“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
…
The quote above pretty much sums up my whole experience of composing and performing my improvised piece with the Echoes of Peace choir last weekend.
We have Eric Swanson to thank for the lovely recording. Since a number of you asked about it, I posted the entire piece (even though it is nearly nine minutes long *smile*). I would love to hear your thoughts.
Songs change.
If you sing a song for a long time — a good song — it changes and grows just like a person. You get to see it’s personality. It shows you its funny side — or the pain it keeps hidden underneath.
I learned this song from Ysaye Barnwell in a workshop many years ago, and I’ll admit it troubled me a little. I wasn’t sure I liked singing about finding peace in dying and it made me sad to think of slaves singing this song and longing for the release of death. (There’s a lot of pain in that idea.)
But … when I got the news this weekend that the mother of one of my ATWI classmates had passed away earlier this week, this is the song I found myself singing.
And there was comfort in it (at least for me).
Like I said, songs change.
[audio:http://songtaneous.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Soon-I-Will-Be-Done.mp3|titles=Soon I Will Be Done][flv:http://songtaneous.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/InThisPlace.flv 450 337]
One of the things I enjoy about improvising with words is what I discover about my state of mind. Sometimes, I uncover what I’m thinking or feeling as I hear the words come out of my mouth. It’s a strange, somewhat surreal and very open experience.
I sang this on our first singing day in Tenerife. While singing, I explored the connection I felt to the people and the place. (I felt this connection over and over again during my time there.)
