Are You In?

Lyrics by Ophelia Ravenwood

I try to end every book with a song. These two stand on their own, but they share the questions about belonging and being ourselves that run through my stories.

This song begins with a question: how can we do this together? One person asks to be understood, and other voices begin to answer. It’s about belonging, reciprocal care, and making room for one another without asking everyone to become the same.

Lyrics

[Intro: solo, freely]
Are you there?
Can you see me?
I’m here.
I’m trying.

[Verse 1: solo]
I want to see the world beyond
The roads I already know.
I’ve got a hundred things to say;
I want somewhere they can go.
I love the life around me.
I’m still hungry for the sky.
Can both of those be true in me?
Can you stay and let me try?

I’ve been looking for a doorway,
Then afraid to step inside.
I’ve been wanting you to know me,
Then afraid of what I’d find.
There’s a question underneath it,
And I’m letting it begin:
There’s a road I want to travel.
Are you in?

[Chorus 1: solo, unresolved]
What can you see?
How can I be?
How can we do this together?
If I let you see
All of me,
Could we find our way together?
I can take a little courage.
I can bring my doubts along.
I don’t know the whole way forward.
Are you in?

[Verse 2: intimate solo]
Please don’t touch me for a moment.
Please don’t take that as goodbye.
There are things my body’s carrying
That you won’t see from outside.
Every touch can be a pebble
In a bucket filled too high;
Then the smallest thing spills over,
And the words give way to crying.

I may need a little quiet.
I may need an empty room.
I can love you from a distance
Of a chair or two.
If you leave your hand beside me,
Let me choose to reach for you.
There are many ways to love me.
I want to learn yours, too.

[Second voice: gentle answer]
Then I’ll ask before I reach you.
You can tell me what you need.
We can sit without an answer.
You don’t have to speak.

[Chorus 2: duet, call and response]
[Lead]
What can you see?
[Second voice]
I’m still learning you.
[Lead]
How can I be?
[Second voice]
I’m still learning, too.
[Both]
How can we do this together?
[Lead]
Could we start with where we are?
[Second voice]
We don’t have to start so far.
[Both]
We can find a way together.

[Lead]
Are you in?
[Second voice]
I’m here.
[Lead]
Are you in?
[Second voice]
Let’s begin.

[Verse 3: lead, soft harmonies gradually enter]
There’s a name I nearly call out
When I’m coming through the door,
And a little warm companion
With a toy across the floor.
How do I explain that kind of love,
The missing and the new?
One still walks through all my stories.
One’s asleep beside my shoe.

There are people across oceans.
There are people down the street.
There are days we miss each other.
There are days we get to meet.
I want to write about this living,
All the things we almost miss,
Till somebody turns a page and says,
“I know a love like this.”

[Bridge: building call and response]
[Lead]
Can you see me now?
[Ensemble]
Yes, we see you.
[Lead]
Is there room?
[Ensemble]
Come and sit.
[Lead]
Must I win before I’m welcome?
[Ensemble]
You don’t have to earn this.

[Lead]
Can I ask for one more chance?
[Ensemble]
Tell us where to start.
[Lead]
Can I come without explaining
Every corner of my heart?
[Ensemble]
Tell us what you want to tell us.
We can leave the rest tonight.
[Lead]
Could we talk of something ordinary?
[Ensemble]
Yes. What would you like?

[Breakdown: solo, sparse piano]
You’ve been asking how I’m doing.
Let me ask you something, too.
What have you been carrying?
Can I make some room for you?

[Counterpoint: voices enter separately, then layer]
[Voice 1]
I want somewhere I can rest.
[Voice 2]
I want somewhere to begin.
[Voice 3]
I want someone I can laugh with.
[Voice 4]
I want someone to let in.
[Lead]
I’ve been wondering if I’m worth it.
[Ensemble]
We’ve been wondering that, too.
[Lead]
I can’t answer every question.
[Ensemble]
You can ask us something new.

[Final chorus: full company, soaring harmonies]
What can we see?
What can we be?
How can we do this together?
You can be you.
I can be me.
We can find our way together.

When somebody needs a quiet room,
When somebody wants to dance,
When a journey starts at home again,
We can make another plan.
Bring the life you have already.
Bring the hopes you’re living in.
There is more for us to find here.
Are you in?

[Callback: opening melody returns, lead and company]
[Lead]
Are you there?
[Company]
We’re here.
[Lead]
Can you see me?
[Company]
We do.
[Lead]
Can we do this together?
[Company]
Yes, we’re all in.
[Lead]
With the things we haven’t figured out?
[Company]
Yes, we’re all in.

[Coda: quiet solo, voices return one by one]
[Lead]
Am I worth it?
I am.

[Second voice]
Do I belong here?
I do.

[Lead]
I remain.
[Second voice]
I remain.
[Company]
There is room here for you.

[Lead]
Are you in?
[Company]
We’re all in.
[Lead: almost spoken]
Then I’m in, too.
[All: warm final harmony]
Yes, we’re all in.