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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Skunks Are Coming Out

by Heidi Wilson

Heidi’s passion is to share songs in service to community and the wild world; songs that celebrate the seasons, bring groups together, offer thanks, muster courage, and make room for connection and healing. She has been leading community singing groups in Vermont and beyond for the last 20 years.

You can support Heidi’s work via Patreon.

This song was inspired by maple sugaring season in Vermont, which coincides with mating season for the skunk population! Here in WNC, our skunks begin emerging to scout for food and mates in mid-February, and will be on the hunt til mid-April. Skunks are mostly nocturnal, but can sometimes be spotted in the daytime, often foraging from household waste.

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LYRICS:

Low:
Drip, drip, drip
Drippy, drippy
Drip, drip, drip
Drippy, drippy

Mid:
Skunks are coming out
Oooo, they’re coming out
Skunks are coming out
To find some food

High:
I can hear the creeks flowing
I can smell the sap boiling
I can feel the sun shining
Drip drip drip

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St. Patrick’s Breastplate / Lorica

A charm of protection adapted from an Old Irish prayer attributed to St Patrick.

as sung by Danica Boyce, arr. by Francis Cimarron

“This prayer is said to have protected Patrick and his fellow travelers from ambush by making them appear to be a herd of wild deer. This style of incantation is pre-Christian in origin and called a lorica, which is Latin for breastplate. The idea is that by saying or singing the prayer one armours oneself with the powers of nature and divinity for protection from harm.

Here I’ve replaced the word Christ in the English translation of the prayer with Love to make it more broadly accessible. You can find the full song elsewhere as St. Patrick’s Breastplate.” - Danica

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LYRICS:

Melody (Mid) / High (enter at v.2):

Love be with me
Love within me
Love behind me
Love before me 

Love beside me
Love to win me 
Love to comfort 
and restore me

Love beneath me
Love above me
Love in quiet
Love in danger

Love in hearts of
all that love me
Love in mouth of
friend and stranger

Low (enter at v. 2):

Love be with me___
Love within me___

Love beside me___
Love to win me___ 

Love beneath me___
Love above me___

Love in hearts of___
all that love me___

(round)
Low1
Low2:
Love be with me___
Love within me___
Love behind me___
Love before me___ 

Love beside me___
Love to win me___ 
Love to comfort___ 
and restore me___

Love beneath me___
Love above me___
Love in quiet___
Love in danger___

Love in hearts of___
all that love me___
Love in mouth of___
friend and stranger___

All:

Love in hearts of
all that love me
Love in mouth of
friend and stranger

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The Earth Makes of Herself

by Anni Zylstra

Anni Zylstra (they/them) is a multidisciplinary folk artist based in the traditional homelands of the Oceti Sakowin and Ho-chunk in SW so-called Wisconsin.   Some of the realms their work encompasses include traditional willow basketry, agroforestry, polyphonic singing, arts organizing, directing, and teaching. All of Anni's work is rooted in both deep reverence for the nonhuman world, as well as visions of radical inclusion and reimagining who is welcome in the rural folkscape.

“The Earth Makes of Herself  is a many-part round for meal or harvest blessings, or to generally celebrate the wonder of a world intelligent enough to regrow itself season after season.” -Anni

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LYRICS:

The earth makes of herself, 
First the seed, then the blade
and the ear, then the full grain of the year.

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We Dream

by Jude Brothers

I learned this magic spell from my friend, Jude Brothers. Jude is a folk derived singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Arkansas, with a penchant for whimsy and tender-heartedness.

Support their work via bandcamp.

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LYRICS:

We dream of what might be, That we 
might have the mettle to see to what must 
Be done in our dawn, in our days, in our hearts
That we might keep carrying on

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You Don’t Have to Seek Love

by Te Martin

Theresa “Te” Martin (they/them) is a community organizer, song-keeper, and ritual artist. Te believes deeply in the power of song to build resilience and to inspire change. They were born on Ramaytush Ohlone land in San Francisco and have been shaped by Ocean, Redwoods, circus arts, and theater games. Te served as co-organizer of Thrive Street Choir in the San Francisco bay area for six years and is currently based in Taos, NM.

You can listen to their music on Bandcamp, and support their work via Patreon.

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

(This song was inspired by a quote often misattributed to the 13th century Persian poet and Sufi mystic, Rumi (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī). It turns out this is actually a verse from A Course in Miracles (Chapter 16, IV, 6:1) by Helen Shucman.)

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LYRICS:

Alto 2 (Low mid):

You don't have to seek love 
Only have to let go
Of all that's in the way, love 
All that's holding you back

Tenor/Bass (Low):

There is a path that is walking toward you

Alto 1 (High mid):

For we know that love is seeking us

Soprano (High):

For we know that love is seeking us
For we know that we must let go
For we know that love is __ seeking us

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