I first heard this song sung by Odetta. Reading a bit about the song's history, I learned that the tune is identified with the south central Kentucky and middle Tennessee locals and may date back to American dance music in the period between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Paul Wells (Middle Tennessee State University) states that the song was collected around the turn of the 20th century and seems to have been common to both black and white traditions. 

Ain't no use to sit and cry
You’ll be an angel by and by
Don’t you rock em
Don’t you rock em
Don’t you rock em mmm
Don’t you rock em daddy–o

Soon as I get my new house done
Sail Away Lady Sail Away
Give my old one to my son
Sail Away Lady Sail Away

Additional verses:
I got a home in New Orleans
All I got left is my ole jeans

I got a home in Baltimore
Train come a runnin’ right past my door

Singers sing and the players play
Let’s sing Odetta on her way

A big part of singing is listening. Singing in harmony is good training for living in the world. The drone you hear under the voices are actually voices. Sandy and Pat's voices were sampled and "electronically enhanced" to create this low foundation for the song's harmony.

Listen to the voices of the old women
Calling out the messages
Of the moon and sea
Telling us what we need to know
In order to be free
Listen to the voices of the old women

Listen to the voices of the Indian Nations
Calling out the messages
Of the earth and sky
Telling us what we need to know
In order to survive
Listen to the voices of the Indian Nations

Listen to the voices of the young children
Calling out the messages
Of the heart and soul
Telling us what we used to know
Before the lies were told
Listen to the voices of the young children

Listen to the voices of the Indian Nations
Listen to the voices of the old women
Listen to the voices of the living

My fantasy is that one day we all will just lay down whatever it is we are doing and we refuse and the reality is that all over the world and throughout history, small groups of people have stopped what they were doing and refused. Happens all the time... just not all at the same time.

Send in a thousand grandmothers
They will surely volunteer
With their ancient wisdom flowing
They will lend a loving ear

First they'll form a loving circle
Around the wounded wing
Then contain the brutal beasts of war
Sweet freedom songs they'll sing

A lullaby much stronger
Than bombs and threats to kill
A force unlike we've ever seen
Will break the murder's will

To the prisons we'll invite them
The most violent men will weep
When a 1000 women hold them strong
And pray their souls to keep

Let them rock the few who steal the most
And rule with youthful charm
So they'll see the damage that they do
And will fall into grandma's arms
Two thousand loving arms

If you think these women are too soft
To face the world at hand
Then you've never known the power of love
And you fail to understand

An old woman holds a powerful force
When she no longer needs to please
She can cut your shallow life to bits
And bring you to your knees
We best get down on our knees

And pray for a thousand grandmothers
Will you please come volunteer
No longer tucked deep out of sight
Will you bring your power here
Will you bring your power here

emma's revolution joined me on my trip to Chile a few years ago. I first wrote the song with Jorge Coulon and sang it on the 1984 US tour with Inti Illimani. There is quite a bit about our trip to Chile (and photos) right here. 

When you speak the language of your life
I do not know the story
The words are only sounds, they leave my mind to wonder
Perhaps you speak of the mountains,
or the child you used to be
Of the city Santiago and the moment you were free
To sing of hungry hearts and of the dream, do you speak of the dream.

When you speak the language of your love
I do not know the story
The words are only sounds and they leave my mind to wonder
But when you soar through my heart with a melody
I hear the dancing feet, I taste the salty tears
I know the laughing child and the moment of the dream

When you sing the language I feel love
Now I know the story
the songs are mighty sounds that fill my mind to wonder
And when you soar through my heart with a melody
I hear the dancing feet, I taste the salty tears
I am the laughing child, sing to me the dream
Come fill my mind with wonder
And sing to me the dream

Declaration of the Rights of the Child

Fired up ain't gonna take it no more
Tied up ain't gonna take it no more
You say cool down, we say step down
You're breaking my mother's heart

Fired up ain't gonna take it no more
Tied up ain't gonna take it no more
You say cool down, we say step down
You're breaking my mother's heart

Children need schools more than they need jails
That's where our society fails
First seven years creates the child's foundation
Mandatory for a healthy nation

How could we forget that the children come first
We left them alone and they died of thirst
Mothers and fathers confused and forlorn
When the children are missing there's something wrong

Can't just focus on kids with wealth
Can't pick and choose who gets the health care
Take an honest look at the great divide
Looks dangerously similar to genocide

Fired up ain't gonna take it no more
Tied up ain't gonna take it no more
You say cool down, we say step down
You're breaking my mother's heart

Ain't gonna take it no more
Tied up ain't gonna take it no more
You say cool down, we say step down
You break another mother's heart

I wrote this song while teaching at the Augusta Heritage Center many years ago. The assignment to the songwriters attending my class was to write as if you were in someone else's shoes. I recorded this song with Trapezoid and John McCutcheon so that means the fabulous Freyda Epstein sang the low part. She was killed in a car accident and we miss her so. It was very emotional for Pat to sing Freyda's part on the recording.

I don't want to say goodbye to you
To think we may not ever meet again
Remember me, some day when you're lonely
And know you have a West Virginia Friend

I know you’re only passing through
I Knew it from the start
Sometimes there is love to spare
Inside this country heart
Now the rain upon the old barn roof
And your own North Dakota song
Will be a pleasant company
If only when you're gone

I don't want to say goodbye to you
To think we may not ever meet again
Remember me, some day when you're lonely
And know you have a West Virginia Friend

Maybe I'll go rambling
When my baby's up and grown
I kinda like the thought of traveling
Out there on my own
But I love these gentle mountains
More than strangers do
Some of us stay settled
And some of us pass through

I don't want to say goodbye to you
To think we may not ever meet again
Remember me, some day when you're lonely
And know you have a West Virginia Friend

Mountaintop removal is devastating. Google it and you will get lots of information as well as suggested activism. Mountaintop removal has wiped out 500 mountains and destroyed historic communities. Join the national campaign to bring mountaintop removal to an end.


I have dreamed on this mountain
Since first I was my mother's daughter
And you can't just take my dreams away – not with me watching
You may drive a big machine
But I was born a great big woman
And you can't just take my dreams away – not with me fighting

This old mountain raised my many daughters
Some died young – some are still living
But if you come here to take our mountain
Well we ain't come here to give it

I have dreamed on this mountain
Since first I was my mother's daughter
And you can't just take my dreams away – not with me watching
No you can't just take my dreams away – without me fighting
No you can't just take my dreams away

A spiritual rising up from the African American tradition, this song takes on profound meaning defined each time by context.  In the religious context, I understand that to "study"  can mean to allow your mind to dwell on something. So, for example, to study war suggests it has become acceptable to you and therefore you participate in it. So in the reverse, to not study war is to stay in close relationship to the unacceptability of war and to one's refusal to participate. As is true in any craft, to be an activist in opposition to war requires practice. War to me includes domestic violence, world hunger, inhumane systems of education, prisons, emotional and physical abuse of children, harsh and critical language and so on. So as we sing this song (in this rendition as a prayer) we both honor the tradition from which the song comes as well as we are committing ourselves to the practice of unlearning behaviors that are not useful to the evolution of life on this earth.

I ain't gonna study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more
Study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more
Study war no more

I'm gonna lay down my burden
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside

I'm gonna lay down my burden
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
And study war no more

I'm gonna lay down my sword and shield
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
Why don't we all lay down the guns and bombs
Down by the riverside
Ain't gonna study war no more

I ain't gonna study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more,
Study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more
Study war no more