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    224. We All Need A Little Love

    4:4 Change Gathering & Welcome Heart Love Scale: Aeolian (minor) Song Form: Harmonized Uptempo
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:16
    Start time of reprise: 00:18:15
    Lyrics:

    ​Everyone:
    We all need a little love in our lives, we all need a little love
    We all need a little love in our lives, we all need a little love     

    Bass:
    We all need a little love in our lives, we all need a little love
    We all need a little love in our lives, we all need a little love
    SAT:
    Love, love, we all need it, love, love, we all need a little love
    Love, love, we all need it, love, love, we all need a little     

    (Bass: So) Make a change now, make a change, make a change right now,
    Fill your heart now, fill your heart, fill your heart with Love 'cos     *

    *back to start

    Coda
    Bass: We all need a little love in our lives we all need a little love
    SAT:  We all need a little love in our lives we all need a little, we all need a little love
    Picture
    Song: We All Need A Little Love
    Music by: Una McCann

    Notes: In this super-satisfying song, Una McCann stepped into the funk so we can all dig into a little more love in our lives -- not a bad thing to wish for filling our hearts. Doesn't matter what the regimes of the world are doing; we can invite a little more love into our hearts right now! Next week Una and I get to dive right into a conversation about the songwriting shift from singer-songwriter to community songs, how Una manages the energy of 300 singers every week, and more -- hope you can join us!

    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: 00:03:16
    Start time of reprise: 00:18:15

    Links:
    Website: www.unamccann.org
    Facebook: Una McCann Music
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unamccann47/ 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, SATB

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    223. The Reach

    4:4 Cycles Earth Generations Gratitude & Trust Grow Hope Praise & Wonder Scale: Ionian (Major) Seasons Song Form: Harmonized Song Form: Round Trust
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:50
    Start time of reprise: 00:14:29
    Lyrics:

    The earth
    opened in the spring, opens
    in all springs. Nameless,
    ancient, many lived, we reach
    through ages with the seed.

    – Wendell Berry, “Rising”
    New Collected Poems
    ​(Counterpoint Press, 2012)
    Picture
    Song: The Reach
    Words by: Wendell Berry
    Music by: Malcolm Dalglish

    Notes: I learned this beautiful round from the amazing Moira Smiley, who connected me with Malcolm Dalglish to request his permission to share on this podcast. I continue to be amazed by the seeds we sow when we befriend and tend each other, unfolding understanding and trust. It's not always easy to reach forward or back -- but these seeds we plant with each other open, even if the winter is long and icy! At least that's where this poem is taking me today. And let me tell you, I practiced deep love and care for all of you whose voices are comfortable in higher ranges than mine! I taught it where I'm comfy -- but I did the reprise where Malcolm actually set the sheet music (nice tenor/soprano range) -- so if you want to buy the sheet music from him and sing along with it, that's where you should head...

    Songwriter Info: Malcolm Dalglish is a hammer dulcimer player and composer from Bloomington Indiana, whose many vocals celebrate a love of our natural world. He has set many poems by Kentucky author, and farmer, Wendell Berry. 

    Sharing Info: Please buy sheet music on Malcolm's website if you plan to share this song as a songleader.

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:50
    Start time of reprise: 00:14:29

    Links:
    Malcolm's website: https://oooliticmusic.com/ 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, round with optional descant

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    222. Ribbon 15: All Kinds of Love

    Ribbon
    Picture
    Picture
    ​The Sunday after this episode is released, February 15th, 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.
    Picture

    ​33. There Is A Love


    Words by Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker

    Music by Elizabeth (Beth) Norton


    There is a Love holding me; There is a Love holding all that I love;

    There is a Love holding all; I rest in this love.

    There is a Love holding us; There is a Love holding all that we love;

    There is a Love holding all; We rest in this love.

    Picture
    210. In This House with MaMuse
    by Karisha Longaker

    In this house, we lead with love.
    In this house, we lift each other up.
    In this house, we learn to fly with the dove.
    Oh, this is the house we've been dreaming of.
    Oh, this is the house we've been dreaming of.
    So come on over (come on over),
    Welcome in (welcome in),
    Come on over (come on over).
    Let's be friends (let's be friends).
    Come on over (come on over).
    There is enough.
    Oh, this is the house we've been dreaming of.
    Oh, this is the house we've been dreaming of.

    ​
    Picture
    101. Sacred Breaking
    by Hannah Jeffery

    The only way to be here is to be constantly breaking open
    How else do we make sense of this human experience?

    Beauty, break me open
    Tragedy, break me open
    Humility, break me open
    Love, crack open my heart

    Heartbreak is our birthright 
    It's the only way to be here
    Heartbreak is our birthright
    It's the only way we can heal

    ​
    Picture

    ​158. Quiet At First


    Music by Eileen Webb

    Lyrics by Kai Skye


    It's quiet at first,

    this song of love

    for all the living things.

    But once you start to hear it,

    it's quite impossible to pretend

    there's something better

    you could be doing.

    Picture

    ​178. My Body

    By Alexandra Sarton Love


    My body is fly

    My body is beautiful

    My body is bold

    My body is mine

    ​

    Picture

    ​123. Arms of Love

    By Alexa Sunshine Rose


    Come now child, lay it down

    Just breathe

    Just be

    Come be cradled in the arms of love

    Just breathe, just be.

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    221. Heading Home

    4:4 Birds Farewell Home Journey Light Moon Night Protection & Presence Rest Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Harmonized Sun
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:04
    Start time of reprise: 00:18:29
    Lyrics:

    Home, we're heading home,
    Home, we're heading home,
    With an ache in my bones, and a song in my heart
    Home, we're heading home.

    Verse: 
    The birds have paused their singing, and the day is almost done.
    The moon reflects a gentle light, and silences the sun.
    And now I'm called to my place of rest, where I close my eyes to the night,
    And lay my head, before I'll wake in the morning light.
    Picture
    Song: Heading Home
    Music by: Ben & Dom

    Notes: I read a commentary by Ailey Jolie, saying, "You cannot breathe your way out of patriarchy." She was observing that regulating the body's emergency responses is good to do as a way of caring for ourselves -- but not if it means simply increasing our ability to tolerate a situation that is causing our bodies to cry "emergency." We need to breathe and steady ourselves, as this song of Ben & Dom's does so beautifully -- and the reason is to bring ourselves even more fully into the present, ready to respond effectively to what actually is because we have the capacity to look directly at what is not working. So let this song bring you home to yourself -- whole, rested, and ready.

    Songwriter Info: Ben & Dom are a singing duo, weaving their voices around songs old and new. Ben takes the high notes and Dom takes the low notes (most of the time). Their lyrics touch on friendship, nature and what it means for two men to sing together in this modern day. 

    Sharing Info: Ben & Dom say: "We would love this song to be sung and shared in any circle. It is a parting song suitable for lots of different situations and occasions. If you feel like you want to share the song we have sheet music and teaching tracks available on our website. There is a tiered pricing structure to suit groups of different sizes and setups. If the cost is any kind of challenge for you then please be in touch and we can send you the materials free of charge. "

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:04
    Start time of reprise: 00:18:29

    Links:
    Ben & Dom's website: www.BenAndDom.com
    Ben & Dom's Bandcamp: https://benanddom.bandcamp.com
    Buy score for Heading Home: https://benanddom.bandcamp.com/ 
    Essay of Ailey Jolie: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16LcZ7iR43/ 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 3-part harmony

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    220. Pray With Our Feet with guest Paul Vasile

    2:2 Change Determination Empower Hope Power & Change Prayer Scale: Aeolian (minor) Song Form: Unison
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:35
    Start time of reprise: 01:15:00
    Lyrics:

    It's not enough to offer thoughts and prayers.
    It's not enough to say that we care. 
    It's not enough to hope that things will change. 
    We've got to pray with our feet,
    pray with our feet, pray with our feet
    and get out, out on the street.
    Picture
    Song: Pray With Our Feet
    Words by: Paul Vasile, based on a quotation by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
    Music by: Paul Vasile

    Notes: This is what folk in Minneapolis are doing -- praying with their feet, getting out on the street. They're singing songs to bless each other, the people they're protecting, and the ICE agents who are so misguided. And this is not the only place in the world where people of "middle power" gather -- not super-powers, not uber-wealthy -- just people who care about living in a world where we feed and educate our children, hold jobs with purpose. Paul Vasile describes it as "belonging belovedness -- you are safe, you are seen, you are heard." In this conversation, we dive into the sometimes knotty weeds of faith and how someone who is deeply connected in a faith tradition might want to expand into questions of what world we want to create together. Big trees. "Talk less, sing more." "As a queer person, I experienced a faith that helped me be a bigger, better me."

    Songwriter Info:
    Paul Vasile (he/him) is a church musician, teacher, coach, and composer who finds his greatest joy in collaborative and community-centered work. Committed to modeling expansive, imaginative, and hospitable experiences of music making wherever he goes, Paul's leadership builds trust, invites spaces of creativity, vulnerability, and play, and supports practices of reflection and holistic learning.
    For the past decade he has offered short- and long-term transitional leadership, consulting services, and creative resources to faith communities in seasons of discernment, challenge, and transformation. From 2016 to 2023, Paul served as the Executive Director of Music that Makes Community, a non-profit that shares "paperless" (oral tradition) leadership practices and songs. He traveled across North America modeling distinctive approaches to communal singing and learning at retreat centers, conferences, denominational gatherings, seminaries, and in congregations of all sizes.
    Paul also composes music that invites communities to express and explore their connection to sacred stories, their bodies, and the ecosystems that sustain us. His music is represented in Glory to God, All Creation Sings, and Voices Together, as well as The Hymn Society’s resource, Songs for the Holy Other: Hymns Affirming The LGBTQIA2S+ Community.

    Sharing Info: Please buy sheet music on Paul's website if you plan to share this song as a songleader.

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:35
    Start time of reprise: 01:15:00

    Links:
    Paul's website: https://www.paulvasile.com/ 
    Paul's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovedintobeing/ 
    Sheet music for Pray With Our Feet: https://www.paulvasile.com/products/pray-with-our-feet
    Feb 7th workshop at Lutheran church in Ft. Washington, MD with Maren Marchesini: https://www.sharingthesong.org/
    Inspiration for lyrics, including quote by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel: https://www.tbemaine.org/praying-with-hearts-and-feet 

    Music that Makes Community: https://www.musicthatmakescommunity.org/ 
    Rev. Donald Schnell, a 2012 interview as Music Makes Community was beginning: https://www.conversations.org/story.php?sid=329
    Bobby McFerrin: https://bobbymcferrin.com/ 
    Taizé chants: https://www.taize.fr/en/the-songs 
    Chanda Rule: https://www.chandarule.com/
    Hold Me by Nina Wise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxU_egWayc4&t=16s
    Nina Wise: https://ninawise.com

    East Coast songleader trainings:
    Mila Redwood in Toronto: https://www.milaredwood.ca/song-leader-training
    Patricia in Burlington, VT: https://www.juneberrymusic.com/songleader-training.html 

    Alice Parker:     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Parker
    Liz Rog -- here's a place to find her book on songleading: https://www.centerforbelonging.earth/
    Arvo Pärt – Passio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passio_(P%C3%A4rt) 
    Spencer LaJoye: https://www.spencerlajoye.com/ 
    Spencer's song Plowshare Prayer: https://youtu.be/MhOZv5i7CHY?si=S5bbjdBDJP2cU_4I

    Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, minor, unison

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    219. Trust the Work

    4:4 Calm Gratitude & Trust Love Scale: Aeolian (minor) Song Form: Round Song Form: Unison Trust
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:43
    Start time of reprise: 00:16:07
    Lyrics:

    Trust the work.
    Trust the slow work.
    Trust the slow work of God     [or love] within you.
    Picture
    Song: Trust the Work
    Words by: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.
    Music by: Paul Vasile

    Notes: Trusting the work of love inside us, as excruciatingly slow as it seems sometimes.... this is a mantra I can fold right into my life, singing it on the regular to remind me back into the power of inner trust. Next episode is a conversation with Paul where we talk about the choice (he ok'd) to replace the word "God" with "love" -- and what it is we all seek. I offer this as a somatic check in as well -- as you sing it in different ranges, how does your voice and body respond?

    Songwriter Info:
    Paul Vasile (he/him) is a church musician, teacher, coach, and composer who finds his greatest joy in collaborative and community-centered work. Committed to modeling expansive, imaginative, and hospitable experiences of music making wherever he goes, Paul's leadership builds trust, invites spaces of creativity, vulnerability, and play, and supports practices of reflection and holistic learning.
    For the past decade he has offered short- and long-term transitional leadership, consulting services, and creative resources to faith communities in seasons of discernment, challenge, and transformation. From 2016 to 2023, Paul served as the Executive Director of Music that Makes Community, a non-profit that shares "paperless" (oral tradition) leadership practices and songs. He traveled across North America modeling distinctive approaches to communal singing and learning at retreat centers, conferences, denominational gatherings, seminaries, and in congregations of all sizes.
    Paul also composes music that invites communities to express and explore their connection to sacred stories, their bodies, and the ecosystems that sustain us. His music is represented in Glory to God, All Creation Sings, and Voices Together, as well as The Hymn Society’s resource, Songs for the Holy Other: Hymns Affirming The LGBTQIA2S+ Community.

    Sharing Info: Please buy sheet music on Paul's website if you plan to share this song as a songleader.

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:43
    Start time of reprise: 00:16:07

    Links:
    Paul's website: https://www.paulvasile.com/ 
    Paul's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovedintobeing/ 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, optional round

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