Begin It

by Venice Manley 1934-2004

Venice was a songleader based in London, England who taught singing to individuals and theatre companies and choirs. She worked with Nor Hall, in Canada, in America, with Odin Teatret, in Germany, in Holland and for the Roy Hart in France. For the last five years of her life she ran Maspinzeli, the London Georgian choir.

This song was inspired by this quote from Goethe:

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back — concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.“ - Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (1749-1832)

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LYRICS:

Whatever you can do or dream you can
Begin it, just begin it.

Boldness has genius,
Power and magic in it.

Boldness has genius,
Power and magic in it.

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Be Kind

by Laurence Cole

Laurence Cole is a community activist who travels the world facilitating community healing and transformation through the power of song. Laurence is a deeply engaged member of the community in his hometown of Port Townsend, WA, where he is involved in various projects that seek to build social structures that are nourishing to both land and people.

Support his work here.

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LYRICS:

Be kind

Everyone carries a heavy load

Carry This All

by Alexandra “Ahlay” Blakely

Alexandra "Ahlay" Blakely (she/her) is a songcatcher, and spaceholder of Ashkenazi/Scandinavian/Celtic roots, living on Coast Salish Land in the Pacific Northwest.

Support her work via patreon.

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LYRICS:

You do not carry this all alone.
No, you do not carry this all alone.
This is way too big for you to carry this on your own, so
You do not carry this all alone.

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Earth Opened In The Spring

by Malcolm Dalglish

(Words by Wendell Berry, from “Rising” in memory of his friend and mentor Owen Flood)

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LYRICS:

The earth opened in the spring, opens in all springs

Nameless, ancient, many-lived, we reach

Through the ages with the seed.

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Grief

by Sarina Partridge

Sarina Partridge (she/her) is a Jewish songwriter, choir director, teacher, and community organizer based in Minneapolis, MN. She believes in community singing as a healing modality, leads multiple choirs, and teaches workshops at Village Harmony in VT.

Listen to her original recording of this song here.

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LYRICS:

Part 1 (low):

Grief 
Moving through me
Let my body 
Feel the waves of love, and…    

Part 1 (high):

Grief 
Moving through me
Let my body 
Feel the waves of…

Part 2 (middle):

Let me feel it all
Let me feel it all 
Grief, grief and love 
Let me feel it all
Let me feel it all 

Part 3 (low):

(And) All this grief
Give it to the water
Let it go (x2) 
Let it go 

Part 4 (high):

Heal this heart with a blessing, in motion 
Carry it to the ocean, to the ocean 

Let it go 

Part 5 (middle):

(drone)
Grief 
Moving through me
Let my body 
Let me feel it all

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I Have A Burning Desire

by Earth Practice

This trio are some dear friends of mine, Yin, Jessi, and Yam, catching songs, and staying tender-hearted on unceded Lummi & Nooksack territory, in the PNW.

They also host this amazing song podcast, Bliss Is Ordinary, and you can support their work via Patreon.

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LYRICS:

Call:             I have a burning desire
Response:     To be free

Call:            It guides my every step
Response:     It is the truth that informs me

Call:            And wherever I go
Response:     And whatever I be

Call:            I know that wealth ain’t nothing 
Response:     If I ain’t free

Call:             I have a burning desire
Response:     To be free

Call:            It guides my every step
Response:     It is the truth that informs me

Call:             And my sisters and brothers
Response:     Standing out on the streets

Call:           I know my freedom ain’t nothing
Response:    If you ain’t free

(last time repeat)

Call:             And my sisters and brothers
Response:     Standing out on the streets

Call:           I know my freedom ain’t nothing
Response:    If you ain’t free

Morning Star

by Francis Cimarron

This is an original one, by me. My first choral style arrangement, and Resound is the first group to sing it out!

You can support my musical work via Patreon.

(Although there are technically only 3 parts, there are some split notes, especially at the end, so there are separate recordings for high/low endings for Tenor and Soprano.)

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LYRICS:

We will sing a new song
Our voices ring in the dawn
As a new day lights up the sky,
We will raise up our eyes.
Hope is the morning star.

Morning star, hope is the morning star. (2x)

Turn your back on the shadows,
Take a step towards the East.
In the night there may be hunger
But every morning’s a feast.
Hope is the morning star.

Morning star, hope is the morning star. (2x)

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One Step At A Time

by Samara Jade

Samara Jade is a musician and songwriter who lives here in the Asheville, NC area.

You can support her work via Patreon.

I learned this song from Samara Jade (based here in so-called Asheville, NC) who caught it while climbing the 300 ft. “Ladder of Doom” on her way to the peak of Washington State’s Mount Olympus! A powerful song for a powerful journey. Thank you for your courage, Samara!

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LYRICS:

High:
(I got this) One step at a time.
I’ll take it one step at a time
I got this mountain to climb.
I’ll take it one step, one step at a time

Mid:
This looks daunting. This feels scary.
But every little step in my life has prepared me.

Low:
One foot in front of the other,
Never looking forward, never looking back.
One foot in front of the other,
Got to keep the groove a movin’, gotta keep on track

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Savoleyo

by Laboratorium Pieśni

Savoleyo is a simple three-part intuitive chant created by members of the Polish polyphonic vocal ensemble Laboratorium Piesni. The words are vocables (equivalent of English 'la la la'). 

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LYRICS:

Savoleyo leya-ho

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Sede Sedenkya

Traditional Bulgarian work song

I learned this one from Anni Zylstra, and here is what she has to say about this song:

Sede Sedenkya is a song from Bulgaria's sedenkya tradition. A sedenkya is a 'working-bee', or a gathering in which young people get together and do as much handwork and mending as possible. In folklore, the sedenkya is a place of singing, dancing, and often involves rowdiness like gossip, flirtation, and courtship. 

This is a popular song from the Shoppe region in northwest Bulgaria, and is one I learned from Pepe Koucheva while studying music in Bulgaria in 2019. - Anni

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LYRICS:

Middles:

1.  (Sede sedenkya shto sede)
Pa poide da se razturya
Pa poide da se razturya

 Koi s pobratima
Eeeeh…. s nikoga
Sirota Zanka s ni!
Sirota Zanka s nikoga

2.  (Eta go Gencha ot vrata)
Pavati Zanku za ruku
Pavati Zanku za ruku

 Pavodi doma
Eeeeh….otmena
Eteti male ot!
Eteti male otmena

3.  (Na tatu meka postelya)
Na makya bela premena
Na makya bela premena

 Na bratu voda
Eeeeh… zasmena
Na mene bulka za!
Na mene bulka zasmena

Bass:

1.  (Sede sedenkya shto sede
Pa poide da se razturya
Pa poide da se razturya)

 Koi s pobratima
Sirota Zanka s nikoga
Eeeeh… s ni!
Sirota Zanka s nikoga

2.  (Eta go Gencha ot vrata
Pavati Zanku za ruku
Pavati Zanku za ruku)

 Pavodi doma
Eteti male otmena
Eeeeh…..ot!
Eteti male otmena

3.  (Na tatu meka postelya
Na makya bela premena
Na makya bela premena)

 Na bratu voda
Na mene bulka zasmena
Eeeeh…. za!
Na mene bulka zasmena

Tops:

1.  Sede sedenkya shto sede
Pa poide da se razturya
Pa poide da se razturya

Koi s brata koi s pobratima
Sirota Zanka s nikoga
Sirota Zanka s ni! iii!
Sirota Zanka s nikoga

2.  Eta go Gencha ot vrata
Pavati Zanku za ruku
Pavati Zanku za ruku 

Pavodi vodi ta doma
Eteti male otmena
Eteti male ot! iii!
Eteti male otmena

3.  Na tatu meka postelya
Na makya bela premena
Na makya bela premena

Na bratu voda studena
Na mene bulka zasmena
Na mene bulka za! iii!
Na mene bulka zasmena

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Poetic Translation:

There was a working gathering
and then everyone went away

Some with a brother, some with a friend
but orphan Zanka had no one

Gencha stepped out of the door
and took Zanka's hand

He brought her to his home
here, mother, is your help.

She will make father's bed
and sew white clothes

She will give my brother cold water
and she will be my smiling bride.

Soften In

by Alexandra “Ahlay” Blakely

Alexandra "Ahlay" Blakely (she/her) is a songcatcher, and spaceholder of Ashkenazi/Scandinavian/Celtic roots, living on Coast Salish Land in the Pacific Northwest.

Support her work via patreon.

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LYRICS:

Give yourself a minute
Give yourself a minute
To soften in
Soften in

Spring 188

Traditional shape-note song, from Sacred Harp

Shape-note is a traditional Appalachian style of singing with a rich history, that has been referred to as “heavy metal a cappella.”

(Contrary to the lyrics in the song, these practice tracks were recorded during a thunderstorm, so please enjoy the background sounds of thunder and rain.)

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LYRICS:

The scattered clouds are fled at last,
The rain is gone, the winter’s past;
The lovely vernal flow’rs appear,
The warbling choirs enchant our ear.
Now, with sweetly pensive moan,
Coos the turtle dove alone.

The voice of my beloved sounds,
While o’er the mountain top he bounds;
He flies exulting o’er the hills,
And all my soul with transport fills.
Gently doth he chide my stay.
Rise, my soul, and come away.

Sumer Is Icumen In

Summer Canon/Cuckoo Song

(Middle English “rota” or round, from a 1261-1264 manuscript.)

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LYRICS:

Middle English

Sumer is icumen in
Lhude sing cuccu
Groweþ sed and bloweþ med
and springþ þe wde nu
Sing cuccu

Awe bleteþ after lomb
lhouþ after calue cu
Bulluc sterteþ bucke uerteþ
murie sing cuccu

Cuccu cuccu
Wel singes þu cuccu
ne swik þu nauer nu

Sing cuccu nu, sing cuccu

Modern English

Summer has arrived,
Loudly sing, cuckoo!
The seed is growing
And the meadow is blooming,
And the wood is coming into leaf now,
Sing, cuckoo!

The ewe is bleating after her lamb,
The cow is lowing after her calf,
The bullock is prancing,
The billy-goat farting, [or "The stag cavorting"]
Sing merrily, cuckoo!

Cuckoo, cuckoo,
You sing well, cuckoo,
Never stop now.

Sing, cuckoo, now sing, cuckoo!

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Here is a beautiful rendition of this song by Muco.

The Sun Song

by Ríomas

Ríomas Amini (trans masculine non-binary human, currently using she/her) is a queer Puerto Rican-Iranian American, earth-loving song creator, rhythm maker, and community facilitator based on unceded Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, and Grande Ronde territory, aka Portland, Oregon. As a human, she carries a deep commitment to her own liberation path and vision of a more just world. 

You can support Ríomas on Patreon.

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LYRICS:

Mid:
Oo, the Sun is lifting, Lifting me up 
Out of the darkness, Into the light, o-o-oh

Low:
Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo
Ooooo
Oo-oo-oo

High:
The Sun is giving me life, giving me life
The Sun is giving me life, giving me life

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We Will Not Be Controlled

This song was written in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

by Abigail Bengson

Abigail and Shaun Bengson, are a married composing and performing duo raising two children in Queens! Their music ranges from musical theater productions to on-the-spot songspells. They believe grief and joy are the same thing. They are interested in anything that gets us all free. 

Support The Bengsons via patreon.

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This version was arranged by Pax Ressler, director and founder of Rise Choir, a queer-centered, radical community choir in Philadelphia, PA.

Support Rise Choir via patreon.

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LYRICS:

We will not, we will not

We will not be controlled

I am sovereign in my body

I am sovereign in my soul

Zaspala Moma

A boy has a hard time waking his girlfriend, asleep under a quince tree.

This is a Bulgarian folk song for two voices, from Nedelino. Here is a recording by The Georgiev Sisters from 1988, collected by Nikolay Yankov Kaufman. Another version was released by Lidia & Venelina Hadzhieva in 2000. We are singing a shortened version, drawing from both of these.

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LYRICS:

1. Zaspala moma
Zaspala moma
Na zelen cheir
Na zelen cheir

2. Na zelen cheir
Na zelen cheir
Pad želta duné
Pad želta duné 

3. Che sa zadade
Che sa zadade
Neinono libé
Neinono libé

4. Dvašé patukna
Dvašé patukna
Triše pabutna
Triše pabutnai

5. I pak sa moma
I pak sa moma
Sune razbuda
Sune razbudai

6. Oi stani, stani
Oi stani, stani
Ti malkai momé
Ti malkai momé