Like a harmony in perfect tune
I only want to sing with you
Like my favorite song that brings tears every time
I only want to dance with you
—minute 7
song.land takes us into the world of being in tune. On the surface, that’s a musical term referring to each note an instrument produces being in tune to the expectation one has in Western music. On a deeper level, being in tune alludes to the most powerful force humanity has: working together.
A basic chord comes from three different notes that create a unified note together. If three different notes can work together, I think we people can, too.
- Begin: The first song has some electronic drums programmed at a very quick beat.
- 5: the songs pick back up into a song about tuning a guitar!
- 5:50: Walking down the street, spirit run.
- 6: Mighty Wave of Love. “This mighty wave is washing over me / it’s washing, it’s washing over me / and I feel like I am washed away, am washed through the sea.”
- 8: I purposefully played broken and increasingly cacauphonous chords. The purpose behind this is to show how disunity of chords creates such turmoil.
- 11: There is a break in the song. The 9v battery in my guitar died and caused the lower guitar volume and introduced the noise in the line. I swap the battery and try to jump back into the flow of the song adventure.
- 13: Ramblin’ Man
- 14:30: “I’m in Ur of the Chaldeans”—this is a reference to the ancient city in modern day Iraq. More deeply, though, it’s a reference to the decision point Abram (later, called Abraham) was at in the Biblical story in which God calls Abram to leave his family and his people. Abram trusts God and leaves. What will I do, though? What will you do?
- 22:30: I had started a song that I cut out of tonight’s recording. It didn’t get far because it came across to me as too male-centric. When I recorded it, I realized this as it was happening and transitioned into the clarification that begins here. Please change any pronouns :-). This leads into the beautiful “Hold on / hold on / hold on to us.”
- 25: begins the fingerpicking section. “I’m not going home tonight by myself / Do not fear the things I do not”
- 31-33: This section has some beautiful melodies. “Cause if I do I know that something is wrong.”
- 35: I introduce this as the final song, That Tells Us of How We Should Love (though I don’t think it can be the last song, there’s still 15 minutes of song to go!)
- 39:14 (possibly two minutes before) Shoutout to Sasha Stone, my life coach: http://sashamariestone.com
- After this point, the music has some lovely moments, but they are a bit broken up. I cut about 10 minutes of the improv because I’m not comfortable with how much I sang about my Christian background in such a specific way. I think there is a way to talk about this but this wasn’t it. I want it to be open and welcoming to all, reflective of the universal benefits of my history and my future. Thank you for listening!