Now available on 
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/6wEGu8eYVGW5WJig24lrT5?si=ee938433a81043f4 
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGK-vw479k0
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/jewish-nigun-meditation-medley-how-can-i-mah-tovu-washougal/1618998865?uo=4
Amazon Music: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Y8WC274

This is an arrangement of three separate nigunim with added accompaniment. The individual tracks are:

Batya Levine - How Can I: https://soundcloud.com/batyalevine/how-can-i
Sol Yael Weiss - Mah Tovu: https://soundcloud.com/sol-yael/mah-tovu
Ary Solomon - Washougal Nigun: https://soundcloud.com/ary-solomon/washougal-nigun

Please check out and support these artists! In addition to SoundCloud:

- Batya Levine has a website here: www.batyalevine.com, a Bandcamp here: batyalevine.bandcamp.com/album/karov, and is on streaming services such as Spotify
- Sol Yael Weiss has a website here: www.solyaelweiss.com

Jewish Meditation Nigun Medley with Batya Levine, Sol Yael Weiss, and Ary Solomon (now on Spotify!)

Recorded at "Free the Land: Black Solidarity for Palestinian Liberation" A fundraiser to get Heba, Ahmed, and Amal out of Gaza, hosted by The Story Theater at Haymarket House on Potawatomi, Odawa, and Ojibwe land in Chicago, IL on April 15, featuring music from Songs for Ceasefire.

pg 4 of our songbook! bit.ly/s4cbook

Courage
Adapted from South African Anti-Apartheid Folk Song
Chords: C / G / F G / C 
(to modulate up a whole step: D / A / G A / D)


If not now, then when
We do not go alone
We will go as one
And sing our spirits home

Gaza, my kin,
You do not go alone
We will go with you
And sing your spirit home

Courage, my friend
You do not go alone
We will go with you
And sing your spirit home

Freedom, my friend
You do not go alone
We will go with you
And sing your spirit home

Justice, my friend… 
Dignity, my friend…
Palestine, my friend… 
Bisan, my friend…
Sudan, my friend… 
Congo, my friend… 
Haiti, my friend…

If not now, then when
We do not go alone
We will go as one
And sing our spirits home

[chant]
I believe that we will win…

"Courage" (Trad. South-African) live at "Free the Land" 4.15.24

We need songs that help us grieve in public as an act of protest, that serve us as we organize to intervene into the culture of silence and stop the ongoing genocide of Palestinians funded by the U.S. and other western governments. Here is a song for that purpose.

This song was first written in January 2024 for vigils in honor of Gaza being organized here in the Chicago area (originally under the title "Marching Vigil Song", to which the song "From the River" was added). It has become a regular musical offering by Songs for Ceasefire at similar actions and has spread to other groups organizing in solidarity with Palestine as well. 

This special arrangement was created and performed by a small ensemble of the Songs for Ceasefire collective: Ethan Aronson, Adam Gottlieb, Eli Newell, and one other member who prefers to remain anonymous for safety concerns.

This ensemble version ended up influencing how we would adapt the protest version of the song for street actions. This version is a true collaboration between the four voices on the track. Each of us has been active for years in the Jewish organizations with which have been mobilizing in solidarity with Palestine: If Not Now, Never Action Action, Jewish Voice for Peace, Tzedek Chicago, etc. The four of us spent the first hour of our first late night recording session coming up with an entirely new song structure and arrangement than what we had planned to work on when we walked in. As a result, the song evolved in unexpected ways. (The "protest" version of the song, featuring more voices from the collective, is almost ready for release!)

May we all find our voices in the chorus of liberation, our place in the flow within the current that sweeps us into wider spaces... from the river to the sea...

*Peace*

Song by Adam Gottlieb
Artwork by Hans Lindahl
Recorded at StarRise Studios on Potawatomi, Odawa, and Ojibwe land. 

lyrics:

Gaza, My love
You’re not alone
You’re not alone

Martyrs, Taken
God rest your souls
God rest your souls

Mothers, Fathers
We carry you
We carry you

Children, Babies
We carry you
We carry you

From the River to the sea,  Palestine will be
From the River to the sea,  Palestine will be free

Gaza, My kin
We go with you
We go with you

Doctors, Poets
We carry you
We carry you

Courage, Dear ones
We march with you
We march with you

Gaza, My friend
We sing for you
We sing for you

[In counterpoint]

Ceasefire, Ceasefire
Ceasefire now
Ceasefire now

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be
From the river to the sea
Palestine will be free

From The River (Ensemble)

video shot & directed by ultra-violet archer 
starring zosia nowak and antonina divalentin 
youtu.be/WKYk-5JGDHk?si=VmPlr904SZvC1CjF

dedicated to Love.


lyrics:

scene opens
and we're not looking at each other yet.

Full moon empty bed are you hungry
A half truth never filled you up 
Short June last long, keep me company 
When I miss you where do I put that love? 
I don’t know, I don’t know why yet 
I don’t know, I don’t know how 
I don’t know, I don’t know why yet 
I don’t know, I don’t know how 
Full moon empty bed are you hungry
A half truth never filled you up 
Short June last long keep me company 
When I miss you where do I put that love? 

ok nevermind
imma go back to sleep
no, no!
and then imma gonna cal one more time 
it doesn't matter what time alright 
just call me I love you bye 
and we will communicate 
here and there
peace, enjoy the day

Days so long I get lost a little 
Fall right through 
Side to side help me find the middle 
Red to blue 

how's it going
how you feeling 
it's my day off 
alright just call me I love you bye
hi honey i'm excited for tonight
i thought you're playing music for me 
i'm not sure what i'm in for but 
love you buh bye 
i hope you're having a great day 
here and there 
and uh 
i'll see you soon 
i love you bye 
bye 

Sometimes all I can say is I love you 
I love you I love you I love you 
right now all I can say is I love you 
I love you I love you I love you 
And I don’t know,
(have a great day sister, love and peace)
I don’t know why yet 
I don’t know I don’t know how
(have a good day, bye)
I don’t know, I don’t know why yet 
(so if you want to know about this case just press one thank you)
I don’t know, I don’t know how 
(eins, sechs, fünf, vier, aufwiederholen)

Full moon empty bed are you hungry
A half truth never filled you up
Short June last long, keep me company
When I miss you where do I put that love?

wow holy shit uh
i like the full moon too
to you my tulip 
until next time 

aw man this message huh
it's pretty long now 
i should cut it short

and then she finishes the story
maybe that's how it ends

June Full Moon

Live from the Bubble Vol. 1

Mi Chamocha (Redemption Song)

Lo Yisa Goy - by Isaiah 2:4

Lo yisa goy el goy cherev, Lo yil'm'du od milchama

Nation Shall Not Lift up Sword against nation, nor shall they ever again know war. 

Recorded by IfNotNow Boston Summer 2016.

Lo Yisa Goy

Blessings and Love from Chicago! Here's a new song, to "warm the human soul." <3

~Hallelujah~
*One Love*


lyrics:

Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah,
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah,

This old world is a mighty big place, Hallelujah,
It's got Satan all over its face, Hallelujah,
The Jordan River is chilly and cold, Hallelujah,
But it warms the human soul, Hallelujah,

Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah,
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah,

Moses turned the Nile to blood, Hallelujah,
Hoping Pharaoh might see G-d, Hallelujah,
But now Pharaoh's in Michigan, Hallelujah,
And they're still drinking lead in Flint, Hallelujah,

If Jesus died there for our sins, Hallelujah,
Then so did Mike Brown in Ferguson, Hallelujah,
So prayerful soldiers off to war, Hallelujah,
Show em who’s Idle No More, Hallelujah,

Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah,
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah,
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah,
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah,

And did you see a new world there? Hallelujah,
We posted up at Freedom Square, Hallelujah,
At Standing Rock they lit the fire, Hallelujah,
This time we're our own Messiah, Hallelujah

Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah,
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah,
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah,
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!

*

Artist Statement:

Here I offer my own version of a classic spiritual, "Michael." Musically, it is closest to the Pete Seeger version, but the lyrics were inspired by Harry Belafonte's, which interweaves older, more traditional lyrics with modern ones celebrating the civil rights movement. Belafonte's poetics reminded me that the song, like so many folk songs, is a living text, meant to be adapted for new times and new struggles. Indeed, the song has morphed completely many times over since its first documentation in 1862, when it was sung by freedmen abandoned by their former slave masters on St. Helena Island off of South Carolina. This remarkable history is important for understanding not only the song, but our young country. And while the lyrics have changed over the decades, I feel that the versions that have most withstood time, like Seeger's and Belafonte's, have carried on the liberatory spirit of the original, preserving the song and its history even as that story continues to unfold and sweep us into its motion.

I hope I have carried the torch well.


*all vocals, guitar, and production by Adam G

Michael

Zeh Hayom: This Is the Day

Hallelu! (Psalm 150) by Miriam Margles

Melody and English words by the Silver Mount Zion Orchestra and Tra-la-la Band

Singing Team - Friday Night Melodies

Ana El Na/When the World Is Sick

A soulful cover of Nava Tehila's Tov Lehodot melody, sung by Marni, with Ari on the rythm. Let yourself get lost in the sound, and ready for shabbat.

This melody is original composed by Ilan Glazer

"Courage" (Trad. South-African) live at "Free the Land" 4.15.24

Songs for Ceasefire

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