I PLAY ON

Words and Music by Diana Chittester

I took to those keys when I was young

Each note a puzzle piece I couldn’t wait to solve

A passion in training

A purpose for which I’m born

She opened my world with Chopin and Bach

Each melody I’d play earned me a soda pop

But it’s practice and patience

I first need to learn

Chorus:         I play on

I grit my teeth and stay strong

I push past mistake til they’re gone

It’s my lesson learned

I play on

I boarded that bus and I left that town

Packed up all my dreams, I’m New York City bound

A fresh new start

Another puzzle unknown

They’d ask me to play on audition day

I had to know techniques I never learned to play

But I’d just keep on

Cuz this music’s more than a song

Chorus:

Bridge:    When the conductor cues

And the music moves

I’m connected to

Every string as it plays

Every voice as it sings

I feel them inhale/exhale

Muscles engage

I surrender my body

It’s no longer my own

I give, and I give, til I feel there’s no more

But I play on

My stories a song I had to learn as I’d go

My journey a melody I wrote note for note

A puzzle I may never solve

My mind is quiet as the chaos slows

My body’s release, it’s now just my own

But I keep the music - it’s never gone

Chorus: Cuz I play on

I grit my teeth and stay strong

I push past mistakes but they’re not gone

They’re lessons learned

As I play on

I grit my teeth and stay strong

I push past mistakes til they’re gone

They were my lessons learned

And I play on