OH LAND
This song came through me as I was wanting to honor and have an embodied experience of my connection to land and the work I am committed to doing in my lifetime. You can sing the verses as an echo or you can have the group hummmmmmm for the verse and have a different person sing each verse (which is what we did). We have also just taught one verse with the chorus and sung it repeatedly. I believe the most potent verse for a land acknowledgement is "oh land, i know, the history here is painful, oh land, you know, your healing’s woven with the peoples"

lyrics:
oh land, upon which i stand - holding me 
i thank you - for all that you hold me through 
i lean back into you, rejuvenate my body anew 
oh land, upon which i stand - holding me 
i feel the gravity, where you meet my feet 
i can hear your heart beat - if i listen carefully 
oh land, upon which i stand - holding me 
oh land, i know, the history here is painful 
oh land, you know, your healing’s woven with the peoples 
oh land, upon which i stand - holding me 
oh Land, we’re here to see the grief and rage and suffering 
take these hearts as offerings, massage you with our feet as we sing 
oh land, upon which i stand - holding me

to hear more community songs by ahlay, visit: https://www.alexandrablakely.com/songlibrary

Oh Land (Land Acknowledgement Song)

I am Remembering
individual author unknown

a simple, potent song which comes from Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village community. 

Arranged, performed + recorded by Britta GreenViolet, 2022.

I Am Remembering (Plum Village)

Sung by our Twin Cities based comfort choir, The Morning Star Singers.  This song was created for a friend whose daughter was experiencing a life-threatening health crisis following the birth of her first child.  Happily everyone pulled through.  Here's the strange part -- my beloved friend Jack Heckelman used the phrase "unexpected joy" a great deal during his conscious dying process.  I didn't have any recollection of that when I wrote the song.  I think he was dictating that line from the other world....

Surrounding You

Lyrics:

Earth my body
Water my blood
Air my breath and
Fire my spirit

Earth My Body

This one (chorus) came through in Northeast Missouri while singing with a couple people and (verses) in California outside the house I grew up in, standing at the foot of a great Monterey Cyprus tree (not a Redwood!) and watching some vines climb up the brick outside of the house.

Chorus:
Sister you are not too far holding
I need your strength to carry on

Verse 1:
Our bodies are bound like the vines on the side of a house somewhere deep in the heart of the earth

Verse 2:
Our roots intertwine like the Redwood tree somewhere deep in the soil in the soul of the earth

Sister, You Are Not Too Far for Holding

A song for these uncertain times. Inspired by one of Joanna Macy's talks at a Bioneers Conference.

© Heather Houston
All rights reserved

To learn the individual parts to this song, please visit my Public Song Library:
https://heatherhoustonmusic.com/sisters-in-harmony-song-library/

Lyrics:
And we will care for each other
As the world around us unravels
And we will tend to the spark
of hope that lives within our grieving hearts
And we are here now, in this present moment
Lifting our voices and hearts
And we are here now, we have come together
We are tending the spark hope
Oh may it grow
And we will care for each other

Tending the Spark by Heather Houston

03 Body Mine

Evening Rise - Composer Unknown
Sung here in the key of B flat

As far as I can tell, this song is in the public domain. I have not been able to track down the composer. Please let me know if you have any information. 

To learn the individual parts to this song, please visit my Public Song Library:
https://heatherhoustonmusic.com/sisters-in-harmony-song-library/

An absolute favorite in my song circles and in my choir. The harmonies are hauntingly beautiful and easy enough to learn. It's very satisfying for everyone once they get all of the parts.

Evening Rise - All Parts - Key of B flat

This track is just the highest harmony by itself, once through the chorus. For the full song, visit: visit:
https://thebirdsings.com/hold-everybody-up/

Another powerfully infectious and uplifting song from the great Melanie DeMore. This one speaks to not leaving anyone behind, with nods to two of the great leaders of racial justice, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Madiba (Nelson Mandela).  The chorus of this song by itself is a quick and easy teach, and the song grows in complexity and beauty by adding the two high harmony parts to the choruses as well as two verses and a bridge.

Original song copyright Melanie DeMore. Recorded by Melanie DeMore with Lisa G. Littlebird in February, 2020.

For lyrics, individual voice part tracks and more, visit:
https://thebirdsings.com/hold-everybody-up/

Hold Everybody Up by Melanie DeMore

This song was recorded live at Esalen at the first Singing on the Edge retreat in 2018. This is an orginal song by Debbie Narg-Brown. Debbie is the lead singer on this track and if you listen closely you will hear Lisa G. Littlebird and Barbara McAfee in the background singing as well as retreat participants. Glen Phillips on guitar and Emile Hassan Dyer on drums. To learn more about Debbie's music go to www.debbienargi-brown.com

Put Back Together Again/I Will Let My Heart be Broken

to hear more community songs by ahlay, visit: www.alexandrablakely.com/songlibrary

Part I
What if what we are doing right now
Ripples out beyond what the eye can see?

Part II
What is this step a part of that's bigger than me?
Bigger than me, bigger than me

Part III
What is happening through me?
Happening, happening, happening through me?

Ripple

Lisa G is a songcatcher. She holds a vision for a world where singing is once again an integral part of daily community life. May we use our natural human expression to open our hearts, share our challenges and celebrations and uplift our lives.

Lisa G. Littlebird is the director of the 80-member Wholehearted Chorus in Monterey and Big Sur, CA. She has been on the faculty as a community singing facilitator at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA since 2006. She is a singer, composer and teacher with more than 30 years of musical experience, facilitating community singing opportunities throughout California and beyond.  Learn more at http://thebirdsings.com.

Earth My Body

TheBirdSings

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