Somewhere Under the Rainbow Copyright ©2023 Alphasongs LLC (ASCAP), Lyrics by Kai Cofer, Music by Matthew L. Kearns - www.Alphasongs.net From: The Process, a play by Kai Cofer. Ensemble Somewhere, Somewhere, Somewhere, Somewhere, Verse One Liz + Ensemble Somewhere under the rainbow where the emerald city gleams. I’ve never been there before. I’ve heard that it’s like a dream; Ah, Ah…. Verse Two Liz + Ensemble Somewhere under the rainbow where the space needle stands sublime. I’ve been told to bring an umbrella. They say it rains all the time. Splish splash, pitter pat. In the Market Liz + Ensemble The Pike Place Market, so they say, is where you “catch” fresh fish each day, while natives prattle, prattle, prattle. I’ll sip a cup of morning brew; for that the thing one ought to do, while in Seattle, in Seattle. Ensemble Somewhere, Somewhere, Somewhere, Somewhere Verse Three Liz + Ensemble + Tugboat Somewhere under the rainbow, the city on the sound, (BARITONE/BASS tugboat) ooo-aah! They say is a beautiful place to visit; I’m sure that it will astound; Ah, Ah…. Liz + Ensemble They say Seattle’s crisp and clean, The Emerald city’s always green. It really must be seen.   Notes: Later in Scene Two of Act One of musical, the Process, another office worker named Liz gets a message from the boss, Mr. Goldman. She is surprised to find out the company is sending her to Seattle, a place she has never visited before. She begins to dream about her new destination as we go into this song, As a Seattle native, myself, I was thrilled to work on these lyrics as an introduction to the new musical I’m working on with Kai Cofer. His lyrics capture the highlights of the city and what it’s known for. In fact, I worked in an office for three years located right at the north end of the Pike Place Market and the song raises wonderful memories of those days, wandering through the produce and fish markets and that famous original coffee shop, at lunch, looking out at ships coming in and out of Elliot Bay. In Kai’s lyrical work, he is often thinking about an existing song with his original lyrics. Lyrically, Somewhere Under the Rainbow was written with the melody of the Wizard of Oz classic, Somewhere Over the Rainbow in mind. Musically, I wanted to give the original classic a brief tribute, using the same first five notes but in a different rhythm. From there, the song moves into its own distinct verses and interludes. In the middle of the song, we have two sections called The Market and The Coffee which are different than the verses. They paint a musical picture of Liz as she ponders traveling to Pike Place Market to enjoy the sights and the coffee. It’s a wonderful picture I remember fondly. Finally, we go back to the third verse and conclusion as Liz laments, “The Emerald city’s always green. It really must be seen.” And I do concur. Performance Notes: This piece is scored for small to medium vocal ensemble. The theatre performance will generally have one person per part. There is also a part written for hand claps. The clapping parts are a starting point for adding rhythmic emphasis. The hand rhythm part is optional but could also be incorporated into improvisational beatboxing to enhance rhythmic emphasis even more. Have fun with it. Audio tracks generated with Cantamus software