Song Lyric Sunday — “If I Never Got To Tell You”

Our Song Lyric Sunday host, Jim Adams, gives us this week’s theme of Brutal, Cruel, Frenzy, Savage, Violent suggested by Melanie B Cee of sparksfromacombustiblemind. Truthfully, when Jim first announced this theme a few weeks ago, my thoughts ran to chain saw killers and other equally gory, violent ideas. Not my cup of tea at all. I haven’t posted in a while, and I figured there’s no way I was going to step back into blog world with this theme. Obviously, I’ve changed my mind.

Just living life can be brutal and cruel, with or without gore. Sudden, life-changing accidents, the death of a loved one that always seems “too soon” whether death was expected imminently or not, or a medical diagnosis can all fit into this week’s theme. I’ve been thinking a lot lately of aging and dwindling mortality, of missing people and pets who have passed on, and especially of my family’s history of alzheimer’s disease — a brutal, cruel disease if ever there was one.

That was my frame of mind yesterday when, listening to the Broadway channel on Sirius, I heard “If I Never Got To Tell You” written by Gloria Estefan and her daughter, Emily Estefan, for the 2015 musical about Gloria’s life, “Get On Your Feet.” The song is a duet between the character of her mother, Gloria Fajardo, and husband, Emilio Estefan, worrying that Gloria might not survive surgery following a tour bus crash that fractured her spine. At the time of the accident, mother and daughter had been estranged for two years. The heart-wrenching lyrics make clear that both mother and husband are filled with regret and despair that they may never get the chance to tell Gloria how much she means to them.

Here’s audio of the scene from the original Broadway cast album, followed by poignant audio of Gloria’s and Emily’s duet.

 

If I Never Got to Tell You

GLORIA FAJARDO: (spoken)
Shh. It’s me. It’s Mami. I’m here.

(sung)
If I never got to tell you
There’s no way I could be prouder
Of the life that you’ve created
All the ways that you have grown

If I never got to tell you

EMILIO:
You are my life

GLORIA FAJARDO:
I would say it ever louder

EMILIO:
From the first day you were

GLORIA FAJARDO & EMILIO:
In my life you’ve been a blessing

GLORIA FAJARDO:
And I need you to know

EMILIO:
Life can change so quickly

GLORIA FAJARDO:
Don’t think that you have
All the time in the world to tell someone
The reasons that you love them

GLORIA FAJARDO & EMILIO:
With one twist of fate
All the words in your heart

GLORIA FAJARDO:
They never hear
What’s the sense in waiting?

GLORIA FAJARDO & EMILIO:
Until it’s too late to say it
Much like a game, we play it
When we choose to keep it all inside
Until it’s too late, forever
We run out of all whenevers
And this just might be our last goodbye

EMILIO:
If I never got to tell you

GLORIA FAJARDO:
If I never got to tell you

GLORIA FAJARDO & EMILIO:
All the ways you made me happy

GLORIA FAJARDO:
That the dreams you’ve been fulfilling
Are fulfilling my dreams too

EMILIO:
If I never got to tell you

GLORIA FAJARDO:
I love you so

EMILIO:
You were planned down to the moment

GLORIA FAJARDO:
If I ever hurt you

GLORIA FAJARDO & EMILIO:
You have always been the reason
For the choices I have made

EMILIO:
I thought I would have all the time in the world
To make things right
But I almost lost tomorrow
With one twist of fate
I was facing the world
Without you

GLORIA FAJARDO: (spoken)
Did you see all the red roses people sent her?

EMILIO: (spoken)
Yeah.

GLORIA FAJARDO & EMILIO: (spoken)
She hates red roses.

GLORIA FAJARDO: (spoken)
You were taking her away from me.
And I couldn’t bear the thought of losing her.

EMILIO: (spoken)
I know the feeling.

GLORIA FAJARDO:
If I never got to tell you
I regret the way things happened
In my life, each time I trusted
Was just one more time I lost
If I never got to tell you

EMILIO:
I understand

GLORIA FAJARDO:
You’re the son I always wanted

EMILIO:
I will always be here

GLORIA FAJARDO:
And though I didn’t make it easy

EMILIO:
No, you didn’t make it easy

GLORIA FAJARDO:
I have paid the higher cost

I thought I would have all the time in the world
To make things right
But I almost lost tomorrow
With one twist of fate
I was facing the world
Without you
So I’m no longer waiting

EMILIO:
I’m no longer waiting

GLORIA FAJARDO & EMILIO:
Until it’s too late to say it
Much like a game, we play it
When we choose to keep it all inside
Until it’s too late, forever
We run out of all whenevers
And this just might be our last goodbye

Before it’s too late

REPORTER: (spoken)
At this hour, pop superstar Gloria Estefan is about
To enter an extremely complex spinal fusion surgery,
Which reportedly could last as long as nine hours.
A press conference is scheduled for this evening,
At which time we should find out whether
Or not the procedure was indeed successful.