Somewhere

"Somewhere" is one of the core iconic songs that came out of the Broadway musical, "West Side Story".  The song even when heard for the first time resonated with everyone who listened to the words and the melody that carried them.  There was something universally meaningful about the song even if it stood alone.  Of course, from the context of the whole story, the message was far deeper and too emotionally laden with loftier wishes and profound longing for a place, "Somewhere", other than where one is when things are not going well.

Instead of Romeo and Juliet, each from the Montague and Capulet families, respectively, we have Antonio (Tony) and Maria from rival New York gangs of the 50's era - the Jets and the Sharks.  Families, gangs in conflict are reflective even of today's societies where players may no longer even understand what the families or gangs quarreled about, or how it all started in the first place.

Tony had just killed Maria's brother in a knife fight during a gang encounter that evening.  Tony, afterwards went to see Maria to tell her.  

That was the backdrop scene that preceded the rendition of the song between the two unfortunate sweethearts.  The song was all about each other's wish and longing to be somewhere else. Somewhere other than where they were:

There's a place for us,

Somewhere a place for us.

Peace and quiet and open air

Wait for us

Somewhere.

Before we go any further, there is something truly worth noting about how the song came about. Leonard Bernstein was already a renowned composer and conductor before the debut of the musical in 1957. The story that was adapted from Romeo and Juliet was actually written by Arthur Laurents.  Stephen Sondheim, who later became famous himself for several Broadway successes, wrote the lyrics.  Bernstein was at that time a busy man and had not quite put together the music to the song. He was traveling worldwide to conduct concerts, and he was working on another Broadway production, Candide.  He was a conductor so he knew practically all the classical pieces.  

According to Edward Barnes, a music critic of some sort, who later dissected the melody of Somewhere, Bernstein had something in mind on how that song would go but had not quite fleshed it out. Actually he took particular chords/notes from three famous composers and compositions and strung them together to make the now familiar tune of the song. Bernstein first took a few notes from Beethoven's Piano Concerto no. 5, then from Richard Strauss's Burlesque and from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. Edwards proved that by playing the melody of Somewhere alongside the three strings of notes. There's really nothing wrong with what Bernstein did.  Aside from the fact that the compositions of the three composers are clearly public domain, then and now (no trademark or publishing rights violation), they were truly just short passages akin to putting together phrases or words from three different speeches and stringing them together to make  entirely complete sentences with different meaning or connotations..

In other words Bernstein bridged the gap between three compositions by three different composers, written centuries earlier decades apart, to make a sensitive message to a society then in the 50's and an enduring resonance.  Fortunately indeed, it still resonates today.

We are all Somewhere at some point in time partly because of the circumstances of our birth, our family's wealth or lack of it, that brought us up, the place on earth where we happen to live, and a host of other factors that happened to be just there by the time we took our first breath of air, our first wail for attention and care.  We are Somewhere because of circumstances of our own making or they were from opportunities that came along that we were able to make something of.  And a host of other reasons. Somewhere is where we are today.  A place and a point in time.

Anyone of us must admit there was a time, even just once of a moment, when we wished we were Somewhere else.  Anywhere but the one where we found ourselves - frozen with fear, overwhelmed by worry, or unsure of what was to happen next.  We just wanted to be Somewhere else.

"West Side Story", "Romeo and Juliet" are both stories of human conflict - prejudices and bias and inexplicable hatred -  even when those presently involved do not even know why or how it all started, except for being at either side of the divide.

Here and everywhere else, Somewhere is a wish, a longing, a quest for an alternative, a refuge from when things go wrong. It is an escape. It is a prayer. But it is not enough to be just wishful.  Nothing will get anybody anything by just merely longing.  Time and effort spent to merely escape are partial solutions - a purchase that will end up costing more. It is not uncommon for one Somewhere to be no better than another. 

In other words it is not enough to be just merely Somewhere. Immigration and the countless stories of immigrants are about people finding their Somewhere but their stories are as varied as how well they strove hard to make the most of the newly found Somewhere.  Some gave up and returned to their original home after finding out that the Somewhere they found themselves in was not what they were looking for.  They went back to the Somewhere they were used to rather than to make good use of the opportunities that were at the new Somewhere. It was not uncommon for new immigrants to have second thoughts.

Our first December in the U.S. was the saddest month any family was put through.  We were at a new city, no friends, living in an apartment with fellow strangers keeping to themselves and no car in a city that was meant for families to have a car to go anywhere. I went to work relying on public transportation the first three months from October to December. I rented a car only on a few certain weekends if we wanted to go Somewhere as a family.  My wife begun to show some regrets. She used to have her own car while working in Manila.  This new Somewhere denied her what she used to take for granted.  I told her that we were going to make the most of this new Somewhere.  It was full of hope, filled with unlimited promise and lofty dreams when we boarded that 747 earlier that year. That Somewhere was still there.  We had to make the most of it.

Sure enough we did.  From where we came from to where we are today are not just separated by distant seas.  It can only be measured by however dreams can be measured by the realities of a life fulfilled.  Yes, indeed, we found our Somewhere. We found that it was a lot more than what was provided for by mere  wishful thoughts or extravagant longing.

Today there are millions more, where ever they are from and where ever they wish to be, and we can only wish them well and pray that they find their Somewhere.

To anyone who at this moment is filled with despair and longing to be Somewhere else, I hope he or she will find hope in a song that is only sixteen lines long but filled with hope:

There's a time for us,

Some day a time for us,

Time together with time to spare,

Time to learn, time to care,

Some day!

Somewhere.

We'll find a new way of living,

We'll find a way of forgiving

Somewhere . . .

There's a place for us,

A time and place for us.

Hold my hand and we're halfway there.

Hold my hand and I'll take you there

Somehow,

Some day,

Somewhere!