Song Lyric Sunday: Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

Helen’s direction for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday:

Our theme for Song Lyric Sunday is to celebrate the sun. You can interpret it any way you’d like through music, meaning you can even post a song that only has the word “sun” in it, or really any other way you can fathom.

Helen mentioned that she felt gloomy this week. I can relate to that. For Song Lyric Sunday, I decided to take the one word option and pick a familiar song that would help me in this moment. I’m going to visualize Sitting on the Dock of the Bay and watching my fear, anger and sadness, and the fear, anger and sadness of so many others, roll away with the tide.

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay was written by Otis Redding and Steve Cropper. It was recorded in 1968, three days before Otis Redding died in a plane crash.

Lyrics

Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun
I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ come
Watching the ships roll in
And then I watch ’em roll away again, yeah

I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time

I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the ‘Frisco bay
‘Cause I’ve had nothing to live for
And look like nothin’s gonna come my way

So I’m just gonna sit on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time

Look like nothing’s gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can’t do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I’ll remain the same, yes

Sittin’ here resting my bones
And this loneliness won’t leave me alone
It’s two thousand miles I roamed
Just to make this dock my home

Now, I’m just gonna sit at the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Oooo-wee, sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time

(whistle)

Song Lyric Sunday: He Ran to Me

The prompt for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday is parent/child relationships. I had hoped that there would be a prompt soon that would give me an opportunity to share my favorite song from this year’s Amritapuri Christmas Eve play with the Song Lyric Sunday readers. Little did I know it would show up on the same day I returned to Seattle from India!

The play, The Loving Father was based on Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son. Most of the music in the play was original, but they did include a song that is widely used in Christian churches. That song, When God Ran, was written by Benny Lester. Some of the words were changed to fit the script of the play, but most are the same as in the original.

In the Amritapuri play, when the son came home, the father ran to him, took him in his arms, and told him that he loved him. The son had been prepared to beg for forgiveness but there was no need, the father welcomed him wholeheartedly.

A little later in the play, the son sang He Ran to Me as he reflected on his father’s welcome. I still cry every time I hear him sing.

Matthew sings about his father's love

Lyrics

Respected Sir, honored father, immovable rock, successful, gracious businessman
Strong and stern, commanding scores of men, mighty businessman
And the only time, the only time I ever saw him run,
Was when he ran to me, he took me in his arms,
Held my head to his chest, said my son’s come home again
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes, with forgiveness in his voice
He said Son, do you know I still love you
He caught me by surprise
When He ran

The day I left home, I knew I’d broken his heart
But I never stopped to wonder if I was wrong
Yet my time, left me hungry and all alone
I needed him, I came home to plead
And yet from far away, from far away I saw his relief
And then he ran to me, he took me in his arms,
Held my head to his chest, said my son’s come home again
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes, with forgiveness in his voice
He said Son, do you know I still love you

I was so confused, how could he not be angry
With no excuse, he just forgave
I saw him run to me, he took me in his arms,
Held my head to his chest, said ‘my son’s come home again’
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes, with forgiveness in his voice
I felt his love for me

He ran to me, he took me in his arms,
Held my head to his chest and said my son’s come home again…

I Trust You

A friend sent me the link to this video a few days ago, but I didn’t look at it until now. Tears are streaming down my face as I am writing this post. I hope it is as much a gift to you as it was to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCy8Cfvoe6g

The Following Morning Addendum:

When I woke up this morning (I’m in India), I realized I wanted to share this post with my Song Lyric Sunday family. I think the video fits the intent behind this week’s prompt even though it doesn’t fit the structure.

I wasn’t able to find out the name of the background song in part because I can’t understand all of the words. But to me the message is not in the song, it is in the video. I am very disturbed by what is unfolding in our country right now and it was so good for me to watch this video before I went to sleep last night. It allowed me to see light amidst the darkness.

More from Nimo Patel

After I posted Grateful for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, I found a music video of Nimo’s that I hadn’t seen before. That video, Being Kind, may be my favorite. It is certainly what I need to hear and watch during these turbulent times.

I love Nimo’s music and what he stands for. For those of you who are new to him, know that he went to an Ivy League college and afterwards worked on Wall Street. Next, he became a well known MTV Rap star. In his mid-twenties, he realized that the “only path to light was through selfless service to others and his own internal purification.” For the last five-and-a-half years he has been living at the Gandhi Ashram in Gujarat, India. That ashram serves underprivileged children in the slums of Ahmedebad.

He started the 501-c3 organization Empty Hands Music.

Nimo chose the title ‘Empty Hands’, because of the profound wisdom we all can gain when we understand this deeper truth: that we arrive on this planet empty handed and we will all soon leave empty handed. So then, how and in what spirit do we want to spend the time in between?

Empty Hands Music is offered in the spirit of love, peace and oneness. Download the free Empty Hands Music album here.

Here is the Being Kind video. The song’s lyrics will follow the video.

Lyrics

Written and Performed by Nimesh Patel
Beat Produced by Epistra
Song Mixed by Brian Nicholls

(Verse 1)
Well my heart starts sinkin’
And I’m thinkin whats the reason
Why we holding back from being kind
What’s the disease, but then I sense

We are fine, it’ll all happen
One small step at a time

When the world is full of violence
And it needs a little kindness
I just sit in pray in silence
And God shows me the signs

Open my eyes, realize,
We are fine, one small act at a time

Last night I’m walking home
And a homeless man says ‘hello’
With a smile to let me know
That he’s gotta lotta hope

He says have faith, young man, we are fine
The world is kind, one small act at a time

Small acts we do together
Even though may be alone
Changes the world for the better
So we can call it home

And this is life as know
When our hearts are aligned
The magic that unfolds
One small act at a time

(Chorus 1)
Throw your hearts up
Let it fly high
Let your love for all the world
Spread Through the skies
Let it drop down
Let it all go
Spreading kindness to every
Single Living soul

Can you see your love … for me shining through
Cuz what you see in me, I can see in you
And soon enough, you and me … we’ll be outta time
And kindness … will be all we can leave behind

(Verse 2)
Feeling grateful today, Never thought this day would come
Where I would feel it and say, That each and everyone one of us,
Has paved the way doing good and now we’re all just moving up
When I’m kind to you, you pay-it-forward, this is how we build trust

Never had faith, but now I’m seeing you eye to eye
Wanna gift you my life, wanna spread love before I die,
Thank you God … for finally letting me realize
When I serve man, I’m really serving you in disguise

Smiles everywhere, cuz now everybody’s got the bug
Ain’t no life, without the love, if it is, it ain’t no fun,
What we gonna do now, just grab a friend give a hug
Spread it out real wide, so everyone can be touched

(Chorus 2)

Oohhh …
All we can leave behind,
For you and I kindness is all we can leave behind
All we can leave behind
For you and I kindness is all we can leave behind
Ohhh … Behind, Behind, When all is said and done,
Kindness is all we can leave behind

Song Lyric Sunday: Grateful

Helen’s direction for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday is to share a song about gratitude. I was looking for a chance to share another one of Nimo’s Empty Hands Music videos so I’m very grateful she chose that theme.

The song I will share is Grateful: A Love Song to the World by Nimo Patel and Daniel Nahmod.

Lyrics

Verse 1:

You’re my life,
You’re my breath,
You’re a smile
You my guest

You’re the earth
You’re the sun
You’re the grass
You are love

You’re my hands
You’re a bug
You’re my eyes
You’re a hug

You’re the light
In the dark
You’re the spark
You are fun

You’re my mom
You are water
You’re the stars
You’re my daughter

You’re my friend
Till the end
You’re my dreams
You’re my father

You’re the ants on the ground
The miracles that surround
I’m feelin’ it all around
The hemisphere and the clouds

You’re my pain you’re my sorrow
You’re my hope for tomorrow
You’re the strength when I’m hollow
You’re the path that I follow

You’re the blessings that exist
The small things that are bliss
The gift to realize that
Everything is a gift

Chorus:
All that I am
All that I see
All that I’ve been and all that I’ll ever be
Is a blessing
It’s so amazing
And I’m grateful for it all, for it all

Verse 2:

You’re the blessings
Every time I try to count,
You’re the lessons
That l learn
Every time I turn around,
You’re the water when I’m burned
Every time I think I’ve found
Everything I’m looking for,
You’re the sign sayin’
Stop to take a bow

And keep moving forward
And start looking towards your heart,
it’ll open all the doors
And only then you’ll start
To hear the world sing in chorus
With your mind and heart
Aligned in purpose
Everything will feel gorgeous

Chorus:
All that I am
All that I see
All that I’ve been and all that I’ll ever be
Is a blessing
It’s so amazing
And I’m grateful for it all, for it all

Breakdown 1:
Everyday I sit and pray
Cuz what I have is
More than I deserve
Or could ever imagine
How do I give back
To all of this magic
And spread the love
So everybody can have it

Doesn’t matter if I’m rich or poor
If I gotta family or if I’m all alone
Bad things happen I can just complain and moan
But there’s a million things that I can be grateful for

Breakdown 2:
So I lift up my hands now
And I open my heart
And my gratitude goes out
To everything near and far

Final Chorus:
Everything I am
And everything I see
Everything I hope
And everything I dream
Everything I feel
And everything I be
I Look deep down
And feel all the blessings
I’m grateful for it all
It’s amazing

All that I am
All that I see
All that I’ve been and all that I’ll ever be
Is a blessing
Its so amazing
And I’m grateful for it all, for it all

Outro:

You’re the blessings that exist
The small things that are bliss
The gift to realize that
Everything is a gift

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO2o98Zpzg8

Be sure to watch the fun outtakes at the end of the video. You will also be able to download the free Empty Hands Music album should you want to do that.

Taize: Veni Sancte Spiritus

vidireras-698098_1280

This has been such a difficult week for me, as it has been for many of us. It seems like so much of what I hold dear is in danger.

From time to time during the last two days, a song from a monastery in France has come to my mind. That song is Veni Sancte Spiritus.

The Taize monastery is dedicated to the reunification of the Christian church. At this point there are 100 brothers living there. They come from various Catholic and Protestant denominations and are from 30 different countries.

Taize music touched me to the core the first time I heard it and that has never changed. I visited the French monastery with friends in 2003 or 2004. We had the privilege of spending part of one evening with Brother Roger, their founder. He was in his late 80’s at the time of our visit.

I will never forget that experience. I felt like I was in the presence of a master. One or two years later, he was murdered in the temple. The world lost a great soul that night, but his work lives on.

There are Catholic and Protestant churches singing Taize music all over the world. Those services are always ecumenical.

I have picked a version of Veni Sante Spiritus that includes several different languages (I don’t know how many languages since I only understand English!) When I started the video and the music began, I burst into tears once again.

Following the first video, there will be another one that is in English. And at the end of the post you will find the lyrics in English. The photos in the first video are from the Taize monastery.

I chose to put the video prior to the lyrics so you had an opportunity to get a sense of the song without knowing what it meant. Here is the English version followed by the lyrics. It is also a very beautiful version. As I am listening to it my tears are still pouring.

Lyrics

Come, Holy Spirit, from heaven shine forth with your glorious light.
Veni Sancte Spiritus

Come, Father of the poor, come, generous Spirit, come,
light of our hearts.
Veni Sancte Spiritus

Come from the four winds, O Spirit, come breath of God;
disperse the shadows over us, renew and
strengthen your people.
Veni Sancte Spiritus

Most kindly warming light! Enter the inmost depths of our hearts,
for we are faithful to you.
Without your presence we have nothing worthy, nothing pure.
Veni Sancte Spiritus

You are only comforter, Peace of the soul.
In the heat you shade us; in our labour you refresh us,
and in trouble you are our strength.
Veni Sancte Spiritus

On all who put their trust in you and receive you in faith,
shower all your gifts.
Grant that they may grow in you and persevere to the end.
Give them lasting joy!
Veni Sancte Spiritus

Read more: http://www.letssingit.com/taize-lyrics-veni-sancte-spiritus-t9tpw88#ixzz4PrsEY2x0
LetsSingIt – Your favorite Music Community

Song Lyric Sunday

Song Lyric Sunday: Everyday People

Helen’s direction for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday is to “post a song that deals with judgment or the opposite- getting rid of judgment and being more accepting of everyone.”

I love how this weekly challenge gives me the opportunity to re-connect with music that has been important to me in the past. The song I chose for this week is Sly and the Family Stone’s Everyday People.

Everyday People was written by Sly Stone and was released in 1968. It was the first single by his band to reach #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Wikipedia reports that Everyday People was “one of Sly Stone’s pleas for peace and equality between differing races and social groups, a major theme and focus for the band.” It also stated that the band was “the first major integrated band in rock history.”

Lyrics

Sometimes I’m right and I can be wrong
My own beliefs are in my song
The butcher, the banker, the drummer and then
Makes no difference what group I’m in

I am everyday people, yeah yeah

There is a blue one who can’t accept the green one
For living with a fat one trying to be a skinny one
And different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo

Oh sha sha we got to live together

I am no better and neither are you
We are the same whatever we do
You love me you hate me you know me and then
You can’t figure out the bag I’m in

I am everyday people, yeah yeah

There is a long hair that doesn’t like the short hair
For bein’ such a rich one that will not help the poor one
And different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo

Oh sha sha we got to live together

There is a yellow one that won’t accept the black one
That won’t accept the red one that won’t accept the white one
And different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo

I am everyday people

Song Lyric Sunday: Thriller

Helen’s direction for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday is to share lyrics from a scary song. That assignment turned out to be harder than I thought.

When I think of scary movies, Stephen King’s The Shining and Misery are what come to mind. I also thought of Silence of the Lambs. That one wasn’t as frightening, but it certainly was intense. The problem with all three of those movies is that none of the songs have lyrics.

When I searched on the internet for scary songs, the first one that caught my eye was Michael Jackson’s Thriller. I have loved that song and the dance that goes with it since it came out in November of 1982.

Lyrics

It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking
In the dark
Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops
Your heart
You try to scream, but terror takes the sound before
You make it
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between
The eyes
You’re paralyzed

‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night
And no one’s gonna save you from the beast about to
Strike
You know it’s thriller, thriller night
You’re fighting for your life inside a killer
Thriller tonight

You hear the door slam and realize there’s nowhere
Left to run
You feel the cold hand and wonder if you’ll ever see
The sun
You close your eyes and hope that this is just
Imagination
But all the while you hear the creature creepin’ up
Behind
You’re out of time

‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night
There ain’t no second chance against the thing with
Forty eyes
You know it’s thriller, thriller night
You’re fighting for your life inside a killer
Thriller tonight

Night creatures call
And the dead start to walk in their masquerade
There’s no escapin’ the jaws of the alien this time
(They’re open wide)
This is the end of your life

They’re out to get you; there’s demons closing in on
Every side
They will possess you unless you change the number on
Your dial
Now is the time for you and I to cuddle close
Together
All through the night I’ll save you from the terrors on
The screen
I’ll make you see

That it’s a thriller, thriller night
‘Cause I can thrill you more than any ghost
Would ever dare try
Girl, this is thriller, thriller night
So let me hold you tight and share a killer, diller
Chiller
Thriller here tonight

That it’s a thriller, thriller night
‘Cause I can thrill you more than any ghost
Would ever dare try
Girl, this is thriller, thriller night
So let me hold you tight and share a killer, diller

Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y’awl’s neighborhood
And whosoever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
Must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpse’s shell

The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of forty thousand years
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom
And though you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the thriller

I don’t think I have ever seen this video before. It is definitely scary. If you find it is too frightening to watch, know that the song and dance begin at 4:15 minutes!

Pen Pineapple Apple Pen

Yesterday, I discovered a blog that was new to me, GarimaShares. The blogger and I have several interests in common so today I returned to her blog to read some of her posts. One was about a song that was posted on YouTube on September 24th. The video was watched by more than 8 million people on the first day. As of today almost 116 million people have seen the original video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9TpRfDdyU0

Within a day there were other videos of people lip syncing the song. Some that were uploaded on the three days following the original release have more than a million views of their own.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8tkVn_yc8g

At this point, there are more than 25 pages of YouTube videos. I’m not giving an exact number because I gave up trying to find the end of the list.

I don’t know why this song has become famous, but I’ve just spent 45 minutes looking at videos of it, so beware, it is addicting! 🙂

Be sure to check out GarimaShares too. She is a 20 year old who is going to college in Delhi and writes prose and poetry about travel, art, and life. Her photography is beautiful.

Shared on Song Lyric Sunday

Song Lyric Sunday: Sarasponda

I decided to go off-theme again for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday. When I posted Good Morning to You yesterday, a friend told me about a ditty she used to sing to her children. Her story reminded me of a song I sang to my children when they were infants. It is called Sarasponda.

Sreejit (Michael) and me

Al, Chaitanya (Kristy) and me

I had wondered, even back then, what the song meant but I never looked into it. Yesterday I checked it out and was fascinated by what I learned.

Wikipedia said Sarasponda is believed to be of Dutch origin and it is thought to be a song that women sang when spinning at a spinning wheel. Many sources describe the lyrics as nonsense words, but others think they are onomatopoeic and are meant to represent the sounds a spinning wheel makes as it spins.

It is a tune that is frequently sung around campfires so I probably learned it when I was a Girl Scout, or when I traveled across the U.S. with my church youth group in the mid 60’s.

Lyrics

Sarasponda, sarasponda, sarasponda ret set set

A doray-oh, A doray-boomday-oh

A doray-boomday ret set set

Ah say pah say oh.

There are many YouTube versions of Sarasponda. The tune is the same in each version but the way it is presented is very different. I have decided to share three different versions.