11 January 2017.
Last night at the White Owl, with a fire blazing in the masonry stove, about fifteen of us gathered for a song circle inspired by Kimchi’s desire, in her time of transition, to have more singing in her life. This was the first in a series of circles; the plan is to hold one per week.
In a song circle, everyone takes a turn choosing what to sing – you can either lead a song, or ask someone else to lead one, or ask if anyone knows a song about such-and-such. This time, Kimchi started us off – with “Freedom Train”: “This old freedom train has been a long time coming/And there’s none who can’t afford it/So you better get aboard it/Singing out, free-ee-dom/Singing out, free-ee-dom/Singing out freedom, freedom, freedom, chug-a-chuh/This old freedom train….” It had me tapping my feet, bopping from butt cheek to butt cheek, lifting my voice to the ceiling beams. With no pause between end and beginning, it whisked me into its joyful momentum. We finally slowed, then halted the train by singing more and more softly.
Next, Griffin led us in a lilting song with a hint of twang: ““Drink me in, drink me in/I feel the river rushin’ through my veins again/Breathe me in, Breathe me in/I feel the wind rustlin’ my limbs again/Sing me in, sing me in/I hear the birds whistlin’ my tune again/Dance me in, dance me in/I feel the people drummin’ to my heartbeat again.”
On we went around the ring, with songs about nightingales, people power (“We are a people at the full height of our power/This is the place and now is the hour/We recognize our sacred worth/We have the power to transform the Earth”), the cycle of night and day, the quest “to walk a medicine way.” Mixed in were a kirtan chant and short, powerfully rhythmic song in a Native American tongue.
I offered a song I’d received a couple days earlier, while descending to Earthaven from the main road, towards the end of my daily walk. Inspired by Medicine Wheel, it happens to lend itself to singing along: “The Wheel rolls low, and the Wheel rolls over/The Wheel rolls up, and the Wheel rolls down/The Wheel rolls on and on forever/The Wheel rolls ’round and ’round and ’round.” “We are here ’cause we are healing/From the pain of life alone/We are free and we are wheeling/Our wagon train slowly home.”
Singing my song in the circle, I noted how much stronger my voice has grown since I first came to Earthaven, which offers many more chances to sing than my city life. I see also that being in a place where singing is valued calls forth more songs.
Our last song – led by Patricia, who’d learned it from Kimchi – went like this: “Before the fall, the summer/Before the summer, spring/Before the spring, the wintertime/Before the winter, sing!/Before the song, the singer/Before the singer, air/Before the air, creation/Before creation, prayer.” After we’d finished singing this song, Kimchi shared that she’d learned it from redmoonsong, who’d insisted on replacing “creation” with “creating,” in defiance of the patriarchal practice of passive-fying verbs.
A couple times during the circle, Kimchi said she wanted to remember these songs, so she could sing them again. I saw that singing together – teaching each other the songs we love, and singing them over and over – allows us to absorb those songs, take them with us. Songs recorded for sale are performances, with beginnings and ends; songs we share are cycles, ever renewing and renewed.
This morning, on my walk, I sang “Freedom Train” over and over, to the peeking greens and sleeping trees, matching my step to its rolling beat.
For a tiny video taste of one of the song circles, go here: https://www.facebook.com/yvonne.jensenteplitsky/videos/10212587185621418/
For more of Helen’s writings, go to: www.helenzuman.com