TRACY MCDONNELL: TEARS OF ST. LAWRENCE  

Millennium Solo Recordings, 2000-2023 (Vol. 1)

After the Perseid shower of meteors known as the “Tears of St. Lawrence” which appear annually on or about the eve of St. Lawrence (August 9). Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD between 2000 & 2023, except "Waldesnacht du wunderkühle," "Happy Wind" and "The Example," recorded by Michael Roche.  All other songs mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. All digitization & mastering by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Production, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. Cover Art: "Revelation" by Hija Yu. © Hija Yu. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

www.TracyMcDonnell.com

Bring a hundred sacks of gold and God will say, "Bring the heart."  ~Rumi

Tears of St. Lawrence

HAPPY WIND

Oh happy wind, how sweet 
Thy life must be!
The great, proud fields of gold
Run after thee:
And here are flowers, with heads
To nod and shake;
And dreaming butterflies
To tease and wake.
Oh happy wind, I say,
To be alive this day.

IN PARADISUM

In paradísum dedúcant te ángeli:
in tuo advéntu suscípiant te mártyres,
et perdúcant te in civitátem sanctam Jerúsalem.
Chorus angelórum te suscípiat,
et cum Lázaro quondam páupere
aetérnam hábeas réquiem."
	
ENGLISH TRANSLATION

May the angels lead you into paradise. 
May the martyrs welcome you,
and lead you to the holy city, Jerusalem. 
May choirs of angels welcome you, 
and with Lazarus, who lived in poverty, 
may you have eternal rest.

IN MEMORIAM LAWRENCE JAMES MCDONNELL (1924-2023)  

"Happy Wind"(William Henry Davies (1871-1940), read by Lawrence James McDonnell (1924-2023), Washington Theological Union, 5 May 1995.  Recorded by Michael Roche. "In Paradísum" (Plainchant, 11th century). Lead & Harmony Vocals/Synth Strings: Tracy McDonnell. Additional vocals: Marvin Myer McCoy. Recorded by Gantt Kushner, Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. Photo: Lawrence James McDonnell, c. 1942, photographer unknown. © 2023 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. All rights reserved.

Happy Wind / In Paradísum

SOLEIL

There was a dark back yard, a warm bonfire,
Some gentle people sitting in a rosy gyre.
Art the chosen tonic, a melody my chosen rum,
Anticipating a holier hum,
And just when I was forgetting my song,
Like a woodland troubadour, you came along,
Like a woodland troubadour, Soleil, ah Soleil, ah Soleil…

Red roses at the door next day and the third of many notes:
“Of rue and splendor” you wrote.
Later you gave me an amethyst,
A little amulet for the bedside, to ward away drunkenness.
Then just when I’d finally finished working so hard,
In the middle of the night, an unexpected sweet reward,
In the middle of the night: Soleil, ah Soleil, ah Soleil… 

Somewhere in the haze of that equinox night
You took my right hand into your two hands
Like a rune rolling in on a spinster wind,
And she was saying something to me, saying something to me,
Saying something I don’t yet understand:
Amethyst Amulet, in your rays my heart now set.
Earth and Sun, below and above, bring to me my heart’s true love.

You know the roses took me by surprise:
Before the water touched the vase it was filling in my eyes.
What are you wishing, Soleil?  What do you rue?
Just tell me what you’re thinking, we can make all things new,
Because just when the demon was at my door
I saw your face through the windowpane, 
like a flickering flame about to roar
In the falling rain: Soleil, ah Soleil, ah Soleil…

Somewhere in the haze of that equinox night,
On a bed of slowly sifted sand,
I saw the blue ice of your eyes dissolve into fire
And he was saying something to me, saying something to me,
Saying something I don’t yet understand:
Sister Wind, Brother Fire, bring to me my heart’s desire.
Equinox night, mystery bright, bring to me my heart’s delight.

A rune rolling in: Soleil.   
On a spinster wind: Soleil.
Flickering flame: Soleil.
Behind the windowpane: Soleil.
In the falling rain: Soleil.
In the middle of the night, 
In the middle of the night,
In the middle of the night: Soleil.

Text & Music: Tracy Alexandra McDonnell, © 2023. Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Synth Flute: Tracy McDonnell. Lead Guitar: Gantt Kushner. Electric Bass: Scott Giambusso. Drums, congas, hand percussion: Aloys Biondokin.  Recorded by Gantt Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. Painting: "Awakening" by Hija Yu. © Hija Yu. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Soleil

JOHNSTON CANYON
From the Album "Tears of St. Lawrence" by Tracy McDonnell (2023)

* * *
I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free, for his eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.   ~Civilla D. Martin, "His Eye is On the Sparrow"

* * *
Telegram to Amsterdam
Yes, again it’s me
With a watering pail and some salty earth
Beyond the Zuyder Zee

Sitting with our sick friend again
Fourteen cats for company
One sob-laden saga after another 
On the white-noise pacifier trash TV

A youth cut down in his prime 
When he dived with joy into a churning sea
From basketball court to wheelchair
His neck snapped, one, two, three

Tides of tears rising up into waves, then a tsunami
Finally foaming into whirling pools of blurred uncertainty
While my offering of tear-drenched pearls 
Drifts quietly in the twilight back to me

Telegram from Amsterdam
Where walls hold back the sea
Across cyber surf of many oceans
Floats your note: “I made it safely”

And what you’d have to call maudlin
Her lifeline seems to be –
No, she can’t sleep without this din
And you can’t sleep with me, and still be free

Because even after your change of heart
Even yet you wept, every other time we met
Because you laid down again and again, 
And then again, with me, eyes open, cheeks wet
Because suddenly you wanted to pay me for my trouble, pay my debt

Joys and sorrows of a decade intertwined 
A sin offering of some peculiar kind
When you asked me in a rocky mountain clearing to grow old with you 
Guess you were just snow-blind
Off a chameleon trail I might never have trod 
Where a gushing canyon through my heart did wind

Telegram from Amsterdam
“My heart’s gone out to sea”
With a watering pail and some salty earth
Beyond the Zuyder Zee

Telegram to Amsterdam
Time for just one last eulogy –
They say his eye is on the sparrow and the seagull
And they say he watches me, he watches me. . .

* * *
Text & Music: Tracy Alexandra McDonnell, after Steely Dan’s “King of the World” (Countdown to Ecstasy, 1973). Lead & Harmony Vocals/Piano: Tracy McDonnell. Acoustic Bass: Jon Nazdin. Drums: David Lopez.  Ocean & seagull effects: Gantt Mann Kushner. Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA.  Produced by Tracy McDonnell.© 2023 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. All rights reserved. Photo: Johnston Canyon, Banff National Park, Alberta (Canada), photographer unknown.

Johnston Canyon

VENTURA HIGHWAY

Chewin’ on a piece of grass, walkin’ down the road
Tell me, how long you gonna stay here, Joe?
Some people say this town don’t look good in snow
You don’t care - I know

Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer, the nights are stronger than moonshine
You’re gonna go, I know
Because the free wind is blowin’ through your hair
And the day surrounds your daylight there
Seasons crying, no despair
Alligator lizards in the air, in the air

Wishin’ on a fallin’ star, waitin’ for the early train
Sorry, boy, but I’ve been hit by purple rain
Aw, come on, Joe - you can always change your name
Thanks a lot, Son, just the same

Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer, the nights are stronger than moonshine
You’re gonna go, I know
Because the free wind is blowin’ through your hair
And the day surrounds your daylight there
Seasons crying, no despair
Alligator lizards in the air, in the air

* * *
Text & Music by Dewey Bunnell, © 1972 Warner Bros. Music Ltd. 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY. All rights for the Western Hemisphere controlled by Warner Brothers Music Corporation. Used with permission. Vocal & Synth Rhodes: Tracy McDonnell. Acoustic lead guitar: Gantt Mann Kushner. Electric bass: Gantt Mann Kushner. Drums: Andy Hamburger. Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2023 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Cover Art: "Revelation 2" by Hija Yu. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Ventura Highway

THE EXAMPLE / FIRST NATIONS CHANT
From the Album "Tears of St. Lawrence" by Tracy McDonnell (2023)

Here's an example from
A Butterfly;
That on a rough, hard rock
Happy can lie;
Friendless and all alone
On this unsweetened stone.

Now let my bed be hard
No care take I;
I'll make my joy like this
Small Butterfly;
Whose happy heart has power
To make a stone a flower.

Text: William Henry Davies (1871-1940), from "Farewell to Poesy and Other Pieces" (1910), public domain. Spoken Word: Lawrence James McDonnell (1924-2023). Recorded by Michael Roche at Washington Theological Union, 5 May 1995.  Digitized & mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA.

FIRST NATIONS CHANT

"Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees."  ~Revelation 7:3

O Great Spirit, earth, sun, sky and sea
You are inside and all around me

The earth is our mother -- we must take care of her
Her sacred ground we walk upon with ev’ry step we take
The earth is our mother -- she will take care of us

Now I walk in beauty
Beauty is before me
Beauty is behind me
Above and below me

* * * 
Text & Music: Native American traditional chants, adapted & arranged by Tracy McDonnell. Vocals: Tracy McDonnell. Cane Flutes: Ron Warren. Drum programming: Gantt Mann Kushner. Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA.  Photo: Lawrence James McDonnell, c. 1936, photographer unknown. © 2023 Tracy McDonnell. All rights reserved. With deepest gratitude to Libana for helping to preserve these sacred melodies.

The Example / First Nations Chant

WALDESNACHT, DU WUNDERKÜHLE (Dark Woodland, Wondrous and Cool)
From the Album "Tears of St. Lawrence" by Tracy McDonnell (2023)

* * *

“Every time I have been in the woods to pray I have loved them more. . . It set the seal on all the silences in which I had found Him without seeming to find anything, and I knew (as I had always guessed) that I had every time come home with something tremendous, although my hands were always empty.”  ~Thomas Merton, 5/7/51

"Every tree speaks through thee, O God!" ~Beethoven

“Glance at the sun.  See the moon and the stars.  Gaze at the beauty of earth's greenings. Now: think.” ~Hildegard of Bingen

* * *

Waldesnacht, du wunderkühle. . .

Wondrous cool, thou woodland quiet. 
Thee a thousand times I greet; 
Far away from rush and riot, 
Ah, thy soothing sounds are sweet! 

Dreaming on thy mossy carpet, 
Here is rest and peace; 
‘Tis as if, beneath thy shadows, 
All my cares and troubles cease. 

Waldesnacht, du wunderkühle. . .

Song of flutes across the valley, 
Floating faint and far away, 
Fills my heart with mystic longing,
For the beauty they portray. 

Rock me in thy woodland cradle, 
Still my every care, 
Breathing joy and sweet contentment
On thy fragrant, scented air.

Waldesnacht, du wunderkühle. . .

* * *
Original Text: Paul Heyse (1830-1914). English Translation: Henry S. Drinker (1880-1965), published by G. Schirmer. Used with permission. Music: Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), from "Sieben Lieder," Op. 62, No. 3 (1874). ext & Music arranged by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell.  Lead & Harmony Vocals: Tracy McDonnell.  Recorded by Michael Roche. Digitized & Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2023 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Cover Art: "Tree of Life" by Jan Delyth. All rights reserved.

Waldesnacht

EYLI (My God) 
From the Album "Ars Poética" by Tracy McDonnell (2023)

Eyli, Eyli, Eyli 
Shelo yigamer l’olam
Hachol v’hayam
Rish rush shel hamayim 
B’rak hashamayim 
T’gilat ha’adam 

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

My God, I pray that these things never end: 
The sand and the sea
The rush of the waters 
The crash of the heavens
The prayer of humankind

* * *
Text: Hannah Senesh. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Music: Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Lead & Harmony Vocals / Piano: Tracy McDonnell. Violin: Susan Jones. Acoustic Bass: Jon Nazdin. Drums: David Lopez. Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA.  Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2023 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. All rights reserved.

Eyli (My God)

From the album "Tears of St. Lawrence " by Tracy McDonnell

ASPÉRGES ME

Aspérges me, Dómine, hyssópo et mundábor.
Lavábis me, et super nivem dealbábor.
Miserére mei, Deus, secúndum magnam misericórdiam tuam. 

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

Sprinkle me, Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be more pure than the new snow.
Have mercy on me, God, according to your great compassion.

***

REFINER'S FIRE

“For he is like a refiner’s fire.” Malachi 3:2-3

Don’t fire me the way you did a certain whirling-dervish bloke
I am a coat of different color, more than ready to take that yoke
Take it upon these shoulders and learn
On these strong shoulders to learn
A deeper fire to stoke

Don’t fire me like some entry-level bimbo wronged
Me with a mind that knows a thousand songs
And hands to play
Yes, holy hands to play
While we sing along

Fire me instead with the Refiner’s Fire
Lie down in it willingly as the flames rise higher
This is the way of the purifier
Melding into gold our hearts’ ev’ry desire

Don’t fire me as if I could really be replaced
Your eyes know every line and groove
In the dust of this weary traveler’s face
Your religion is the earth, your religion holy mother earth
Mine the earth’s embrace

Don’t fire me, that’s the easy way to go
We want the road less traveled, the narrow way to show
That winding path with many twists and turns
That wild and winding path
We will know

Fire me instead with the Refiner’s Fire
Lie down in it willingly as the flames rise higher
This is the way of the purifier
Melding into gold our hearts’ ev’ry desire

***

Text (Aspérges Me): Psalm 51. Music: Plainchant, 6th Century, arranged by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell.  Text & Music (Refiner's Fire): Tracy Alexandra McDonnell, after Malachi 3.2, Matthew 7.13, 11.19,29, Luke 13.24. Vocals & Piano:  Tracy McDonnell. Lead & Rhythm Guitar: Gantt Mann Kushner. Violin: Susan Jones. Acoustic Bass: Jon Nazdin. Drums: David Lopez. Percussion: Ekendra Das. Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner.  Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2003 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Cover Art: "Emanati" by Hija Yu.  Used with permission.  All rights reserved.

Aspérges Me / Refiner's Fire

From the album "Tears of St. Lawrence" by Tracy McDonnell

GLAMOUR OF EVIL

“Do you reject the glamor of evil, 
and refuse to be mastered by sin?” 
~Roman Catholic Baptismal Liturgy

***

You ask me if I love you – let me count the ways
You ask me if I need you – more than words can say
You ask me if I want you – yes, to the degree it pays (it pays)

I want you like a mother lion, I want you like a vulture
I want you like a sycophant, waiting for the rapture

The Glamor of Evil waiting at the stair
The Glamor of Evil, because it was there
The Glamor of Evil, telling such lovely lies
The Glamor of Evil burns before it dies (it dies)

I need you at the office, I need you in the supermarket
I need you in the war zones – let me be your moving target

Your precious songs and trembling hands 
Are like the dust on microphone stands
I’ll blow it away like a warm, wet breeze
Blowing through the warm, wet trees
Caressing the backs of your unsteady knees
Blowing away all your energies

I want you like a vodka tonic, I want you like a Hershey bar
I want you like a new silk dress lying under a warm guitar

Flowers of evil, pretending to be rare
Flowers of evil, running through your hair
Flowers of evil hold my eyes in a vise
Flowers of evil burn before they die (they die)

***
After the Renewal of Baptismal Promises from the Roman Catholic liturgy & Charles Baudelaire’s "Les Fleurs du Mal" (Flowers of Evil, 1857).  Used with permission. Text & Music: Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Lead & Harmony Vocals, Rhythm Guitar: Tracy McDonnell. Lead Guitar: Gantt Mann Kushner. Acoustic Bass: Jon Nazdin. Drums: David Lopez. Additional Percussion: Ekendra Das.
Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell.  © 2003 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Painting: "Temptation" by Chawkey Frenn. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Elementa

Glamour of Evil

LITANY (REMEMBER HIS TEARS)
From the Album "Tears of St. Lawrence" by Tracy McDonnell

Remember his tears
A silent voice said
Remember his tears
(A voice in my head)

Remember his tears
Again and again
Remember his tears
(Not voices of men)

Remember his tears
Still speaking to me
Remember his tears
(Though a mystery)

Tears, tears, tears
Falling free

Remember his tears
A silent voice said
Remember his tears
(A voice in my head)

Remember his tears
When you lean too shoal
Remember his tears
(In the dark night’s soul)

Remember his tears
And their spring’s shrine
Remember his tears
Mingled with mine

Mingled, mingled, mingled
With mine

I remember, I remember his tears
Mingled with mine, mingled with mine
And thine, and thine, and thine

***
After the Perseid shower of meteors known as the “Tears of St. Lawrence” which appear annually on or about the eve of St. Lawrence (August 9). Text & Music: Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Piano, Synth, Lead & Harmony Vocals: Tracy McDonnell. Guitars & Back-Up Vocal: Gantt Mann Kushner. Acoustic Bass: Jon Nazdin. Drums: David Lopez. Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, Va. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. Photo: Tracy McDonnell. © 2003 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. All rights reserved.

Litany (Remember His Tears)

From the album "Tears of St. Lawrence" by Tracy McDonnell

* * *

Bring a hundred sacks of gold and God will say, "Bring the heart.”  ~Rumi

WHAT CAN I GIVE HIM

What can I give him, poor as I am? 
If I were a shepherd, I’d bring a lamb. 
If I were a wise man, I’d do my part. 
What can I give him, give him my… 
 
***
"What Can I Give Him?" excerpt from “In the Bleak Midwinter,” by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894), from the posthumous collection "The Poetical Works of Christina Georgina Rossetti," Poem #426, 1904. First setting: Music by Harold Darke (1888-1976), © 1911, Stainer & Bell Ltd., London, and Galaxy Music Corporation, New York.  Used with permission. Second setting: Composer unknown. Adapted and arranged by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Lead & harmony vocals, synth bass & piano: Tracy McDonnell.  Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2005 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. All rights reserved.  

ALL THE THINGS SHE GAVE ME

All the things, all the things she gave me
All the things, all the things she gave me

I wrapped them up in a big brown box
Tied it with ribbon, drove to the dock
Checked my time by the old town clock, all the things . . .
 
I saw the watchman
He was blowing into cupped hands as he walked to my car.  
He said, “Where do you think you’re drivin’ to, son?  
All good folks are in bed and the day’s work is done.”
I said, “I’m just lookin for someplace to burn all the things . . .”

All the things that she gave me, 
where do I put them, where can I hide them?  
All the things that she gave me, 
where do I put them, where can I hide them away?

It’s dark as hell here, this city’s grown cold
The devil’s in drag, playing poker with souls
The lots are all empty, the last man’s out
The moon’s made of cheese, God is a boy scout
When I go to sleep I’ll be dreaming about all the things . . .

All the things that she gave me, 
where do I put them, where can I hide them?  
All the things that she gave me, 
where do I put them, where can I hide them away?

Then I’ll dream about churches with great tall spires
Cathedrals and candles, chimneys and choirs
I’ll dream about that place where I set fire...

All those things that she gave me, 
where do I put them, where must I hide them?  
All the things that she gave me, 
where do I put them, where I can keep them out of my life?

All the things, all the things she gave me
All the things, all the things she gave me

***
Text & Music (All the Things She Gave Me): Mike Scott, from "The Waterboys: A Pagan Place," © 1994 Dizzy Heights Music Publ. Ltd. / MCPS. Excerpts: “All the Things You Are,“ text by Oscar Hammerstein, music by Jerome Kern, from “Very Warm for May,” © 1939 Polygram International Publishing, Inc. “Evil Ways,” text & music by Carlos Santana, from "Santana," © 1971, BMI. “Gimmie Dat Ding," text & music by the Pipkins, © 1970, Capitol Records. “Drive My Car," text & music by John Lennon & Paul McCartney. © 1965 by Capitol Records. Used with permission. Adapted & arranged by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Lead & harmony vocals, synth Rhodes: Tracy McDonnell. Additional vocals on "All the Things She Gave Me," rhythm, lead & bass guitars: Gantt Mann Kushner. Drums: Andy Hamburger. Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2005 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. All rights reserved.

What Can I Give Him / All The Things She Gave Me

LA LLORONA  (The Weeping One)

“My tears have been my food day and night.”  Psalm 42:3

***

Madre, madre del niño perdido, del hijo desaparacido
Ruega por nosotros ahora, y en la hora de nuestra muerte

Si al cielo subir pudiera, Llorona, las estrellas te bajara
La luna tus pies pusiera, Llorona, con el sol te coronara

Ay de mi, Llorona, Llorona, Llorona de azul celeste
Aunque la vida me cueste, Llorona, no dejare de queerte

***
Mother, mother of the lost child, of the disappeared son
Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
If I could rise to the sky, Llorona, I would give you the stars.
I would place the moon at your feet and crown you with the sun.
Oh, Llorona, Llorona of azure blue!
Even though I die, I will never stop loving you.

***
Mexican Traditional. Additional lyrics from the "Hail Mary" adapted & arranged by Tracy McDonnell. English translation by Magalie Salas & Tracy McDonnell. © 2003 by Tracy McDonnell. All rights reserved.  Painting: "Our Lady of Sorrows" / artist unknown.

***
Rhythm guitar & vocals: Tracy McDonnell
Lead guitar: Gantt Mann Kushner
Cane flutes: Ron Warren
Acoustic Bass: Jon Nazdin
Drums: David Lopez
Congas: Carlos Larios
Violin: Susan Jones

Recorded & engineered by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Co.
Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions

La Llorona  (The Weeping One)

LACQUIPARLET (DAKOTA HYMN) / CREDO

I believe the earth
Exists, and
In each minim mote 
Of its dust the holy
Glow of thy candle.
Thou
Unknown I know,
Thou spirit,
Giver,
Lover of making, of the
Wrought letter,
Wrought flower,
Iron, deed, dream.
 
Dust of the earth,
Help thou my
Unbelief. Drift,
Gray become gold, in the gleam of 
Vision. I believe and
Interrupt my belief with
Doubt. I doubt and 
Interrupt my doubt with belief. Be,
Beloved, threatened world.
        Each minim
Mote.
     Not the poisonous
Luminescence forced
Out of its privacy,
The sacred lock of its cell
Broken. No,
The ordinary glow
Of common dust in ancient sunlight.
Be, that I may believe. Amen.

* * *
Text: From "Candles in Babylon / Mass for the Day of St. Thomas Didymus" by Denise Levertov. New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation. © 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 by Denise Levertov. Used with permission. Music: Laquiparle (traditional Dakota melody), arranged by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Spoken word, vocals & chimes: Tracy McDonnell. Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2023 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Painting: Marianna C. Gonzalez. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Lacquiparle (Dakota Hymn) / Credo

Song-Poems Ancient & New
www.TracyMcDonnell.com