‘Through darkest winds, I will fly to him.’

New aria by Carter W. Lewis marks 50th anniversary of Kennedy assassination

President Kennedy and his son, John F. Kennedy Jr., walk in the West Wing Colonnade Oct. 10, 1963. (Photo by Cecil Stoughton, White House, in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston)

“John-John,” a new aria by playwright Carter W. Lewis and composer Kamala Sankaram, debuted recently as part of “November 21, 1963: The Day Before,” a multidisciplinary event marking the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

Lewis

The evening, presented Nov. 8 by Symphony Space in New York, included new works by dozens of writers, actors, musicians and visual artists.

Lewis is playwright-in-residence in the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. He has authored more than 20 plays, but “John-John” marks his first libretto.

“I wrote the words as a heartfelt tribute to the Kennedys’ ongoing tragedies,” Lewis said, “but the words were just a poem ’til the music brought them to life — when composed and performed by the brilliant and talented Kamala Sankaram.”

The result drew praise from The New York Times, which noted that Lewis and Sankaram “balanced artifice and heart expertly … evoking Kennedy’s young son with ingenuity.”

John-John
Words by Carter W. Lewis. Music by Kamala Sankaram.
Sung by Kamala Sankaram.

John-John

My name is John and my name is John again.

I am two and it’s four days till three.
Missing you and young, I’m waiting here to see.
To see you when I’m three.

Through darkest winds, I will fly to him.
Through blackest waves of sea I will fly to him.
I will fly, I will fly, I will fly to him.

My name is John and my name is John again.
He was a country’s dream, an anthem for their hearts
But he was more than that to me.
Through darkest winds, I will fly to him.
Through blackest waves of sea I will fly to him.
With my arms spread wide, child eyes in the sky
I will fly, I will fly to him.

My name is John and my name is John again.
My name is John and my name is John again.
And I will fly to him.
And I will fly to him.
And I will fly to him.

Related links:

New York Times: “The Quiet Before the Shots”

Q&A with Carter Lewis