Peaceful Assembly Choir

[Russell Kanning]

second meeting tonight
first public outing went well in Concord last week

[Pat K]

WOCMD= Weapons OF Choir Mass Destruction

[Russell Kanning]

ideas sung to music are dangerous to tyranny

[Kat Kanning]

Great movie:

The Singing Revolution [the official trailer]

[Sam A. Robrin]

I'd sure like to be closer, to take a more active role in this project (probably not in the vocal department...).  There are dozens of songs in the repertoire though (around 125 at last count), and I'm always happy to write to an occasion.
     As I expressed it in my preferred medium:

SING THAT FREEDOM SONG!
COPYRIGHT JA 2010 by Sam A. Robrin or whoever the hell it is who writes these things. Go ahead and use it, but if you make a little money on it, I want some!

To convey our message to the population,
     Oftentimes complex ideas take too long.
The news will air some puzzling truncation.
     Say it briefly and with beauty in a song!

     TV soundbytes are perceived as so much blather,
          And will be reacted to dismissively.
     The viewers of the nightly news would rather
          Absorb new thoughts with rhyme and melody.

      We can faintly hear the chimes of freedom ringing
           While establishing our frisky form of order,
      But if we don't find our voice and get to singing,
           This project won't project beyond the border.

Shouting vicious insults, making threats, and ranting
     Won't reflect repute as reasoned paragons.
Neither will a weak resort to mindless chanting
     Like obsequious tea-party neocons.

     There's a way to show ourselves and those around us
          That the violence behind the State is wrong:
     If we stand steadfast and staunchly as cops pound us,
          We'll promote our peaceful protest with a song.

      When our heads are bashed and tear-gassed eyes are stinging,
           And we're cuffed and being led away to jail,
      If we don't find our voice and get to singing,
           This effort gets an "F" for total fail.
      
Prior movements set a firm example for us:
     Every one that lasted had its balladeers.
Voices still combine to rise in soaring chorus
     Of songs immortalized throughout the years.

     We can silently continue our exertion
          To form the free world where we all belong,
     But to fully write "FINIS" to State coercion,
          Better frame and formulate our freedom song!

      There's a heavy haul of heart and hope we're bringing,
           To ideas we, bizarrely, still must prove--
      But if we don't find our voice and get to singing,
           This movement isn't ever going to move.


(That still needs a melody, if there are any composers reading!)

[Sam A. Robrin]

I just checked, and The Singing Revolution is available for preview on YouTube, in ten parts:

1.Laulev Revolutsioon / Singing Revolution Documentary 1/10
2.Laulev Revolutsioon / Singing Revolution Documentary 2/10
3.Laulev Revolutsioon / Singing Revolution Documentary 3/10
4.Laulev Revolutsioon / Singing Revolution Documentary 4/10
5.Laulev Revolutsioon / Singing Revolution Documentary 5/10
6.Laulev Revolutsioon / Singing Revolution Documentary 6/10
7.Laulev Revolutsioon / Singing Revolution Documentary 7/10
8.Laulev Revolutsioon / Singing Revolution Documentary 8/10
9.Laulev Revolutsioon / Singing Revolution Documentary 9/10
10.Laulev Revolutsioon / Singing Revolution Documentary 10/10

[Kat Kanning]

Cool, thanks!

I ordered it from Blockbuster, too, so sometime soon we'll have a movie night and show it.

[John]

Thanks Sam!
I already know the answer (having had the conversation the first time we met) but, for those who are concerned, what is your position on people tinkering around and changing some of your lyrics?

[Sam A. Robrin]

Thanks Sam!
I already know the answer (having had the conversation the first time we met) but, for those who are concerned, what is your position on people tinkering around and changing some of your lyrics?

Well, it depends on what you have in mind.  I'd appreciate changes being run by me first, but that's a request, not a demand.
I'm also fussy that rhymes be exact (No rhyming "clam" or "man" with "sand," e.g.), that rhythms conform to the musical line, and that inverted word order (such as "happy I always will be")  be avoided.  All those devices have always shouted Laziness! and Indifference! to me, so now I practice as I've preached.
But the main point is to get out the liberty message every which way it can go, so for the most part, have at it!

[Sam A. Robrin]

As usual, could not resist, so here's a rough draft of my very free lyrical translation, with links to a recording, plus lyrics and a more literal translation.  If anyone has a one-syllable word for humankind, I've always had an aversion to the gender-specific designation.  I also may have gone overboard with the rhyming in the final stanza, which is why I'm soliciting commentary.


AS OLD AS MAN--EVER ALIVE  ("Mu Isamaa On Minu Arm")
COPYRIGHT N 2010 by Sam A. Robrin or whoever the hell it is who writes these things. Go ahead and use it (hey,I lifted the melody), but if you make a little money on it, I want some!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_isamaa_on_minu_arm
Mu isamaa on minu arm (XXIV üldlaulupidu 2004)

As old as Man--ever alive:
     My life and more to me.
          This song--all songs!--I sing to you,
               My precious liberty.
          This song--all songs!--I sing to you.
               My precious liberty.
        When you are pierced, it's I who bleed;
             Your strength and health sustain all need.
             Your strength and health sustain all need.
             As old as Man--
                   Ever alive.

As old as Man--ever alive!   
     Worth all that I can give:
          My life in death if that need be;
               My life in how I live.
          My life in death if that need be;
               My life in how I live.
        Through fierce campaigns of lies and spite,
             Freedom full proves its path is right.
             Freedom full proves its path is right.
          As old as Man--
               Ever alive.

As old as Man--ever alive!
     We will not live as slaves.
          Our deeds are pebbles tossed in ponds
               Whose ripples turn to waves.
          Our deeds are pebbles tossed in ponds
               Whose ripples turn to waves,
        To inundate and irrigate
                  The desert State, and germinate
                  Free forests, growing strong and straight!
                As old as Time--
                     Ever to be!

[AntonLee]

I enjoyed singing with folks.  It's better than chanting.  Today we chanted for Evan, and while we added some claps in. . . it just didn't feel the same.  Plus we stopped one by one and as usual someone was left chanting by themselves. 

[Sam A. Robrin]

Well, as long as you mention it:

WHAT WE'RE ALL ABOUT
COPYRIGHT AP 2010 by Sam A. Robrin or whoever the hell it is who writes these things. Go ahead and use it, but if you make a little money on it, I want some!

State atrocities can make you blow your stack
     With an overwhelming impulse to strike back!
               Aside from the morality,
               It has no practicality--
          Free State freedom-lovers learned a brand-new tack!

   'Cause
      It's better to shout than to hit,
           And it's better to chant than to shout.
      It's better still to sing than to chant, and it
           Is the singing that shows what we're all about!
         [And the singing is what's going to get him out!]

We believe in liberty, and we're proud!
     If you love freedom, though, no hitting is allowed!
               But outrages by the State
               Cause such anger and, yes, hate,
          That it's tough to quell the shouting of the crowd.

   But
      It's better to shout than to hit,
           And it's better to chant than to shout.
      It's better still to sing than to chant, and it
           Is the singing that shows what we're all about!
         [And the singing is what's going to get him out!]

Even ardent individualists may find
     They'll chant shared ideas in one voice combined
               But that form of free expression
               Gives the misleading impression
          We speak Groupthink with insectoid beehive-mind.

   So
      It's better to shout than to hit,
           And it's better to chant than to shout.
      It's better still to sing than to chant, and it
           Is the singing that shows what we're all about!
         [And the singing is what's going to get him out!]

Congress, cops, courts, and corrections commit wrongs--
     In the unmourned past is where the State belongs.
               In that creed, we're not alone,
               And to make our feelings known,
          We lift hearts and minds and voices with our songs.

      It's better to shout than to hit,
           And it's better to chant than to shout.
      It's better still to sing than to chant, and it
           Is the singing that shows what we're all about! 
         [And the singing's what is going to get him out!]

[TalleyTV]

I totally agree with Anton. I suggested a chant so that Emperor Evan could hear us. Next time we should be prepared with song sheets. I was going to ask the talented Mr. Onley to make a suggestion but he beat me to it!

Richard, what tune would this song be sung to?

[Sam A. Robrin]

I totally agree with Anton. I suggested a chant so that Emperor Evan could hear us. Next time we should be prepared with song sheets. I was going to ask the talented Mr. Onley to make a suggestion but he beat me to it!

Richard, what tune would this song be sung to?

Give me a call, and I'll hum the melody I deedle-dummed for it.  I imagine that someone with more actual musical talent could compose a better one.

Now if you'd really wanted to put everything on the line, I wrote this one to use when that becomes an inevitability--which it will, and sooner than we think....:

YOU'LL HAVE TO ARREST US ALL
COPYRIGHT AP 2010 by Sam A. Robrin or whoever the hell it is who writes these things. Go ahead and use it, but if you make a little money on it, I want some!

You think that we belong to you;
     We won't be held in thrall!
We're going to show you're wrong to you,
     Make those illusions fall!
That's why we sing this song to you--
   Hear it, then it's your call.
      If you arrest him, be prepared:
           You'll have to arrest us all.
      If you arrest him, be prepared:
           You'll have to arrest us all.

You think that we belong to you;
     We won't be held in thrall!
We're going to show you're wrong to you,
     Make those illusions fall!
That's why we sing this song to you--
   Hear it, then it's your call.
      If you arrest him, no one's spared:
             We'll make you arrest us all.
      If you arrest him, no one's spared:
             We'll make you arrest us all.

You think that we belong to you;
     We won't be held in thrall!
We're going to show you're wrong to you,
     Make those illusions fall!
That's why we sing this song to you--
   Hear it, then it's your call.
      If you arrest him, we've declared,
           You're going to arrest us all.
      If you arrest him, we've declared,
           You're going to arrest us all.

You think that we belong to you;
     We won't be held in thrall!
We're going to show you're wrong to you,
     Make those illusions fall!
That's why we sing this song to you--
   Hear it, then it's your call.
      If you arrest him, we're not scared.
           Let's see you arrest us all!
      If you arrest him, we're not scared.
           Let's see you arrest us all!

I made the verses identical and the choruses slightly different, so it would be easy to memorize.  I have an original melody (that probably isn't very original) for it.

[Sam A. Robrin]

I've lately been trying to work out something to sing involving chalk, but I'm still thinking that over.  This was the first song I thought of--one of those numbers that I loved to pieces, but that never became all that big a hit.  I thought the lyrics were pretty good standing alone, so decided to share them:

Too Much Talk
Paul Revere & the Raiders
Too much talk Paul Revere and the Raiders

Read the news in the Times today...
Said the world is goin' round
   (World is goin' round)
I don't care what somebody said,
Somebody always puts 'em down
   (Always puts 'em down)

Red or yellow, black or white?
Are you left-handed or are you right?
When you open your eyes can you see the light?
Do you wake up screamin' in the middle of the ni-i-i-ight?

Too much talk, and not enough action
Do you know anybody gettin' satisfaction?
Everbody wonders 'bout the crowd's reaction.
And the world gets better by a very small fraction.

Turn around til you see a face
And it won't be very long
   (Won't be very long)
Someone soon will be in your place
And it won't be very wrong
   (Won't be very wrong)
Red or yellow, black or white..... (to chorus)

Bridge:
(chorus--down tempo)
Now's our chance to change the world,
Change the world with love, with love...

(Chorus repeats)

There's a Coldplay song that I'd never heard or heard of that looks promising....