[MOVEMENT I-Delicate celesta, music-box piano, plucked strings, flutes. An elegant, almost mischievous waltz. Female lead: poised, intimate, soprano-mezzo.]
In a kingdom dressed in golden,
Where the roses never died,
I was taught to wear my beauty
Like a jewel I kept inside.
Mama said, A girl of royal blood
Must know the worth of what she brings.
Love is lovely in a story,
But a fortune makes a king.
“A fortune makes a kings”
I learned to curtsy sweetly,
Learned to smile and play my part,
But a palace full of riches
Could not tell me what was in my heart.
Oh, what a lovely little kingdom…
What a lovely little lie…
Everybody knew my future,
But nobody asked me why.
I dream of a King, who didn’t have a father who owned mountains…
I dream of a King, whose name the world don’t know…
For he to be me,
And I to him,
Love is lovely in a story…
[MOVEMENT II — The waltz dissolves into warm cello, harp, Rhodes piano, and a slow, undulating bass. The vocal becomes freer, intimate, and soulful.]
Then I met him by the river
Where the willow kissed the stream.
He had nothing but a worn coat
And a way of looking through me.
Not through diamonds, not through titles,
Not the silk around my skin.
He looked past the little princess
To the woman I had been.
He spoke to me of things unseen,
Of mercy, memory, and time.
And the silence that fell between us
Felt like something so divine.
He never asked me what I owned.
Never wondered what I'd bring.
He just asked me what I dreamed of
When I wasn't being queen.
And, Lord, I felt it—
Something money couldn't name.
Like a candle in a chapel
Recognizing its own flame.
He touched my hand so gently
That my whole world came undone.
For the first time in my lifetime,
I was somebody's someone.
And his name wasn’t King, but He’s-my-Dream…
[MOVEMENT III —The orchestra accelerates. Staccato strings, dramatic piano, woodwind runs, and sharp brass accents. The princess's melody collides with a regal, commanding maternal motif. Both parts are sung, not spoken.]
Mama, Mama, don't you see?
There's a woman underneath this royalty!
You can dress me up in diamonds,
You can lace me into gold,
But you cannot buy the part of me
That never can be sold.
“Child, a heart can be deceiving!
Love will leave you in the cold!
You need a man of standing,
With a name that you can hold.
What good is he without a fortune?
What future can he make?
A princess doesn't marry hunger.
A princess doesn't gamble with her fate!”
But mama look, he rented a little cottage,
Ain’t it nice…
“whatever”
[MOVEMENT IV]
A man who tends the garden
When the summer turns to rain.
Who can hold my hand through winter
And still kiss me in the spring.
I want the kind of love that deepens
When the years have changed our skin.
A love that knows the shape of my soul
And keeps on choosing it again.
And if the Lord has written anything
Upon this heart of mine,
It isn't that I need a wealthy man—
It's that our spirits intertwine.
[MOVEMENT V — THE VOW BENEATH THE STARS
The harp and strings return. Horns swell beneath a soaring, jazz-inflected melody. The rhythm becomes more urgent, gathering the earlier musical theme]
So let them bring the golden carriage,
Let them polish every ring.
Let them summon all the princes
Who were promised to their kings.
I have walked beyond the garden.
I have crossed the velvet line.
And I found a kind of forever
In a love that feels like mine.
He has no palace to promise,
No inheritance to claim.
But he calls me by my given name,
And I have never felt so named.
Oh, let the chandeliers be burning!
Let the silver trumpets play!
I would rather share a cottage
With the man who knows my name.
Let my mother keep her fortune.
Let the court decide I'm wrong.
I have found my own inheritance
In the place where I belong.
[Movment- Full Choir]
In a kingdom dressed in golden,
Where the roses never died,
There was once a little princess
Who no longer had to hide.
And somewhere by the river,
Where the willow kissed the stream,
A man with nothing but his honest heart
Became her everything.
(Softly, almost as a private vow)
My king…
My home…
My ordinary miracle.
**[ALT-R&B VAMP — “MY ORDINARY MIRACLE”]**
*(Airy Rhodes, deep sub-bass, slow syncopated drums, layered breathy harmonies. Intimate lead melts into a hypnotic, sensual vamp.)*
My king… (my king)
My home… (my home)
My ordinary miracle…
Ooh, you feel like heaven in the middle of my life.
No crown, no throne, just your body next to mine.
My king… my king…
My soul knows you, baby, before I call you mine.
*(Backgrounds: Mine, mine, mine…)*
My home… my heaven…
My ordinary miracle.
*(Repeat and fade: “My king… my home… my soul knows you…”)*