The Narrow Bridge

From "Tyler's Suite" commissioned by SFGMC in collaboration with The Tyler Clementi Foundation, Composed by Stephen Schwartz. Performed at Davies Symphony Hall, 2014. Music by Jake Heggie, lyrics by Pamela Stewart; whistling by Vance George.

The Narrow Bridge Lyrics
From Tyler’s Suite

I am standing on a narrow bridge across a great divide.
It soars above a deep abyss, the narrow span of life.
I cannot cross it on my own, safely reach the other side.
Who will walk with me? Cross with me? Just a single step . . .

The great divide, the deep abyss, the journey from cradle to stone
Demanded more than I had thought, too much to go it alone.
With every triumph came defeat, even love itself was bittersweet.
But standing here I hesitate at a choice only I can make.

We can walk the bridge together
It is plenty wide
With room enough for all of us
To walk it step for step
Stride for stride.

Though the bridge may seem narrow
If we walk together
Toward tomorrow
It is plenty wide.

Go back for those who trail behind, give a hand to those who fall.
Stop to help this one out on the edge, carry those who can’t go on.
For the greatest distance I can find is the one between
Your heart and mine.

There is no gulf; there is no wall
Nothing separates us at all.

When we walk the bridge together
It is plenty wide
With room enough for all of us
To walk it step for step
Stride for stride.

Though the bridge may seem narrow
If we walk together
Toward tomorrow
It is plenty wide.
The narrow bridge is plenty wide.