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Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Cosmic

Posted in Music on November 1, 2020| Leave a Comment »

This song is written from the perspective of a seeker in space (outer space?), someone looking for connection, but floating and lost. Where is that someone to be grounded with, to love, to share with…

***

Turned around and upside down

Turned around and upside down

My feet don’t touch the ground

And while it’s beating hard

My heart won’t make a sound

And the blood in my veins

Flows ever round and round.

***

Floating in a cosmic stardust

Seeking an answer, searching for truth

Asking who am I, or am I just

Another bit of mud and bone and sinew.

Feeling all the anguish, Feeling all the love lust,

Feeling all the pain, Feeling all the heat rush in my brain.

***

Spiraling endlessly in space

Looking for a human hand to hold,

Seeking eternity’s embrace,

Looking for connection in the cold.

Feeling all the anguish, Feeling all the love lust,

Feeling all the pain, Feeling all the heat rush in my brain.

***

I would touch you under the stillness of the stars

I would kiss you in the darkness of the night

I would hold you in the sunshine of the day

Even alone, I’d be alive inside your light.

I would touch you under the stillness of the stars

I would kiss you in the darkness of the night

I would hold you in the sunshine of the day

Even alone, I’d be alive inside your light.

***

Falling heartfirst onto your ground

Trusting what I see in you is true,

Letting my love song be the sound

Of my soul standing naked before you.

Feeling all the anguish, Feeling all the love lust,

Feeling all the pain, Feeling all the joy rush in my brain.

***

I touch you under the stillness of the stars

I kiss you in the darkness of the night

I hold you in the sunshine of the day

Even alone, I am alive inside your light.

I touch you under the stillness of the stars

I kiss you in the darkness of the night

I hold you in the sunshine of the day

Even alone, I am alive inside your light.

***

You can hear the song demo here:

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Resurrection Song

Posted in Music, The World on September 5, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Written last Easter while thinking about where the world seems to be in terms of the daily incredulities. If we sing together, there is hope…

* * * * *

We despair at every horror, every lie, and every scandal;
We hold on by a single thread, or by a greasy handle,
We think we’ve heard it all until we hear what’s worse once more.
Until we feel we’re falling as if right through the floor.
Listen through the static and you will hear a song
Take a breath and catch the note and start to sing along…

Chorus:
The goodness of humanity will shine a welcome light
With an open door in every coldest, deepest, darkest night
With voices chanting every truth, 10 to the power of 10,
And hearts with boundless love will surely rise again,
Rise again, rise again, will surely rise again.

Close your eyes and open your ears to hear an insistent sound,
A persistent, swelling chorus, with an echo coming round,
Every note that’s sounded like the ringing of a bell,
Crowds of people proclaiming we have truth to tell.
Listen through the static and you will hear a song
Take a breath and catch the note and start to sing along…
Chorus…

Weary feet in vict’ry will walk soft where meanness tread.
The shelter for the hapless will make up another bed
The harbor for the stranger will open up its gate
And souls with wounded hope will overthrow the hate.
Listen through the static and you will hear a song
Take a breath and catch the note and start to sing along…
Chorus…

* * *
Hear a demo here: SoundCloud Demo Recording

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Absurdity (an homage to Albert Camus)

Posted in Music, The World, Words on August 27, 2017| Leave a Comment »

“I draw from the absurd three consequences, which are my revolt, my freedom, and my passion.” “There is no love of life without despair of life.” – Albert Camus

Absurdity

This song was written on August 5th, inspired by the Brain Pickings blog post on Albert Camus’s philosphy about living through despairing times.

I look outside my window and I see the rain
I look outside my window and I see the rain.
But for the rain, there wouldn’t be the flower.
But for the rain, there wouldn’t be the flower.
How absurd! How absurd! How absurd! How absurd!

Chorus:

No love without despair, no mend without a tear.
No freedom without a scar; just passion goes far.

I look across the sky and I see the clouds
I look across the sky and I see the clouds.
But for the clouds, there wouldn’t be the rainbow
But for the clouds, there wouldn’t be the rainbow.
How absurd! How absurd! How absurd! How absurd! Chorus

I look inside my heart and I see the pain.
I look inside my heart and I see the pain.
But for the pain, no joy in a blue sky.
But for the pain, no joy in a blue sky.
How absurd! How absurd! How absurd! How absurd!

In a dream, spoken freely, is the chance.
Beneath an ever-changing sky is the dream in my eye.
I speak a truth, and my dream does a dance.
I sing a truth, and my dream learns to fly.

I look outside my window and I see the rain
I look outside my window and I see the rain.
But for the rain, there wouldn’t be the flower.
But for the rain, there wouldn’t be the flower.
How absurd! How absurd! How absurd! How absurd! Chorus

******

Click here to hear the song: Absurdity on SoundCloud

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Nevertheless, She Persisted 

Posted in Music, The World, Words on February 11, 2017| Leave a Comment »

My new song — Nevertheless, She Persisted, in honor of Senator Elizabeth Warren 

He told her, be quiet.  He told her, sit down.
He told her, don’t riot.  But she stood her ground.
Nevertheless, she persisted.
For she had her morals and she had the right
And she had the laurels to put up a fight.
Nevertheless, she persisted.

Chorus:
Never the less, she went on.
Never the less, she resisted.
Never the less, she moved strong.
Never the less, she persisted.

She spoke for all people who don’t have the power,
Who’ve been put down, and turned round, and been made to cower.
“We won’t shut up, we won’t back down, we won’t give up, and we won’t turn round.
We’ll stand in the hallway and shout the door down.”

You may have your rules but those ways are broken
And she grabbed the tools so the truth could be spoken.
Nevertheless, she persisted.
For she had her morals and she had the right
And she had the laurels to put up a fight.
Nevertheless, she persisted.

Chorus

Hear the song here:

https://soundcloud.com/janhapharp/nevertheless-she-persisted

or here

https://soundcloud.com/janhapharp/nevertheless-she-persisted-with-heartsoulvoice-duo

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I Am A Feminist 

Posted in Music, Words on October 29, 2016| Leave a Comment »

A late night musing on being a feminist in a trumply world. The recording link is below.

I Am A Feminist

Chorus:
I am a feminist,
Yes, I am a feminist,
I am a feminist,
And I belong to me.
You could call me nasty surly,
You could call me freshly tart,
You could call me little girly,
But I just call me smart,
For I am a feminist,
Yes I am a feminist,
I am a feminist,
And I belong to me.

Verse 1
There’s no “post-feminist era
For feminism is “foreva”.
I’m my own human being,
Got my own way of seeing.
My mama always said
You are your own woman.
If you can’t get that
You got another think comin’.

Verse 2
It’s my body, it’s my choice,
And you can’t trump that it’s my call.
Choose the girls, choose the boys,
Or choose nothin’ at all.
And it’s in my genes
To be just what I please.
And what’s in my jeans
belongs only to me for…

www.soundcloud.com/janhapharp/i-am-a-feminist

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Dear Friend

Posted in Music, Words on June 18, 2016| Leave a Comment »

I wrote this song for my best friend from high school.  She moved away to the Southwest last fall and for her parting gift I penned this song hurriedly the afternoon before her going-away party.  I sang it that evening and promised I’d record it for her.  I’m finally getting to that part!  You can hear two recordings at the link below.

Dear Friend (for Tina)

Dear friend, though you travel far away
You will always be in my heart.
Dear friend, though your road leads you away,
In my life, you’ll always play a part.

When the days grow chill,
I’ll think of you still,
You in your southern abode.
And perhaps someday,
When my feet need to stray,
I’ll follow you down that road.

Dear friend, though you travel far away
You will always be in my heart.
Dear friend, though your road leads you away,
In my life, you’ll always play a part.

In your heart there is a calm you gave to me in loving touch.
In your heart there is a calm you gave to me in eye’s delight.
In your heart there is a child whose laughter is a youthful ring.
In your heart there is a child whose sweetness I keep in my sight.

Dear friend, though you travel far away
You will always be in my heart.
Dear friend, though your road leads you away,
In my life, you’ll always play a part.

 

 

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Waltz of the Dove

Posted in Motherhood, Music, Words on May 30, 2016| Leave a Comment »

For a friend whose son recently lost his struggle with addiction, here is a song for a mother.

Waltz of the Dove

Oh Sad Dove, fly free!
Oh Sad Dove, fly free!
Free as the clouds, free as the breeze,
Free as the rain, free as the sea.

Free your Pains, free your Fears,
Free your Chains, free your Tears.
Free to feel, free to cry,
Free to say What is why.

Oh Sweet Dove, sail on!
Oh Sweet Dove, sail on!
On to the Stars, on to Wherever
You float on my Love forever

Your Truth is here, bound to my Heart,
Your Love is here, found in my Heart.
Sail to the Joy, sail to the Bright,
Sail to the Peace, sail to the Light.

Oh Sad Dove, fly free!
Oh Sweet Dove, sail on!
Free as the clouds, free as the breeze,
Free as the rain, free as the sea.

***

The music is here: https://soundcloud.com/janhapharp/waltz-of-the-dove

 

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Wishing You a Happy Holiday 2015

Posted in Music, Words on December 13, 2015| 3 Comments »

In 2013, I first wrote this holiday song. But I updated it today by changing the chorus and also made a new recording. Enjoy both!

I’m wishing you a happy holiday
I’m wishing you some light upon your way
I’m wishing you some love in all you say
And a very merry new year

They say it’s the season for tinsel and holly
They say it’s the season to ever be jolly
But sometimes I know
That it’s hard to find a place to go
But you’re never too young or too old
To be welcomed inside from the cold
So I’m hoping you’ll look to the light
Where love has opened doors in the night

I say it’s the season for giving out cheer
To those we call “strange” and those we call “dear”
But sometimes I see
That it’s hard to feel that free
But you’re never too young or too old
To open a door to the cold
So I’m hoping you’ll lighten your heart
And find a way to do your part

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Season of Loss, Season of Regret

Posted in Music, Words on September 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

A song about grief, loss, regret. I have recently lost dear friends and colleagues and there are several upcoming anniversaries of loss. The only way to express this is in a song. Here is the link to the recording: https://soundcloud.com/janhapharp/season-of-loss

Chorus:
Season of loss, season of regret.
I cry for another again I’ll never see,
For words unsaid and a touch never met,
But a little part of you is always with me.

Verse 1:
Cellular pain courses through.
Chemical remedy and radical ray
Blast their way into you,
But life and death will have their way.

Verse 2:
You breathed, you loved, you danced,
Within my life, your steps wore a trail.
You cried, you toiled, you chanced,
Within my life, you’re a part of my tale.

Bridge:
I see the timbre of your voice
In ripples of light across my eyes.
I hear the music of your smile
In gentle words, soothing and wise.

Verse 3:
Reaching out across space and time,
Your love, your light, your laughter,
Reaching back across space and time,
Your face, your joy, your ever after.

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Golden Bird, Golden Girl

Posted in Music, Words, tagged , on July 3, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I recently wrote this song based on the story of a dear friend and her adventurous life. She has lived as an anthropologist digging up bones in the midwest, down in Antarctica at the Research Station, in the Pacific managing a clean-up project on an atoll, and playing flute and singing too! I both envy and admire her spunk and intelligence and willingness to try her hand at the whole world. She now owns her own business and travels all over the world still. The recording you can hear on my SoundCloud was recorded live on June 7, 2015 at the Eliot Street Soirée Singer-Songwriter Jam.

Chorus:
Golden Bird, Shining bright,
Golden Bird, Flying free
Golden Bird, my Golden Girl,
Live your way every day.

Verse 1:
Digging old bones on the brown dry plain,
Bathing by ice at the bottommost sea,
Swimming with flim-flam in the blue mid-ocean,
Sleeping ‘neath auroras by an evergreen tree…

Verse 2:
Filling the air with fluted silver,
Leading the weary to a new way,
Trilling sweet sounds of crazy love,
Gliding boldly into each new day…

Bridge:
Wings beat ‘gainst a glassy sky,
Heart roared with a troubling cry,
Claws pushed off from a rotting tree,
Your bliss is only in flying free!

Verse 3:
I will not follow in your flight’s path:
My limbs are too languid for that pace.
I watch your feathers blaze in the sun
And sadly delight in your untamed gaze.

* * *

Here a live recording here:

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