Long is the river
Flowing is my song
I keep on singing sweetly
Til you want to sing along

Cause love, it is my being
And peace my way of life
All life, it lives inside me
So let's give up 
Our struggle and strife

Wide is the ocean
Deep is my soul
I keep on swimming freely
Til you want to swim along

Cause love, it is my being
And peace my way of life
All life it lives inside us
So let's give up
Our struggle and strife

White is the moonlight
Ha levana* my friend
I keep on being purely
Til you want to come on in

Cause love it is our being
And peace our way of life
All life it lives in us
So let's give up 
Our struggle and strife

*Ha levana - Hebrew word for "the moon," a beautiful word that would translate closer to "the whiteness." 

This song came while studying earth based subsistence and relational skills, living outside, along the Twisp River of Northern Washington - east side of the Cascade Mountains - indigenous homelands of the Methow, Chelan, Entiat, and Okanogan tribes.

Long Is The River

We come from a long line of resilience.
We come from a long line of those who showed up.
We come from a long line of resilience.
We're gonna keep keeping on into the dawn.

We come from a wide web of resilience.
We come from a wide web of those who showed up.
We come from a wide web of resilience.
We're gonna keep keeping on into the dawn.

A song inspired by the resilience of the landscape of the Altar Valley, Arizona, USA.  Lands of the Tohono O'odham and Hohokam. A song from the plants and stones and waters to remind us humans that we can do this. We can work with the community of life to restore what our actions have broken.

www.resilience.song

Part 1:
Thank you, thank you land for feeding me
Thank you, thank you land for leading me
Thank you, thank you land for bringing us together
Thank you, thank you land, my love and my mentor

Part 2 (rhythmic bass line):
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you (clap clap)
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you (clap clap)

Part 3: 
Thank you, Thank you
Thank You, Thank You

Part 4:
Thank you Land
Thank you Land

This song came in a fertile, wild place at the cusp of multiple ecological zones on the north side foothills of the Catalina Mountain Sky Island  near Oracle, Arizona. This beautiful place is unceded land of the Tohono O'odham, Sobaipuri, and Apache. I was in the midst of such abundance of plants for food, shelter, art, and all our human needs. That coupled with the magic of the landscape after a soft rain, while all the plants hung heavy with sparkling drops of water, birthed Part 1 of this song.

The other parts were co-created with the fabulous Juliana Murphy (https://soundcloud.com/jumutx)


Thank You Land

Valerie has gathered songs from many ages and diverse places. She fell in love with oral tradition community singing in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. She calls the Sonoran Desert home. She is honored to share songs that bring us together into community...communion and unity with ourselves and all of life.

Valerie Gene

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