So thetheme for Song Lyric Sunday (this week) is to post a song that makes you feel better.
My first choice is this delightful anthem from Cris Williamson. I always feel better after playing this LOUD and singing along with this wonderful choir of women!! I feel so connected! I dare you not to smile at the very end!!
Chris’s voice is so clear and powerful. I LOVE her joyous, sometimes poignant and always and “heartful” singing!
I have used Williamson’s music often in my work. And one time, I had the extreme pleasure of being at a Bonnie Raitt concert (she’s my favorite), when Bonnie invited local treasure, Cris Williamson, up on stage to sing Angel from Montgomery with her!! WOW!!
Song of the Soul
Song of the Soul
(Cris Williamson)
Love of my life I am crying
I am not dying, I am dancing
Dancing along in the madness
There is no sadness
Only the song of the soul
cho: And we'll sing this song
Why don't you sing along
Then we can sing for a long, long time
Why don't you sing this song
Then we can sing along
Then we can sing for a long, long time
What do you do for a living
Are you forgiving, giving shelter
Follow your heart, love will find you
Truth will unbind you
Seek out a song of the soul
Come to your life like a warrior
Nothing will bore yer, you can be happy
Let in the light, it will heal you
And you can feel you
Sing out a song of the soul
Love of my life I am crying
I am not dying, I am dancing
Dancing along in the madness
There is no sadness
Only the song of the soul
Lyrics from http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Song_of_the_Soul.htm
And it triggered the landslide memory of this song from 1971. I remember its profound impact on me when I was just a pup, a budding Flower Child. I had been focused on racial injustice and Civil Right for Blacks, and had already served in VISTA in the Deep South. But I’d truly never even known about our treatment of Native Americans.
This song “blew my mind” as we said back then, and taught me a lot, and inspired me to action!
They took the whole Cherokee nation
Put us on this reservation
Took away our ways of life
The tomahawk and the bow and knife
Took away our native tongue
And taught their English to our young
And all the beads we made by hand
Are nowadays made in Japan
Cherokee people
Cherokee tribe
So proud to live
So proud to die
They took the whole Indian nation
Locked us on this reservation
Though I wear a shirt and tie
I’m still part redman deep inside
Cherokee people
Cherokee tribe
So proud to live
So proud to die
But maybe someday when they learn
Cherokee nation will return, will return
Will return, will return, will return
Choice number two for this week’s Song Lyric theme of Gratitude from Helen Espinosa has to be…
Thank U
by Alanis Morissette
Lyrics by Google Play
How ’bout getting off these antibiotics
How ’bout stopping eating when I’m full up
How ’bout them transparent dangling carrots
How ’bout that ever elusive kudo
Thank you India
Thank you terror
Thank you disillusionment
Thank you frailty
Thank you consequence
Thank you thank you silence
How ’bout me not blaming you for everything
How ’bout me enjoying the moment for once
How ’bout how good it feels to finally forgive you
How ’bout grieving it all one at a time
Thank you India
Thank you terror
Thank you disillusionment
Thank you frailty
Thank you consequence
Thank you thank you silence
The moment I let go of it was the moment
I got more than I could handle
The moment I jumped off of it
Was the moment I touched down
How ’bout no longer being masochistic
How ’bout remembering your divinity
How ’bout unabashedly bawling your eyes out How ’bout not equating death with stopping
Thank you India
Thank you providence
Thank you disillusionment
Thank you nothingness
Thank you clarity
Thank you thank you silence
Well, I think this is a great theme for this Thanksgiving week (and not at all “cheesy” Helen)!
I knew my song immediately…well, my first song anyway.
You know when that question shows up “If you could have ONE album to play while stranded on a desert island, which one would it be?” This comes from my choice. Don Henley’s Inside Job. His opus. His Therapy album. His masterpiece.
This song gave me great comfort when a 25 year long business (and friendship) partnership ended. I had to fight hard to not focus just on the loss, and move into gratitude.
I hope the video works. It is the only one I could find of Don Henley actually singing
A lot of things have happened
Since the last time we spoke
Some of them are funny
Some of ’em ain’t no joke
And I trust you will forgive me
If I lay it on the line
I always thought you were a friend of mine
Sometimes I think about you
I wonder how you’re doing now
And what you’re going through
The last time I saw you
We were playing with fire
We were loaded with passion
And a burning desire
For every breath, for every day of living
And this is my Thanksgiving
Now the trouble with you and me, my friend
Is the trouble with this nation
Too many blessings, too little appreciation
And I know that kind of notion¡ªwell, it just ain’t cool
So send me back to Sunday school
Because I’m tired of waiting for reason to arrive
It’s too long we’ve been living
These unexamined lives
I’ve got great expectations
I’ve got family and friends
I’ve got satisfying work
I’ve got a back that bends
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my Thanksgiving
Have you noticed that an angry man
Can only get so far
Until he reconciles the way he thinks things ought to be
With the way things are
Here in this fragmented world, I still believe
In learning how to give love, and how to receive it
And I would not be among those who abuse this privilege Sometimes you get the best light from a burning bridge
And I don’t mind saying that I still love it all
I wallowed in the springtime
Now I’m welcoming the fall
For every moment of joy
Every hour of fear
For every winding road that brought me here
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my Thanksgiving
For everyone who helped me start
And for everything that broke my heart
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my Thanksgiving
One of my favorite songs for reminding me that no matter how big the “powers that be” are (or think they are), I can ALWAYS tap into my own personal power….
Tuesday, November 8th, 2016 was NOT the biggest of the big pictures…
Ain’t gonna let nobody, turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain’t gonna let nobody, turn me around
Keep on a walking, keep on a talking
Gonna build a brand new world
Ain’t gonna let the administration turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain’t gonna let the administration turn me around
Keep on a walking, keep on a talking
Gonna build a brand new world
Ain’t gonna let no first-strike policy turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain’t gonna let no first-strike policy turn me around
Keep on a walking, keep on a talkin
Gonna build a brand new world
Ain’t gonna let Indira Gandhi turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain’t gonna let Indira Gandhi (how’d she get that name?) ’round
Keep on a walking, keep on a talking
Gonna build a brand new world.
Ain’t gonna let that Henry Kissenger turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain’t gonna let that killer Kissenger turn me around
Keep on a walking, keep on a-talking
Gonna build a brand new world.
Ain’t gonna let nobody, turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain’t gonna let nobody, turn me around
Keep on a singing, keep on a swinging
Gonna build a brand new world
When Helen posted this theme I immediately thought of the same song Karuna chose. I LOVE that song. Sly And the Family Stone captured what a whole generation was pleading for the world to get through music!
But my very next choice came quickly to mind. I LOVE this song and it is an anthem in my life, and one I play for others often. Juliet has a lovely voice and this song addresses the theme this week perfectly!
Help Me Understand by Juliet Wyers. (Worth googling for more of her.)
(Lyrics unavailable but mostly understandable if you really listen)
PS We might really need this song after tomorrow….
“Tell us about a piece of music that stayed with you.”
I love that Word Press gives us all these challenges! Not because I can’t think of anything to write about, but because it helps me narrow topics down!
The first time I heard the song A Life Uncommon by Jewel, I was moved to tears.
(small disclaimer…the last few seconds of wording on this particular youtube are about Christianity and though I consider myself part Christian, I am also part Hindu, part Buddhist, part Jewish, part Unitarian Universalist and part “still working it all out”.)
I loved the song and could not stop thinking about it!
Such inspirational lyrics!
Don’t worry mother, it’ll be alright
And don’t worry sister, say your prayers and sleep tight
It’ll be fine lover of mine
It’ll be just fine
Lend your voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And you shall lead a life uncommon
I’ve heard your anguish
I’ve heard your hearts cry out
We are tired, we are weary, but we aren’t worn out
Set down your chains, until only faith remains
Set down your chains
And lend your voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lent your strength to that
Which you wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead a life uncommon
There are plenty of people who pray for peace
But if praying were enough it would have come to be Let your words enslave no one and the heavens will hush themselves
To hear our voices ring out clear
With sounds of freedom
Sounds of freedom
Come on you unbelievers, move out of the way
There is a new army coming and we are armed with faith
To live, we must give
To live
And lend our voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend our strength to that which we wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead…
Lend our voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend our strength to that which we wish to be free from
Fill you lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead a life uncommon
“No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from.” WOW!
Then I heard the song at the Unity church by this wonderful duo, Garnett and Beverly. Oh man, can these two SING!!! http://www.garnettandbeverly.com/
After hearing them sing it, I decided I wanted to EARN having this very song be performed at the party I want folks to have when I die!!
But there is another chapter.
Many years ago now, I had the miraculous experience of reuniting with my daughter, Pamela, having given her up to be raised by the most wonderful parents. As I was getting to know her, I did what many of us do when we first fall in love, and boy, did I ever fall. I made her a playlist of all my favorite songs…songs that I hoped would tell her about me. (Pam is truly amazing, and a talented singer herself, so I thought music would be a great connection!!)
The song, Life Uncommon, was the first and most important song on that playlist, with the disclaimer that I was still learning to live this way.
Three generations…my mother, my daughter, Pamela, and me, all around the same age. I couldn’t see any resemblance between my daughter and me but could see it between Pam and my mother.
Me and my birth daughter!
Cousins, their first visit…Pamela’s daughter and Michael’s son. How cute are they? watching something on TV that has Julius feeling protective…
Me with my son and his sister together, a dream come true!
This week’s challenge– our theme for Song Lyric Sunday is to post a song that helps pull you out of a dark place.
I too am completely affected by music. I believe in its power. I assign music to my clients all the time. I use it myself to calm down, to wake up, to get moving, to release, to exercise, to entertain myself, to love more deeply, to remember my own power, and on and on!
WAY too many songs came to mind when I read this week’s theme but the one that I woke up this morning is below. I had heard this song for a long time without listening to the lyrics and found it just so-so. Then a couple of years ago I had the privilege of attending an “adopted” nephew’s amazing graduation ceremony…and the whole class sang this song!! How perfect for their launch into adulthood.
I have since adopted it as my anthem, a reminder of the blank page of every single day of my life! (It helps me get unblocked when trying to WRITE also!!)
A great one to sing loudly, standing up while looking in a mirror! Hoaky I know, but try it!
It will be hard to remain in the dark if you do!
Lyrics (I LOVE that SEVEN people collaborated to write this song!!)
I am unwritten
Can’t read my mind
I’m undefined
I’m just beginning
The pen’s in my hand
Ending unplanned
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
Oh, oh, oh
I break tradition
Sometimes my tries are outside the lines
We’ve been conditioned to not make mistakes
But I can’t live that way
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
Our challenge this week from the wonderful (and generous with her time) Helen is:
” to post a song you fell in love with that you didn’t expect to like. Maybe it’s a type of music you used to turn your nose up at, or maybe it’s a band or singer you prejudged without listening to them first (I’m so guilty of this). I can’t possibly be the only one…”
I think I already did this by confessing the story of my instant dislike of the Goo Goo Dolls just because of their name (and album cover picture). Read more about that one here:
But here’s the song I immediately thought of today. I couldn’t tell you if this song is Rap or Hiphop or whatever but the first time I heard it, I burst into tears. It is the song that made me realize there are whole generations out there, AFTER THE SIXTIES, who still use their music to “protest” and “proclaim” their beliefs. We can’t ignore our children and grandchildren, and even our great grandchildren. They are speaking to us through their music! No matter how much we may not like the forms they are choosing, we still need to listen to them!
My choice is What It’s Like by Everlast the video is blurry but it has some pretty haunting and effective pictures. (WARNING: the lyrics are ALL HERE! This is NOT the blanked out, censored version they play on the radio!)
Lyrics
we’ve all seen a man at the liquor store beggin’ for your change
The hair on his face is dirty, dread-locked and full of mange
He asks a man for what he could spare with shame in his eyes
“Get a job, you fucking slob, ” is all he replies
God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes
‘Cause then you really might know what it’s like to sing the blues
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like
Mary got pregnant from a kid named Tom that said he was in love
He said, “Don’t worry about a thing, baby doll, I’m the man you’ve been dreaming of.”
But three months later he say he won’t date her or return her call
And she swear, “Goddamn, if I find that man I’m cuttin’ off his balls.”
And then she heads for the clinic and she gets some static walking through the door
They call her a killer and they call her a sinner and they call her a whore
But God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in her shoes
‘Cause then you really might know what it’s like to have to choose
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like
I’ve seen a rich man beg, I’ve seen a good man sin, I’ve seen a tough man cry
I’ve seen a loser win and a sad man grin, I heard an honest man lie
I’ve seen the good side of bad and the downside of up and everything between
I licked the silver spoon, drank from the golden cup, smoked the finest green
I stroked the fattest dimes at least a couple of times before I broke they heart
You know where it ends, yo, it usually depends on where you start
I knew this kid named Max, he used to get fat stacks out on the corner with drugs
He liked to hang out late, he liked to get shit-faced and keep the pace with thugs
Till late one night there was a big gun fight and Max lost his head
He pulled out his chrome .45, talked some shit and wound up dead
Now his wife and his kids are caught in the midst of all of this pain
You know it crumbles that way, at least that’s what they say when you play the game
God forbid you ever had to wake up to hear the news
‘Cause then you really might know what it’s like to have to lose
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like
Then you really might know what it’s like to have to lose
One thing that stood out is “The song was also unexpectedly and surprisingly a hit to adult contemporary stations since most rap songs or songs with rap verses cannot be played on the format.”
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