I am the Song
I am the Sun
I am the Soil
I am the Seed
I am the Shadow
I am the Longing
I am the Darkness
I am the Need

Two or more are gathered now
and here we Be
Two or more are gathered now
and so we See

song + lyrics + vocals: Lyndsey Scott 
production, harmonies, instrumentation: Michael Linder

I Am the Song

I am of this Earth, I am of this sky
And the seasons turn, and so do I
I am made to change, I am made to bend
I am made to break and to grow again

Of This Earth

This is a practice track for an upcoming retreat.
Hope   by Debbie Nargi-Brown

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the Soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all" Emily Dickinson

Never, never never, never, never, never, never, never. never
Never give up, on hope

Hope is living in my Soul

HOPE

Ahlay Blakely is a master of complex rounds, and this is one of her finest.  An anthem of togetherness that will live in your cells long after you stop singing.

This is an original recording produced by the composer Ahlay Blakely.  Please support the artist by purchasing from them on Bandcamp here: https://ahlayblakely.bandcamp.com/track/net-of-remembrance

Spells from the Unknown

Net of Remembrance by Ahlay Blakely

This song is on the Sharing the Music start up CD. 

You can order the CD package (either digital or physical) with all 12 songs and their separate harmony parts (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), lyrics, teaching notes and a vocal ranges chart here:

www.susiero.com/song-leader-resource-pack

(I'm singing the bass part an octave higher than men would, so you don't get the full SATB effect!)

www.susiero.com

Sharing the Music - Susie Ro Prater

Listen to your Heart - Adapted Taize (words Sophia Efthimiou)

Vocals - Batya Levine
Percussion - Simcha Halpert-Hanson

I'm Gonna Get Through  - Batya Levine

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

This gorgeous melody from Jennifer Levenhagen was further beautified by Annie Zylstra who added the polyphonic harmonies, making this an ethereal gem, and a bit more challenging to sing than others in current oral tradition repertoire.

Original song copyright Jennifer Levenhagen, arrangement by Annie Zylstra. Recorded here by Lisa G. Littlebird for Wholehearted Chorus.

For lyrics, individual part tracks and more, visit: http://thebirdsings.com/most-beautiful-sky

Most Beautiful Sky by Jennifer Levenhagen and Annie Zylstra

Wonderous Love

This song is called “Blessed Motion.” I learned the songs at Singing Alive and the songstress is Annie Zylstra. I am amazed by the song and the story of the song, which is as follows:

Blessed Motion is a 4-part acknowledgement of the nature of Life as an unpredictable, ever-changing movement toward itself. The melody came squatting on a rock next to a fast moving fork in the Trinity River, where salmon were in their first week of journeying to their spawning sites in northern California. Martin Prechtel said after surviving the Guatemala earthquake of 1976, during which he witnessed the ground beneath him rising up and swallowing people and villages whole, that solid ground is a myth believed by people who live on the earth rather than in it. This idea has stayed with me through the years and provided partial inspiration for this song. This is a big song! It travels through two dimensions, the first, a three or four part set of repeating lines, the second, a layered riff topped with a solo section. 

Thank you Annie. 

I hope you can hear the waves and motion in the voices of the track. It is genius. 

LYRICS

I believed in solid ground until I saw the earth in motion,

in the winds of steady change and in the ever-rolling ocean.

All moves on in perfect, perfect motion.

All is change and ever-rolling ocean.

All is moving, all is change, though I once believed that there

might somehow be something firm beneath my feet, but

All is motion, and all is well for solid ground is just a myth 

for those who never swim in it.

All is moving in blessed change, o the world we know

will come and go and everything will rearrange, so

be the ground beneath that sky,

tumbling round the by and by.

All is change, so am I.

lye lye lye, lye lye lye.

Blessed Motion Cover (Original by Annie Zylstra)

If had to be stranded on a desert island with one mantra, this song would be it. This gem of music medicine landed in the voice of my dear friend and singing sister Lyndsey Scott, as she biked around the midwest. It's been changing lives and hearts ever since. 

Original song by Lyndsey Scott, recorded here by Lyndsey Scott and Lisa G. Littlebird. Lisa added the two harmony lines with Lyndsey's support and the arrangement is shared here with her blessing.  Melody and 1 and 2 are identical except for a little echo at the end of the song.

Lyrics, teaching notes and individual part tracks can be found at: http://thebirdsings.com/thewayknows/

The Way Knows the Way by Lyndsey Scott

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.

Most Beautiful Sky by Jennifer Levenhagen and Annie Zylstra

TheBirdSings

Related tracks