Go The Distance Lot Tune

C52 #3

I’m dedicating this arrangement of “Go the Distance” from Hercules to my friend Lucia! Before we started our internships we got to see the Hercules stage musical put on by The Public in Central Park. Jelani Alladin played Hercules (and Roger Bart - the original singer of Go the Distance - played Hades! Patrick Page took a picture with him and it was super cute) and in an interview he said, “We have a 10-word bio in the program because there are so many people in the show. The 10 words I wrote are, ‘This is for all those whose shoulders I stand on.’ When I sing ‘Go the Distance,’ I think about all of the black men who have been enslaved, incarcerated, assassinated—I think about them. There is a hero inside of all of them. It’s the most empowering moment I’ve ever had onstage.”

The original song is just so beautiful and I think the lyrics speak to everyone. I don’t believe in perfect art, or perfection in general, but there’s a part of me that thinks a perfect arrangement of this song must exist somewhere - we just haven’t found it yet. I think BYU Vocal Point gets the closest.

I revisited this piece about two years later, where I wrote the bridge and final chorus. I am still learning how to make my arrangements sound “mine” - but we’re getting there!