric bass How can you get those tears to dry? Jesse Warren-Nager (leader), Anne Fraser Thomas, Brad Any way the road will wind. Jamie Eblen: drums Greer, Capathia Jenkins, Jamison Scott, Julius Thomas III, Tell me why is falling in love so easy, Maybe we’ll fi nd the wine has turned, Benny Koonyevsky: percussion Suzanne Fiore, Rebecca Covington: choir But staying in love gets harder all the time? The fi reworks are gone – Tony Kadleck: trumpet and flugelhorn Why is falling in love so easy, There’s still you and me Joe Fiedler: trombone But holding on to love is the hardest hill to climb? And the caravan we’re leading on. 12. Wait ’Til You See What’s Next Mercedes Beckman: alto sax Rob DeBellis: flute and tenor sax Why, when we know how it’s all gonna go, In Illinois, I’m told that there’s a ghost 2015 Todd Reynolds (concertmaster), Tomo Akaboshi, Janey Choi, Do we still fi nd a way to justify In the house where I fi rst made you cry. And there’s a phone, just minutes from the coast, Kiku Enomoto, Katherine Livolsi-Landau, Louise Owen: violin Why? Monday comes and it feels like the end of the line. Where you don’t know I heard you tell me a lie. Monica Davis, Pam Jacobson: viola There’s nothing to say, Hiding inside the heart of each hello, baby, Right at Columbus and 81st, There’s nowhere to go, Summer Boggess, Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf: cello Is the beginning of goodbye… There’s a challenge we came through… There’s no one to listen. Jesse Warren-Nager (leader), Anne Fraser Thomas, Brad Tell me why is falling in love so easy, One day comes, I decide to reclaim what is mine. Greer, Capathia Jenkins, Jamison Scott, Julius Thomas III, But staying in love gets harder all the time? And there’s you and me and a caravan of angels In spite of myself, Suzanne Fiore, Rebecca Covington: choir Why is falling in love so easy, Harmonizing every note. I’m dying to know But holding on to love is the hardest hill to Observe you and me and a caravan of angels, climb? Making sure we stay afl oat. What’s across the road, 10. The Hardest Hill Why is falling in love so easy, And if we wrote a thousand lines What’s behind the wall. But couldn’t fi nd the song, 2015 But staying in love gets harder all the time? What’s around the corner? Why is falling in love so easy, There’s still you and me and the caravan to And what will it take ‘til I fi nd my way? But holding on to love is the hardest hill to sing along. Will it be today? He passes by, climb? Will it be too late? You catch his eye, There on the freeway, there on the plane, Wait ’til you see what’s next. He tilts his head and smiles, Jason Robert Brown: piano, Hammond organ and vocals There on the playground slide, Just beyond the hill, And just like that, he strips away Gary Sieger: electric guitar Crowding around us, forming a border Just along the river, Your half-hearted denials. Randy Landau: electric bass Two whole lifetimes wide. There’s something that’s pulling me out the door. He turns to go I wrote some words on a Hallmark card Try for something more! Try for something great! Jason Robert Brown: piano and vocals Produced by Jeffrey Lesser and Cover Illustration: Jon Han And wait ’til you see what’s next!” Michael Aarons: electric guitar Photography: Matthew Murphy Randy Landau: electric bass Jason Robert Brown Step by step, when it’s hard just to see or to hear, Jamie Eblen: drums FROM JRB: So many of the people credited on the A ripple of doubt, Tony Kadleck: trumpets Executive Producers: Stacey Mindich preceding pages have given their talent, time and A slack in the pace, Joe Fiedler: trombone support to me and this project in innumerable A small hesitation – and Kurt Deutsch ways over the twelve years that it took for Judy Yin-Chi Lee: French horn Step by step, then at last, when the fog starts this album to emerge, but in particular, these to clear, Mercedes Beckman: alto sax Recorded and mixed by Jeffrey Lesser songs and recordings would not exist without I open my eyes… Rob DeBellis: tenor saxes Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown the exceptional partnership of my co-producer I’m ready to see Todd Reynolds (concertmaster), Tomo Akaboshi, Janey Choi, Vocal and orchestral arrangements by Jason and engineer for the past two decades, Jeffrey Kiku Enomoto, Katherine Livolsi-Landau, Louise Owen: violin Robert Brown Lesser; Marc Kaplan, who has given me an artistic What’s across the road, Monica Davis, Pam Jacobson: viola Music preparation by John Blane and Eddie Bean home at SubCulture; and my band, particularly What’s behind the wall, Summer Boggess, Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf: cello Randy Landau and Gary Sieger, who fi lled these What’s around the corner. Recorded at John Kilgore Sound and Recording, songs with their inventiveness and love. In Jesse Warren-Nager (leader), Anne Fraser Thomas, Brad And what if it’s not what I thought I’d see? New York, NY, May 2017-January 2018 (Additional addition, I’d like to thank the following people Greer, Capathia Jenkins, Jamison Scott, Julius Thomas III, If it’s not for me, engineers: John Kilgore, Wes Hovanak, Alex Conroy, who helped make this album a dream and a reality: Chalk it up to Fate, Suzanne Fiore, Rebecca Covington: choir Caio Bortoletto) Andy Waterman, Lance Freed, Mark Sendroff, Sean And wait ’til you see what’s next! Patrick Flahaven, Bill Gaden and Dana Siegel, Just beyond the hill, Orchestra recorded at The Bunker Studio, John Blane, Craig Bundy, Kristin Chenoweth, Just along the river, Brooklyn, NY, September 2017 (Additional Anika Noni Rose, Hal and Judy Prince, Michael You thought that you knew how the path could turn – engineers: Todd Carder, Neal Shaw) McElroy, Keith Cromwell, Ariana Grande, Fred Something more to learn! Hersch, Shoshana Bean, Daisy Prince, and for Open up the gate… “One More Thing Than I Can Handle” recorded their invaluable input in the home stretch, Alex And wait for the story you’ve never seen; at Clinton Studios, New York, NY, October 2006; Lacamoire, David O, Andrew Resnick and Jon Baker. Wait for the bloom on the bough. vocal recorded at SoundPure Recording Studios, The world’s biggest hugs to Stacey Mindich, who Wait – there’s a fl icker across the screen – Durham, NC, April 2011 gave me the fi nal push to make this album happen, Coming soon! and to Kurt Deutsch, who’s stood behind eight Coming now! Additional recording at Shelter Island Sound, albums’ worth of my work. Finally: what makes it New York, NY (Additional engineer: Ray Aldaco) all possible and at all meaningful is my partner Just across the road, and my favorite set of ears, Georgia Stitt, and Just behind the wall, Mixed and edited by Jeffrey Lesser at Jet Laser our glorious daughters, Molly Cate and Susannah, Just around the corner, Productions the future of the world. A new bit of history there to write – Something you all might Mastering by Ryan Smith, Sterling Sound, New York, NY Please consider a donation to the Brady Center Underestimate, to Prevent Gun Violence. #ENOUGH But wait ’til you see what’s next! Jamie Eblen uses DW Drums, Aquarian Drumheads, bradycampaign.org/bradycenter Just beyond the hill, Vic Firth Sticks Just along the river, Randy Landau uses Fodera and Sadowsky basses, jasonrobertbrown.com Or perched on the edge of the great abyss – and DNA Amplifi ers What you can’t dismiss Jason Robert Brown is a Yamaha Artist GHOSTLIGHTRECORDS.COM Or anticipate! Just wait! All songs music & lyrics by Jason Robert Brown GHOSTLIGHTRECORDS Wait ’til you see what’s next! (Just across the © Semolina Farfalle Music Co (ASCAP) road, just around the corner…) Administered by Penny Farthing Music (ASCAP) GHOSTLIGHTRCRDS Wait ’til you see what’s next! (Just across the o/b/o The Musical Company road, just around the corner…) GHOSTLIGHTRECORDS Wait ’til you see what’s next! (Just across the except “All Things In Time,” “Caravan of road, just around the corner…) Angels,” and “One More Thing Than I Can Handle.” Wait ’til you see what’s next. © Almo Music Corp. o/b/o itself and Molly Moo Music (ASCAP)