Have Hope

Scroll down for a reflection from Lalia Mangione, Renovare’s Violinist and Community Manager

Have Hope

I lived my life to please other people

Completing that checklist from family and culture

But still I wasn’t happy 

It all came crashing down

Have hope, you can still recreate your life

The way I lived set a pattern for my children

I put my three kids on the school bus one morning

I said I’d see them that night

But left for seven years 

Have hope, you can still recreate your life

Chorus:

Find yourself

Find who you’re meant to be

Pare down your list of wants

Choose things carefully

Know the repercussion last longer than your sentence

Find peace with your decisions

So you don’t have regret

Live your life

There’s freedom in being who you are

To go from this life of luxury and privilege

Illegally obtained, it all came to nothing

A chance for a new checklist

I’m on my checklist now

Have hope, you can still recreate your life

Chorus 

These days I’m not in contact with my children

I want to stop generational curses

If that is what it takes

Then that’s an answered prayer

Have hope, you can still recreate your life

Chorus 

Have hope, you can still recreate your life

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Reflecting on the Process

The Documentary Songwriting process never fails to surprise me. Having someone share their story with you is a beautiful privilege in and of itself, but to come out of that experience with a song can be powerful in an entirely different way.

Melissa was so open and willing to put herself out there and enter into a process that was new to her. Writing a song can sound like a daunting task to someone who doesn’t do it regularly, but using the Documentary Songwriting process it took only 4 hours with Melissa to write this song. In the first session with Melissa we heard her tell her story and wrote it down as she went. Together we shortened the text of her story into something resembling a free-verse poem.

In our second session with Melissa we added rhythms, a melody, and chords. The back and forth that occurred during this session was so fun and interesting. Together we watched words on a page turn into lyrics on a chord chart. Melissa’s message to “have hope” became a refrain, and the wisdom that came out of her life’s journey a chorus. It’s meaningful, it’s memorable, and we hope it will ring in people’s minds in a meaningful way.

Rebecca and I could not have written this song alone, because it’s not our story - we want to uplift Melissa’s voice and share her story and insights with as many people as we can. What a blessing to have gotten a glimpse into Melissa’s life.