*Meet Me at the Farther Side*
[PRODUCTION COMMAND] [Do not sing bracketed directions. Begin in sacred intimacy. Bring Chorus 1 by 0:35. Let the two voices move gradually from opposite sides into the center. Preserve one half-second of complete silence before the enlightened chorus. End decisively.] [MEET ME AT THE FARTHER SIDE] [Intro — 4 bars; cathedral air, felt piano, bowed cello harmonic, one bronze bell] [Male — distant whisper] From the farther side… [Female — close whisper] If you are there, Take my hand. [Verse 1 — Female; intimate] I found you where the evening Laid its gold along the ground; The world was still around us, But its walls were falling down. Something opened in your silence, Something endless in your eyes; And the hand that reached to hold me Loosened all the knots of time. [Pre-Chorus — heartbeat and low cello enter] We do not have to leave this breathing, We do not have to wait for signs; Love placed one hand inside another And drew a door across the night. [Chorus 1 — warm restrained rise] Meet me at the farther side, Hand in hand where worlds divide; We don’t have to leave this life To cross beyond the edge of time. Lifted souls, our hearts aligned, Heaven breathing through this life; Not somewhere past our last goodbye— Meet me here at the farther side. [Post-Chorus — Male echo] Here and now… The farther side. [Verse 2 — Male; warm, moving closer] I knew you in the silence Before morning learned the blue; Every road I called a distance Was a road returning you. Your touch became the answer No prophecy could write; The farther world I called you from Was flowering here tonight. [Pre-Chorus 2 — viola and floor toms widen] No dying star could lead me Where your living eyes now shine; Every veil became transparent When your beating heart met mine. [Chorus 2 — duet in alternating lines] Meet me at the farther side, Hand in hand where worlds divide; We don’t have to lose this life To find what waits beyond our sight. Lifted souls, our hearts aligned, Love has opened space and time; Not somewhere past our last goodbye— Come with me to the farther side. [Instrumental Crossing — cello and electric guitar answer, imitate and unite; drums expand into 12/8] [Bridge — piano, heartbeat and suspended choir breath] [Female] Are you calling from tomorrow? [Male] I am calling from your side. [Female] Will we lose the world we came from? [Male] We will teach that world to rise. [Female] Is this heaven? [Male] No—it’s nearer. [Female] Is forever yet to come? [Male] What seemed farther was the distance Between two hearts becoming one. [Both — rising] Take my hand. Do not let go. There are worlds The living soul can know. [Orchestra climbs without resolving] Here and now, Your hand in mine— [Half-second silence] [Enlightened Chorus — both voices centered in unison; full orchestra enters] Meet me at the farther side, Where every distance falls behind; What we crossed the dark to find Was the universe inside. Here and now, your hand in mine, We are already past the line; No distant heaven, no goodbye— Love is the farther side. [Instrumental Lift — soaring guitar above ascending strings; choir opens] [Final Chorus — whole-step key lift; immense but clear] Meet me at the farther side, Where the buried light can rise; Where the years that tried to break us Turn to wings before our eyes. Lifted souls, still flesh and blood, Standing where the heavens touch; We did not vanish—we arrived Here and now, on the farther side. Truth bent time and hearts replied; Love revealed the door inside. What we thought was far away Was opening in us today. Hand in hand, our souls arise; No last ending, no goodbye. Here and now, your heart in mine— Love is the farther side! [Final Refrain — choir and duet, sustained release] Meet me here! Meet me now! Every wall is falling down! Still alive, Still side by side— We have reached the farther side! [Outro — orchestra falls away to piano, heartbeat and one bell] [Both — one joined whisper] We never left this life… We entered it Alive. [One heartbeat] [Bronze bell] [Silence]
