| LYRICS | |
| We Came to Sing! Holly Near with emma's revolution | |
 Photograph: Irene Young; Composite: Carol Ehrlich |
LYRICS: Click each song title for the lyrics Listen to the Voices
Sail Away Lady Sky Dances Swimming to the Other Side 1000 Grandmothers Sing to Me the Dream Ministry of Oil Fired Up West Virginia Friend Mountain Song Study War No More |
| Listen to the Voices Holly Near / © Hereford Music (ASCAP) 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 |
| Sail
Away Lady
Trad. Arranged by Holly Near / © Hereford Music (ASCAP) 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 |
| Sky Dances
Words by Jimmy Durham; Music by Roy Brown / Plymouth Music The poem is by Jimmy Durham, a Native American poet from Oklahoma. The music is written by Puerto Rican composer, Roy Brown. "Oaks dance like bears, clouds sing like sky bears." They come to sing as well. Sky dances Willows dance like women Dance like snakes Willows dance before the mirror Fish dance in the mirror, turtles dance Oaks dance like bears, clouds sing like sky bears Pines dance, they are stars Storm has come here to kill the grubs, to kill worms Seeds dance, water dances, it is proud sky horses The corm will grow and dance with us Lances of storms are with us New plants grow, new things ride this way Sky dances.... |
| Swimming to the Other Side
Pat Humphries / Moving Forward Music (BMI) This is a lovely song written by Pat Humphries. When I asked Pat if I could sing it I warned her I would mess with it. She graciously agreed. We are living 'neath the great big dipper We are washed by the very same rain We are swimming in this stream together Some in power and some in pain We can worship this ground we walk on Cherishing the beings that we live beside Loving spirits will live forever We're all swimming to the other side I am alone and I am searching, hungering for answers in my time I am balanced at the brink of wisdom I'm impatient to receive a sign I move forward with my senses open Imperfection, it be my crime In humility, I will listen We're all swimming to the other side On this journey through thoughts and feelings Binding intuition, my head, my heart I am gathering the tools together. I'm preparing to do my part All of those who have come before me Band together and be my guide Loving lessons that I will follow, We're all swimming to the other side When we get there we'll discover All of the gifts we've been given to share Have been with us since life's beginning And we never noticed they were there We can balance at the brink of wisdom Never recognizing that we've arrived Loving spirits will live together We're all swimming to the other side |
| 1000 Grandmothers
Holly Near / © 1999 Hereford Music (ASCAP) 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 |
| Sing to me the Dream Holly Near & Jorge Coulon / © 1984 Hereford Music (ASCAP) 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 |
| Ministry of Oil Rick Burkhardt (The Prince Myshkins) On the Sing Out The Vote Tour in Ohio 2008, I had the great pleasure of meeting The Prince Myshkins. Andy and Rick are such lovely men, incredibly bright and creative. This is one of the songs they sang on the tour. Our version is quite different from theirs. I encourage you check out their music. once again we hear the word “precision” from people who think bombs can be precise we hear “the price of fighting terrorism” from people who don’t have to pay that price we see a cloud where there should be a college we see a reservoir reduced to soil and though they now admit that the marketplace was hit, they didn’t hit the Ministry of Oil what they call a military target is sacred to all soldiers brave and loyal you can bomb a shrine, you can bomb a power line, but you never bomb the Ministry of Oil once again the mayhem they call “warfare” is followed by the melee they call “peace” tearing through the stores and the museums while the US Army played police how much do you suppose that artwork sold for as their last remaining food began to spoil the situation’s bad, but no place in Baghdad is safer than the Ministry of Oil the medicine has all been confiscated and soon there won’t be water left to boil and one might wonder who’d think up names like “Oil for food” when what they mean is “Ministry of Oil” if there’s any logic in the universe if the future isn’t just absurd if justice is precise instead of infinite if freedom is enjoyed and not endured I’ll take my class out someday on a field trip past the shells of Shell and Uniroyal and as they’re roaming round the musty White House grounds, I’ll say “Kids, this was the Ministry of Oil” I’ll say “Kids, it was a peaceful revolution, there weren’t any battles to embroil, and I’m very glad to tell that not one person fell it’s an aspect of our history that every child knows well how we failed to avoid one building being destroyed, but at least it was the Ministry of Oil.” |
| Fired Up
Holly Near / © Hereford Music (ASCAP) 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 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 |
| West Virginia Friend
Holly Near / © Hereford Music (ASCAP) 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 Freida 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 Freida'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 |
| Mountain Song
Holly Near / © Hereford Music (ASCAP) 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 |
| Study War No More
Trad. Arranged by Holly Near / © Hereford Music (ASCAP) 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 |