Sometimes around this time of year, we need a little hope to carry us through to brighter days. Here are some bits of song and verse that I\u2019ve posted before, but I thought they\u2019d go well together all in one place.<\/p>\r\n
First, my favorite bit of my favorite Vienna Teng song, \u201cThe Atheist Christmas Carol<\/a>\u201d (YouTube<\/a>):<\/p>\r\n It\u2019s the season of bowing our heads in the wind<\/p>\r\n And knowing we are not alone in fear,<\/p>\r\n Not alone in the dark.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n There\u2019s a Si Kahn song that I almost love: \u201cWhen the Shore Is Out of Sight<\/a>\u201d (YouTube<\/a>). But there\u2019s a line in the chorus that never quite sat right with me. Not long ago, the song came up in my iTunes rotation, and I realized I could tweak the lyrics to something I liked better, so here\u2019s my slightly altered version. I'm not entirely satisfied with it\u2014I lost some parallelism\u2014but I think I like it better, for now, than the original.<\/p>\r\n From this love, the space to grow in;<\/p>\r\n From this peace, the path to light;<\/p>\r\n From these friends, the strength to journey<\/p>\r\n When the shore is out of sight.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n Speaking of Si Kahn, here\u2019s a bit from his and Pete Seeger\u2019s and Jane Sapp\u2019s rendition of Gil Turner\u2019s \u201cCarry It On<\/a>\u201d (YouTube<\/a>). Their version of the last verse, lightly modified:<\/p>\r\n When you can't go on any longer,<\/p>\r\n Take the hands of your sisters and brothers.<\/p>\r\n Every victory [brings] another.<\/p>\r\n Carry it on; carry it on.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n Here's the chorus from Shaggy\u2019s song \u201cHope<\/a>\u201d (YouTube<\/a>):<\/p>\r\n She said, \u201cSon there\u2019ll be times when the tides are high<\/p>\r\n And the boat may be rocky; you can cry,<\/p>\r\n Just never give up.<\/p>\r\n You can never give up.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n Here\u2019s a bit from Charlie Murphy\u2019s \u201cLight Is Returning<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\r\n Light is returning,<\/p>\r\n Even though this is the darkest hour;<\/p>\r\n No one can hold back the dawn.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n Here\u2019s a piece from Wendell Berry\u2019s 1998 poem \u201cThe Country of Marriage<\/a>,\u201d a bit which (as I noted when I posted this before) I think applies as well to unmarried life as to married:<\/p>\r\n Sometimes our life reminds me<\/p>\r\n of a forest in which there is a graceful clearing<\/p>\r\n and in that opening a house,<\/p>\r\n an orchard and garden,<\/p>\r\n comfortable shades, and flowers<\/p>\r\n red and yellow in the sun, a pattern<\/p>\r\n made in the light for the light to return to.<\/p>\r\n The forest is mostly dark, its ways<\/p>\r\n to be made anew day after day, the dark<\/p>\r\n richer than the light and more blessed,<\/p>\r\n provided we stay brave<\/p>\r\n enough to keep on going in.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n My first introduction to Gordon Bok\u2019s music was when Ed B (the other Ed B) quoted me the chorus of \u201cTurning Toward the Morning<\/a>\u201d (YouTube<\/a>):<\/p>\r\n Oh, my Joanie, don\u2019t you know<\/p>\r\n That the stars are swinging slow,<\/p>\r\n And the seas are rolling easy<\/p>\r\n As they did so long ago?<\/p>\r\n If I had a thing to give you,<\/p>\r\n I would tell you one more time<\/p>\r\n That the world is always turning toward the morning.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n I\u2019ll close with the last verse of John McCutcheon\u2019s \u201cWish You Goodnight<\/a>\u201d (YouTube<\/a>):<\/p>\r\n So gather \u2019round, all you friends and lovers;<\/p>\r\n Let the darkness come, for the fire is bright.<\/p>\r\n Though the road is long, love makes us stronger,<\/p>\r\n And I wish you good dreams, good morrow, and I wish you good night.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n (Updated in June 2020 to add some YouTube links and to fix some broken iTunes links.)<\/p>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sometimes around this time of year, we need a little hope to carry us through to brighter days. Here are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,11,7,74,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commonplace-book","category-improving-society","category-music","category-time","category-verse"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/jed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/jed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/jed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/jed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/jed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13935"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/jed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18602,"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/jed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13935\/revisions\/18602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/jed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/jed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/jed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\r\n
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