Harp starts this song and is joined by piano, cello, and layers of voices. In describing what a cloud wishes to do, it realizes that much is beyond its control, and time is running out, It ends with a message that we all have work to do.

IF I WERE A CLOUD	
The ethereal sound of a harp sends my thoughts to the clouds, If I were a cloud, I would see all the problems on earth and try to solve them, but it is not my place to do so.

If I were a cloud, I would send 
a gentle rain to fill thirsty lakes and streams
And to farmers’ fields, if I were a cloud.

If I were a cloud, I would send 
a peaceful snow to mountain tops and salt sea sands
To calm the wars of man, if I were a cloud.

	Raging storms surround me.
	They’re filled with fiery winds and pounding rain.
	I must stand strong against their fury
	A deep breath I’ll take and blow them away.

If I were a cloud, I would send 
this message to the Earth on a whispering wind:
“Time’s fading away, just like clouds.”

Beneath Blue Water

September 12 2024

If I Were A Cloud - Bett Padgett

Robert Burns’ heartbreak and pain are expressed in this moving rendition of one of the bard’s most famous songs. The beautiful melody is enhanced with sensuous vocals and stunning support on guitar, piano, violin and harp.

AE FOND KISS  
This is bound to be my favorite song by Robert Burns, bard of Scotland in the 1700’s. He was having an affair with a married woman, Agnes Maclehose, mostly through love letters. She was married but separated from her husband who lived in the West Indies. To hide their identity, she called him “Sylvander” and he called her “Clarinda”. When Agnes decided to break the romance with Robert and leave to be with her husband, Robert wrote this beautiful song of parting, and further concealed her identity by calling her ”Nancy”.

Ae Fond Kiss - Bett Padgett

Warm alto vocals shine through on this wistful song depicting the mood of a harvest season gone by without a crop due to climate change. A farmer gives in to fracking so he can make ends meet as neighbors try not to be judgmental. Beautiful guitar and cello accompaniment serve well to express the timbre of descriptive and moving lyrics.
GRAY OCTOBER DAYS
Gail Oare sent a poem to John Hone (friends from Folk Project’s Monday Night Song Circle) and me to tweak. I found it to be a song, a sad tale of a farmer giving in to allow fracking on his land due to climate change. His surrounding neighbors try to understand.

A new kind of taproot’s digging down to drink the shale
As another stubborn farmer here refuses to fail.
We can’t blame him; we all know his tale of gray October days.
 We’ve had nothing but our prayers and scattered rains this year.
Dead roots cling to a boot, rust falls from an old John Deere.
 So we can’t blame him; We all know his fear of gray October days.
               	 Harvest time We’re riding high on bumpy carts of hay.
               	October frost - we’re getting lost in a twisted cornstalk maze.
        	          The sun’s a blur behind the heavy gathering haze in gray October days                   
		
 Family names mark the crossroads of tractors and plow horse yokes.
  Old wheels spin the slowest beneath the strain of fallow hope
  And the upkeep’s just another knot in a fraying rope of gray October days .

Now near his drill site’s a blistered cow and the creek’s new oily stink,
An agent’s quick denial and the company’s crooked wink.
The drumming winds of Autumn become too loud to think in the gray October days
           	Plant against your neighbor’s fence A strange new hybrid yield           
	Silver for the banker Just copper dust across your field.
Harvest time We’re riding high on bumpy carts of hay.
           October frost - we’re getting lost in a twisted cornstalk maze
          The sun’s a blur behind the heavy gathering haze in gray October days.           
	
Now our nights stay lit as days grow dim, and loans are coming due.
 We know he’s not to blame for this hellish season blowing through.
We swear that we don’t blame him, but we whisper that we do in these gray October days.
Leaves are clinging in the wind, we’re So lost inside this maze of gray October days;
These gray October Days

Gray October Days - Bett Padgett

Banjo, guitar, upright bass and fiddle contribute to the playfulness in this song about writing a song with Artificial Intelligence. The use of old-time instruments makes for a stark contrast between the subject and the music. Bett’s only regret is that she didn’t play spoons as well.
HIS NAME WAS BARD	
Bill suggested that I write a song with AI. So, I did. We wrote a song about writing a song with a bot. Hint: I wrote most of it, just got a few ideas from ChatGPT and BARD 

I wrote a song with a group online, searching for a rhyme.
Someone answered quick with a word he had picked; I’m glad it worked out fine.
And he wasted no time.

I had a nice chat with the rhyming chap, the talk was very stirring.
We talked about the world, the weather and war, ideas were converging.
And our song was emerging.

We typed away, our fingers flew, each line – electrifying.
Was it a trick that he wrote so quick?
His rhymes were mystifying; his speed, stupefying.

We worked on till light began to fade, our lyrics were so easily made.
	We laughed and joked on computer keys; We got along fantastically.

As we went along, I thought something’s wrong: a few things sounded phony.
I was seconds behind when he read my mind as my thoughts were slowly forming.
That could have been a warning.  
	
I told him my name and asked the same. I sensed his hesitation.
He said “It’s Bard”; I was knocked off-guard; He’s a person’s fabrication.
Imagine my frustration.

“So, a human you’re not; you’re just a bot?” I could tell its cog was churning.
My mind was blown, I should have known. My anger was slowly burning.
At the things that I was learning.
But a masterpiece, we did create, although I felt I’d been betrayed.
	Without my brain no song could be made but I’m grateful for the time it gave.

It was all just code on overload, It was not amusing.
He gave it a start, but I gave it heart and I learned from our musing	
I’m glad I am human!

His Name Was Bard - Bett Padgett

Guitar and cello accompany this masterful blend of the US National Anthem and the Ukrainian National Anthem, melodies and lyrics. This song sites the strength that parallels both countries.

WE STAND TOGETHER –SONG FOR UKRAINE 
Bill (hubby) suggest that I combine the Ukrainian National Anthem with ours, melodies and lyrics. After hearing a speech given by President Zelensky, I added his comments as well.

Spoken: We stand together, united in principles, spirit and anthems
Ukraine’s freedom has not perished, nor her glory gone.
Upon her sons and daughters, fate shall smile once more.
Enemies will vanish like dew in the sun.
And once again they will rule a free land of their own.

 Destruction can be seen in the clearing of the smoke.
Citizens seek shelter taking nothing but hope.
Raging missiles target children and the helpless in the strike
And strong-willed Ukraine continue to fight.

What goes on in the mind of a madman, a barbaric unhinged thief?
We know his motive for causing so much grief.
Ukraine as a nation has formed a single fist.
They won’t flee or fall, they guard democracy.
      And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
     Gave proof through the night that right is stronger than might
     And the blue and the yellow are still there 

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty missiles are exploding,
There is something stronger than greed, something mightier than force
There are some things that bombs can’t destroy.
      And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
     Gave proof through the night that right is stronger than might
     And the Ukraine spirit is still there.
They will lay down soul and body to show that they are one.
Vict’ry will be known with silenced Russian guns.
Ukraine’s freedom has not perished, nor her glory gone.
They will rule, no one will take their land.

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