Breathe now.
Rest now.
Sleep now, my love, my love.
Feel love. Feel loved.
Live the love I give, my love.

When the day has dawned, my love,
Oh when the day has dawned,
I will be here next to you
To share another day.

‘Cause love is not a sometimes thing,
And love is not just for today,
But for a thousand sunrises,
And many thousands more, I pray.

For most of my life, I listened to love songs and wondered what all the fuss was about. They just felt like a waste of time. Perhaps subconsciously, I understood that I was missing out on one of the great pleasures of life, so pretending that love songs were useless might have been a coping mechanism. People forbidden from living authentically find all kinds of creative ways to protect themselves.

And then, I fell in love.

And then, my love fell ill.

There is nothing more painful than watching your beloved suffer through a problem that you cannot change. Yet in those moments, we do whatever we can. We choose to be present. We remind them to breathe. We keep them cool, or warm, or fed, or hydrated. We bring them pillows and blankets. We comfort them. In so doing, we discover that love is so much more than a feeling; it is perpetual choosing translated into perpetual action.

Now that I finally understand why people sing love songs, I pray that every person who sings or hears this song finds the joy of loving and of being loved.

Oh, and by the way,
love is love is love is love is…
–JDB

This title is listed as a site-license. Purchase it once and you can make as many copies as needed for ensembles at your institution. This license is non-transferable, so you can’t share your copies with other ensembles, but pricing is always negotiable if you contact me. I just want to share in making great music together! If you plan to perform this with the String Quartet, email Julian after purchasing to request the string parts and conductor’s score.