Earth - A Breath of Song

Published on: February 18, 2026

223. The Reach

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)

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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Published on: November 12, 2025

211. Set Us Free

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Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:49
Start time of reprise: 00:15:29

Lyrics:

SET US FREE
by Elise Witt,
Spanish translation Lisset Rodes
inspired by Rev. Timothy McDonald
©Non Si Sa Mai Music ASCAP

Porqué MENTIR para buscar la verdad?
We cannot LIE our way to the truth
We spin and spin the earth around
El mundo gira y girara’
MENTIR nos destruye (Amen)
LYING will destroy us (Amen)
Mas LA VERDAD nos liberara’
TRUTH will set us free

Porqué GASTAR para endeudarnos mas?
We cannot SPEND our way out of debt
We spin and spin the earth around
El mundo gira y girara’
L’AMBICION destruye (Amen)
GREED will destroy us (Amen)
LA SENCILLEZ nos liberara’
GENEROSITY will set us free

Porqué PELEAR para lograr la paz?
We cannot WAR our way to peace
We spin and spin the earth around
El mundo gira y girara’
LA GUERRA destruye (Amen)
VIOLENCE will destroy us (Amen)
Solo LA PAZ nos liberara’
PEACE will set us free

Song: Set Us Free
Music by: Elise Witt

Notes: Elise is an inventive songleader and huge heart in Georgia, USA, whom I met online during the pandemic doing vocal improv with our shared teacher, Rhiannon... but I had been in contact with her before then because I wanted to sing a song of hers with my community chorus. Here, she has set words from the Rev. Timothy McDonald, calling us to the kind of integrity that gives freedom. I teach the song a capella, so you can sing with just my voice -- and then do it with piano at the end, so you can experience it that way -- and then if you follow the shownote links, you can sing it in Spanish and English with Elise, Judith & Lisset Rodés -- Lisset wrote the Spanish words... and it's a little slower, a little more legato than I sang it. I love it when there's a chance to compare different versions of the same song!

Songwriter Info: Elise’s concerts of Global, Local & Homemade Songs™ and her Impromptu Glorious Chorus™ workshops create and connect singing communities around the world. Born in Switzerland, raised in NC, and living in Atlanta since 1977, Elise speaks 5 languages fluently and sings in at least a dozen more. The Elise Witt Choral Series features choral arrangements of her original compositions and she recently published All Singing, a songbook with 58 original songs including music notation, lyrics and chords, stories and photos.
A founding member of Atlanta’s Theatrical Outfit, Elise spent many years as a Resident Artist, visiting communities around the state of Georgia and the Southeast, teaching global music and writing local songs with students of all ages.
From 2009 until 2024 Elise served as Director of Music Programs at the Global Village Project, a non-profit, special purpose middle school for teenage refugee girls in Decatur Georgia, for which she published Imagine A Circle: The Global Village Songbook, Using Singing and Songwriting to teach English for Multi-lingual learners.
Elise currently gathers singers of all persuasions in joyous circles, and continues her global touring.

Sharing Info: Elise says: "I always love to share songs in oral (by ear) tradition and I'd love to hear from you how and with whom you share the song...
AND the song is also available as a choral arrangement (SATB, SSAA, TTBB) on my website https://elisewitt.com/web/ewcs-choral-music/"

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:49
Start time of reprise: 00:15:29

Links:
Website: www.EliseWitt.com
A glimpse of what I do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0YHTe_Q7bE&feature=youtu.be
All Singing: The Elise Witt Songbook: https://elisewitt.com/web/product-category/songbook/
“Jenny Jenkins” global community music/art video created for DAS Year 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCmNNZIVZkw&t=2s
“Ready or Not” global community music/art video created for DAS Year 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNsUsSobImw&t=11s
Imagine A Circle: The Global Village Project Songbook: https://elisewitt.com/web/gvp-songbook/
Elise's Bandcamp: https://www.BandCamp.com/EliseWitt
Choral arrangements by Elise: https://elisewitt.com/web/ewcs-choral-music/
Choral arrangements for Set Us Free in particular: https://elisewitt.com/web/product/set-us-free/
Spanish and English version of Set Us Free in concert: https://youtu.be/L5IjAhJZyOo?si=5WIleerpseLX_rxo

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, many verses

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Published on: October 29, 2025

209. We Shall Be Known with Flow Singers

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Song Learning Time Stamps:
Melody: 00:04:20
High harmony: 00:07:16
Low harmony: 00:11:34
Whole song: 00:15:05

Lyrics:

We shall be known by the company we keep
By the ones who circle round to tend these fires
We shall be known by the ones who sow and reap
The seeds of change alive from deep within the Earth

It is time now
It is time now that we thrive
It is time we lead ourselves into the well
It is time now
And what a time to be alive
In this "Great Turning" we shall learn to lead in love
In this "Great Turning" we shall learn to lead in love

Song: We Shall Be Known
Music by: Karisha Longaker of MaMuse

Notes: I could not be more delighted than to bring you this beloved song in a real-life song-sharing situation. My Flow Singing folk were singing "We Shall Be Known" for the third week -- so we simply recorded! You'll sing with them as they review the main melody, learn the upper harmony for the first time -- and then I inserted a quick teach of the low harmony -- and then we get to sing "in the room" with the Flow Singers, who were leaning into the song in such a beautiful way. I feel so lucky with the company I get to keep... and next week, I find myself in a Zoom room with Karisha Longaker and Sorah Nutting themselves, talking about the "insanely fun, incredibly connected" first years, and what it means in practical terms to "believe in kindness as our common wealth."

Songwriter Info: MaMuse (“Ma” as in Mamma; “Muse” as in the one who inspires) was born out of a collaboration between songwriters Karisha Longaker and Sorah Nutting. 2008 was a year of great alchemy. Fires erupted in Northern California, a great wind of inspiration blew through, catalyzing a series of songs written from the soil and rivers, ash and heat of Chico where these two musicians met.
In the early days these troubadours toted instruments around town by bicycle and shared their songs at farmers markets, community gatherings, small cafes and festivals. Not too long after, these two voices became iconic to the Chico community, representing idyllic values of friendship, community, love for nature and care for Self and World. The love spread, sisterhood held strong through two decades of LIFE: children, relationships arriving and dissolving, making home in many new places.
MaMuse songs such as “We Shall Be Known” and “Hallelujah” have sprouted wings and are now sung at the bed sides of birthing mothers, round campfires, at weddings and funerals... All places where people are gathered to celebrate and to mourn. These are songs born of the Folk lineage; songs for all of us.

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

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Melody: 00:04:20
High harmony: 00:07:16
Low harmony: 00:11:34
Whole song: 00:15:05

Links:
Show info, bookings and newsletter signup: www.mamuse.org
Instagram: www.instagram.com/mamusemusic
Patreon: www.patreon.com/mamuse
Download and contribute to recorded music funds: mamuse.bandcamp.com
Lisa Littlebird's page for We Shall Be Known: thebirdsings.com/we-shall-be-known/
Burlington, VT Flow Singers: www.juneberrymusic.com/flow-singing.html

Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, 3-part harmony

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Published on: September 3, 2025

203. Towo Kalona

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Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:01
First full singing: 00:10:40
Start time of reprise: 00:20:16
Just piano: 00:21:20

Lyrics:

Towo kalona, kaini x 2
Torano, kamawo,
Wera, wera
Manatlo

Towo - your
Kalona - heart
Kaini - beautiful
Torano - thunder
Kamawo - sorrow, deep sadness
Wera, wera - rain, rain
Manatlo - spray of blossoming flowers

(Find more English lyrics for the full song on Alix's Bandcamp page)

Song: Towo Kalona
Music by: Alix Thorpe

Notes: I did something a little different in the way I shared this -- I took time with the proto-Celtic, so you could be comfortable singing in a Bronze-Era language... and then there's the usual looped section, with a harmony above and below -- but then at the reprise, I sing just the melody with piano, and then just the piano so you can sing the melody yourself, and allow me to accompany you. I find this song of Alix Thorpe's beautifully addictive, and there's something about singing in a bone language that feels like healing perspective to me. After you are snagged by the melody and parts on the podcast, buy it from her on Bandcamp, where you can hear the full English lyrics!

Songwriter Info: Alix is a mother, a birth doula and a shiatsu practitioner who lives in Devon in England. She found her voice and began writing songs only a few years ago. Song for Alix is a way of prayer and an expression of soul. She has written several songs in proto-Celtic; a kind of "spirit language" and ancestral mother tongue made of the earliest traceable fragments of the Celtic languages, dating back around 4000 years. Dreaming with proto-Celtic has been a powerful vehicle for kindling connection with her ancestral roots. Alix's songs are particularly inspired by whales, the spirit of the rose, Buddhism and honouring sacred rites of passage.

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

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:01
First full singing: 00:10:40
Start time of reprise: 00:20:16
Just piano: 00:21:20

Links:
Alix's Bandcamp: https://alixthorpe.bandcamp.com/track/towo-kalona

Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, melody with 2 harmonies

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Published on: April 2, 2025

184. Where the Moss Grows

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Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:33
Start time of song in B-flat: 00:13:16
Start time of song in D-flat: 00:17:36
Start time of song in B: 00:23:38

Lyrics:

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.

Song: Where the Moss Grows
Music by: David Ruffin

Notes: We get to sing David Ruffin's beautiful moss song in three different keys, so you can experiment with the range and how it feels in your voice in different ways -- and really feel like you know the song well by the end! So this episode is a little longer than sometimes -- but it's a great way to get a slightly longer song and harmony into your body, and still under 30 minutes. Next episode is a conversation with David, and we'll get to know this song carrier...

Songwriter Info: David is a performing artist, community song leader and teacher with a passion for authentic expression. He loves creating space for voices to emerge fully and freely. He calls Central Vermont home, where he’s grateful to be able to share his holistic approach to voice in community through lessons, workshops, community singing and performance collaborations. David’s work is inspired by a diverse background including studies with Roy Hart Center voice teachers, deep dives in vocal improvisation, explorations in Voice Movement Therapy and over 20 plus years of performing arts, teaching and counseling/ministry experience. David believes singing helps us remember who we really are, what we're here to voice and, how we’re, thankfully, so very bound up together in this.

Sharing Info: The song is free to share but David welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved. Please contact him for recording and/or performing permission.

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:33
Start time of song in B-flat: 00:13:16
Start time of song in D-flat: 00:17:36
Start time of song in B: 00:23:38

Links:
David's website: www.davidruffinvoice.com
David's Venmo: @David-Ruffin-Voice

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, harmonized

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Published on: October 23, 2024

165. Heaven Above, Earth Below with guest Becky Graber

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Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:58
Start time of reprise: 01:15:20

Lyrics:

Heaven above, Earth below,
And I the path between,
Making my way through fields of ever rolling green,
Making my way through fields of ever rolling green.

Heaven above, Earth below,
And in between am I,
Finding a path with heart and spirit, earth and sky,
Finding a path with heart and spirit, earth and sky.

Ah dah dah, ah dah dah, ah dah dah dah.
Ah dah dah, ah dah dah, ah dah dah, Ah.

Heaven above, Earth below,
And I the two reveal,
Shining through me the light of Spirit that can heal,
Shining through me the light of Spirit that can heal.

Heaven above, Earth below,
And I the path between.

Song: Heaven Above, Earth Below
Music by: Becky Graber

Notes: Becky Graber let her unconscious speak during our conversation, and when I asked what she knows about herself right now, she said, "I am a breath of air on the earth" -- and then laughed a little in surprise and delight. The song she teaches also came from delighted awareness of the place of the body between heaven and earth -- plus a little tai-chi. Becky and I share a wonderfully rambly conversation about shedding old identities and making space, wanting to allow things to bloom rather than push them, and threshold times. We also take a lot of time with this three verse song, including playing with harmonies. You'll hear me making mistakes as I learn and play with harmonies -- but hopefully you won't notice it too much, because you'll be singing right along, too! The goal of this podcast is to encourage you to keep stepping into the power and beauty of your own voice, something Becky Graber has many years of experience at helping people do...

Songwriter Info: Becky Graber has lived her life professionally centered around music and storytelling, teaching and performing, and a heart-drive towards healing and coming to centered generosity. She is the founder and director of the Brattleboro (VT) Women's Chorus.

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

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:58
Start time of reprise: 01:15:20

Links:
Becky's website: www.beckygraber.com
Brattleboro Women's Chorus website: www.brattleborowomenschorus.org
Psychospiritual paths like psychosynthesis – Roberto Assagioli: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosynthesis
The Diamond Approach – H.M. Almaas: https://www.diamondapproach.org/
Helen Yeomans: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/156-we-got-all-the-love
Natural Voices Network: https://www.naturalvoice.net/
Lisa Littlebird’s library: https://thebirdsings.com/song-library/
Velma Frye: https://www.velmafryemusic.com/
Song “Take Heart, Take Part, with lyrics “Participation is gonna save the human race” – Pete Seeger quote set by Becky Reardon: https://beckyreardonmusic.com/product/take-heart-take-part/
“Spes” by Mia Makaroff – Latin & Sami: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKeikhsVynM
Gaia Music Collective in NYC: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/gaia-music-collective-44369305153
Choir! Choir! Choir!: https://choirchoirchoir.com/
Gareth Malone with “The Choir” on BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008y125
Ry Cooder “Jazz” album with red cover and black letters: https://open.spotify.com/album/3Z6RuwMcmDMgBJsZ01Ouhf
Buena Vista Social Club: https://www.buenavistasocialclub.com/
Bobby McFerrin: https://bobbymcferrin.com/

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Major (Ionian), 3 verses

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Tags

223. The Reach

211. Set Us Free

209. We Shall Be Known with Flow Singers

203. Towo Kalona

184. Where the Moss Grows

165. Heaven Above, Earth Below with guest Becky Graber