Roderick Williams - Confessions of a Counter-tenor

Counter-tenor: Feargal Mostyn-Williams
Piano: Erika Gundesen

Recorded in the National Opera Studio's Blackburn Hall as part of a free lunchtime concert on Wednesday 7 March 2018. 

Lyrics by Ned Sherrin


Some say it’s a gift,
I give Handel a lift,
And that I’ll be the toast of the town,
Others say I’m a freak,
That it’s breaking next week,
So don’t worry, it’s bound to go down.

If your voice has a falsetto, folk invent a grim libretto
That involves a sharp stiletto to explain your higher range.
Philistines and Literati think you’ve brought back the castrati,
Or that your innamorati must be at best rather strange.

Ev’ry one is intrigued and most are sympathetic; “Is it tiring and does it hurt?”
“Excuse me asking you fair and square, but is ev’rything all right down there?”
Ev’ryone is intrigued; some concern is more synthetic; some are able to disconcert:
“How do you sound in your normal voice?” “Did you have the op. by your own choice?”

But I’m a cross singer, a regular feller,
Like Bowman and Deller,
I’m not a cross-dresser,
A bender of gender, I’d send back to sender!

So why do I do it and put you all through it,
Why not give my chest voice a whirl?
I would if I could, but my chest is no good,
And I’d much rather sing like a girl!