Neighbourhood Folk - Apr 6 - 2025 04 07

 

We gathered and we sang and played our hearts into a trouble world. 

Stephen led us in a Russian hymn for peace on earth, "Mir Miru Mir". The melody was familiar to a traditional celtic song. It was helpful to sing a song for peace from the neighbourhoods of folk in Russia who are resisting the dictatorship and aggression from their government.

Jane shared her incredibly beautiful song, "Feather and Stone", about the dignity of choosing when it is time for your life on earth to end. After we sang through the song twice, we had a deep conversation about our personal experiences of close family, making the decision, or not, and how their words and thoughts in those final moments of their life stay with us.

During the conversation, the phrase, "let nature take its course" came to mind. I rummaged in my collection and pulled out a song I wrote the day after my Mom passed, "We Are Not Alone". We played it through twice, as well. It was a deep comfort to hear others singing with me, knowing they understand, feeling their empathy and sympathy in the act of harmonizing and sharing the journey.

We heard Moira's story about her experiences as a young, Irish immigrant teaching school in the Nass Valley, "I came around the bend and there was a pack of wolves standing in the trail. They look at me calmly. I decided to turn around and go back the way I came." Moira's stories tell of experiences that describe an adventurous spirit  on a trail fraught with the potential for catastrophe. Her no-nonsense approach, told with a captivating Irish accent, lead us down the trail with her, cringing with suspense and then laughing with relief for safe outcomes.

With the image of 'step by step' on our minds, Barb led us to learn Melanie DeMore's song, "One Foot / Lead with Love". The lyric that stuck with me,  

I know you’re scared

And I’m scared too

But here I am

Right next to you

Al requested we play, "The Weight" by the band. With each round singing the chorus, our voices lifted in many-part harmony, 

[Chorus]

 A      E/G#      D

Take a load off, Fanny.

A      E/G#       D

Take a load for free.

A      E/G#       D

Take a load off, Fanny.

D     Dsus4 D                             A

And...And...And.you put the load right on me.

Dave shared an experience familiar to many of us in Vancouver, when to step in to help and when to carry on with the work we already have before us, trusting someone else will fill the gap. The refrain in the chorus, "We got to try" helped us all to forgive our regrets and bolster our efforts to be part of the solution to alleviate the self-inflicted suffering our humanity seems destined to repeat.

Michel sang his bouncy two-step, "Lots of Fish Around". He tells of his childhood up the coast, and the work we need to do to make sure there are lots of fish around for our children's children.

Laurence and Libby arrived with toddler Ivor. We sang a song I wrote when my grandson was a baby and I could not get him to sleep without walking him miles in a rickety collapsable stroller, "Starlight". It is a song of wishing on a star, of wishing our babies and kids are snug and safe in bed, our young parents have everything they need to house and feed their children, and that our grandparents have a warm bed and a roof o'er their head. Wishing we are all loved, safe and warm.

We managed to circle back to Stephen's "Hummingbird" song. He tells the story of how a four ounce hummingbird interrupted the march of the machinery and destruction to build an oil pipeline over Burnaby Mountain. His refrain,

So we ally up

we circle round

with all our relations

the whole world 'round

brought tears to my eyes. I was not alone in the feeling of wanting to protect our friends in nature from short-sighted human-made environmental catastrophe.

Finally we wrapped up with a rousing rendition of, "Donkey Riding" for young Ivor. He played wood blocks in rhythm with the song. We need our Canadian folk songs now, more than ever. We need to sing and play them in our livingrooms, with our family and neighbours. We need to know who we can trust, and who has the best interests of our common good at heart.

The music ended when we were too hungry to play anymore. Jane brought homemade pekora - they were delicious with fresh arugula leaves. I made a simple pot of pea soup, made with vegetable broth so everyone could have a bowl. We sat around the table, eating and talking, sharing our life stories and experiences. 

At the end of the afternoon, we headed home with new friends, a deeper feeling of connection and shared purpose, and a broader perspective of what is possible in these times.

It was a small and might group that gathered yesterday. Our ages ranged from one year old to somewhere in the seventies. We enjoyed each others' company and shared a small part of the infinite depths of humanity and possibility. There are many more songs than we can sing in one Sunday afternoon. And many more songs to write.