#p4m

A P4M-1 of VP-21 in flight, early 1950s

Martin P4M maritime reconnaissance aircraft from USN VP-21 over the Patuxent River circa 1950

Hey there - Wow, what a wild blast from the past! I’m going to be so real and say that it had been SO many years that I actually forgot about this “song” entirely. It took me 10 minutes to track down the section to which you are referring! To my recollection, Out of My Hands was a portion we never quite got into shape. We liked the idea of keeping the show in the musical space during that section as everything is starting to cascade into itself and toward the show’s emotional climax, but the actually words and music themselves were never finalized. It was mostly an interstitial - a way to connect Interrogation into Namatame’s route while also doing some additional leg work to set up Adachi’s final plot turn. I remember it not being particularly good, though, which is why we didn’t ever include it in recordings. I realize now that led to it being a bit mysterious! There’s a lot in the show we would have changed and fixed had things continued, and this song is sort of a useful summary of that! If I can find any documentation of the actual song, I’ll share it, but with full transparency the likelihood of that is slim. I don’t think it made it that far. Adachi's portion was, if I recall correctly, similar to his final reprise in Here at the End, but I don't have a clear memory of the IT's section.

Me: i'M STANDING AT A CROSSROADS, bbbbUUT I KNOW WHICH WAY TO GO.. BEFORE I WAS CLUELESS, but now I think I kNOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW

A P4M of VX-6, 1950

A P4M of VP-9, 1959

A pair of VP-21 P4M-1s in flight, 18 July 1951

A P4M of VW-2, 1950s