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    194. Hildegard's Song

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:58
    Start time of reprise: 00:10:14

    Lyrics:

    There is music
    in, in all things;
    but we can't hear it
    ​until we sing.


    (based on words of Hildegard of Bingen)
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    Song: Hildegard's Song
    Music by: Barbara McAfee
    Text by: Hildegard of Bingen

    Notes: Sometimes a great groove and simple harmonies is exactly what you need to explore over -- and this song is a beautiful way to listen to your own singing voice playing. Barbara McAfee joins us next week to talk about her journey toward becoming a voice mentor to many folk, developing the Full Voice program, and what that means to her. We were both reeling a bit in the wake of the apparently politically motivated shootings in Minnesota, close to Barbara, shortly before we recorded. Reflecting on the effect of listening to our own voices helped us both stabilize and ground. 

    Songwriter Info: Barbara lives on the wild and scenic St Croix River about an hour from Minneapolis/St Paul. She is a master voice coach, songwriter, song leader, hospice choir director, long distance swimmer, poet, and author of Full Voice. She feels so lucky to be alive on planet Earth.

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

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:58
    Start time of reprise: 00:10:14

    Links:
    Barbara's website: www.barbaramcafee.com 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, mixolydian, 3-layer

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    193. Ribbon 9: A Day

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    The Sunday after this episode is released, June 15th, 2025, 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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    ​190. In the Spring

    By Yuri Woodstock

    In the spring, among the flowers
    Bird song rings in the morning hours
    Sun is up and the day is bright
    What a time to unleash your light!
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    ​153. Blessings Whenever You Breathe

    By Melanie DeMore
     
    ​Blessings whenever you breathe
    ​Blessings whenever you breathe
    ​Blessings whenever you breathe
    Blessings all around
     
    Bless your heart
    Your tender, tender heart
    Bless your heart
    ​Blessings whenever you breathe
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    ​138. My Thoughts Make A Difference

    By Chandler Yorkhall
     
    My thoughts make a difference
    My feelings make a difference
    My words make a difference
    My healing makes a difference
     
    I will not shy away from the struggle in my soul
    I will waste no time, for this day is growing old

    What can I do for this broken world?
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    ​20. Great-Full

    By Ishka Shir
     
    I am here on this planet, living my life,
    doing what I do, feeling grateful.
     
    I am here, this is life, I'm grateful. ​(2x)
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    ​119. I Let Go

    By Te Martin
     
    I let go
    I lay down
    I release
    Return again
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    ​71. Lullaby My Sweetness

    By Patricia Norton
     
    Lullaby my sweetness, rock me forever;
    cradle me deep in an ocean of blue.
    Lullaby my sweetness, hold me so gentle;
    this is the song that I sing for you.
     
    White birds winging above me,
    calling wild and calling free.
    White thoughts, wheeling away now;
    loose and alight and afloat on the sea
    Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:
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    191. Another World

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:25
    Start time of reprise: 00:14:00

    ​Lyrics:


    Another world 
    is not only possible,
    she is on her way...
    on a quiet day,
    I can hear her breathing.
     

    --Arundhati Roy, excerpted from My Seditious Heart, p.204
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    Song: Another World
    Music by: Patricia Norton
    Lyrics by: Arundhati Roy

    Notes: Hearing these words in 2020 for the first time felt like a gift of possibility. I love the deeper listening they invite. It took five years before they found a melody in my head -- and the reminder of the quote in its entirety, which is, "Another world is not only possible, she's on her way. Maybe many of us won't be here to greet her, but on a quiet day, if I listen very carefully, I can hear her breathing." Listening. That's the invitation of this melody, which stacks up into a complicated chord when sung as a round.

    Songwriter Info: You can find out more about me in general here: https://www.juneberrymusic.com/about-patricia.html 
    Or the whole team that puts this podcast out here: https://www.abreathofsong.com/about.html 

    Sharing Info: Please share freely, and consider contributing to the A Breath of Song gratitude jar in reciprocity -- or write a review, leave a comment!

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:25
    Start time of reprise: 00:14:00

    Links:
    Flow Singing: https://www.juneberrymusic.com/flow-singing.html
    All of what I'm up to: https://www.juneberrymusic.com
    Kindred Voices Retreat: https://kindredvoicesretreat.com 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, round

    Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:  https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share

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  • Published on

    188. Ribbon 8: Diving Deep

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    The Sunday after this episode is released, May 4th, 2025, 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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    ​166. Breathe
     
    Words & Music by Batya Levine

    Breathe, breathe, breathe in
    Breathe, breathe out

    Let it go, let it go, let it go
    Let it go, let it go

    Trust in what's coming
    Trust in your knowing
    It's deeper and wider and holy
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    180. Pearl in the Dark
    Words & Music by Sarina Partridge

    Part 1:
    I'm gonna dive deep, a little deeper
    Into the grit and the mud and the muck
    that I don't wanna see
    'Cause I think there's a seed,
    there's a teacher
    There's a pearl in the dark shining!

    Part 2:
    I will lean into this darkness, this darkness
    A seed is shining,
    there's a pearl in the dark shining!

    Part 3:
    Ooooh, shining like a pearl
    Ooooh, new leaves unfurl
    Ooooh, a new way is possible -
    there's a pearl in the dark shining!
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    ​52. Ocean Wide

    Words & Music by Eli Marienthal

    Open the ocean wide in us, 
    open the ocean wide.
    Take all the pain inside of us, 
    take all the pain inside.

    Open the ocean wide in us, oh, 
    open the ocean wide.
    ​Take all the pain inside of us, 
    take all the pain inside.
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    ​126. Meditation

    Words & Music by Neal Jolly

    The beat of the heart in the chest,
    The pulsing of blood in the hands,
    The in and the out of the breath,
    The here, the now, the you.
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    ​21. Song Deep in Your Bones

    Words & Music by Elise Witt

    When you're feeling dry, there's water in the well. (4x)
    ​
    No rain from the sky, just a tear in your eye,
    all alone, far from home, you roam.
    Feeling tired, uninspired, like you're drifting away
    from your heart and the part you play.
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    136. Breathe Deep

    Words & Music by Sara Stutz

    All you need is a quiet moment.
    All you need is a quiet moment.
    All you need is a quiet moment,
    go inside. Go inside.

    Breathe deep, breathe deep.
    Breathe deep, everything's alright.
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  • Published on

    184. Where the Moss Grows

    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.
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    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

    Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:
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  • Published on

    182. Ribbon 7: Rising

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    ​The Sunday after this episode is released, March 16th, 2025, 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

    ​31. Voices Rising

    Words & Music by Lisa Doscher

    ​All our voices are rising up... oh, my soul
    Voices sing, voices ring
    Sounding out, echoing!
    Quiet voices are rising up
    Wild voices are rising up
    Sacred voices are rising up
    Awakened voices are rising up
    Inspired voices are rising up
    United voices are rising up
    Hear our voices rising up!
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    ​49. More Waters Rising
    Words & Music by Saro Lynch-Thomason

    1. ​There are more waters rising, this I know, this I know.
    There are more waters rising, this I know.
    There are more waters rising, they will find their way to me;
    there are more waters rising, this I know, this I know,
    there are more waters rising, this I know.

    2. ...fires burning...
    3. ...mountains falling...
    4. I will wade through the waters... when they find their way to me;
    5. I will walk through the fires...
    6. I will re-build the mountains...
    ​7. I will wade through the water...
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    ​32. Seed Song

    Words & Music by Barbara McAfee

    Oh the darkness has swallowed me whole,
    and I cannot remember the light.
    Oh, I feel I am losing my soul to the night, to the night.

    You are a seed.
    This is the waiting time.
    You hold a dream of green that will call you to the sky.
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    ​9. Right Place, Right Time

    Words & Music by Samara Jade

    1. I believe that I’m in the right place at the right time
    This wave is crashing down and it’s the one for me to ride

    2. Crazy world, crazy times
    Gonna let go of what oughtta be
    And hang on for the ride

    3. Ebb and flow
    Rising, falling
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    ​140. The Feast

    Words & Music by Heidi Wilson

    Holy Fire in the sun
    Water in the river, and Wind within my lungs
    Oh holy Earth beneath my feet
    All of us are offerings and also at the feast
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    163. Radiate
    Words & Music by Lisa Piccirillo

    When I see me,
    I am standing in my light.
    I will be me
    when I’m standing in my light.

    And if it’s blinding,
    I’ll keep climbing
    ​oh so high
    and just keep going
    toward my knowing
    till I find:
    I radiate.
    Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:
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    https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html