PORTIA single
Get the digital song file of this dramatic tune, inspired by Shakespeare’s fiery suicide girl from Julius Caesar: wife of Brutus, Portia ultimately kills herself in the fourth Act - by swallowing fire…!
Your download includes the MP3 song file. Watch the killer video HERE.
Premiering as part of ‘Lady Macbeth and the Not Quite Dead’ - a collection of songs (and videos!) from artists across Canada, giving voice to the wisdom and wise cracks of the women William Shakespeare wrote off - Portia was originally commissioned for Musical TheatreWorks and Western Canada Theatre.
Also available wherever you stream music; every direct purchase here is worth about 25,000 Spotify spins to me. :)
PORTIA ~ lyrics
***
We all must pick our ship -
Every sailor does this:
Set yourself adrift - with all your ambition anchored to it, this ship
For every woman, it’s so:
To set sail, you must let go
Step aboard, leave home, never know where the wind will blow
Never know…
If the boat is fit to float, or if the captain can keep his course
No remorse…
You hoped for better - but you said ‘for better or worse’
Walk tall, Portia, though you’re sure to get hurt
Walk through fire, eat hot coals for dessert
It’s your turn to be the girl who’s getting burned...in a man’s world
C’mon, show me some respect.
Don’t torture me with your secrets;
I’d stab myself in the leg to prove my worth for the truth I beg
What - don’t you want a wife?
Or just a harlot to play nice -
Sit and smile while you set the ship alight?
Walk tall, Portia, though you’re sure to get hurt
Walk through fire, eat hot coals for dessert
It’s your turn to be the girl who’s getting burned...in a man’s world
Don’t hold your breath
You said it best yourself:
‘I love the name of honour more than I fear death’
Walk tall, Portia, though you’re sure to get hurt
Walk through fire, eat hot coals for dessert
You’re not the first, but it’s your turn, to be the girl who’s getting burned...in a man’s world
Look at their shock and outrage
Why so surprised and dismayed?
‘Et tu, Brute?’ Would you let a life end this way?
Why don’t you ask his Lady -
Is the good Lord to blame?
‘There are no tricks in plain and simple faith’
(What’d she say? What’d she say?)
Oh no - I wouldn’t; I couldn’t possibly say:
I bit my tongue and burned it away / I lost my voice so I set it aflame
Oh my lord: my ‘ambition’s debt is paid’
I’ll walk tall, I’m Portia, though I’m sure to get hurt
I’ll walk through fire, I’ll eat hot coals for dessert
I can be the girl to choose how she gets burned...in a man’s world.