Water Ways
(Our Hundred Miles of Water Ways Song)
©2021 L. D. Vellani ... inspired by the leadershipof C. A. "Crystal" Cavalier, Jason Campos Keck & so many others in the effort to prevent the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline through West Virginia Virginia & North Carolina ...

Ab Cm Bb Eb … walk into intro ..  
Intro - Bridge
Ab Eb Bb Ab Eb Cm
Bb Eb Cm Bb Db Ab Bb … Gm Bb …

... all that flows,
all that waits,
waters roll there’s no escape
all that's bound up
all that breaks
All that yearns for nature’s sake ...

Spring brings the robin dance 
Clear the brush as nature gathers 
Rising from the valleys  
Up mountains her warmth trends 
River knows where it flows,  
Are we knowing where we’re going  
Water keepers fire keepers  
Pausing moving on 
high
Spring brings the mauling backhoes 
Scraping ‘cross our nature’s veins
Dragging up the valleys … 
Down from mountains yet to mend 
River knows where it flows,  
Are we knowing where we’re going  
Water keepers fire keepers  
Walking taking on … Eb
... all that flows,
all that waits,
waters roll there’s no escape
all that's bound up
all that breaks
All that yearns for nature’s sake ...
Now’s the time for our knowing 
Seizing fields and graves destroying 
Searching out the river fords 
Thru gamblin’ underworlds 
Never care if pipes are bearing 
Gas or no the cash it’s flowing 
Buy, lay, buy, lay, MV-piping 
This the final round 
high
Moon and snake awake the living 
Rooks and sharks in fossil fooling
Living land and water ways 
The money-changers rend
River knows where it flows,  
Are we knowing where we’re going  
Water keepers fire keepers  
Standing firm & strong …  with Eb …
... all that flows,
with all that waits,
waters roll there’s no escape
all that's bound up
all that breaks
All that yearns for nature’s sake ...
Moon and snake awake the living 
Rooks and sharks in fossil fooling
Living land and water ways 
The money-changers rend
River knows where it flows,  
Are we knowing where we’re going  
Water keepers fire keepers  
Standing firm & strong  
high
Water keepers fire keepers 
Walking in the dawn 
high
 Respectful, prayerful, peaceful, mindful  
Passing life along  …
Chorus
 Respectful, prayerful, peaceful, mindful  
Passing life along  …

Verses
Cm Eb F Gm Bb
Cm Eb Fm G
Cm Eb F Gm Bb
Cm Eb F Gm Cm

Bridge
Eb
Ab Eb Bb Ab Eb Cm
Bb Eb Cm Bb Db Ab Bb … Gm Bb …

Water Ways

Caminhando (Pra não dizer que não falei das flores)
- Geraldo Vandre' (1935), heraldic 1960s anti-military coup anthem
... English lyrics (c) 2021 L. D. Vellani

Caminhando e cantando e seguindo a canção
Somos todos iguais braços dados ou não
Nas escolas nas ruas, campos, construções
Caminhando e cantando e seguindo a canção

[Chorus]
Vem, vamos embora, que esperar não é saber
Quem sabe faz a hora, não espera acontecer (2v)

Walking & singing & following the song
Together we are equal whether going arm in arm
In schools in the streets in fields or in towns
Walking & singing & following the song

Come on let’s go, who hesitates just shows what they don’t know.
Who really knows won’t wait around as the wind begins to blow. (2v)

Há soldados armados, amados ou não
Quase todos perdidos de armas na mão
Nos quartéis lhes ensinam uma antiga lição
De morrer pela pátria e viver sem razão

Vem, vamos embora, que esperar não é saber
Quem sabe faz a hora, não espera acontecer (2v)

There our soldiers to love and others to forget 
But every last one of them is emptied of regret
The lies & the guns they go hand in hand
To live without thinking & die upon command

Come on let’s go, who hesitates just shows what they don’t know.
Who really knows won’t wait around as the wind begins to blow.

Caminhando 210519 - 001

Waiting, Waiting, Open!
{… carpe diem ... for kids of all ages …}
(c) L. D. P. Vellani

Chorus
Waiting, waiting open
Hoping, hoping happen
Laughing, laughing lovin’
Laughing, laughing lovin’

Why does it take so long
When my patience is so short
Maybe better with a song
Like when a pig gives out a snort
(a ship sails into port) 

Waiting, waiting open
Hoping, hoping happen
Laughing, laughing lovin’
Laughing, laughing lovin’

The baby wants its mother
The river rolls into the sea
The wind lets go of breezes
Your love’s got a hold of me

Waiting, waiting open
Hoping, hoping happen
Laughing, laughing lovin’
Laughing, laughing lovin’

Boring is the waiting
Though I’m hoping for the best
When at last it happens
Oh, Good Lord, I’m such a mess!!

Waiting, waiting open
Hoping, hoping happen
Laughing, laughing lovin’
Laughing, laughing lovin’

Waiting Waiting Open 211130 - 001

Okay, Go On!
© 2020 L. D. Vellani

You say you don’t like how things are going these days
The tv, the radio the print news a mess & a maze
You want law & order & the police to behave
The government’s slow & corporations always get their way

Once upon a time they didn’t let most folk vote
The Plato’s & Cicero’s were 10% of the folks
In the early US, it was the same privileged gents
We tried & died to get more people under the tent

So, go & vote, you can stand in a line
Go on & vote, use the mail it’s fine
Go on & vote, don’t get taken for a ride
Go on & vote, we’ve got no place to hide

The folks not voting are the largest party today
They complain about our justice, jobs & the economy
They say 1 party, 2 or 3 seem all the same
Whom can I trust, who really is to blame?

They used to burn witches, and whip the poor & the slaves
The sit-down strikers, freedom-riders, and the bridge-crossing brave
All around this world most folks feel basically the same
Yes, Bella Ciao to the past here come’s a better day

Go on & vote, it won’t solve everything
Go on & vote, it’s the first step to change
Go on & vote, a better world is in range
Go on & vote, don’t need to stay the same

But now In Texas, Georgia and even old Caroline
Pushing laws to limit voting, borderin’ on a crime
Making up stories, tales too tall to climb
Better get ready, you know it’s just a matter of time

Go on & vote, you can stand in the line
Go on & vote, use the mail it’s fine
Go & on vote, don’t get taken for a ride
Go on & vote, we’ve got no place to hide

Go on & vote, it won’t solve everything
Go on & vote, the first step to change
Go on & vote, a better goal is in range
Go on & vote, don’t need to stay the same, 
Go on & vote, nothing stays the same, stays the same, stays the same …

Okay, Go On! ... solo ...

... original Ukranian ... 
Red Viburnum (Long Live Free Ukraine)
Words: Mykola Shaposhnik (1934-2009)
Music: P. Protsko, Yuriy Marshtupa

English adaptation, (c) 2022 L. D. Vellani 
Free Ukraine free Ukraine hope at darkest midnight
Free Ukraine free Ukraine strength in morning sunlight
May we bloom, may we bloom like the Red Kalyna
Vilna Ukrayna in fields of yellow sun
Vilna Ukrayna blue skies as freedom’s won

Long Live Free Ukraine (Khay Zhyve Vilʹna Ukrayina)

Vil'na Ukrayina ...
(c) 2022 English Chorus, L. D. Vellani
Free Ukraine, Free Ukraine Hope in darkest Midnight
Free Ukraine, Free Ukraine, Strength in MOrning Sunlight
May we bloome, may we bloom, like the Red Kalyna
Vil'na Ukraina in fields of Yellow Sun
Vil'na Ukrayina, Blue Skies as Peace is Won!

Vil’na Ukrayina ("Chervona Kalyna" or "Khay Zhyve Vil’na Ukrayina"

The Sun is Setting, Evening Has Come "Sontse Nyzen’ko, Vechir Blyzen’ko"

... tow members of Red Kalyna ... in preparation to clear the way for the coin toss at the NC Carolina Courage game on Aug 27, 2023, WakeMed Soccer Field, Cary, NC

Star Spangled Banner

... bringing back into the rotation two variations on life's experiences ...

Grazie Roma - Dream of the Miner’s Child

Lakota Lullaby, c. 1971
- Floyd Red Crow Westerman, 1936 – 2007

Chorus
Hear the black crow a’callin’ 
As she comes home in the spring
Hear the last of the wild coyotes call
Hear the ghosts on the plain
Sing of the buffalo again
Fall asleep to a Lakota lullaby

The wind knows the names 
Of the ones who have returned
To this holy land on which their people toiled
If you fall down on your knees
Put your ear down to the earth
You might hear spirits singing in the soil

Time rolls forever 
Like the lazy grey Missouri
The stars above the dusty prairie shine
There’s a million sleeping braves
Gonna rise up from the grave
And sing the songs that have no place in time

Lakota Lullabye

Remember Me
- 1940, Scotty Wiseman (1913-1999)

The sweetest songs belong to lovers in the gloaming
The sweetest days were the days that used to be
The saddest words I ever heard were words of parting
When you said Sweetheart remember me

Remember me when the candle lights are gleaming
Remember me at the close of a long long day
It would be so sweet, when all alone I'm dreaming
Just to know you still remember me

You told me onece that you were mine alone forever
And I was yours 'til the end of eternity
But al those vows are broken now and we will never
Be the same except in memory

* Refrain

A brighter face may take my place when we're apart dear
A sweeter smile, and a love more bold and free
But in the end, fair weather friends may break your heart dear
If they do, sweetheart, remember me

Remember Me

Gumbi Verde

Okay Go On ... Band Prep

... (c) 1988 Ian Tyson ...

The Coyote & the Cowboy
- Ian Tyson

Coyote's a survivor, I reckon he's got to be
He lives in the snow at 40 below or Malibu by the sea
An' I'm just an old cow puncher, I love to listen to his tune
Cause I get high on a bottle of rye an' Coyote gets drunk on the moon. (one more!)
Cause I get high on a bottle of rye an' Coyote gets drunk on the moon. (yee-hoo!)

Well the cowboy is a conundrum, a contradiction in this age
Well he says he's doin' fine on the poverty line with a workin' cowboy's wage
The whiskey bottle cost 13 bucks, the big prairie moon is free
So who is the dumber son of a bitch? The little coyote or me?
Yeh, who is the dumber son of a bitch? The little coyote or me? (take it)

So with thoughts of re-incarnation, well I drifted off to dream
I made it for life with a coyote wife, a bushy-tailed coyote queen
Way down in the valley, at the old long noose saloon
The cowboy got high on a bottle of rye, we got drunk on the moon
The cowboy got high on a bottle of rye, we got drunk on the moon

Coyote's a survivor, I reckon he's got to be
He lives in the snow at 40 below or Malibu by the sea
An' I'm just an old cow puncher, I love to listen to his tune
Cause I get high on a bottle of rye an' Coyote gets drunk on the moon
Cause I get high on a bottle of rye an' Coyote gets drunk on the moon

Coyote And The Cowboy C

Haw 
-	© 2024 L. D. Vellani
-       inspired by the work of members of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation & their allies in preserving & sustaining the health of the Haw River in piedmont North Carolina ... Mani eni se = "Water is alive" in Tutelo Saponi ... https://obsn.org/ ...

Rippling thru the tripling paths
Staying uphill to the last
There’re vines & slicks & branchless sticks
Washed up all around (Gathered up around)
There’re vines & slicks & branchles sticks
Washed up all around

Oh the marshy swayin' reeds
In the wetlands drink & breath
See the downstream bushes & tiny fords
Feel the ocean’s turtle pull
See the downstream bushes & tiny fords
Feel the ocean’s turtle pull

The sturgeon’s time is past
The trees are holding fast
The moon & stars & meteor showers
Ride the river’s wavy power (down)
The moon & stars & meteor showers
Ride the river’s wavy power

Blue clay walls on higher ground
Rocks & critters sliding down
Everything comes in thru living waters
It all floats before it crawls
Everything comes in thru some living  waters
It all floats before it crawls

Mani eni se so we know
Mani eni se so we show
On the sand, in the mud, in a channel, in a flood
The waters roll me down
On the sand, in the mud, in a channel, in a flood
The waters roll me down

Oh the Haw springs from the ground
Earthen waters life enwound
It’s a call above and a buzz beside
And a padded foot fall blind
It’s a call above and a buzz beside
And a padded foot fall blind
It’s a call above and a buzz beside
And a padded foot fall blind
Mani eni se
Mani eni se
And a padded foot fall blind

Hey Sokoly

(c) 2025 words by Si Kahn, music by Larry Vellani

Today as you drive down the highway
Please think of old place names in my way
Because even as you and I speak
They’re rapidly going antique
The National Institute of Health
Is now The Elon Musk Center for Wealth
And the White House I’m sorry to say
Like its resident is fast going grey

    Chorus
    Gulf of America
    It’s a  great corporation 
    All over the nation
    They’re selling me gas
    But in case you’re confused
    Here’s a clarification
    It’s not the kind that you burn
    It's the kind that you pass

All over this beautiful nation
You no longer can say ’trans…...portation’
At no cost should you say ’trans...…ition'
Not even if said in ’trans...…lation’
Never say that this morning you ‘woke'
‘Cause the entire system is broke 
If you’re careless and say ‘DEI'
You’ll be hauled off to jail bye and bye

So here’s to Gulf of America
Here’s to the Donald Trump Ocean
Here’s to what used to be Greenland
Now it's Myland ‘cause he took a notion
Never refer to ‘The White House'
‘Orange Palace’ is what you should say
Never say that you ‘woke’... up this morning
‘Cause we all went to sleep Voting Day


Gulf of America

O Cool Oh Wow-oh

The times were tough for sure
Surrounded by manure
I don’t know ‘bout you
… never thought we’d make it through moo

    But oh cool and oh wowo
    We stumbled through somehow
    Just me and faithful cow 
   Oh cool and oh wowo

I never seemed to win
Completely felt fenced in
As far as I could see
No greener grass for me

    Oh cool and oh wowo
    We stumbled through somehow
    Just you my faithful cow 
     Oh cool and oh wowo

But listen to me kid
Made it through we did
Our lives are sweet and full
I’m so glad that I’m your bull

    Oh cool and oh wowo
    We stumbled through somehow
    A bull in love with cow-oh
    Oh cool and oh wowo

Oh Cool & Oh Wow-oh!

Trade War - (6.5.2025) draft

THE ELEVENTH PROVINCE

The Saint Lawrence River
Flows between two great nations
Since the War of 1812
We’ve had pretty good relations
Okay, so we burned down your White House
But that was way back when
So just to prove there’s no hard feelings
Trump’s burning it down again

But now it’s twenty twenty-five
With your twenty-twenty vision
You may no longer see a reason for
Such a very long division
We’re under the same night starry sky
The same bright shining sun
Where in Trumpian mathematics
One and one can equal one

    U.S. said to Canada
    I’ll take you out on a date
    If you stare at me adoringly
    You can be my 51st state
    Canada shot back
    Go swim the great Saint Lawrence
    If you make it to the other side
    You can be our 11th province

As our 11th province
No more hurly burling
Instead of Pop Warner football
Kids will grow up learning curling
You’ll all be Canadian nice
No more lean and mean
Instead of beer for breakfast
You’ll have smoked meat and poutine

Once you’re part of Canada
You’ll have all of life’s essentials
As our 11th province
You’ll never be provincial
You’ll finally achieve
A new sophistication
As our 11th province
In one big happy nation

Since Canada said no
Donald is down in the dumps
It’s not easy to be green
It’s not easy to be Trump
But as our 11th province
We’ll go and leave you never
Oh say can you see
The Maple Leaf Forever


11th Province - early pass

Oil in My Vessel

Hernando's Hideaway - Em
Autumn Leaves / Les Feuilles mortes / This Heart of Mine (Tim Smith) - Gm
Kisses Sweeter Than Wine / On the Danforth - Em / A
I Put a Spell on You - Em
Time After Time - C
Wind & Rain - D
Caleb Meyers - Dm
Jolene - Dm
Besame Mucho - Dm
Witchy Woman - Gm
Careless Love - C
My Name is Morgan - G
Spooky - Gm

Mebanesville LIVE @Nash Street Tavern Spooktacular.1  (01 Track 01 2)

Werewolves of London- G
Stand By Me - G
Lonesome Fugitive- A
Dark of the Moon - C
Rose Colored Glasses - E
Desire - Am
Hello Stranger - D
Remember Me - D
Zombie - Em
Day Light / Gunz & Drumz - Dm / Em
Oil in My Vessell - G

Mebanesville LIVE @Nash Street Tavern Spooktacular.II (01 Track 01 3)

Trade War - 9.7.25.II

Trade War - 11.16.25

How Much is That DOGE’r

ASK THE PENGUIN, ASK THE SEAL
- (c) 2025, Si Kahn   
 Tune: Beethoven’s “Ode To Joy”

Island in the South Pacific
Been there since the dawn of time
No human voice was ever heard there
Not a footprint left behind
No trace of human habitation
Not a petroglyph of note
Only rocks and seals and penguins
None of them can even vote

But this year on April Fool’s Day
Penguin was amazed to learn
Asked the seal, “How could this be
I’m sure I filed my my tax return
Now we’ve got to pay a tariff
Of a whopping ten percent
How we gonna pay the light bill
How we gonna pay the rent”
   

    You who live in heated houses
    Want to know how tariffs feel
    Ask the seabird, ask the walrus
    Ask the penguin, ask the seal

Somewhere in the South Pacific
Lonely walrus asks a bird
“If I really am the walrus
Why am I not tax deferred”
Somewhere else another walrus
Lies awake and strokes its beard
“If I have to pay this tariff
Why is there no Starbucks here”

    You who live in heated houses
    Want to know how tariffs feel
    Ask the seabird, ask the walrus
    Ask the penguin, ask the seal

    Ask the seabird, ask the walrus
    Ask the penguin, ask the seal

Ask the Penguin

Trade War - 12.17.25

Johnny's Song

Trump Gone Mar-A-Lago

11th Province

Condoms for Hamas

How Much is that DOGE'r in the Window-

Trade War - 1.4.2025

Happy Birthday Songs Resounding
© 2020 M. L. Boswell & L. D. P. Vellani

We know a lovely person on her/his/their solar path
Gliding round the sun on this blue-green top
Glad we can remember our old-school  math
Counting on counting till we have to stop

Virtual/Hearty hugs are finding you
Love is really pushing through
Happy Birthday cards are due
Birthday songs resounding

Singing with some friends and strangers too
As you party on in a birthday-way
What a mighty moment to be here with you
Everybody sings or at least must say

Virtual/Hearty hugs are finding you
Love is really pushing through
Happy Birthday cards are due
Birthday songs resounding

Birthday Songs Resounding

… With all due respect & gratitude to 
W. W. Guthrie (1912-1967) & H. Ledbetter (1888 - 1949)
… after “Goodnight, Irene”
© 2016 & 2020 L. D. Vellani

Verse
 Talking to my neighbors, about the days to come
 Living out these verses, so we can overcome, friends,
So we can overcome …

Chorus
 Ramblin’ round your country, wanderin’ round my town
 Knowing that the time is now, as I go ramblin’ round, friends,
 As I go wanderin’ round …

Way down along I-40, we’re shakin’ off the frowns
 But if you dress in ol’ white sheets, you’ll have to turn around …

True is true, and false is false, but don’t you never-mind
 We welcome all into our town, so no one’s left behind …

One plus one is always two, ain’t no other way around
 True hope & love must shine on strong, when fear goes rattlin’ round …

Chorus
The White House is the Peoples House & not a house of mirrors
 Courts & congress serve all of us; and not just profiteers …

My grand-folks they were refugees, from church & state & crown,
 We know lots about immigration, we know lots about settlin' down …

Sometimes the fruit gets rotten, and falls down on the ground
 Sometimes the truth is spoken, but lies we won’t compound …

Chorus
Though it’s rainin’ in the forest, where bear & cougar romp
 I’m waitin’ for the drainin,’ of the ol’ Big Money Swamp …

Chorus

Lorèins Vellani

Pinned to spotlight

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