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  • Published on

    199. The Turtle Remembers

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:14
    Start time of reprise: 00:15:09

    Lyrics:

    The Turtle remembers a dream in December,
    Alone with God.
    Alone with songs of the whales, returning, returning.
    Picture
    Song: The Turtle Remembers
    Music by: Becky Reardon

    Notes: Becky Reardon's songwriting drew me toward community singing when I was still in a choral paradigm -- and this round is a stunning example of combining a haunting melody with words that help me remember the ancient self that moves within. Happily, I didn't sing it alone for this episode -- I'm joined by friends and neighbors, Karen Chickering, Molly Moerdyk, and you may recognize Rebecca Csuy from earlier episodes?! We take our time with the round, leaving space for you to sing a line alone for a bit if you'd like -- or sing with any of us! Next week, in our conversation, Becky talks to me about singing with others and the communities that's built -- and we get a little peek into cartoonist Charles Schultz's life, too -- because people are connected in all kinds of wild ways! (A wee blooper at the end -- what happens when you start a round and no one else comes in?)

    Songwriter Info: Becky Reardon's voice is familiar to the millions of people who hear her sing on the Charlie Brown/Peanuts TV specials. She is a composer whose songs and rounds are widely sung by community and university choirs, song circles, and singing classes. Sometimes jazzy and fun-loving, sometimes trance-inducing and deeply spiritual, her music always conveys her passion for the natural world and the cycles of life. 

    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: 00:03:14
    Start time of reprise: 00:15:09

    Links:
    Becky's website: www.beckyreardonmusic.com 
    Abbey Lincoln's song Down Here Below: https://youtu.be/S4jvYELMUZc?feature=shared 

    Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, harmonic minor, round

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

    Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.  https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html
  • Published on

    169. We Are the Door with singer Rebecca Csuy

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:11
    Start time of reprise: 00:17:42

    Lyrics:
    (second half inspired by Rainier Maria Rilke)

    We are the door that's blowing wide open
    We are the path that's winding down
    We don't know where...

    Enter me!
    Embody me.
    Give me your hand --
    Make big shadows I can move in

    Picture
    Song: We Are the Door
    Music by: Lyndsey Scott

    Notes: Best possible things happening on this recording of Lyndsey Scott's song, We Are the Door.... I get to sing with my daughter, Rebecca Csuy and we figured out how to make a marimba sound on my keyboard!!! Honestly, life is just better with a marimba sound AND a loved one to sing with.
    This song is a beautiful entry into change and shift and the unknown -- I get a sense of almost prairie-like expansiveness, accompanied by magic and wisdom of a seer inviting me to move in the big shadows. And like most songs, the magic really starts to happen when you sing it yourself, in your own voice, vibrating with possibility. Let Rebecca and me stand by your side and sing with you -- turn it up loud in headphones or speakers so you can really expand into it -- and then go find Lyndsey's recording and sing with her and her co-creator on this album, Michael Linder!
    Don't miss next week's episode, when Lyndsey and I snug up as close as you can through Zoom and talk about resources during change...

    Songwriter Info: Lyndsey Scott is a multimedia artist, songleader, songwriter, and ritualist committed to exploring community singing as a technology of belonging and a strategy for mutual liberation. She currently co-facilitates the yearlong cohort of emergent earth-based ceremonial study with Earthkeeper Wisdom School (Hartsburg, MO), leads song for politicized somatics practitioners in Embodying Racial Justice’s yearlong program, Opening to Freedom (Millerton, NY), and teaches "Community Singing as Collective Power" at the University of Iowa School of Music's Grant Wood Fellow.

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

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:11
    Start time of reprise:  00:17:42

    Links:
    Lyndsey's website: https://www.lyndseyscott.earth/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lila.gaia/ 
    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lyndseyscott 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, harmonic minor, 2-layer (plus marimba part!)

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

    Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.
    https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html