The winter solstice has always been a time of song for me. My family was raised in a Christian tradition, and while we didn’t attend services we had our own vigil and made plenty of music around the wood stove - a mix of Christmas favorites and my father’s original songs.
While I still enjoy O Holy Night and Joy to the World, increasingly I find that I want music that speaks not to a two-thousand-year-old miracle but to the emerging Earth-based spirituality that is the beating heart of the Dendroica Project. I want to sing hymns that affirm the sacredness of the natural world and our belonging within it, that lament the harms we have done in our imagined separation and envision a different choice, that celebrate our participation with the life and lifeblood of this miraculously diverse world we inhabit.
I have selected five songs here, but I encourage readers to share more in the comments. I would love to see this collection grow to a hundred or more, including songs of all genres and from a wide range of human cultures.
Songs of Affirmation
Gentle Arms of Eden - Dave Carter
This is unfortunately a poor-quality video of a live event, but composer Dave Carter tells the remarkable story of its origin. From his telling, he woke up one morning with this song in his head and wrote it down.
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On a sleepy endless ocean when the world lay in a dream
There was rhythm in the splash and roll, but not a voice to sing
So the moon fell on the breakers and the morning warmed the waves
Till a single cell did jump and hum for joy as though to say
—
(Chorus) This is my home, this is my only home
This is the only sacred ground that I have ever known
And should I stray in the dark night alone
Rock me Goddess in the gentle arms of Eden
—
Then the day shone bright and rounder til the one turned into two
And the two into ten thousand things, and old things into new
And on some virgin beachhead some lonesome critter crawled
And looked about and shouted out in his most astonished drawl
—
Chorus
—
Then all the sky was buzzin’ and the ground was carpet green
And the wary children of the woods went dancin’ in between
And the people sang rejoicing when the fields were glad with grain
This song of celebration from their cities on the plain
—
Chorus
—
Now there’s smoke across the harbor and there’s factories on the shore
And the world is ill with greed and will and enterprise of war
But I will lay my burdens in the cradle of your grace
And the shining beaches of your love and the sea of your embrace
—
Chorus
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All ecological spiritualities need a creation story, and this is one of the few attempts I have seen to describe the history of our planet as understood by modern science in a way that imbues the story with emotion and sacredness. Far too often we get lost in the mechanisms of evolution and forget that it is a magical, creative process leading always toward new forms and ways of being.
The chorus, interspersed within the story, is an affirmation of belonging and spiritual commitment to the world we inhabit. “This is my home, this is my only home. This is the only sacred ground I have ever known.” In many ways Gentle Arms of Eden encapsulates the central idea of the Dendroica Project in song.
Rivers Run - Karine Polwart
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This weary Earth we walk upon
She will endure when we are gone
While kingdoms come and kingdoms go
Rivers run and rivers flow
—
You know I don’t believe it’s true
That in this world there’s nothing new
For darling, you have just begun
Rivers flow and rivers run
—
(Chorus) And if the river should ever run dry
Somewhere the rain will still fall
Will still fall from the sky
—
When I’m beguiled by the fear
That darker days are drawing near
My darling, you seduce the sun
Rivers flow and rivers run
—
Chorus
—
This wounded Earth we walk upon
She will endure when we are gone
But still I pray that you may know
How rivers run and rivers flow
—
Chorus
—
I cross my heart and I hope to live
Just long enough that I can give
It all to you, my darling one
Rivers flow and rivers run
My darling one
Rivers flow and rivers run
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I love this song, both for its beautiful melody and for its life-affirming lyrics. It finds hope in affirmation that we are small and ultimately insignificant in the story of our planet. Even if our machinations change the climate and cause some rivers to run dry, “somewhere the rain will still fall from the sky.” In a time when our children are often led to fear that there might be no future worth living for, this song provides a simple and powerful affirmation of the sacredness and resilience of “this weary Earth we walk upon.”
Songs of Lamentation
There is a certain grief that arises upon acknowledging the inherent value and sacredness of a world that our species has been treating as an inert repository of resources and waste dumping ground for centuries. Too often these days that grief is funneled into a sort of guilt, shame, and fear that leaves people feeling depressed, powerless, and vulnerable to manipulation by those who wish to control others for their own gain. The grief itself is healthy and necessary though, especially if we can move through the experience to a place of humility and healing, and from there begin to re-imagine the story of human existence on planet Earth.
The Buffalo Song - Ed Stone
My father was a Catholic priest. He was a lifelong spiritual seeker, and his individual pursuit of inspiration and truth often put him at odds with church leadership and eventually led to his departure. His actual spirituality was much more ecological than Christian for much of his life. During my childhood, in his post-priesthood years, he taught me all of the native plants and birds, set me free to explore the wild lands around our home, and bundled me up for winter solstice bonfires in Minnesota weather. As a priest he designed a much-beloved youth ministry program centered around backpacking trips to the Bighorn Mountains and canoe trips near the Canadian border. He also wrote songs - two of which I will share here as hymns for an ecological spirituality. In 1974, he produced an LP record, with youth musicians from his programs providing instruments and harmonies.
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Who first stored the oil deep down?
Tell me who makes pure water to spring from the ground?
Tell me who tells a seed that it’s his turn to grow?
Tell me who first designed the wild buffalo?
—
There was a time and it’s not long ago
This land belonged to the wild buffalo
Till some men decided that the great herd should go
And we saw the end of the wild buffalo
—
Some men decided and that was the end
There was no limit to what we could spend
Spend for our pleasures, survival, or our gold
Or the big heavy hides of the wild buffalo
—
So the buffalo is gone, now the oil’s going too
May the Lord have mercy on me and you
We use up our gifts, oh it’s so hard to know
Why we did what we did to the wild buffalo
—
When the gifts are free, the giver’s in love
Giving oil in the ground or sun from above
We reap and we harvest what we never did sow
It’s all in the story of the wild buffalo
—
We reap and we harvest till the harvest is gone
Some men make millions and few cry wrong
We’ve been led to believe that the rivers always flow
But they didn’t in the story of the wild buffalo
—
So the buffalo are gone, now the oil’s going too
May the Lord have mercy on me and you
We use up our gifts, oh it’s so hard to know
Why we do what we do to the wild buffalo
—
When the gifts are free, the giver’s in love
Giving oil in the ground or sun from above
We reap and we harvest what we never did sow
We’ve been led to believe that the rivers always flow
So we use up our gifts, oh it’s so hard to know…
—
Who first stored the oil deep down?
Tell me who makes pure water to spring from the ground?
Tell me who tells a seed that it’s his turn to grow?
Tell me…tell me who wrote the story of the wild buffalo?
Help me…help me re-write the story of the wild buffalo
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At first glance, this might seem to be a contradiction to the previous song. Ed sings: “We’ve been led to believe that the rivers always flow, but they didn’t in the story of the wild buffalo.” Karine sings: “While kingdoms come and kingdoms go, rivers run and rivers flow. … And if the river should ever run dry, somewhere the rain will still fall from the sky.”
Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that they are actually compatible. The rivers don’t always flow. Sometimes we kill all of the buffalo, or we take so much water from the Colorado River that it no longer reaches the sea. Yet at the same time, somewhere the rain does still fall, and rivers run, and rivers flow. We have caused great change and great harm, and yet all that we have done and could possibly do is dwarfed by the enormity of this great, living, ever-renewing and ever-evolving planet. I find that it is important to be able to see both perspectives, to feel both grief and comfort.
Songs of Participation
If we believe that we truly belong on this living planet, that we are as much a part of Earth as the trees and the birds, then we will celebrate our participation in the great dance of life, experiencing with all of our senses and entering into personal relationship with all that which surrounds us.
The Lost Words Blessing - Karine Polwart
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Enter the wild with care, my love
And speak the things you see
Let new names take and root and thrive and grow
And even as you travel far from heather, crag, and river
May you, like the little fisher, set the stream alight with glitter
May you enter now as otter without falter into water
—
Look to the sky with care, my love
And speak the things you see
Let new names take and root and thrive and grow
And even as you journey on past dying stars exploding
Like the gilded one in flight, leave your little gifts of light
And in the dead of night, my darling, find the gleaming eye of starling
Like the little aviator, sing your heart to all dark matter
—
Walk through the world with care, my love
And sing the things you see
Let new names take and root and thrive and grow
And even as you stumble through machair sands eroding
Let the fern unfurl your grieving, let the heron still your breathing
Let the selkie swim you deeper, oh my little silver-seeker
Even as the hour grows bleaker, be the singer and the speaker
And in city and in forest, let the larks become your chorus
And when every hope is gone, let the raven call you home
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This song brings tears to my eyes every time. It is a call to relaxation into the world we inhabit, to participation and belonging. “Enter…look….walk…speak…sing.” It speaks to the significance of names, of building a personal relationship with the wild parts of our world. Too many places remain nameless, and too many of our names are empty of real meaning - carried forward from Indigenous languages but divorced from their origin stories, or named arbitrarily for a long-dead human who has little connection to the named form or to our present time.
I was lucky to grow up in a landscape where my father had named the places, and where I was encouraged to add names of my own. Strawberry Rock. Vulture-Hawk Rock. The Secret Garden. Whip-poor-will Hill. The Lookout. A whole nation of names on a hundred acres of land, of ancient granite exposed and carved by glacial meltwater, now covered in a patchwork of prairie and forest. Naming that which surrounds us is an act of participation, a statement of belonging.
Re-naming has become a hot political topic, a clash of ideologies and worldviews. Too often it is about moving away from something, rejecting a name that now seems tarnished to some, but perhaps it could be more about moving toward a world in which we craft names that represent the “being-ness” of forms and places in relationship to our own lives and communities.
The Lost Words Blessing is part of the “Spell Songs” project, which grew out of The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane.
The Lost Words is a ‘book of spells’ that seeks to conjure back the near-lost magic and strangeness of the nature that surrounds us. The book began as a response to the removal of everyday nature words - among them "acorn", "bluebell", "kingfisher" and "wren" - from a widely used children’s dictionary, because those words were not being used enough by children to merit inclusion. But The Lost Words then grew to become a much broader protest at the loss of the natural world around us, as well as a celebration of the creatures and plants with which we share our lives, in all their wonderful, characterful glory.
It is in many ways a sister effort to The Dendroica Project, and I encourage readers to check out the books and music.
Napeequa - Ed Stone
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(Whistle) I heard it where the cool waters fall
(Whistle) I heard it like a far distant call
(Whistle) I heard it high on a mountainside
(Whistle) I’d sing that song, and I’d cry
—
I cry for all the days that flow on into years
I cry for all the friends who share our deepest fears
Oh I cry for all the joys life holds we’ve yet to know
I cry there’s someone, someone loves us so
—
Someone loves, I feel it in the way the breeze is blowing
Someone loves, I see it in all the colors showing
Someone loves, I know it when the winter turns to spring
Someone loves, I hear it in all the songs we sing
—
We sing, there’s so much to do before we die
We sing, our voices reach out far into the sky
Oh we sing, the notes are there in everything we see
We sing to celebrate the moments when we’re free
—
Repeat last verse
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My father found God in the Napeequa valley, in the plaintive call of a bird beckoning him to come forth, to live fully, to participate, to cry, to feel, see, know, hear, and ultimately to sing.
This solstice, in a time of darkness and confusion on planet Earth, may we be reminded that there is so much to live for, so much to do before we die. May our voices reach out far into the sky, and to each other across space and distance. The notes are there, in everything we see. May we open our eyes to all of the love and life that surrounds us, as the great turning reaches its ebb and the days begin to lengthen, beginning another cycle of growth and rebirth.
I could scour my brain for hours and produce no contribution. Except that the first album I personally "owned," which defined my 90s more than any other, offers nothing but affirmations and laments.
Tennessee -
Lord, I've really been real stressed, down and out, losing ground
Although I am black and proud, problems got me pessimistic
Brothers and sisters keep messin' up, why does it have to be so damn tuff?
I don't know where I can go to let these ghosts out of my skull
My grandma past my brother's gone, I never at once felt so alone
I know you're supposed to be my steering wheel, not just my spare tire (Home!)
But Lord, I ask you (Home!)
to be my guiding force and truth (Home!)
For some strange reason it had to be (Home!)
He guided me to Tennessee (Home!)
Take me to another place, take me to another land
Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand Your plan
Take me to another place, take me to another land
Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand Your plan
Lord it's obvious we got a relationship
Talkin' to each other every night and day
Although you're superior over me
We talk to each other in a friendship way
Then outta nowhere, you tell me to break
Outta the country, and into more country
Past Dyesburg into Ripley
Where the ghost of childhood haunts me
Walk the roads my forefathers walked
Climb the trees my forefathers hung from
Ask those trees for all their wisdom
They tell me my ears are so young (Home!)
Go back, from whence you came (Home!)
My family tree, my family name (Home!)
For some strange reason it had to be (Home!)
He guided me to Tennessee (Home!)
Take me to another place, take me to another land
Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand your plan
Take me to another place, take me to another land
Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand your plan
(Ishee? She went down to Holland Spring.
Rasadan and Babba? They went down to P St.
Headliner? I challenge you to a game of Horseshoe -
A game of horseshoes!)
Now I see the importance of history
Why my people be in the mess that they be
Many journeys to freedom made in vain
By brothers on the corner playin' ghetto games
I ask you, Lord why you enlightened me
Without the enlightenment of all my folks
He said, cuz I set myself on a quest for truth
And He was there to quench my thirst
But I am still thirsty
The Lord allowed me to drink some more
He said what I am searching for are
The answers to all which are in front of me
The ultimate truth started to get blurry
For some strange reason it had to be
It was all a dream about Tennessee
Take me to another place (home...), take me to another land (home...)
Make me forget all that hurts me (home...), let me understand your plan (yeah...)
Take me to another place (home...), take me to another land (home...)
Make me forget all that hurts me (home...), let me understand your plan (yeah...)
Oh, won't you let me, won't you help me
won't you help me understand your plan...
Take me home,
Take me home, home,
Take me to another place
Take me home,
Woah, you know I need to go home, yeah...
I'm late to post here, but thanks for this post, Mark. Some lovely music you've shared that I hadn't heard before. My contribution for a Song of Participation would be "Carpet of the Sun" by the 1970's progressive rock group Renaissance. The combination of Betty Thatcher's simple but lovely lyrics written about her own home garden, and the sweeping and swelling orchestration and arrangement, and the amazing vocals of Annie Haslam, combine to make this song a perfect tribute to the contributions we give to the world by growing our own 'carpets of the sun.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VaN45sVEQw
[Verse 1]
Come along with me
Down into the world of seeing
Come and you'll be free
Take the time to find the feeling
[Pre Chorus]
See everything on it's own
And you'll find you know the way
And you'll know the things you're shown
Owe everything to the day
[Chorus]
See the carpet of the sun
The green grass soft and sweet
Sands upon the shores of time
Of oceans mountains steep
Part of the world that you live in
You are the part that you're giving
[Verse 2]
Come into the day
Feel the sunshine warmth around you
Sounds from far away
Music of the love that found you
[Pre Chorus]
The seed that you plant today
Tomorrow will be a tree
And living goes on this way
It's all part of you and me
[Chorus]
See the carpet of the sun
The green grass soft and sweet
Sands upon the shores of time
Of oceans mountains steep
Part of the world that you live in
You are the part that you're giving
As for Songs of Lamentation, a surprisingly large share of music in the black metal genre is dedicated to taking awe in our natural landscapes and decrying the world that us humans have created in it's stead. Maybe strange for a genre built on electric guitars and banshee vocals, but an awe for nature and it's solitude and mysteries lies at the heart of many black metallers and black metal fans (me included). See "Banished," for instance, by the band Falls of Rauros (and the song that leads into it, "Earth's Old Timid Grace," which has played in my head when on a couple backpacking trips into the mountainous wilderness of the western US).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax7qTj0aA9A
Barren. hollow. desolate.
Burdened by the weight of emptiness and failure.
I thought I heard them whisper..
"Come home to us and sleep once more blanketed by stars
and breathe again the air uncorrupted
and tread upon the footpaths of those you've cast aside.
Wade into the waters flowing, winding
never to contemplate these cursed thoughts again..."
This is sorrow. This in no way defines us.
How can we be so careless?
The vision is calling, is piercing our hearts.
We cannot dwell here idle while this violence goes on.
Banished. Driven out of existence. A curse upon the earth.
Always under the banner of progress and feigned elevation.
Know that this culture will dissolve. It is the natural conclusion.
This cannot persist much longer.
One day we'll build upon the ruins of this dead world.