Songbooks

See also Songs and the latest one called The Conversing Café.

SINGING SONGS TOGETHER
I happen to think - contrary to a cognitive science based on the prevailing "information paradigm" - that singing songs together is a thoroughly cognitive activity.
It is also an opportunity to experience connection and flow - two fundamental concepts in the science of human knowing and communication that have been overshadowed by our scientific preoccupation with the paradigm of control.
It provides some experience of other ways of knowing - ways that the church and also indigenous people traditionally use to teach, discuss and worship - and that rather underrated thing called having fun!
These are the lyrics of songs I have used or hope to use in workshops about knowing, communication, stress and the science of wholeness.
Lloyd Fell

 
#1 RHYTHM IN MY BONES

I wonder a lot how we do what we do
How we manage to live here together
But I know there is something vibrating in me
That is also vibrating in you

There's a rhythm in my bones
There's a rhythm in my body
There's a rhythm in my bones
There's a rhythm in my soul

So what will we do on the first day?
What will do on the last?
What will we do on the days in between?
What if the future is already past? (Oh!)
This here and now is the moment
Everything happens on time
Just let the rhythm of life be your friend
Each little step a beginning not an end
Trust in the music to guide you round the bend
Follow the song in your soul

(Repeat chorus)

Let the spirit be our guide
Put our hearts into community
Be courageous when it's hard
Be as humble as a child 		#2 MAKE THE CONNECTION

I make the connection to know I am here
My predilection is mistrust and fear
But the correction is being sincere
Trying to make the connection

Make the connection to be who you are
Reach out your hand and you follow your star
As we are joined we draw strength from afar
If we will make the connection

In introspection my worries abound
And circumspection that goes round and round
For my protection this motto I've found
It's good to make the connection
(Repeat chorus)

Seeking perfection I never can see
In my reflection I think: is that me?
There's no detection of who I could be
Until I make the connection
(Repeat chorus)

Careful inspection will probably show
Much resurrection of things that you know
But the selection of which way to go
Comes when you make the connection
(Repeat chorus)

#3 NO SINGING ALLOWED IN THIS BOARDROOM

There's no singing allowed in this boardroom
The company motto is clear
We sponsor the arts and we do know the score
But business dictates what the workplace is for
And everyone knows there's no singing in here

The boardroom is where great decisions
Are made in a rational way
Directors are logical, clear in the mind
Entrusted, responsible, whom you won't find
Stooping to sing-song and story and play

There's no time for frivolous pastimes
No taking off serious masks
Keep your eye on the ball, on your toes, to react
Win the points, score. Playing games would detract
From the performance of serious tasks

We cannot have singing in boardrooms
For reason must always prevail
For reason is power, emotion is not
Gut feelings, well, sometimes, they're worth quite a lot, 
But reason is certain, so it cannot fail

All Hail, All Hail
All Hail to the power of reason
All Hail, All Hail
All Hail to the power of reason
[Pay attention, the Accountant has the floor.]		 #4 THE WORLD IN YOU
In the act of loving one another we come closest to experiencing wholeness

I see the world in you
I see the whole of life in all its glory
Maybe even see the moral of the story
I see the world in you
I see the wonder of the world in what you do
I see the world in you

I hear the world in you
I hear the melody of our emotion
Hear the harmony of our devotion
I hear the world in you
I hear the music that runs our living through
I hear the world in you

The world seems full of fragments, of pieces here and there
It's hard to put them all together
It's not in generalities, or in a broader view
It's when I look into your eyes
That I can see the soul

I see the world in you
I see the whole of life in all its glory
I maybe even see the moral of the story
I see the world in you
I see the wonder of the world in what you do
I see the world in you
I see the world in you
#5 LOVE IS FOR THE GIVING

Love is for the giving
Everyone knows that is so
Love cannot ever be had for the asking
Love is a gift - that we know

And love is for the living
Cannot be held in a store
Only if given completely and freely
Can love last for evermore

So the love that we live and the love that we give
Is returned to our hearts every day
And the love we believe is the love we receive
Teach us now to believe - to give love away

Love is for the giving
True love returns as it goes
True love is given completely and freely
True love eternally flows

Make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred - let me show love
Where there is injury - pardon
Where there is doubt - faith
Where there is despair - hope
Where there is darkness - light
Where there is sadness - joy
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled - as to console
To be understood - as to understand
To be loved - as to love, for
It is in giving that we receive
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
It is in dying, we are born, for evermore		 #6 SPIRIT THINKING

Spirit thinking
All around us
Spirit thinking
In the air
Spirit thinking
All inside us
Spirit thinking
Do we care?

I would like to be a thoughtful spirit
Above, beneath, within and all around
Enjoy thoughtful spirit kinds of singing
Listen to the thoughtful spirit sound

Float away on foamy clouds of sunlight
Trickle along rivulets of sand
Sail upon a never-ending spiral
Stand upon a solid, timeless, land

For 1 think we might be thoughtful spirits
You and I... and Jenny down the road
Helping carry one another's burden
It 'aint heavy, sister, brother, shares the load

Spirit thinking
All around us
Spirit thinking
In the air
Spirit thinking
All inside us
Spirit thinking
Do we care?
#7 FUN AT WORK

1. I go to work to have some fun
You what!? You work to get some mon-ey
So you can afford to have your leisure
And when you've worked an awful lot
You stop and find that you've forgot-ten
What it was that used to give you pleasure!

Oh my. Why, why?
This is what it means to make a living?
Oh my. Why, why?
This is what it means to make a living

2. You have to work to keep ahead
Of mortgages and other ded-icated
Spending plans for your retiring
But when the journey's almost done
Your motor starts to cough and won-der
Are there any cylinders still firing!
(Repeat chorus)

3. I'll live it up another day
Once this work's out of my way for
That will be the time I will be happy
And when there's nothing left to do
The problem could be then that you may
Find that doing nothing can be crappy!
(Repeat chorus)

4. You get to work all full of doubt
And then you get a list of out-comes
That will prove your day has been a winner
You know as soon as you begin
That by the time you get them fin-ished
There's no way that you'll be home for dinner!
(Repeat chorus)

5. Our mission is that we'll be great
And never do a thing that's hate-ful
Working hard together we can make it
But we need to plan a lot
And with these goals and roles and what-not
You will have to fudge a bit and fake it!
(Repeat chorus)

6. Work is what we mostly do
And if you feel a little rue-ful
That it isn't quite a bed of roses
You can always chuck it in
And, even though it might feel sin-ful,
Join us happy out-of-work composers!
(Repeat chorus)

 #8 REACH OUT YOUR HAND

Lonely and afraid, no place to go
I didn't care much about livin'
Who cares a damn for the loser that I am
And the misery where I've been driven
And as I lay there thinking something stirred
A feeling that beside me stood a friend
I half reached out my hand. You took my hand
All the mysteries I began to know

I want the hand to always be there
Responsible for that I want to be
Want the hand to always be there
I understand it begins with me

I was all but gone, nothin' left to do
I didn't know much about livin'
You offered me your hand when I reached out my hand
Showed me about love and forgivin'
So if you're lonely too and afraid
And thinkin' that you have no place to go
I offer you my hand if you reach out your hand
All the mysteries we come to know
(Repeat chorus)

There's a little bit of heaven in your hand
It begins with me I understand

You showed me what to do, showed me how to live
About caring for each other
There's another soul who seems to understand
I can call a sister or a brother
And when I stumbled and could fall
And maybe I might lose my way again
There was your hand when I held out my hand
All the mysteries there are for us to know
(Repeat chorus)

It had to be like that, that's how it had to be
My life and yours is worth livin'
We might show the way for others just like us 
Show them about love and forgivin'
So when you see a stranger who's alone
And thinkin' that there's nowhere left to go
Offer them your hand if they reach out their hand
All the mysteries we come to know

I want the hand to always be there
Responsible for that I want to be
Want the hand to always be there
I understand it begins with me
#9 DRIFTING
We bring forth our world and our world draws us onward

I hear the singing that streams through the valley
I hear the merry voice calling
I see the dark clouds that drift o'er the mountain
I feel the gentle rain falling
How do I know that their call is for me
Or where the path goes when the path is so free
I know the music that flows through my forest
For I sing the song that is calling

Drifting here and there I go
Only drifting can I know
Over the mountain and down through the valley
Drifting toward my calling
You do and I do and I know and you know
Two lonely voices are ringing
Where is the harmony given by nature
For the duet we are singing
Where is the dancing, the movement so free
There in the calling - the drifting - for me
When all the people join hands in the forest
There will be love in our calling
(Repeat chorus)

(Now) We hear the singing that streams through the valley
We hear the bright voices calling
We see the dark clouds that drift o'er the mountain
We feel the gentle rain falling
Now we are joined, 'tis a chorus we hear
The calling of love is the absence of fear
(Yes) We know the music that flows through the forest
For we sing the song that is calling
(Repeat chorus) 		#10 THE WHITE ROSE

You're the white rose that blooms in my garden
But I know I can't call you my own
You're the dew drops that cling
To the white rose in spring
As the soft morning sunlight shines down
You're the white rose that blooms in my garden
But this beautiful sight to behold
Is the white rose that blooms, the white rose that blooms
It's the white rose that blooms for the world

How I worshipped your face
How I cherished your touch
But it could only mean pain
If I loved you too much

You're the lovelight that shines in my eyes now
And this light by the world can be seen
You're the fond memory
Of what beauty can be
And the sweet taste of what might have been
You're the lovelight that shines in my eyes now
But this beautiful light to behold
Is the lovelight that shines, the lovelight that shines
It's the lovelight that shines for the world
(Repeat chorus)

You're the white rose that blooms in my garden
But I know I can't call you my own
You're the dew drops that cling
To the white rose in spring
As the soft morning sunlight shines down
You're the white rose that blooms in my garden
But this beautiful sight to behold
Is the white rose that blooms, the white rose that blooms
It's the white rose that blooms for the world
#11 A SONG THAT'S TRUE

Me and my guitar will tell you what we like to do
To sing a song, a simple song, a love song just for you
Me and my guitar we love to sing a song that's true
Sing a song, sing along, A love song just for you

It isn't very hard to do. It links our hearts together
You and me, all the world - forget about the weather
Between our hearts will be a truth that's neither right nor wrong
It simply is a joy that we can sing a song

Me and my guitar will tell you what we like to do
To sing a song, a simple song, a love song just for you
Me and my guitar we love to sing a song that's true
Sing a song, sing along, A love song just for you

 #12 MAKING IT HAPPEN

Making it happen is like, in the moonlight,
Watching the shimmering waves in the sea
Making it happen is mostly just being
Aware of the movement in you and me

Only together it flows
Not one of us really knows (twice)

Making it happen is hearing that movement
Conscious, unconsciously, setting it free
Making it happen is like, in the moonlight,
Knowing the darkness is meant to be

Only together it flows
Not one of us really knows (thrice)
#13 WE USE FOR A LIVING

We use for a living
That is our way
Like many in Nature before
But we must take care to
Conserve what we're using
Or we won't be here any more

We kill for a living
That is our way
Like many in Nature before
But we must be careful
To leave some survivors
Or we won't be here any more

But we spoil and we waste
With unnatural haste
And we maim and we needlessly plunder
If we know what we need
Let's take heed with due speed
Or our greed it will surely destroy us

We live here in wonder
At our world around us
And which of us understands why
But if we are thankful
It really is joyful
To be and to live till we die		 #14 RAIN SOUNDS

Oh it's been a long time
Since we had a drop of rain
Everything's as dry as dust
Stricken by the drought again
Grass is nearly gone now 
Tank is nearly dry too, but,
Can you hear that strange sound?
Yes, I think I can - can you?
Oh yes, I'm sure I can

Hear the rain pitter patter on the rooftop
Gutter's gurglin', tank'll soon be full
Hear the rain pitter patter on the rooftop
Hear it rain, hear it rain

Oh, I thought those dark clouds
Were just another empty hope
So many hot and windy nights
I felt that I could hardly cope
But now that I can lie here
And listen to the sound of rain
I know that I can carry on
I feel that I'm refreshed again
Oh, yes, I know I am

(Repeat chorus)
#15 SONGLINES IN THE CITY

When I travel in the country I know the way to go
What my people told me is the only way I know
But sometimes in the city I get lost and feeling bad
There are so many people there with eyes that look so mad
There's got to be a knowledge of where I'm meant to be
This earth that I belong to, it knows more than me
You only seem to hear it when you sing it as your own
Have you ever tried to sing upon the land that is your home?

There are songlines in the city for the people there to hear
But the people keep on walking
Never knowing what they fear
They keep walking, never knowing
For the people cannot hear
There are songlines in the city . . . for the people

Long ago they did it, but few still know the songs
Nowadays we stray from the place where we belong
We lost this way of knowing a long, long time ago
Hearing only city sounds we don't know what we know
Music is our meaning and how we find our way
The most important matters are not things you can say
The ancestors made lines to show us where to go
The music is our memory of what we need to know
(Repeat chorus)

Stay back from the river
Tread softly on the hillside for a while
We will ask the land to tell us
And we listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen. . .

The buildings of our cities, just shapes upon the ground
If we listen careful they don't change the sound
Dreaming tracks are footprints of ancestors long gone
Places we have been before remembered in a song
Possessions make us tired, we don't sing no more
I think we have forgotten what our songs are for
Everything we notice tells a story in a song
What we know and where we been and what we're doing wrong
(Repeat chorus)

 #16 LODE (l-oh-da)
(from My Life as a Kookaburra)

Lode, my friend 
You're a part of my being 
I love you, and call you my own 
Once in a while 
I can see what you're seeing 
And I wonder at how much you've grown

Do you remember the magical music 
And how we laughed loud and long 
Through all the trials and painful illusions 
They were playing our song

Of the Road in the Sky 
You and I were agreeing 
Even though I never knew 
When I hated 
Despaired of my being 
I was just punishing you
(Repeat chorus)

Of the Road in the Sky 
You and I are enjoying 
Living one day at a time 
The time of our lives 
Is the moment we're living 
When I can share yours and mine
(Repeat chorus)

Of the Road in the Sky 
It is onward we're going 
Where the Road leads we don't know 
But we can live 
Content in the knowing 
Wherever it leads we will go
(Repeat chorus)

Of the Road in the Sky
Lode and I

Road in the Sky
Lode and I
We are one

#17 DON'T POUR YOUR CONTENTS OVER ME

A wise young person said to me where teaching is concerned
There's more to school than simply information to be learned
The truth of education in this phrase could be distilled
We're fires to be kindled, not vessels to be filled

Oh, you can't pour your contents into me
Who you are is all I need to see
How you live and what you give to other people free
Please don't pour your contents over me

My children often say to me: well, yes Dad, no Dad, but
You keep repeating warnings like a record in a rut
We can't respond to everything you wished for us and willed
We're fires to be kindled, not vessels to be filled
(Repeat chorus)

A lover told me once that I was very nice to know
Except, she said, for one thing, dear, which really has to go
You try to tell me how to live my life and be fulfilled
I'm a fire to be kindled, not a vessel to be filled
(Repeat chorus)

My workmates said you want to be a better boss, my friend?
Then we suggest you make your goal those preaching ways to mend
Instead, discuss your plans with those appropriately skilled
We're fires to be kindled, not vessels to be filled
(Repeat chorus)

#18 I'VE GOT STRESS
(From Stress the Musical)

I've got stress, I've got stress
Since I got here today I've got stress
'Cause I do hope you'll like me, I want to impress
I've practiced all morning, but nevertheless
My thoughts seem to be in a hell of a mess
What a mess, I confess, I've got stress

I've got stress, I've got stress
What a mess, I confess, I've got stress
And I wonder if you've got it, everyone does
If you haven't you should, it'll give you a buzz
Or perhaps you're the blighter who gives it to us
What a mess, I confess, I've got stress

I've got stress, I've got stress
Every time I do this I've got stress
I came to this Conference mainly to play
But since reading the program I've had it all day
Don't know what it is, but it won't go away
What a mess, I confess, I've got stress

I've got stress, I've got stress
When I go to my room I've got stress
Cause the bed's a bit lumpy, the cupboard is bare
I can't do my homework cause I ain't got no chair
And I'm getting the feeling there's nits in my hair
What a mess, I confess, I've got stress

I've got stress, I've got stress
What a mess, I confess, I've got stress
On a spiritual journey you can't sleep at night
The people are noisy, the light is too bright
Then well after breakfast you wake up in fright
What a mess, I confess, I've got stress
#19 BROTHERS IN ARMS

Martin and Bennelong came from different worlds
There at Port Jackson when the flag was unfurled
One man was pale and remembered a homeland so green
The other was dark and his home was wherever he'd been

Martin and Bennelong were on opposite sides
Both had a sickness that goes with the fiercest of prides
The darker sold out to the white man for whiskey and wine
The paler stole rum as his way to the end of the line

Look for the sameness and not for the difference
Life is a struggle, not least for a drinker
That fight which can only be won by surrender
Takes many to death in despair

Martin and Bennelong fell to the ground far apart
Lay without hearing the crying of each other's heart
They lost the fight and as life slipped from out of their palms
God smiled and said, it's okay now, you're brothers in arms 		#20 TAKE MY HAND
(From Stress the Musical)

Take my hand while I tell you my story
Hold me close as I try to tell you why
There are times when I so miss my children
That I'm sad even though there's you and I

Take my hand while I talk to my children
Hold me close when I hear no reply
Be with me as I cry in the night-time
For it's this love we share, you and I

So alone, I'm so alone
I want you to be here next to me
When you're here there's a better kind of feeling
Oh, I'm so alone

Take my hand while I think of the future
Hold me close while I worry about the past
Be with me as I live for the moment
For it's all here and now and you and I

(Repeat last two verses)
#21 JUST FIX THE SYMPTOMS, DOC
(Don't make me change my life)

Oh! Doctor somebody, I think I've got a pain
It comes and goes, here and there
But I think it's in my brain
Oh! Oh! Oh! there it goes again

I want relief and its up to you to make it go away
You know I have to do the things I have to do each day
But I didn't ask for misery and I can't bear any strife
Just fix the symptoms, Doc
Don't make me change my life

Oh! Doctor somebody, there's poison in my food
I want it plastic shiny clean, but it doesn't taste too good
Oh! I can't fix it, but I wish somebody would
(Repeat chorus)

Oh! Doctor somebody, so many things I need
You gotta fix the environment
But satisfy my greed
Oh! Oh! From this bind I must be freed
(Repeat chorus)

Oh! Doctor somebody, I think I've got a pain
It comes and goes, here and there
But I think it's in my brain
Oh! Oh! Oh! there it goes again
(Repeat chorus)

#22 TWIN PINES SONG (This Land is My Home)

Coming back to where I lived when I was very young
Standing on this earth that gave me strength to laugh and run
I recall how land and sky were innocence and joy
I saw the sunrise every morning as a boy

I grew up on a dairy farm in northern New South Wales
Dad and us would watch the sunrise from the old cowbails
Life was mostly dreaming then of things that I would do
Now I've been and done them all and come back home to you - and now I know

This land is part of me
This earth, it is my Mother
This ground my feet embrace
This land, it is my home

This land was cleared to make a farm and raise a family
We all moved on and now the land is planted back in trees
But land and sky and you and I are one eternal plan
I saw the sunrise here this morning as a man

I know that life is asking me to love you without fear
Caring for the land and sky and all that we hold dear
Brothers, sisters, everywhere, come let me take your hand
We can live in harmony, belonging to the land - and we can say
(Repeat chorus)

#23 THE FANTASY

Now, here's a little tale of a fantasy that I had one night in the pub
Saw a very funny fella with his hair gone yella and a face like a witchety grub (looked liked Yoder)
He said: I'm gonna take you to a place where you can get everything you want and some
I said: I don't ordinarily do such things but I just might possibly come

Well, he took me to a place where there were boys and girls all dressed in satin and lace
And the one that came to meet me had a very alluring, titillating face
I could see that she was keen on me and being rather nervous I was frozen where I stood
I thought: what ordinarily wouldn't happen now looks as if it possibly could

So, I tried to look romantic and I forced a smile and I said (ahem!) how do you do?
She said: I think I know you, but I'm not quite sure, would you tell me who are you?
She said: I gotta check the list. I said: well sure if you insist and then I'll know my name forthwith
Well, it ain't necessarily always so, but tonight I think I'd better be Smith

Well, a funny thing it was but they didn't have a Smith on the list so we had to leave
But the yella fella said: never mind that Fred, I've a few more up my sleeve
I can take you to a place where you get paid a thousand bucks and money grows on trees
I said: I don't customarily need that much but, yes, if you wouldn't mind, please

I imagined all the things that I could buy when I was rich as we lined up for our dough
Like a blue and red Mercedes and a mansion and a yacht and a lawnmower that would go
But the awful truth again was when they asked me who I was and I was still not really sure
They quite categorically pointed out that the money wasn't growing any more

Well, I was getting quite depressed and my mood got worse so I toddled off to see the Doc
He looked quite at ease thinking up a disease that would give me a pretty bad shock
He said: you maybe got a cancer, but I think I got the answer if you take these little pills
It's an indisputably proven fact little pills will settle all ills
(And don't forget to pay the bills. Next)

Well, it didn't fix the problem and I saw that I was beaten so I turned my head for home
And I'm willing to admit that it was really a relief to see the last of that little yella gnome
I thought: I've only got myself and if I'm not sure who I am then I haven't got a lot
But a thought momentarily struck me then - better make the most of what I've got!