Back to Before

Ragtime audition songs, theatre nerds

Song Title : Back to Before

Show Name : Ragtime

Character Name : Mother & Father

Gender : Female

Age : Adult

Vocal Part : Mezzo-Soprano

Range : G3-C#5

Style : Ballad (Pop Opera)

Mood : Dramatic, Regretful, Crestfallen

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Context & Lyrics


Father, who has been summoned to assist Coalhouse, assures Mother that everything will soon return to the way it was before. Mother, however, is not convinced.

View Lyrics

There was a time
Our happiness seemed never-ending
I was so sure
That where we were heading was right
Life was a road
So certain and straight and unbending
Our little road
With never a cross road in sight
Back in the days
When we spoke in civilized voices
Women in white
And sturdy young men at the oar
Back in the days
When I let you make all my choices…
We can never go back to before

There was a time
My feet were so solidly planted
You’d sail away
While I turned my back to the sea
I was content,
A princess asleep and enchanted
If I had dreams
Then I let you dream them for me
Back in the days
When everything seemed so much clearer
Women in white
Who knew what their lives held in store
Where are they now,
Those women who stared from the mirror?
We can never go back to before.

There are people out there
Unafraid of revealing
That they might have a feeling
Or they might have been wrong
There are people out there
Unafraid to feel sorrow,
unafraid of tomorrow,
unafraid to be weak…
unafraid to be strong!

There was a time
When you were the person in motion
I was your wife,
It never occurred to want more
You were my sky
My moon and my stars and my ocean
We can never go back to before
We can never go back to before

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