Love Letters/I Have A Wedding

# LETTERS TO THE MEN I LOVED

**[MOVEMENT I — THE LETTERS]**

*[Solo voice, spoken. No instruments.]*

This next song I’m about to sing

Is called...

“Letters to the Men I Loved.”

*[Warm piano and R&B orchestra enter. Jazz-inflected vocals, expressive phrasing, soft harmonies.]*

**VERSE 1**

First, I'll start with you, Father,

Up in heaven.

If I didn't know my mother,

You'd still provide me water.

**CHORUS**

When I'm weak...

And lost in creation...

Running after men that I loved,

Who don't love me back,

Leaving me weak...

And lost in creation.

**VERSE 2**

What can I say about my earthly father?

He done all that he could to make sure,

If I ever sinned,

I could always come back home.

**[CHORUS — SOFT HARMONIES]**

When I'm weak...

And lost in creation...

Running after men that I loved,

Who don't love me back,

Leaving me weak...

And lost in creation.

---

**[MOVEMENT II — THE MAN I'LL MARRY]**

*[The orchestra fades into a darker, playful alternative R&B groove. Rounded bass, soft drums, hazy keys. The vocalist becomes rhythmic and conversational.]*

Now, to the one who makes me weak...

I got something to say.

I found a man who loves me the way

Hymns and songs and hearts were created for.

I found a man who loves me the way

I always hoped somebody would.

Oh, I never thought I would

Be singing writings to you for so long...

Hey!

I've got something brand-new

For you to hear.

**[CHORUS — LUSH BACKGROUND VOCALS]**

I found a man who loves me the way

Hymns and songs and hearts were created for.

I found a man who loves me the way

I always hoped somebody would.

*[The groove slows. The bass disappears. A lonely piano remains.]*

---

**[MOVEMENT III — JULIAN]**

*[Sparse piano, intimate vocals, almost whispered.]*

Singing about a woman

Who's just been kicked out of the garden,

She don't want Adam anymore,

But he's the only man she sees.

How am I hearing church bells

When I'm still not over...

**Julian...**

I can wear the white dress,

I can say, “I do,”

But there's a name inside my heart

That I never gave to you.

And I don't know what to call it,

I don't know what it means...

But every time I close my eyes,

You're the man I see.

**Julian...**

---

**[VAMP — “THE MAN I SEE”]**

*[A slow, hypnotic soul groove returns. The bass enters gently. Background singers repeat the responses while the lead builds emotionally.]*

**LEAD:**

I found a man!

**BACKGROUNDS:**

You found a man!

**LEAD:**

A man who loves me!

**BACKGROUNDS:**

A man who loves!

**LEAD:**

Then why, when I close my eyes...

**BACKGROUNDS:**

Why, when you close your eyes?

**LEAD:**

Is Julian the man I see?

**BACKGROUNDS:**

Julian... Julian...

**LEAD:**

I hear the church bells ringing!

**BACKGROUNDS:**

Church bells ringing!

**LEAD:**

But I still hear you singing!

**BACKGROUNDS:**

Julian...

**LEAD:**

I found a man who loves me...

**BACKGROUNDS:**

You found a man!

**LEAD:**

So why can't I let you go?

**BACKGROUNDS:**

Julian...

**LEAD, softly, over piano alone:**

Letters to the men I loved...

But the last one's never leaving.

LEAD:

I don't want to hurt him...

BACKGROUNDS:

Don't want to hurt him...

LEAD:

I don't want to lie...

BACKGROUNDS:

Don't want to lie...

LEAD:

But how can I say forever

When there's something left inside?

BACKGROUNDS:

Something left inside...

LEAD:

Something left inside...

LEAD:

Julian, Julian,

You don't even know...

Julian, Julian,

How far these letters go.

I put your name in a melody,

I buried your name in a rhyme,

And every song I write about love

Keeps bringing you back to mind.

BACKGROUNDS:

Keeps bringing him back...

Keeps bringing him back...

LEAD:

I found a man who loves me...

BACKGROUNDS:

You found a man!

LEAD:

So why can't I let you go?

BACKGROUNDS:

Julian...

LEAD:

Why can't I let you go?

BACKGROUNDS:

Julian...

LEAD, ALMOST SPEAKING:

Oh, Lord...

I have a wedding to get to.

LEAD, WHISPERING:

And one more letter...

I ought to burn.