Jewels

by Barbara McAfee

Barbara McAfee is a master voice coach, author, keynote speaker, and singer/songwriter who merges her experience in organization development with the transformative power of sound. Barbara is the founder of the Morning Star Singers, a volunteer hospice choir in the Twin Cities. She lives up the street from the wild and scenic St. Croix River in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin.

You can support her work on patreon.
You can listen to her recording of this song here.

Notes from Barbara:

“This song grew out of a conversation I had with a voice coaching client many years ago. The person was struggling to heal after a traumatic brain injury and thought singing would help her brain recover. It did. Meanwhile, when she was having a particularly hard day, I heard myself saying these words to her: "Every time I go into the darkness, I return with fistfuls of jewels." It didn't feel like me talking, but some larger and wiser being.

I filed the line away in my memory. Then in a hot tub under the stars on the south shore of Lake Superior, it found a melody and a second line: "Midnight velvet wraps all around me; stars glitter brilliant above." The third line arose in a community song circle. This song baby has traveled far and wide and is a winter solstice favorite in many communities. “

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LYRICS:

Low: Every time I go into the darkness
I return with fistfuls of jewels

Mid: Midnight velvet wraps all around me
Stars glitter brilliant above

High: Dreaming darkness, dreaming light