When Emotion Hits the Machine

Setting:

The beginnings of an opera.

Story:

When Emotion Hits the Machine is about when something colors life, in any kind of light (in a way it’s like “shit hitting the fan”, but can be anything on the spectrum from amazing to horrible - a “bam” kind of impact). The phrase refers to many layers of dualities in the places of “emotion” being hit by the “machine”; life’s beginning simplicity and growing complexity as one ages, invincibility disrupted by disability, memories becoming distorted over time, offscreen vs. rapid infiltration of technology, a beautiful perfect relationship working with and against harsh reality seesawing in and out of its favor.

This song cycle - which will be extended into an opera - centers around two partnered people, and how their partnership develops, chips, and grows in all the aforementioned ways “emotion hits the machine.” Intentionally, little detail is given about the specifics of the why, how and where of what they communicate, but they touch on concepts we’ve all found ourselves in: memories they ache to revive and keep alive as time progresses, an ongoing reality presenting challenges, and a love they continuously fight for. The events dictating the story between the couple are never fully revealed, and the truth of what actually happened is never said - they talk only in reflections or dreams, revisiting the past or thinking about the future. They cycle between telling their sides of the story independently and then telling their sides at the same time, stitching together the scene from both of their perspectives while memories subtly morph as time pushes them further and further away.

Libretto:

By Annie Nikunen

(soprano // tenor)
I’m almost there // I’ll know, I’ll wait for you

I:

My hand to your heart // Your heartbeat in my hand
Held in private night // So closely I could cry
Building, laughing, crying, living, playing, learning, walking, living, revealing, living, holding, living

Hand in hand
Living, living, living, living
My head to your head to my head to your head,
And us and them and us and them and us and them
And you and I and you and I and you and I and you and I,

And there to here to there.

II:

When I first met you // When we first met
I wanted to scream from the pain released // I secretly came alive The ghost deceased
We were only here
It was subtle and silent and somewhere else
That’s how it happens, everyone said,
But I couldn’t believe it // Then I stepped
Until I did // Then I did

The flashbacks of brokenness suddenly instantly felt far away The future had light with a feeling my body could finally say Your eyes were a library of life
They were full of light, touched gently

And near to me // You walked next to me
You said things you love in life // Your hair was down, glistening Sunlit, smiling, dreaming what could be
And we couldn’t see it
Until Time did

III:

When I first left you // Why did the day have to go on apart I wanted to scream from the light inside
Bursting, alive // My hand to your heart

I knew I could never let go of my hand to your heart // I could never let go of your heartbeat in my hand

The rain felt soft, still // leaves played with my feet
Bundled in you // The nights became warm, even when life turned cold Watching life unfold
Suddenly instantly felt far away
The future was grey with a feeling my body could barely say
I want you, I need you, I miss you, I see you
I hear you, I feel you, I trust you, I revere you
I hold you, I think you, I dance you, I dream you
Love goes in every one of those middle spaces.

Now far from me, that day you shared what you love in life // Once next to me, your hair was down, glistening

Sunlit, smiling, dreaming what could be
What we wanted to be
My head to your head // Your head to my head Private nights all our own
Us and them, you and I
I always hear your heartbeat // So I feel alive Whispering light inside
Flickering day and night / Night became warm Warm even when we grew old