Cover photo: The two of us at the wedding of our friends (and past assistant rectors!) Katy and George, where we both sang for the Nuptial Mass and watched them exchange real life bands of gold.
BAND OF GOLD
ft. Aubrey Breen
Morning,
In the garden
Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh
I’ve found you at last
Shameless
In this Eden
No longer alone, I’m born to be yours
Together at last
I’ll take you to be mine
Here I am, I am yours
This covenant
Makes us one flesh
Bringing life into light from love
I freely give
This gift of self
in sacrifice
At this altar,
Now I see you
Know this, my love, what God joins today
No one can divide
This band
Of gold
Your hand in mine, to have and to hold
All the days of my life
I’ll take you to be mine
Here you are, I am yours
This covenant
Makes us one flesh
Bringing life into light from love
I freely give
This gift of self
in sacrifice
I’ll take you (I’ll take you)
To be mine (to be mine)
Here I am (here you are)
I am yours
I’ll take you (I’ll take you)
To be mine (to be mine)
Here I am (here you are)
I am yours
No flood can wash away
This promise we’ve made
This covenant
Makes us one flesh
Bringing life into light from love
I freely give
This gift of self in sacrifice
The sacrament of matrimony is a permanent, indissoluble partnership for life between a man and a woman. Ordered toward procreation to build the kingdom of God, the selfless gift of bride and groom to one another in marriage also acts as a visible sign of Christ’s love for his Church. “Band of Gold” is written in the key of C Major, the same key as “Communion,” and is performed on piano and cello at 55 bpm with male and female voices. The man’s voice is Adam’s; the woman’s voice is Eve’s; and the cello is God, Love Himself. The entire song takes place before the Fall.
This song represents the pure love and perfect relationality humans strive to once more attain by pursuing the vocation of marriage. However, the love made sacramental on a wedding day is inherently imbued with a quality of “already, but not yet:” love at its outset is not perfect at the celebration of this sacrament and, while nuptial vows are fulfilled over the course of a married couple’s lives, the love imaged in matrimony only attains its true perfection in the relationship between Christ and His Church in the eschaton. This is the love by which God looks at us, raw and unadulterated.
- Before the songwriting process even began, we intended for our marriage song to be a true duet (rather than leading or alternate vocals) to more directly image the mutual consent of the sacrament of marriage. One of the earliest ideas that came to fruition was to layer two separate prechoruses—one male, one female—onto one another for a complete bridge, sonically signifying the joining of two distinct bodies into one flesh. This is our favorite part of the song! Listen for how both separate voices eventually intertwine, becoming more perfect and strengthened in their response to one another.
- Sofia came up with the mellow piano line easily, wanting it to sound like walking down the aisle. To make the song as romantic as possible, she intentionally chose a time signature of 6/8, mimicking the standard meter for a couple’s waltzing first dance.
- Our friend Aubrey Breen is featured on cello on "Band of Gold," musically acting as the steadying presence of God binding the couple together. The cello fills in the missing melody for both prechoruses, and plays a tune of wedding bells in verse four.
- In a nuptial Mass, the exchange of vows and nuptial blessing occur right before the Lord’s Prayer, which begins the Liturgy of the Eucharist. A piano interpolation of Aquinas’ “Adoro te Devote” was a fitting completion to “Band of Gold", as the newly married couple join with the mystical and sacramental body of Christ. Their first Eucharist will mark the beginning of breaking bread together for the rest of their lives.
What part of "Band of Gold" was most moving?
