Listen to An American Soldier, Act II Scene 4: An American Dream (Mother Chen, Danny) by American Composers Orchestra, Carolyn Kuan, Brian Vu & Nina Yoshida Nelsen

An American Soldier, Act II Scene 4: An American Dream (Mother Chen, Danny)

American Composers Orchestra, Carolyn Kuan, Brian Vu & Nina Yoshida Nelsen

Classical

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OVERVIEW

LYRICS

Featured In

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Credits

PERFORMING ARTISTS

American Composers Orchestra

American Composers Orchestra

Orchestra

Carolyn Kuan

Conductor

Brian Vu

Tenor

Nina Yoshida Nelsen

Nina Yoshida Nelsen

Mezzo-Soprano

COMPOSITION & LYRICS

Huang Ruo

Composer

Henry David Hwang

Henry David Hwang

Librettist

PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING

Doron Schachter

Doron Schachter

Recording Engineer

Adam Abeshouse

Producer

Jan "Stan" Kybert

Jan "Stan" Kybert

Immersive Mixing Engineer

Silas Brown

Recording Engineer

Lyrics

MOTHER CHEN

I had a dream

An American dream

To work, be happy,

Raise a family,

And leave behind

A life in this new land.

My dream was simple

I didn’t ask too much,

And on the day,

My Ah Fai was born,

I thought, this is enough.

For nineteen years,

I had you in my life,

Then a bullet

Ripped through my heart

Tore a hole

Where you had been.

I keep your room,

Just the way you left it.

All your favorite foods --

A pack of skittles,

A Burger King whopper --

Leave them on your dresser,

Where they wait for you,

To walk in the door,

And yell ...

DANNY

Ah ma, I'm home!

I wish I could

Walk through our door

Plop on my bed

Pop those skittles

Eat that burger,

But most of all,

Sit beside you,

Not saying much,

On my laptop,

Maybe doing homework,

Feeling safe,

Safe with a feeling,

I now know

Was your love.

MOTHER CHEN

“Ah ma, i’m home!”

What happens now,

My Ah Fai?

Everyone is gone,

But so are you,

I’ve buried you now,

Lost my son

You’ll never come home,

Never eat my dumplings.

What happened to my dream?

Written by: Henry David Hwang, Huang Ruo

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