Chords for Original Broadway Cast Recording - The Making of Once: A New Musical

_ _ _ _ _ This is sort of one of those out-of-body experiences where I'm getting a chance to record these songs that have meant so much to me.
_ _ It feels absolutely incredible to [F] be in that amazing room with all these incredible people.
Knowing that it's going to exist till the end of time [F] is sort of overwhelming, but also really a beautiful feeling.
_ _ [C] _ _
_ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ _
Once [C] really is a play about the healing power of music and how music [C] can affect
all of us on a level that nothing else [G] can.
I don't know [C] you, but [Dm] I [Em] want you all the more for [F] that.
_ Once [C] has a huge fan base for [Dm] the movie and for these songs.
[Em] People are very, very [C] passionate about them and [Dm] know them very well.
They know those [Em] original recordings and they know how they [C] sounded in the movie.
And that's [Em] a huge [F] responsibility to me and to the cast to make sure that we deliver those songs
in a way [A] that the audience remembers [G] them.
I tried specifically to not recreate performances.
I think what you [Am] have to do is you have to pay tribute to it, but you also have [G] to create something new.
Otherwise, [F] you know, it just doesn't make a lasting impression.
But you also have to find [A] moments where you can give the audience those little things that [Am] they're looking for.
You know, the audience wants to [F#] hear Falling Slowly and they want it [G] to go a certain way.
And so you can't just [F] be wildly interpretive with it.
[C] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ You have [Am] a choice.
_ You made it.
[F] _ _ _ _
_ _ Falling Slowly, of course, is the song that won the [C] Academy Award.
And I remember the first day in rehearsal when we sat down in the in the [F] circle to play the song.
And I had my part in front of me and [C] the fiddles came in and it was just so beautiful and smooth.
[F] And I immediately started crying.
And still to this day, usually don't make [C] it through the song without without losing it a little bit.
It's [F] very simple.
It's a great innocence to what the cast members are [C] singing.
It's the kind of thing you can leave the theater and just hear in your [F] mind over and over again.
I love doing the finale of [Dm] Falling Slowly because it's the one time [Am] in the show where I get to look around
and I see all these [B] incredible cast members [Am] and they're so into playing [Gm] and singing.
So it's kind of like [F] a shared group experience.
[C] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Am] _ _ _ _ _ _ [F]
I've always [F] been an actor and a musician.
What's really great about this [C] particular project is that it marries [F] the two of them so seamlessly.
We really have [Am] to be able to shred and we really have to be good actors.
It's happened so organically [F] and _ _ it's awesome.
[F#m] Are you really here or [Bm] am I dreaming?
[C#] _ I can't tell dreams from _ truth.
[F#m] It's been so long.
The fact [C#] that we play the entire show, that we score the entire show is the musical.
[F#m] And the fact that we put all of our feeling and [F#] love into these instruments, you can [Bm] sense it in the air.
[C#] I've never been lifted so much by an action on stage as I have with playing an instrument and making a sound.
[F#m]
If _ [G#] you [Bm] were _ _
[C#] _ _ _ [F#m] satisfied _ _ _
_ If [Bm] you _ were _ _ _ satisfied
[F#m] _ _ _
_ The Once cast album is unusual in that [Bm] we have a cast [C#] made up of actor musicians.
Normally when we do a cast recording we have the singers in isolation booths [F#m] so we can have greater control in the mix later on.
Martin Lowe [Bm] had requested [C#] that to keep the atmosphere and the vibe of what's happening on stage,
he was hoping that we could have all of the [F#m] actors and musicians play in the same room.
It feels like [B] doing the show or it feels [Bm] like doing a rehearsal.
So [C#] from that point of view, I think this is very different than a regular Broadway cast album.
There's no separation, everyone's playing [F#m] together, so that feels amazing. _
[F#] It's turning out just so [Bm] beautifully and there's a greater [C#] spontaneity.
Everybody is very happy because they can hear each other and play off each [E] other.
And I love her so
_ _ I wouldn't trade her for gold
_ These songs, as in many great musicals, can [E] stand on their own.
Gold is actually one of my favorite songs in the show.
Favorite to [F#] play in both versions, the instrumental and the acapella version.
I just think it's beautiful to hear all of those instruments sort of going full bore and everyone playing their hearts out.
Just the love and the energy that's in that song is really, it's a [E] powerful thing to experience being on stage with it [B] at the same time.
How long do you think you'd stay
When everyone stands up and starts to dance with their instruments
and I get to walk through everyone and every [E] night I hear something new from someone
but that moment still, regardless, eight times a week, brings me to almost tears.
Like I have to fight them.
It's so beautiful. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [B] _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ It's all about the healing power of music in our lives and how much it surrounds us
and [G] whether we know it or not, [Em] how much it affects us and our relationships with people.
[E] I love that idea of music saving people.
I think that's [G] a beautiful, beautiful message [E] that music can really heal people.
And I love her [E] so
_ _ _ I wouldn't trade her [B] for _ [E] _ gold _ _ _
_ _ _ I've always had a fantasy of playing in a band.
[Bm] One, two, three, [C] four!
All of us being musicians has been something that has really stoked the fires of this show in a lot of ways.
Integrating the musical instruments is actually a very [C] natural progression.
I don't think that this story would be what it is without [F] our instruments in the storytelling.
It's really amazing to play [Am] your instrument and have that be a part of your [Am] character at the same time.
[C] _ [F] Spending all of our time together playing music and breathing together, it sort of created this band for [C] real. It's amazing. _ _ _