Program Notes

Mastery

Lyrics

Two years ago, I became a bachelor of music
A title I share with unmarried men, bachelors 
Bachelorettes of music, don’t exist for women 
But I found something better
A Master of Music in Music Theory and Composition Concert Music at New York University Steinhardt School of Education, Culture, and Human Development at the Washington Square Campus 
A title that is accurate for me

I am a master, a real musician 
I am a master, of composition
No one can tell me what’s right or wrong
‘Cause I have the mastery to write a song

Forget about a doctor’s or a bachelor’s degree
One sounds like a physician, the other unmarried
Being a master puts me at the top of the chart
Everyone will realize I am very smart 

I’m like Gordon Ramsey in Masterchef 
Except I don’t bake souffles, but I can read alto clef 
I can be headmaster like Dumbledore
I’m in charge because I choose if I should use Musescore

There’s grandmasters in chess
And Master of ceremonies
MC hammer, Master of the house and puppet master
Master bedroom, master bathroom
Masterclass and masterpiece
A mastermind who’s very wise
A master of disguise

I am a master of composition
No one can challenge my top position
But if I’m the best then why do I see
So many degrees that don’t belong to me

All the degrees
All the degrees that don’t belong to me

Six degrees of separation 
Six degrees to Kevin Bacon
I don’t want this to be true
He has six and I have two
When I’m freezing late at night
Its 32 fahrenheit
In celsius that means its hot
The metric system I was taught

First and second, third degree burns
First and second third degree murder 
Three hundred sixty in a circle
Ninety in a right angle
Scale degrees like do re mi 
Degrees of truth or certainty
Do my degrees mean anything
That’s why I wrote this song to sing

Am I a master, a real musician?
Am I a master of composition?
What’s the point of gathering in a concert hall
If being a master means nothing at all
I worked for my degrees and felt a source of pride 
But Kevin Bacon has six and he never tried 
The biggest thing in life that I have to regret
Is not applying to be on The Bachelorette