Blog Archives

Virtual Chorus post 6

3/26/2020

Lullabye Treasures from Choristas

Dear Choristas,
On March 25, and 26th, the Carrboro and Durham chorus
were serenaded with lullabyes in our Cyber Zoom Chorus gatherings. I wanted us to be able to save this treasure trove
of lullabyes and share them with friends, so am posting them below.
So that you can find them, I am going to alphabetize them by the name of the person who sang them to us. I will put the Durham Chorus songs at the top and the Carrboro Chorus songs further down. Tonight I will post the sound files, and soon I will add the lyrics. Thanks to all who shared these songs, and to all who listened!

Please tell me if you want your file taken down, and feel free to pass this link to anyone who might want to sing them.
Love, Kathleen

Durham Chorus - March 26, 2020

Lyra's Lullabye
© Annie Marra

Lyra loo
Lyra lye,
You have a beautiful light inside.
Lyra Loo
Lyra Lye,
Dry that tear from your sweet blue eyes.
Oh my little one
Don’t you weep,
Close your sweet eyes
And go to sleep.
Oh my little one
Don’t you cry,
Your daddy loves you
And so do I

Inanay Capuana
Aboriginal Australian lullabye

Inanay capuana, inanay capuana
Ay, ay ay oola
Oola oola
Oola ay ipi ay ipi ay
Goowana goowana goowana goowana goowa
Choo!!!
Goowana goowana goowana gowwana goowaa
Choo!!!

Awake My Dear/ Come Here My Love
words of first verse Hafiz via Daniel Ladinsky
melody Nance Pettit and David Wilcox
second and third verses © Jude Spacks

Awake my dear, be kind to your sleeping heart
Awake my dear, be kind to your sleeping heart
Take it out to the vast fields of light
And let it breathe
Take it out to the vast fields of light
And let it breathe

Come here my love
Rest into your waking heart
Right here my love
The peace of your waking heart

Open in to the vast fields of light
That let you breathe (so free)
Welcome in to the vast field of love
that lets you be

Honorable Moon, Good Evening!
traditional Japanese lullabye
Meggan learned this as a child in Japan

Ootsuki sama konban wa
Ashita no fune kogune
Giiko giiko koide
Yume no okuni ni maeri
masho

The meaning, loosely:
Honorable moon, good evening
As you row tomorrow’s boat
Geeeko geeeko as you row
(The sound of the oars rowing)
Let us go to the great land of dreams.

I Will Sing You Home
© Cynthia Crossen - you can hear Cynthia’s recording here:

Always held, always loved,
always in my heart you are
Always innocent, always beautiful,
always in my heart you are

And I will sing you home,
I will sing you home to me
Across the vast and radiant sea,
I will sing you home to me

Stillness
melody © Paulette Meier
words from a poem by Gerard Guiton 1994

Stillness
Deep deep within us
From small beginnings it flows
Into the Living Water
The Ocean of God
Through our stillness God moves

Carrboro Chorus - March 25, 2020

Deep Blue Sea
Becky sang us the first and third verses of these wonderful John Bell words for the traditional Gullah Geechee song, and she sent us the rest of the verses.

Deep blue sea, baby deep blue sea,
Deep blue sea, baby deep blue sea,
Deep blue sea, baby deep blue sea,
Now there's peace, through all the land,
And o’er the deep blue sea.

Yesterday, war clouds hung so low...
And now there's peace, through all the land,
And o’er the deep blue sea.

Love of life, finally turned the tide...
And now there's peace, through all the land,
And o’er the deep blue sea.

Sleep my child, you are safe and sound...
And now there's peace, through all the land,
And o’er the deep blue sea.

Deep blue sea, baby deep blue sea...
Now there's peace, through all the land,
And all the deep blue sea,
Now there's peace, through all the land,
And o’er the deep blue sea.

You Are My Sunshine
A New Verse
Becky's new verse of true love...
sleeping in the room with a noisy beloved!

The other morning as I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms
When I awoke dear, you were still snoring
Now I can't get back to sleep.

Brahm's Lullabye
Bernadette's lovely voice on this recording sounds to me
as if it were recorded in the 50s's when her mom sang it to her.

Lullaby, and goodnight
To cheeks rose bedight;
To fingers safely hid
'Neath coverlet white.

If God will't, thou shalt wake
With the morning's first light.
If God will't, thou shalt wake
With the morning's first light.

I See The Moon
On her recording, Clare tells us
the story of singing this song as a child.

I see the moon, the moon sees me
The moon sees somebody I'd like to see
God bless the moon and God bless me
And God bless the somebody I'd like to see.

Cowboy Lullabye
Desert blue and silver on a pale moonshine
Coyotes yappin' lazy on the hill
And there's a little lightning on the far skyline
Time for milling cattle to be still
So now, the lightnin's far away
The coyote's nothing skeery,
he's singing to his dearie
Eeyah, tomorrow's another day
So settle down you cattle till the morning.

Kamino Napawiwinan / Sheltering Flame
Anishinaabe Lullaby - "Traditional night song to lift the spirit
into higher levels as one drifts off to sleep. Thus the night
energies are more nobly utilized."

Kamino napapwiwinin
O gee ma
Oo manidog
Ish-Ko binadissiwin
Ninoday ma

Lay me to sleep
In sheltering flame,
Creator of the Hidden Fire,
Burn free and pure for me
My heart's desire

Usdi Yona - Little Bear - A Cherokee Lullabye
I found out about this lullabye and watched a video of elder Dora Dunn teaching the song in Cherokee to a young man named Ryan Mackey. And the wonderful website I found it on is called Mama Lisa's World: International Music and Culture
https://www.mamalisa.com/blog/cherokee-lullaby-usdi-yona/

Phonetics for the Cherokee words:
Usdi yona, usdi yona
Osta clegy, osta clegy
Gee ah kee leu dah
Usdi yona
Osta clegy, osta clegy

translation by Grey Wolf:
Little bear, little bear
Good for a while, good for a while
Easting loudly little bear
Good for a while, good for a while

Palana / Cradle / Lullabye
This is a traditional Marathi lullabye from India that Mangala's mother sang to her as a child, and that Mangala sang to her daughter. When Mangala's daughter was born and her mom came to visit, she wrote out the words in Mangala's song journal book in the Marathi script, as well as in English phonetics and translation. Down below the typed translation and phonetics, you will see Mangala's mom's hand written lyrics.

Subar uttamsa - An excellent carpenter
tujhsathi milavila - was found to make a
palana rangeet - colorful cradle for you
banavila - it is decorated with
Chahubajooni - parrots on all four
raghumor basavile - sides
palanat bala - Baby is layed in the
nijwile - cradle
Nij nij bala re - Sleep Baby deep
jhoke dete me – I will rock you
tujhala - Baby is very tired
Kheluni bala bahu damala - from playing

I Love You So Much
© Barbara Milne
Marilyn's sang this love fountain song to her children,
and now she sings it to her grandchildren
I've attached her recording from tonight

I love you so much, I love you so much,
I can't even tell you how much I love you.
You're precious to me, you're precious to me,
I'm lucky to have you as part of my life.
I love you I love you I love you,
I love you I love you I love you,
I love you so much, I love you so much,
I can't even tell you how much I love you.

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Virtual Chorus post 5

3/23/2020

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"My wish is that people take up meditation
for the well being of the Earth." Donell Kerns

May the Earth be Well
May the Earth be Well
May the Earth be Well

May every human wake up to
sacred nature.

May the insects be well.
May the soil be well.
May the plants be well.
May the air be well.
May the fish be well.
May the oceans be well.
May all beings be well.

May every human who has abundance,
take less and give more.

May the Earth Be Well!
Donell Kerns

When Donell sent her chant to Betty Lou Chaika, Betty Lou wrote a modified version and asked Donell if she could post it on her website. Donell said "Whatever fits and feels right for people using it, is good." Here is the chant the way Betty Lou chants it:

May the Earth be Well
May the Earth be Well
May the Earth be Well

May humans wake up to sacred nature
May the insects be well, may the soil be well,
May the birds be well, may the air be well,
May all plants and trees be well,
May all animals, including humans, be well.
May all humans who have abundance, take less and give more.
May the Earth be Well.

For more chorista creations,
please go to top right of this page
and click on earlier months.

Or click on "previous" below.

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Virtual Chorus post 4

3/19/2020

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Sudden Telehealth in the Time of Coronavirus

I wake early on the first day of telehealth
And realize how much I will miss
the physicality
Of where you sit in the waiting room
And how you look up when I open the door
How you gather your things and rise.
No one does it just like you.
How you enter as I hold the door,
Passing unavoidably close
To cross the threshold into shared space.
This greeting
No one does it just the same.
For you the first glance is motionless
except for that sardonic eyebrow.
For you, a little shrug and smile.
You, though, raise your chin and forge ahead,
And you have a little swagger that claims the space and time.
Each one so different from the other
In that moment of encounter.
I'll miss my own anticipation as I reach to open up the door.
- Marguerite Dingman, LCSW
Durham, NC

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Virtual Chorus post 3

3/19/2020

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Gravity is a Healer - a guided meditation

Dear Friends,
I learned several years ago that, as Warren Grossman, author of To Be Healed By The Earth wrote, "lying on the ground is an antidote to anxiety." Lying directly on the ground is the most powerful. But tuning into and releasing into gravity when we are indoors, on a chair, on our beds, or standing, is also very calming, restorative and healing. As you surrender, it's also very opening to keep aware of the space above, below, before and behind you, as well as your inner space. Then there is a balance in our awareness of form, the weight of the body on the earth, and the formless realm at the source.

If you have any big feelings coming through, and most of us do, or if you just feel tired out from all the news and tremendous changes, and most of us are, I hope listening to the guided meditation recording above will support you in letting yourself pause, surrender to gravity, and meet your feelings directly as they move through. And perhaps you'll get a chance to go out to your yard, or a park, or the beach, spreading out a sheet or blanket and just letting Earth do her healing thing. In that situation you really don't even have to focus so much on surrendering. It just happens. Love, Kathleen

P.S. And please find a way to lie down or sit that is comfortable for you. Here are some ways to surrender to gravity while keeping aware of the big space. And remember, you can also do this driving in your car, or walking down the road! Gravity goes with you wherever you are.

Sweet gravity holds me dearly
Anchoring me to my home earth
Guiding me deep into dreams

Sweet gravity take me down
Take me in
Take me home

I turn myself over to the
safety of your embrace
As you love me, I love you

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Virtual Chorus post2

3/16/2020

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As many of you probably have seen, there is a very funny youtube going around of public officials telling us not to touch our faces, and then touching their faces! I watched it several times, laughing rather hysterically, knowing from personal experience how hard it can be to change a habit. And I must say I was getting rather discouraged about the human capacity for change.

But then suddenly something occurred to me. All of those speakers were giving instructions in the negative, giving us a very clear picture of what they don't want us to do. "Don't touch your face!" Meanwhile, as we all know, not thinking of a pink elephant is pretty darn near impossible. And so is not touching your face!

From years of working with little kids, with grownups and with myself, I know that saying what we want to have happen is way more likely to result in the desired outcome. It is just how our brains work.

So what if we say, "Please keep your hands relaxed, open or folded in your lap." Or, "Remember to let your arms hang comfortably at your side. Or "Keep resting your hands cozily in your pockets." Or, "If your hand starts to move toward your face, you can notice that and move it away from your face and rest it again in your lap."

Stay safe, and have fun finding calming and comfortable places for your hands to hang out until this virus is history!

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Virtual Chorus post 1

3/16/2020

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Dear Choristas,
During this time when we are not singing together in person, here is a place to post things, to make a kind of journal of this time of keeping our hearts connected while respecting the wisdom in meeting in maintaining what I'm calling a Non-Local Energetic and Spiritual Connection.

Please use the comment function to comment, or to leave links to articles you like or youtube songs you want us to hear. And if you have a photo, drawing, poem or song you create that you want to post, send it to me via email and I will post it.

I may post other poetry or other things that turn up, created by people outside of chorus. But I would love to be swamped by chorista creations! To start us off, here is a beautiful poem that three different choristas have sent us this week.

Pandemic
by Lynn Ungar 3/11/20

What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath--
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
Promise this world your love--
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.

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Virtual Chorus post 6

Virtual Chorus post 5

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