My title does not refer to Barack Obama's famous slogan, but predates it by a good three decades. Nor does it refer to César Chávez, Dolores Huerta, or the UFW. But it is inextricably related to all of them.
For the 1973 film version of the Broadway musical Godspell, composer Steven Schwartz removed some of the more “stagey” or overtly theatrical songs — which he felt wouldn't translate effectively to the screen — and added “Beautiful City,” which he wrote expressly for the film, in which “Yes, we can; yes, we can” is repeated in each stanza.
In the years since then Schwartz has given his blessing to the use of this song for various purposes, including 9/11 and the Los Angeles riots, though the latter event prompted him to rework part of the lyrics in order to better reflect rebuilding community.
The most recent Broadway revival of Godspell in 2011 included the rewritten version of “Beautiful City,” which has also been re-arranged to sound quite different from the song as recorded in the 1973 movie; it is now intentionally more intimate and plaintive, yet still inspirational — though in a very grounded-in-reality way. It is sung by the musical's Jesus, but the burden of the lyrics is more humanist than religious in my opinion, though broad enough to resonate with a wide spectrum of philosophical thought.
All of this by way of preface, because, in the face of the horrors that now have so many of us in tears, depressed, angry, or all of the above — and we had a discussion about this just this morning in the CUA diary — I have found myself turning to this song repeatedly for comfort and strength, and I have the audacity to hope that the message and the music might resonate with at least some of you as well.
Here is the official video from the studio recording session for the 2011 Broadway revival of Godspell, sung by that production's star.
Out of the ruins and rubble,
Out of the smoke,
Out of our night of struggle
Can we see a ray of hope,
One pale thin ray reaching for the day?
We can build a beautiful city,
Yes, we can; yes, we can.
We can build a beautiful city,
Not a city of angels,
But we can build a city of man.
We may not reach the ending,
But we can start.
Slowly but surely mending,
Brick by brick,
Heart by heart,
Now, maybe now,
We start learning how.
We can build a beautiful city,
Yes we can; yes, we can.
We can build a beautiful city,
Not a city of angels,
But we can build a city of man.
When your trust is all but shattered,
When your faith is all but killed,
You can give up bitter and battered,
Or you can slowly start to build
A beautiful city,
Yes, we can; yes, we can,
We can build a beautiful city,
Not a city of angels,
But finally, a city of man.
My source for some of the background information in the diary is a website devoted to the musicals of Steven Schwartz, where this quote can also be found:
Throughout its various incarnations, the fundamental theme of "Beautiful City" has remained intact: society has within its power the ability to build a truly "civilized" community. It begins by making a choice.
If just one person reading this diary is heartened and strenghtened I will feel like my temporary emergence from non-diarist status will be worth it. Art heals.
And, to emphasize that it's not just pretty words, pretty tune, I urge you to spare what you can in response to Hillary Clinton's call. I did so myself, though I couldn't afford to give very much. Only in unity does “Yes, we can” find meaning.