Song Blog

Songs for Our Journey 54

12/24/2020

Lal Ded is a beloved saint/mystic of North India who lived in the 14th Century. She sang her poems in the streets and sometimes left her clothing behind, hence she's sometimes known as Crazy Lalla. She was loved during her time, and she is loved today in India and around the world, because her beautiful poems speak directly and simply from her heart. This song is based on the lyrics of several translations of her poems.

We danced this song at my CD release in 2013 and some good friend took the picture above. I do not remember who that was, sorry to say! The lyrics are by the North Indian 14th Century woman mystic poet named Lal Ded Thanks so much to the band and singers on this cut who really brought it alive: vocals - Billy Coleman, Donovan Zimmerman,
Jude Casseday, Lauren Martell, Lea Clayton, Nick Alam, Ron Moss, Sheila Fleming
electric guitar lead - Raymond Smith; bass - Xopher Thurston; dumbec - Jude Casseday;
tamborine - Donovan Zimmerman; acoustic guitar and lead vocal- Kathleen Hannan

The Soul Is New
song, music and dance © Kathleen Hannan
lyrics from poetry of Lal Ded, beloved 14th century woman saint from North India from translations/interpretations by Coleman Barks, Kathleen Hannan, N. Kotru & R. Nagar

The soul is new and ever new again
Like the moon, like the moon
The soul is new and ever new again
Like the moon, like the moon
My teacher said just one thing,
"Live in the soul!"
When that was so I left my clothing by the road
And began to dance
clap: X X XX X X XX

The soul is new and ever new again
Like the moon, like the moon
The soul is new and ever new again
Like the moon, like the moon
And I have seen the ocean always creating
When I look deep into the truth of my own heart
Even I am new!!!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Feel free to use the dance instructions
and sheet music below to share this dance.

soul_is_new_dance_instructions.pdf
File Size:	53 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

soul_is_new_sheet_music.pdf
File Size:	31 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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Songs for Our Journey 53

12/14/2020

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Depot Day
© K Hannan 1981 St Augustine, FL.

This is the saga of the Depot at Malaga St.
Hot food, cold food, good food that’s hard to beat
Hungry stomachs gather round for a special treat
Y’all come down to the Depot, it’s time to eat!

There’s art on the walls and on the ceiling
When you walk in the door you get a comfortable feeling
Baskets, and banners and flowers too
Let you know good folks have been passin’ through

Ned’s on the grill in his new straw hat
He’s cooking somethin’ good you can bet on that
And we’re all lookin’ cause he’s really bookin’
And when I say fast, I mean whizzin’ past

Oh Depot
Hooray hooray…
Another Depot Day

Out in back where the water swishes
Let’s say hooray to the washers of the dishes
Doris, Al and Loretta with smilin’ faces
Keep those dishes movin’ through on a regular basis
Cause it’s basic to the scene that the dishes be clean
And they wash ‘em by hand, cause there ain’t no machine

Lots of great people bring your food to you
Leslie, Al Jill, Tom and Doris too
Workin’ together in some tight situations
Usin’ uncanny powers of concentration
They make it look easy, they make it look fun
Well let’s give em a cheer when the day is done

Chorus

For the cakes and the breads give Joy the credit
Try Maureen’s lasagna, you won’t regret it
And James helps clean at the end of the day
When the customers have all gone on their way

And on every customer’s smilin’ face
You can see that the Depot is a magic place
Where hugs and smiles are freely given
Where people celebrate their daily livin’

Chorus
It’s a meeting place of friends & neighbors
It’s a circling energy of love’s best labors
And now this song is nearly through
Just want to say Depot, I love you

Thank you Depot
Hooray Hooray
Another Depot Day
***************************************

On Winter Solstice of 1980 I moved to St Augustine, Florida with my then partner Tom Santoni. We fell in love with the town, not in small part because of Ned Pollock and Joy Delia and all the other people who made the Malaga Street Depot restaurant shine. In the video above Ned & Joy tell some of the stories of the Depot. I wrote the song above for a Depot celebration in spring of 1981. Ned went on to run the Gypsy Cab Company in St Augustine, which is still winning awards for Ned's creative and oh so delicious cooking. And just tonight I found out that Ned is releasing a cookbook this week! I just ordered one. If you'd like some recipes of the kind of cooking you might wish you'll get to taste on a vacation in St Augustine, this is the book you are looking for. I just ordered one here: https://www.facebook.com/NedsKitchenCookbook

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November 19th, 2020

11/19/2020

1 Comment

Here's a beautiful song to sing or dance as you walk along.

Pieces of Cloud
From Dances of Universal Peace repertoire
lyrics: Rumi
music: Susan Nechama Sheely and Oraea Varis

This is how I would die into the love I have for you
This is how I would die into the love I have for you

As pieces of cloud dissolve in sunlight
As pieces of cloud dissolve in sunlight

La Illaha Il Allah, La Illaha Il Allah
La Illaha Il Allah, La Illaha Il Allah

Hu Allah Hu, Hu Allah Hu
Hu Allah Hu, Hu Allah Hu

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Songs for Our Journey 51

11/18/2020

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Om Shanti November 2020

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Songs for Our Journey 50

10/28/2020

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I learned this song in around 1990 in a Goddess circle in Philadelphia. I didn't know the songwriter, Susan Arrow's name till many years later, thanks to the internet. Thanks so much to Susan for this wonderful song, which we sing in chorus both to call the elements and also to express our deep gratitude for Gaia, our Earth Mother. The recording is of a rehearsal for an interfaith celebreation a few years ago with Raymond Smith - guitar, Jude Casseday - tamborine, Xopher Thurston - bass, Diantha Rau - flute and myself. That was in the days when people had rehearsals in a room together! May those days come again before too long.

Thank You Mother Earth
© Susan Arrow

Thank you Mother Earth
Thank you Sister Water
Thank you for our birth
From your sons and daughters

Thank you Brother Sun
Thank you Air in motion
Thank you everyone
Earth, Wind, Fire and Ocean

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Songs for Our Journey 49

9/17/2020

5 Comments

This song was born as fires burn throughout the western US and Canada, in a year that has been, as my partner and I like to say,
one pandemic after another. I know I am not alone in feeling a great deal of heartache, as well as a tremendous love for all beings on earth living through this challenging time. This song is dedicated to all of us, that we may meet our many feelings from our own compassionate heart. And get out the vote. Love, Kathleen

River Of Tears
© K Hannan 2020

Will I drown in this river
River of tears, oh the tears
I have found there's no way out of here
And now I fall on the ground
And wait for the strength
To weep, and weep, and weep

Oh will I burn in this fire
Fire of hate, oh the hate
And we have found there's no way out of here
And now we fall on the ground
And find the strength
To breathe, and breathe and breathe

And will I die in this ocean?
Ocean of love, oh the Love
For I have found there's no way out of here
And now I fall on the ground
And rest in the strength
Of love, of love, of love
And now we fall on the ground
And rest in the strength
Of love, of love, of love

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Songs for Our Journey 48

8/28/2020

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There is a youtube recording of the composer, Carolyn McDade, leading this song here. During 25 years of singing it, I have inadvertantly changed a note or two, and a bit of the timing, so please check this out for accuracy and to hear the feeling and timing of Carolyn leading the song.

I learned this powerful and healing song at a workshop with Carolyn McDade in North Carolina many years ago...probably 1995 or thereabouts. As I recall, the workshop consisted mostly of gathering around a piano and singing together for two or three days. A beautiful experience. Carolyn told us the story of when this Serpent of Life song arrived. She was at a meditation retreat on Cape Cod, and one day had not been comfortable sitting for a session. Instead Carolyn walked her meditation through the silence of a very foggy misty day. I have a vivid memory of imagining the scrub oaks and pines of Cape Cod brushing her face, and that she could barely stay on the path, it was so hard to see the ground. And suddenly she found herself singing this song, which arrived with no conscious work on her part. It came whole, out of the mist. At least that's the way I remember it these 25 years later; but of course I was not there in the mist with her. But that is the power of a story and a song! To learn more about Carolyn's work in spiritual feminist community song, please check out her website. I love moving as a snake or panther moves as I sing this song, and for me "her only garment" is fear.

I just found a recording of this song from 7 years ago, with Carolyn playing the keyboard and a group of women singing it. I realize listening that I had made some errors in a couple of notes...I sang it for so many years, I can understand how that could happen. But do listen to these women if you'd like to hear the subtle difference in the notes from my recording. The song is labeled
Serpent Song on that recording, but I am keeping the name
that I love for the song too.

Serpent Song
(Serpent of Life)
© Carolyn McDade

In the places that reek of impossiblity
The Serpent of Life coils
She crawls upon the swollen stone
Crawls upon the swollen stone
Crawls upon the swollen stone
And loosens her only garment

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Songs for Our Journey 47

8/18/2020

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This recording of Nur Julie Purcell's beautiful Love's Song
was made one evening at Bodies, Voices & Spirit Chorus.

Love's Song
© Nur Julie Purcell

Ya Rachman    Ya Rahim
The Sun and Moon of Love

Ya Ra-uf   Ya Rahim
The deepest Love within

Ya Hayyo     Ya Quayuum
Love is what remains

Plum Fiesta Fabric Millefiori Heart by Meg Hannan

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Songs for Our Journey 46

8/13/2020

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Lately with the pandemic and the other big changes in our country, impermanence has been on my mind quite a bit, as I am sure it is for many of us. And reading the wonderful book In Love With The World: A Monk's Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying by Tibetan Monk Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche for the second time, I am more in love than ever with a phrase he uses to describe impermanence: the continuity of change.

Hearing the word "impermanence" my attention tends to go to what I don't want to lose. With "continuity of change" we see the truth of the world....that life is a river of always new always new always new again. And Yongey Mingyur points out that it is in seeing the impermanence of every "thing", including our thoughts, emotions, and bodies, we can notice that which is not a thing. That which does not change at all. The pristine empty awareness that is our true nature. I dedicate this song to the Buddhist tradition, and to Rinpoche Yongey Mingyur for the beautiful teachings he passes on in his book, especially that magical phrase, which I have of course included in the song.

Die Before You Die
© K Hannan 2020
Mutu Kabla Anta Mutu - Islamic phrase meaning Die Before You Die
La Illaha Il Allah - There is only one God, God

Mutu Kabla Anta Mutu
Mutu Kabla Anta Mutu
Mutu Kabla Anta Mutu
La Illaha Il Allah
Mmmm Hmmm

Die before your body dies
Leave all thoughts about yourself behind
In silence watch the continuity of change
La Illaha Il Allah
Mmmm Hmmm

La Illaha Il Allah
La Illaha Il Allah
La Illaha Il Allah
Die before you die
Die before you die

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Songs for Our Journey 45

8/6/2020

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The Tao Te Ching is my favorite book, and Stephen Mitchell's is my favorite translation. There is no run-around with Lao Tzu.
He goes straight to the essentials. And of all his verses
I think this one is my favorite; it sums up the truth so succinctly.

See The World As Yourself
lyrics Lao Tzu from translation by Stephen Mitchell
melody © K Hannan

See the world as yourself
Have faith in the way things are
See the world as yourself
Have faith in the way things are

Love the world as yourself
Love the world as yourself
Loving the world as you love Love itself

See how you shine in everything
Now you can care for all things
Now you can care for all things