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I have been away from home for a (WHOLE!) week. When I came in my office this morning I open both doors to get some life back into the air that had staled. The summer semester is over and I had a morning to luxuriate in free time, so I decided to catch up on my blog reading.
I was delighted to discover that Music and Peace is the topic of Kozo’s Monthly Peace Challenge for August. What a great invitation to pause and ponder what peace sounds like. There is a fabulous array of interpretations that have been posted on his site, from classics like Edwin Starr’s War (from Many Little Drops) and Cat Steven’s Peace Train (Dianna’s choice) to modern versions of familiar favorites like Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Claudia‘s pick). I’ve also discovered new treasures like Deva Primal, Moola Mantra (on Leigh’s playlist). Good stuff!
After listening to the wide range of songs that said “peace” to others I sat here thinking about what songs meant “peace” to me. While I was busy with that mind jazz, a joyful noise breezed in unnoticed through the open doors. It was the soft, but persistent sound of the cicadas. Their clicking rhythms swelled huge enough to overcome the noise of my own mental chatter. It continued growing, filling in the spaces between the trees. The rhythm abruptly synchopated before dissipating. In the short rest that followed I heard the faint susurrus of the ducklings. A hawk called out from somewhere in the sky and momma duck added her voice to the mix. Call and response. I am here! I am here! I am. I am.
And that is how those durn ducks managed to work their way into yet another one of my posts about peace.
Back to the human music…
I’m positively giddy to be back home, which might be why all the music I’m drawn to today is peaceful in an exhuberant sort of way, like this rendition of Imagine:
…and as a child of the 80s, We Are the World resonates with me as a peace activist sort of song, so I was delighted to find this recently updated version:
Then I found a hardcore version of a peaceful song El-D favors:
And this afternoon Skattur showed me this little singer passionately crooning peaceful Elvis songs…
Her song starts around :59 seconds in, but the whole video is well worth watching.
What songs speak peace to you?
Noelle of Be the Breath shared her yoga playlist in a recent blog post. As she pointed out in her post, our yogi is a strong proponent of hatha practice without musical accompaniment. I disregarded that directive entirely and went off bending to the bleat of a different trumpeter.
My “happy morning songs” playlist is the one I often play for my 8:00 a.m. Saturday class. One of her picks is definitely going to be used for that class:
And here are a few songs that I’m currently using for Saturday morning class.
…and my Happy Morning savasana:
What songs get you up and inspired?
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