If You Want to Hold My Hand

If You Want to Hold My Hand

Kyle Pederson (2019)

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Voicing: SATB with optional solo
Accompaniment: piano and/or guitar

Text:

"If you want to hold my hand," said the four year old girl to her four year old friend,
"I'm gonna hold it for as long as I can--maybe forever--if forever never ends. 
Would that be okay?" 

"If you want to hold my hand," said the teenage boy to his sweetheart and friend,
"I just might hold it for as long as I can--maybe forever--if forever never ends. 
Would that be okay?"

"If you want to hold my hands," said the bride-to-be to her waiting man,
"I promise I will hold them for as long as I can, and a promise is forever and it never ever ends. 
Would that be okay?"

"If you want to hold my hand," said the old, old woman to the old, old man,
"I've held your hand for the forever we've had, and I'll keep on holding for as long as I can.
Would that be okay?"

Notes:

This piece explores the simple, but incredibly powerful, act of holding someone's hand. The introductory two measures can be cycled as choir members read vignettes about what holding a hand means to them, or as poetry or other literature about hands and hand holding is read. 

This piece pairs beautifully with Hands Are Knockin' (available from Santa Barbara Music Publishers).

The piece can be performed with any combination of piano and guitar (together or exclusively).