Musicianship

Song circle

inCourage Chorus Spring 2020 (All Parts)

Spiritual

lisa g littlbird

Quoir and Community Songs

365 sing

Divina Baixinha 
 
Assim é o Daime 
Agora mesmo aqui chegou 
Com sua santa doutrina 
A todos ele dá 
 
Lindos cantos, lindos cantos 
Para tu não esquecer 
Canto e muito mais 
Para todos alcançar 
 
Bem atento, bem atento 
A luz a ti virá 
Claras divinas, puras lembranças 
A luz tudo te dá 
 
Bem pequeno, bem pequeno 
Nesta imensidão 
Juntos na santa luz 
E tudo no coração 
 
Divina Baixinha 
Divina união 
Divina Baixinha 
Com sua flor no coração
 

Divine Baixinha 
 
This is the Daime 
It has come right now 
With its divine teachings 
For everyone to receive 
 
Beautiful songs, beautiful songs 
For you not to forget 
Songs and much more 
For everyone to reach 
 
In concentration, in meditation 
The Light will come to you 
Clear messages, pure memories 
The Light gives you everything 
 
Very small, very tiny 
In this Infinity 
Together in the holy Light 
And everything in the heart 
 
Divine Baixinha 
Divine union 
Divine Baixinha 
With your flower in the heart

Divina Baixinha

A blessing song used to soothe the dying and all who are impacted by the death of loved ones. This is day 72 of the 2014 Song-a-Day Challenge with Lisa Goettel.

Deep Peace Lyrics:

Deep peace of the running wave to you
Deep peace of the flowing air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you
Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace of the gentle night to you
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you

For more information about the 2014 Song-a-Day Challenge visit: thebirdsings.com/songaday

This song is in the public domain. Sing and share away.

May our singing heal, inspire and connect us all.

Day 72: Deep Peace

Libana-Witches Chant

In beauty we walk...

Lyrics:
In beauty I walk (x2)
With beauty above me
With beauty below me
With beauty inside me
With beauty all around

Art by Akiane

This is day 160 of the 2014 Song-a-Day Challenge with Lisa Goettel. For more information about the 2014 Song-a-Day Challenge visit: thebirdsings.com/songaday

This song is in the public domain. Feel free to sing and share away.

May our singing heal, inspire and connect us all.


Day 160: In Beauty I Walk

Instrumentação:
Alencar Martins – Violão
Jota Jota Oliveira – Baixo
Gabriel Zit – Bateria 


Me curar de mim

A three-part chant celebrating the gifts of the darkness.  Lyrics:  Every time I go into the darkness, I return with fistfuls of jewels.  Midnight velvet wraps all around me; stars glitter brilliant above.
Dreaming darkness, dreaming light.  @ Big Bug Music.
This is now a video! Watch here....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OjQ_v7VtFI&ab_channel=BarbaraMcAfee

Jewels

Moon Chant

The Earth The Air The Fire The Water Return Return

This is a very old song out of the Yoruban & Santeria traditions - Nigeria, Cuba, & Brazil. I learned recently that it is about those who serve the Orisha Oshun (sometimes Osun) and the brass bracelets they wore that Oshun asked them to rattle. This somehow managed to be mistakenly interpreted and shared by myself and many others as “necklace of love,”  perhaps due to the devotees adoration of the Orisha.  Oshun embodies love and sexuality  and one of her elements is brass, which never rusts. One writer shares "To understand Osun is to know the intelligence, vitality, caring and nourishing abilities of womankind. Long-suffering, cheated, overlooked, and over-worked, but always committed to the survival of humanity. Besides signifying wealth, brass never rusts, it is eternal. In Osun, we have the embodiment of prosperity, love, beauty, elegance, sexuality and sensuality and a divinely sanctioned feminist. 

This is a traditional song in the public domain. Choral arrangement copyright Lisa G. Littlebird, instrumental arrangement and guitar recorded by Aimee Ringle.

Chords, lyrics and more:
http://thebirdsings.com/ide-were-were

Ide Were Were

Light is Returning - by Charlie Murphy, 1980s Pagan songwriter
Light is returning,
even though this is the darkest hour.
No one can hold back,
the dawn.

Light Is Returning

by Aly Halpert

chorus and bridge from an Arundhati Roy quote.

recorded by Aly Halpert (voice & guitar) & Margot Seigle (backup vocie)
November 9th, 2016

lyrics:
the policemen have thrown away their guns
they kiss their sons and their daughters and their souls are at peace
no more black boys black girls trans women dying
no more reasons that could ever justify their loss 
and mothers send their teens out at night 
to breathe the sweet summer air and exhale on the ground
the earth was made for them
the earth is made for them
she is on her way
and no one can be silent anymore
every death is a death that my family mourns 
we've traded in our numbness and all of our fear
to fight for the lives we now hold dear
and everyone has come to greet the reckoning
the place where our hearts got smaller and smaller 
now grows to hold the pain
the brokenness that leads to pain
she is on her way
another world's not only possible
on a quiet day I can hear her breathing
and when the world we're dreaming is ours
we'll be tall inside
there will be no more question
as we pray and sing
that we have each other and what that means
we'll finally get to be together
stare with our hearts at what has been
and find some place of home
she is on her way"

She is On Her Way

recorded by Batya Levine & Noam Lerman
November 9, 2016

Noam Lerman learned this song during a morning water ceremony that took place at standing rock reservation when they were there during sukkot. It was taught by someone named Lia.

Water Heal My Soul

In the dark
I formed a tight grip on my heart
I had gotten used to false starts
had learned to hide from love

Now, sweet release
soft reminders to breathe deep
let the light in, tend the seeds
and soak my soul in love
root down and grow in love

And oh, I'd forgotten what it was
to let go, to let the walls come down
After all this time spent out there searching for my home
I've found it in the here and now

Rapt in awe 
fireside in the backyard
search the source, sing to the stars 
inside the mystery of love

Heart in hands
pilgrimage to desert sands
pray to the Gods, pray to the land
each step a deepening in trust
that all we are is enough

And oh, I'd forgotten what it was
to let go, to let the walls come down
After all this time spent out there searching for my home
I've found it in the here and now

Kneeling at the altar
candlelight like dawn
blessed breath flows through the body
whispering "all is life, is truth, is one"

Now
Just a glimpse
of every past life, present tense
heal the heart, drop the defense, offer it all to love
dive deep and fall in love

And oh, I'd forgotten what it was
to let go, to let the walls come down
After all this time spent out there searching for my home
Love's within me in the here and now

Emily Elbert - voice, guitar
Josh Hari - bass
Dylan Day - slide guitar
Abe Rounds - drums
Alex Krispin - engineering, mixing, mastering
art by Ines Gurovich - inesgurovich.com
photo by Taiga Kunii - taigakunii.com
co-produced by Emily Elbert, Josh Hari, and Alex Krispin

Here and Now

Our darkness is important, to be treated with respect
For us to be reborn, then we must also honor death
Only illusion keeps us separate, moon in east and sun in west
Soon we'll leave these bodies, releasing all that we thought we possessed

Letting go, letting go
A return to what the soul already knows

Through the softened edge of sorrow, though the patches, frays, and pulls
With life seeping through the cracks of every fracture, every hole
Through what loves and leaves us, though we grieve it, mystery calls us close
Finding solace in these bodies, how our heartbeat guides us home

Letting go, letting go
Learning to embrace the ebb and flow

Oh, great spirit
Formless dancer
Teach us to trust
Love beyond fear
Oh, i hear your call

Through dark and light, our shadows can remind us we're alive
Yet our mind's eye takes to worry when the sunset's done each night
And just as fire tears through treetops, burning each down to the bone
After that tragedy, our sacred earth still remembers how to grow

Letting go, letting go
Strip the layers so the spirit shows

Emily Elbert - voice, guitar
Josh Hari - bass
Dylan Day - slide guitar
Abe Rounds - drums
Alex Krispin - engineering, mixing, mastering
art by Ines Gurovich - inesgurovich.com
photo by Taiga Kunii - taigakunii.com
co-produced by Emily Elbert, Josh Hari, and Alex Krispin

Letting Go

by Batya Levine with creative collaboration from Noam Lerman

recorded by Batya Levine & Noam Lerman
November 13, 2016

We Rise

This song was written/ inspired by a team of cross movement leaders who are in an interconnected network building for a just world and social transformation brought together by Momentum. 

We're gonna rise up, rise up till it's won.
When the people rise up, the powers come down.
They tried to stop us, but we keep coming back.

We're Gonna Rise Up Momentum Song

An anthem for our time, written by the beautiful singing duo MaMuse. UPDATE! This recording has been updated here as of June, 2025 to precisely match MaMuse's arrangement and tempo. 

Original song by Karisha Longaker, 2016. Copyright MaMuse. We Shall Be Known is recorded here with permission for the purposes of oral tradition singing and teaching. If singing this song for performance or recording for profit, get permission from and pay royalties to the composer.
http://mamuse.org

This is a recording used as a practice track for the Wholehearted Chorus of Monterey and Big Sur, CA, under the direction of Lisa G. Littlebird. Details including lyrics and individual part tracks can be found at:
http://thebirdsings.com/we-shall-be-known

We Shall Be Known by MaMuse - ALL PARTS

This arrangement is a mashup of two soulful, celebratory songs, Blessed We Are by Peia Luzzi and Soul Key by Lisa G. Littlebird & Zan Moore. Most of the arrangement is in two voice parts, with moments of four part harmony, sung with guitar and drum.

Blessed We Are is an original song by Peia Luzzi. Soul Key is an original song by Lisa G. Littlebird & Zan Moore. Arranged for Wholehearted Chorus by Lisa G. Littlebird. Contact Lisa G. Littlebird for permission to record or perform for profit.

Lyrics, individual part tracks and more are available at: http://thebirdsings.com/blessed-we-are-soul-key

Blessed We Are by Peia + Sol Qi - Middle Low

Circle Within A Circle

A fantastic, infectious and upbeat community singing anthem in Spanish from Glen Phillips. This song is best done with guitar but can be effective without as well.

Original song by Glen Phillips. Recording by Glen Phillips with Lisa G. Littlebird, used with permission.

For lyrics, individual part tracks and more, please visit: http://thebirdsings.com/abre-la-puerta

Abre La Puerta by Glen Phillips

[Sanskrit] x4
     Em             C               D           Em
Suddhossi buddhossi niranjanosi.
       D           Em      D         Em
Samsara maya parivar jitosi.
        D              Em              D             Em
Samsara svapanam Traija-mohan nidram. 
      D              Em          D         Em
Na janma mrityor Tat sat sva rupe.

[English] x4
       Em               C               D                 Em
You are forever pure, You are forever true.
               D                     Em              D                  Em
And the dream of this world, Can never touch you.
       D                  Em                        D                    Em
So give up your attachment, and give up your confusion
        D               Em                 D                Em
And fly to that space that’s beyond all illusion.

Suddhosi Buddhosi (feat. Lindsey Wise & Giselle World)

A beautiful welcome song, to all the lost parts of ourselves and each other. These compassionate words from Rumi always seem to hit home... the invitation to come back, again and again, no matter how many times we lose our way. I have heard many variations of this song and this version arranged by Glen Phillips is now my favorite. This vocal arrangement is in three voices, a low and high women's part and the men's part holds the melody.

Words by Rumi and original music by Sudhananda. Arranged & adapted by Glen Phillips, arranged for Wholehearted Chorus by Lisa G. Littlebird. Recording by Glen Phillips & Lisa G. Littlebird.

For lyrics, individual part tracks and more, visit:
http://thebirdsings.com/comecome/

Come Come

“Pachamama” in native cultures translates to Mother Earth 🌎

This song was channeled through me during my journey in Costa Rica and it has a lot of heartfelt messages that were coming through me at the time. 💫

Pachamama Im Home

Nana

This song came from a desire to sing words I wish to hear and feel more often. I often seek a deeper solace and remembering of life's safety and wellness, inside a world that so often feels so far from well. 

My wish with this song offering is that it be sung and shared not from a place of complacency, willful ignorance or false positivity... but from that deeper substrate of being that truly knows this life and world is safe to explore, safe to leave and safe to love.

Original song by Lisa G. Littlebird with beautiful guitar arrangement and recording by Zan Moore.

For lyrics, teaching notes, individual part tracks and more, visit: https://thebirdsings.com/alliswell/

All Is Well by Lisa G. Littlebird - Low

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

This song is a great opener. Think of something you want to manifest in your life, sing this song and watch what happens.

Words and music by Debbie Nargi-Brown, shared with permission. These songs, like most in the library are designed for sharing freely in your circles. Please credit the songwriters when you share, and ask Debbie for permission to perform or record for profit.

For more information, please visit: https://thebirdsings.com/beopen/

Be Open by Debbie Nargi-Brown

"Step On Through" ~ all parts

Written by Ben Gould.

Arranged and recorded for the inCourage Chorus in Santa Barbara, CA. by Ben Gould & Britta Gudmunson.

iCC Spring 2020

Step on Through (All)

"Though My Soul May Set In Darkness" ~ all parts

Music by Joseph Haydn, words derived from a poem by Sarah Williams (circa 1868) titled “The Old Astronomer”

Arranged and recorded for the inCourage Chorus in Santa Barbara, CA. by Ben Gould & Britta Gudmunson.

Though my Soul may Set in Darkness (All)

 A gloriously feminine chant celebrating womanhood, conjuring images of moonlight gatherings. It is about sisterhood and the sacredness of feminine cycles

Sisters of the Moon

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 this most ancient technology to meet life's challenges and celebrations, open our hearts, and uplift our lives.

Lisa G. Littlebird is the director of the 250-member Wholehearted Chorus in Carmel and San Diego, 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 as medicine for our world.  Learn more at http://thebirdsings.com.

The Way Knows the Way by Lyndsey Scott

TheBirdSings