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    230. Great Turning with guest Grace Oedel and singer Rebecca Csuy

    4:4 Change Determination Empower Future Hope Power & Change Scale: Aeolian (minor) Song Form: Layer Trust

    Song: Great Turning

    Music by: Joanna Colwell


    Song Learning Time Stamps:

    Start time of teaching: 00:03:03

    Start time of reprise: 01:08:19

    Lyrics:

    Part 1
    We are turning, turning 
    We’re part of a great turning
    We are turning, turning
    We’re turning it around
     
    Part 2
    I will not fear you 
    I will not harm you 
    I will not fear you
    We are turning it around 

    Part 3
    We are all in it together 
    We are turning, turning it around 

    (Gratitude to Joanna Macy, for her teachings on The Great Turning)
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    Notes: It seems fitting that Grace Oedel, who tells us she is “Not doing any of this alone," brings us a song caught by a friend of hers, Joanna Colwell... and that this song references the mentor and teacher Joanna Macy, who helped so many folk seek reconnection. Grace and I are joined by Rebecca Csuy to learn this three part song, and then we dive into a laughter-filled conversation that visits some hard questions and nourishing responses. Grace is doing vital work in the world in many different arenas, seeking ways to help us get comfortable with the enormous changes we are facing, hospicing modernity -- but she points out, “I eat chocolate chips in bed… I am not a holier-than-thou person!”  "We're all in it together," like the song says... "we are turning it around."


    Songwriter Info: Joanna Colwell is a yoga teacher and song leader in MIddlebury, Vermont. She started the Yoga Equity Project and can generally be found tearing down the patriarchy with art, song, ritual, and good cheer.


    Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Joanna for recording and/or performing permission.


    Song Learning Time Stamps:

    Start time of teaching: 00:03:03

    Start time of reprise: 01:08:19


    Links:

    Grace's Substack: https://graceoedel.substack.com/ 

    Joanna Colwell – Middlebury yoga teacher:

    https://www.yogaequity.org/ 

    www.ottercreekyoga.com 

    https://www.instagram.com/ottercreekyoga/

    Joanna Macy – The Work that Reconnects: https://workthatreconnects.org/ 

    Octavia Butler: "Kindness eases change." "God is change.": https://www.octaviabutler.com/ 

    Moira Smiley on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/39-stand-in-that-river#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/40-render-a-remedy-with-moira-smiley#/ 

    Heidi Wilson on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/139-bend-and-rebound#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/140-the-feast-with-guest-heidi-wilson#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/228-all-call-this-home#/ 

    Singing Resistance: https://linktr.ee/singingresistance 

    Kairos Center with Songs in the Key of Resistance: https://kairoscenter.org/projects/songs-in-the-key-of-resistance/ 

    NOFA – Long-Handled Spoon Dinners: https://www.nofavt.org/about/blog/announcing-new-long-handled-spoons-dinners 

    L’Chaim Jewish collective leadership in Burlington: https://www.lchaimcollective.org/ 

    Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst, UVM professor: https://www.uvm.edu/cas/religion/profile/ilyse-morgenstein-fuerst 

    Elise Witt on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/21-song-deep-in-your-bones#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/211-set-us-free#/ 

    Nero’s Expedition Up the Nile by Moondog (Louis Thomas Hardin): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpUIzHWB_zc 

    James Baldwin “The children are always ours.”: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/notes-house-bondage/ 

    Aylie Baker – wayfinding in Micronesia: https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/wave-patterns/ 

    Indigo Girls: https://www.indigogirls.com/ 

    Batya Levine on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/166-breathe#/ 


    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 3-layers


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  • Published on

    229. We Will Not Stand Down

    3 Layer 4:4 Boundaries Chant Determination Empower Hope Justice Love Power & Change Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Layer Strength
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:44
    Start time of reprise: 00:15:29
    Lyrics:

    We will not stand down
    we will not go home
    our love will move us on
    in love we're not alone

    I do not need permission to be brave
    ​
    I can do it scared
    I will do it scared​
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    ​Song: We Will Not Stand Down
    Music by: Grace Oedel

    Notes: This song came directly out of protective action, as Grace was asking herself how to develop a chant into a song -- it's got a groove, it's alive, and it's adaptable. Sing it with only a few words, or add some lyrics. Get people moving on the parts they resonate with and help them hear the collective pulse that underlies it all. Add what feels good in your body and voice -- and next week, join Grace and me for a wide-ranging conversation that asks questions about how can we keep showing up with and for each other for the long haul? How can we use rage as a fuel that doesn't burn us out, but helps us to not stand down, to not go home, to do what scares us because love is underneath that rage, moving us on!

    Songwriter Info: Grace is a doula for change and an enthusiast for collective action. She's an ordained rabbi who organizes with the L'Chaim Collective and serves as the executive director of NOFA-VT, building power for a just and delicious future. She sits on the boards of Rights and Democracy, Milk with Dignity, National Family Farm Coalition, National Sustainable Ag Coalition, the Better Selves Fellowship, and is an affiliate for the Institute for Agroecology. She leads a monthly community sing for resistance and hope that is a real banger, is a fan of desserts, and is mama to three little ones. 

    Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups - use it anywhere it can be helpful! - but please contact Grace for recording and/or performing permission.

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:44
    Start time of reprise: 00:15:29

    Links:
    Grace's Substack: https://graceoedel.substack.com/ 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 3-layers

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    https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html
  • Published on

    228. All Call This Home

    3 Layer 4:4 Birds Earth Gratitude & Trust Home Notice Play Praise & Wonder Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Layer Uptempo
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:06
    Start time of reprise: 00:15:28
    Lyrics:

    Rock dove roosting on a roofline
    Willow thicket on a highway island
    Dandelion in a sidewalk crack
    Muddy puddle with a raccoon track

    You are never alone, and
    We all call this home, and

    You, are, never alone
    We, all, are wild animals

    -Plainfield, VT April 16, 2025
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    Song: All Call This Home
    Music by: Heidi Wilson

    Notes: Heidi Wilson has devoted herself to the craft of songweaving -- and it shows! My groups have all loved this song -- a great mix of almost-rap with sweet harmony swells, and trading back and forth playfully. Once it's in your head, it stays, providing a rhythmic counterpart to walks and a sweet sense of neighborliness with all our more-than-human kin.

    Songwriter Info: Heidi Wilson has a passion for sharing songs in service to community and the wild world; songs that celebrate the seasons, bring groups together, offer thanks, muster courage, and make room for healing. She is drawn to the potent and surprising journey of deep-listening and collaborative emergent music making. Heidi has been leading community singing groups in Vermont for the last 15 years and currently sings with the vocal trio Heartwood. 

    Sharing Info: 
    Heidi says: "I’m on an ongoing journey figuring out how to share songs (that feel like generous gifts from the world) while also making a living as a songweaver. I am happy for the songs coming through me to be shared! If people are singing them in informal, community, or ritual settings that’s awesome, sing away! If people are sharing them in a setting where they are making a bunch of money or there is a budget for educational/repertoire materials and they are able to pass some of those resources my way I appreciate that. I would feel good about that reciprocity coming in the form of a one time donation (venmo: @Heidi-willsing) or by joining me on Patreon and supporting my songweaving work at any monthly level. And if you are interested in recording any of these songs let’s talk!
    Looking for recordings of more songs? I mostly share music through Patreon, an online platform to support artists. On my Patreon site I’ve posted 80+ songs. Each post has downloadable practice recordings of the harmony parts. And through Patreon I also link to a spreadsheet where the songs are organized into categories, so you can listen through and find just the right song for Spring, or Gratitude, or Trees."

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:06
    Start time of reprise: 00:15:28

    Links:
    Website: www.HeidiAnnWilson.com 
    Patreon: www.patreon.com/HeidiWilson 
    Heartwood Trio: www.heartwoodtrio.com 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 3-layers

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  • Published on

    227. Ribbon 16: Balance and Begin

    Ribbon
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    ​The Sunday after this episode is released, March 29th, 2026, at 4 p.m. Eastern time, there will be an online gathering of folk who use song to help navigate life -- and we'll sing through this Ribbon of Songs with live-looping! To learn more, click here, or sign up right now to join us!
    Lyrics ​& Links to the original episodes for the songs in this ribbon.
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    ​#74 Equinox Blessing
    by Heather Houston

    Honoring the darkness, Honoring the light,
    Honoring the day, Honoring the night
    All things find their way into balance
    Suspended in time
    Shadows and light
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    #205 Set It Right
    by Ana Hérnandez

    Call: There’s a great trouble in the land 
    Resp: We’re gonna set it right again 
    (3x)
    All: We’re gonna set it right, set it right again. 

    More verses to zip in:
    Trouble’s been brewing too many years
    We need clean water and healthy food
    People need housing, we’ve a right to thrive
    Mass deportations tearing families apart
    We are the ones who can change the world
    We need education to build a just world
    Families need childcare, they don’t need to go broke
    We need fair wages, rich folk need to be taxed!

    Add more verses to suit your actions
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    ​#146 Begin Again
    by Jean Farmer

    I begin again with my breath,
    joining earth,
    earth and spirit.
    I return again to my breath,
    ​walking home the unknown path.
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    #168 The Net
    by Patricia Norton

    (inspired by Sri Nisargadatta)

    The net that I thought
    was holding me,
    it is full of holes, full of holes.
    The net that I thought
    was holding me,
    it is full of holes!
    The net that I thought
    was holding me tight –
    it is not a big barrier,
    I can get by it.
    The net that I thought
    was holding me,
    it is Full. Of. Holes.

    There is a ground of truth
    beyond the net!
    (a gazillion times)

    Like the water,
    I’m falling free. (4x)
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    ​#184 Where the Moss Grows
    by David Ruffin

    Where the river flows
    and the moss on boulder grows,
    we can remember what we deeply know.
    There is time to be here
    and see what becomes clear...
    when we let it go,
    and go where the moss grows.
    Oh, when we let it go,
    ​and go where the moss grows
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    ​#36 Brighter Days
    by Jenny Cook

    There's so much hope in a snowdrop,
    the promise of spring to come.
    Hold on, hold on
    through the cold,
    brighter days will come.
    Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:
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  • Published on

    226. Life's Dance

    3:4 Be Present Cycles Dance Flow Gathering & Welcome Motion Night Play Praise & Wonder Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Layer
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:19
    Start time of reprise: 00:16:33
    Lyrics:

    Part 1:
    I/Come/We dance the circle of life,
    day into night into day,
    Into the center and out again,
    learning the steps on the way.

    Part 2:
    Come dance with me,
    singing all the way,
    Learning the steps along the way.
    Picture
    Song: Life's Dance
    Music by: Tarren van Ettinger

    Notes: This dance of a song loosens me up every time I sing it -- both with the original two parts from Tarren, and then I snuck a third part in when I was singing it on my looper, and I was having so much fun with it, I added it too! Learning the steps as we go -- in and out of the circle, day into night into day, confident, then confused, and back again -- I am grateful for the way this song makes a sweet dance of the whole kit & kaboodle!

    Songwriter Info: Tarren is an AuDHD, agender singer/songwriter from Davenport, IA, formerly from Alaska. They have been writing songs actively since 2015, when they wrote their first song at the Village Fire gathering in Decorah. They take inspiration from everything from literature to personal experiences. Tarren lives with their animal-trainer partner, a dog, bird and rabbit, and the occasional foster-critter.

    Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Tarren always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:19
    Start time of reprise: 00:16:33

    Links:
    Bandcamp: https://tarrenvanettinger.bandcamp.com
    Mastodon: https://musician.social/@tarrenvane 
    Discord: @tarrenvane 
    Email: tarrenvane@proton.me 

    Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, major, 3-parts

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  • Published on

    225. Walk Me Home with guest Una McCann

    4:4 Earth Gratitude & Trust Home Journey Light Moon Protection & Presence Safe Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Harmonized Trust Wind
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:05:32
    Start time of reprise: 01:28:35
    Lyrics:

    ​Oh wind blow away the doubt circling around my head instead
    Let me know the blessing of my feet upon the ground

    [Chorus:]
    (And) walk me home, 
    (And) walk me home, 
    (And) walk me home again

    (And) walk me home, 
    (And) walk me home, 
    (And) walk me home again
    .................
    Oh moon shine a silver light illuminating all that I would hide 
    Guide me through the shadows, trusting in the steps before me 

    [Chorus]
    .................
    Over and over, your touch at my shoulder, guiding me homeward again
    .................
    Oh mountain, be kind to me, shelter me from storms that would arise, wise and silent, you show me how to follow through

    [Chorus]
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    Song: Walk Me Home
    Music by: Una McCann

    Notes: What do you do with anger? Can you set shame gently aside so you can get out of the way of what's coming through you and wants to be voiced? How do you move through times of doubt and grief to do what you are called to do? Una shares with us a beautiful song companion for walking each other home, and we explore these questions and so, so much more in this extended conversation. 

    Songwriter Info:
    Una McCann is based in Belfast, Northern Ireland where she works as a choir leader and songwriter.  She has been leading groups in harmony since her school days and has been working with adult choirs for 15 years.  
    Una is a proud and active member of the UK Charity The Natural Voice Network, and works in line with the principle that we are all born to sing.  She is passionate about the power of song and creativity to transform lives.
    Song writing is a part of life that sustains and supports Una.  She writes melodies and words that she needs to hear in that moment and is always delighted when they resonate with other people too.  
    In her spare time, Una enjoys running singing holidays and retreats.

    Sharing Info: Una says: "Please sing these songs; they were born to be sung. If you make money through singing the songs and would like to support me in my work as a song carrier, please purchase songs through my website or drop me an email for more options."

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:05:32
    Start time of reprise: 01:28:35

    Links:
    Website: www.unamccann.org
    Facebook: Una McCann Music
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unamccann47/ 
    Rhiannon: https://rhiannonmusic.com/home 
    Earthsong camps with John Bowker: https://www.earthsong.ie/about-earthsong
    A note in sand or water: https://youtu.be/-CZlrgq8syE?si=VzijHkmvxuPUJ7MD 
    The first song Una remembers singing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QfXXj8RoPk&t=32s 
    Stéphane Grappelli – musicians of the eyes and musicians of the ears: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%A9phane_Grappelli
    Una’s Soundcloud – Henrietta!: https://soundcloud.com/unamccann/henrietta 
    Tara Brach – teachings of kindness and wellbeing: https://www.tarabrach.com/ 
    Natural Voices Network: https://www.naturalvoice.net/ 
    Indigo Girls: https://www.indigogirls.com/ 
    The Roches: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roches 
    Airplane: https://youtu.be/MhVcbRldEfs?si=rubOOaeZ2S8lXF-a (from the Indigo Girls 1992 “Rites of Passage” album – my gift to Una was finding the song she loved!)
    Gamelan instrument: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamelan 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, harmonized (intriguingly, it starts with a descending Phrygian scale...)

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