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

Solution

by Darlissa Andrea

Darlissa Andrea is a queer femme that uses all pronouns. Darlissa carries Puerto Rican, Hawaiian and Cape Verdean lineage and is currently on a lifelong journey to reconnect and practice relating to the Earth in respect and reciprocity. 

Darlissa’s songs are centered around land, liberation, spirituality and shifting culture. She co-organizes Sing People Sing! And started Singin to Feel- Both PDX based community song circles. Darlissa is committed to creating spaces where people get to experience flavors of their inheritance belonging through vocal expression in community song circles.

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LYRICS:

Low: You are not the whole solution

Mid: Take your place
Leave space
For others to weave in
For others to weave in

High: Lead and follow
Lead and follow
Lead and follow___

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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.

Stay Soft

by Sam Rise (they/them)

Sam is a black, gender-expansive performer, teaching artist and human-amplifier, doing powerful liberatory work in Philadelphia, PA.

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LYRICS:

I know this life ain’t easy
Some days I wish I were water or stone.
Fear binds, but lovin will free me,
“Keep on,” they say, “child, stay soft.”

I know this life ain’t easy,
We’re taught to hold up our shield and sword.
Fear binds, but lovin’ will free me,
Pray, I’m gonna stay, stay soft.

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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.

Take Time

by Earth Practice

Here’s another gem from this trio, Yin, Jessi, and Yam, catching songs, and staying tender-hearted on unceded Lummi & Nooksack territory, in the PNW.

Jessi and Yam also host this amazing song podcast, Bliss Is Ordinary.

You can support their work via Patreon.

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LYRICS:

Take time with your own heart (2x)
Take time with your own heart
With your own heart, take time.

And, it’s ok to feel…pain 
It’s ok to feel
It’s ok to feel…pain 
It’s ok to feel

(repeat verse and chorus)

There’s light in your own heart (2x)
There’s light in your own heart 
In your own heart, there’s light.

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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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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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Trim The Wick

by West of Roan

West of Roan is the multi-media project of Channing Showalter & Annie Schermer. Together these two weave harmonies, tell stories, and craft beautiful puppets and scenes, inviting the listener into a magical world. They are currently based in Bellingham, WA on Coast Salish lands, although they once called Madison County, NC home.

You can support these dear friends via Patreon.

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LYRICS:

Trim the wick, light the lamp
See the shadow on the wall
The old moon now has waned
It's dark around us all

Come, follow
To the forest we must go
Sing a song
Draw a circle, we are home

Sing a song
Draw a circle, we are home

Try Again

by Francis Cimarron

This layered song came through for Yom Kippur, 2023 (5784 on the Jewish calendar). I was feeling moved by the realization that having a safe space to make mistakes is what makes growth possible. The last line of this song is Hebrew, meaning "I will forgive, according to your word.” OR “I forgive you as you forgive me.”

So often accountability feels inaccessible when shame is the primary reaction to mistake making. Instead of feeling safe enough to take the risks needed to make things right, we isolate and withdraw, causing more rifts. Resilient communities require that we become a safer space for our collective growing pains, and individual mistakes, welcoming each other into reflection and connection, and all learning together as we grow.

You can support my musical work via Patreon.

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LYRICS:

Low Mid: We all make mistakes 
This journey’s long
Don’t let it break you
Your will is strong

High Mid: Get up, try again
Get up, try again
Get up, try again
Your will is strong

Low: Everybody’s on their own journey
Everybody’s got a _ long road to walk
Reach out, lift each other up
I forgive you, please forgive me

High: Salachti kid’varecha
Salachti kid’varecha
Salachti kid’varecha
Salachti kid’varecha

We Are Dreaming Of Another World

by Marika Straw

Marika Straw (they/them) is a queer, Jewish, writer, singer-songwriter, and community organizer from Wallowa County, Oregon. Marika loves to weave music and social change work through endeavors such as an ethnomusicology project on drumming and social change in India, co-creating and leading a songwriting course at a women’s prison in North Carolina, and elevating queer stories through song. 

This song is particularly sung with the people of Gaza in mind. May Palestine, and all her people, be free!

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LYRICS:

We are dreaming of another world.
Help us build it, we can all go home. (x2)

Can we grieve the grief?
Can we learn again?
Can we let go of
a world that’s filled with pain? (x2)

We are dreaming of another world.
Help us build it, we can all go home. (x2)

We are dreaming of another world
Of a place where we can all be home.

We Are Woven

by Meg Vellejos McCoy

Meg is an incredible being and she uses her voice in powerful and inspiring ways. . Her lineage is Mi’kmaq, and San Andrés, and she currently resides in the Pacific Northwest. Meg is a coach, and ritual artist. She has used the term “Art Monk” to describe herself as she has a practice of creating a painting every day.

You can follow her work at Inner Life Creations.

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LYRICS:

We are woven
Into the heart of all that is
Into the heart of all that is
We are woven            (x2)

Lest we forget what we are
Water and stone, flesh carbon star
We are woven
Into the heart

We are woven
Into the heart of all that is
Into the heart of all that is
We are woven            (x2)

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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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We Make The Road By Walking

by Amalia Kalisz Tonsor

This song came to us with quite a story. It was shared with me immediately post-Hurricane Helene, after my dear friend, Sarafina, sang it with a group of friends in WA, as a prayer for those of us here in the midst of it all. I later found out that there were other dear friends of mine in that circle, including someone who was friends with Amalia who wrote the song.

I shared it with small groups of friends as we began to gather together to process all that had happened, and the story began to accumulate layers and depth as we found out just how many threads were connected to the lineage of this song, and to the dear ones who first sent it our way. It has become a conversation across time and space, a sharing of a vision of future possibility, despite, or because of, great challenges.

“We make the road by walking” is a quote from Brazilian educator/activist Paolo Freire. It became the title of a book that was a dialogue between Freire and another seminal educator/activist, Myles Horton, who was an important figure in the Civil Rights Movement in the US. There is conjecture that Freire was paraphrasing this poem by Spanish poet, Antonio Machado:

“Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino y nada más;
Caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace el camino,
y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante, no hay camino
sino estelas en la mar.” - Antonio Machado

Traveler, your footprints
are the only road, nothing else.
Traveler, there is no road;
you make your own path as you walk.
As you walk, you make your own road,
and when you look back
you see the path
you will never travel again.
Traveler, there is no road;
only a ship’s wake on the sea.

- translated by Mary G. Berg and Dennis Maloney

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LYRICS:

This moment calls our hearts here
Step by step, we make the road by walking
And, where we go, love follows

Let love move through me (x3)

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Wester Caputh

by Brendan Taaffe

(chorus text from Psalm 121 adapted by Ali Burns, music, and additional text by Brendan Taaffe)

I contacted Brendan to get sheet music for this piece, after Hurricane Helene devestated WNC, and here is his response:

Hey Francis,

I’m so glad that song reached you at the right time. I wrote it on the Isle of Eigg (in Scotland) during a challenging time of my own, and then we recorded it right before Hurricane Irene decimated Vermont 10 years ago. It’s a well traveled song at this point, having been sung on almost all of the continents.

Given the situation in WNC, I am happy to gift the song to you and your choir. If they are interested in supporting me as a composer, they could get a copy of the original album at bandcamp here.

Sing on,
-Brendan (he/him)

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LYRICS:

Tenor:

Chorus:
To the hills I will lift mine eyes
and I am not__ not afraid
To the hills I will lift mine eyes
and I am not___ afraid

Verse 1:
In sun by day or the moon by night
My courage will not fade
In sun by day or the moon by night
I am not afraid

Verse 2:
In the morningʼs smile or the eveningʼs veil…

Verse 3:
O guide my feet and guard my way…

Bass:

Chorus:
To the hills I will lift mine eyes
and I am not, I am not afraid (x2)

Verse 1:
In sun by day or the moon by night
My courage will not fade
In sun by day or the moon by night
I am not afraid

Verse 2:
In the morningʼs smile or the eveningʼs veil…

Verse 3:
O guide my feet and guard my way…

Alto:

Chorus:
To the hills, To the hills
I will lift mine eyes
and I am not afraid (x2)

Verse 1:
In sun by day or the moon by night
My courage, oh my courage will not fade
In sun by day or the moon by night
I am not, I am not afraid

Verse 2:
In the morningʼs smile or the eveningʼs veil…

Verse 3:
O guide my feet and guard my way…

Soprano:

Chorus:

To the hills I will lift mine eyes

and I am not, I am not afraid

To the hills I will lift mine eyes

and I am not afraid

Verses:

In sun…or the moon by night
‍ ‍(In the morn…or the evening veil..)
((O guide…and guard my way…))
My courage, oh my courage will not fade
In sun by day or the moon by night
I am not, I am not afraid

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

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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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