Concert Songs

THE KITE SONG

This song is about the innocence of flying a kite and the symbolism of the freedom and hope it represents. It is like a dream. We are dreaming of this perfect family scene on a summer day and thinking of how great life can be. In this song, the kite is the hope that rises above the fear that rises above the the pain, that rises above the mundane. "In the middle of the night, we keep sending little kites, until a little light gets through."


HEAVENLY DAY

I like this song because it represents freedom and how we can create our own heavens on earth. We can seek the highest meaning and pleasure right here on earth, because there is no place else to go. In the end it is only having faith that change for the better is possible, that enables us to eradicate the impediments that hold us back from living a truly fulfilled life. Like my writer friend Margaret says:
By keeping your focus on your blessings, the process has started.
By maintaining an attitude of deep gratitude for even the smallest grace, you’ve accomplished much. By opening yourself up to a sense of wonder for the beauty that surrounds you, you’ve drawn nearer to the hidden spring.
After a while you will begin to realize that, even if the circumstances of your life have not changed, you have. The healing energy has begun to bubble up from deep within the hidden recesses of your consciousness.
Like the man who found a way to make his vision a reality, you will have discovered the secret wellspring of grace that lies hidden in your own heart.
Let's each one of us make this a heavenly day in our own way. Let's begin to live our own dreams!

DON'T LET ME BE MISUNDERSTOOD

This song was first recorded for Nina Simone in the 1960's. It was rerecorded by many including Elvis Costello and most recently by Yusuf Islam. I especially like Yusuf's version. The song sort of speaks for itself.

SMILE

I like Lyle Lovett's version and in my mind I could hear how Johnny Cash would have recorded this. Another writer I read quite often said, "Smiling makes us feel good. It's like a vitamin B shot for our own morale. And it can lead to deeds of kindness, small thoughtful acts, courtesy and good manners, all of which guarantees that our journey through life will be far more pleasant than if we do not smile and greet one another.
We're a world and a culture that is all too often ruled by fear. Where fear rules, violence follows. The fact is that all dark deeds evolve out of fear. Fear is a negative form of faith.
But a person who makes smiling a normal part of life is demonstrating a positive faith in all that is good in the world.
I have this idea that when we humans were created out of the substance of Divine Mind, the image the Creator held was the beauty of the human smile. I think our Creator longed for something of such shining beauty it would endure forever. No other creature has the ability to smile. That is our gift to the world.
We may not be able to alter the course of history, but every time we greet one another, friend and stranger alike, with a genuine, friendly smile, we're making the world a brighter and happier place.
So smile often! Have a cheerful greeting for everyone you meet. Acknowledge the check out clerk and the stock boy, the mail carrier and the neighbors out cutting their lawns.
Smiles build a community of folks and make the whole world one community."

DARKNESS DARKNESS

This is a Richard Shindell song. This about the fear of the unknown, a fear which we have all felt but it's also about the opportunity the unknown may bring. The "things we cannot see" can be made known and that is power and that is more knowledge.

PEOPLE MY AGE

This is a bit of a humorous look at growing old. It seems like just yesterday when we were all 28 and getting together and the Love Sister's apartment. This song was written by John Gorka.
If we can laugh at growing old, it makes growing old easier. Life is too short not to laugh!

NORTHBOUND 35

This a Jeffrey Foucault song. He is a poet and a songwriter and this song proves it.
I saw Jeffrey at the New Moon in Oshkosh in August of 2007 and since then have been hooked on his music.

LIVES IN THE BALANCE

This is the MOST political song I will sing today. It's about the inanity of war and well....you know a liberal passivist's feelings about war, say no more!

HELPLESS

This song is about not being able to change the world, it's about being the change you want to be in the world, it's about changing the things we can, leaving things along we cannot change and the courage to know the difference. The song is called "Helpless."

YOUR SONG

This song is about friendship and how important it is. As Wikipedia says: Friendship is co-operative and supportive behavior between two or more people. In this sense, the term connotes a relationship which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, and affection and respect along with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis. Friends will welcome each other's company and exhibit loyalty towards each other, often to the point of altruism. Their tastes will usually be similar and may converge, and they will share enjoyable activities. They will also engage in mutually helping behavior, such as exchange of advice and the sharing of hardship. A friend is someone who may often demonstrate reciprocating and reflective behaviors.


JUSTICE

OK, this is my my 2nd most political song I will sing. It is from Canadian Bruce Cockburn. It's called Justice. It's about how vengance and hate carry the lust for justice too far, leading to war.

HOMEWARD BOUND

Here's a Paul Simon tune, one of my favorites, and it's about the feeling of home and how we all yearn to find our way home in this chaotic world.


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ENCORES:

LOVE IS BLINDNESS

ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?

Capo III
All the chords are in standard fingering, meaning:
D: 000232G: 320033A: 002220Em: 022000
Except in the intro, which will take a little stretching, although don't worry if you can't:
D*: 000235G*: 320035
Also, there are a couple of walk-up/walk-downs in the verses:
**walk up to the G chord with an F# (second fret) on the 6th string***walk down to the Em chord with an F# (second fret) on the 6th string
Intro: (D*)(G*)(D)(G)
(D)You took the toaster when you went (G)You never paid your half the (D)rent You took the spices from the rack (G)But you don't have to put 'em (D)back'Cause in your haste on Hallo(A)weenYou left your camera on the (Em)bedWhere we played roles in **black and (G)whiteYou left a roll of ***black and (Em)whiteI set the timer, thought of (A)youPut the lens up to my (Em)headI took a photograph **for you(G)What comes out gray is really (D)red
So are (A)y(Em)o(G)u happy (D)now?Are (A)y(Em)o(G)u happy (D)now?Are (A)y(Em)o(G)u happy (D)now? (A)
(D)I smashed your pumpkin on the floor (G)The candle flickered at my (D)feetAs goblins flew across the moon (G) The children peered into the (D)roomA cowboy shivered on the (A)porchAnd Cinderella checked her (Em)watchA hobo waited **in the (G)streetAn angel whispered ***trick or (Em)treatWhat was I supposed to (A)doBut to sit there in the (Em)darkI was amazed to **think that you(G)Would take the candy with you (D)too
CHORUS
(D)I've sat all night, and now it's dawn (G)And I cannot believe my (D)eyesThere's garbage strewn across the lawn (G)Where we once stared up at the (D)skyAnd streams of paper fill the (A)treeThat hovered over you and (Em)meAnd shaving cream **covers the (G)carThat we picked up in ***Balti(Em)moreAnd though I know it's hard to (A)tellI hope that what's-his-name treats you (Em)wellI still maintain that **he's a bum(G)But it's your money, have some (D)fun
CHORUS
(Em)You always asked why I had (A)notWritten you a verse or (Em)twoSince that's the one thing **I regret (G)I dedicate this one to (D)you
So are (A)y(Em)o(G)u happy (D)now?Are (A)y(Em)o(G)u happy (D)now?Are (A)y(Em)o(G)u happy (D)now? Are (A)y(Em)o(G)u . . . (D)?

Spiritual Movement

By Marc Bloom


When the late great running philosopher George Sheehan, M.D., gave motivational talks to runners, he often quoted the wife of a running convert: "My husband used to be a Methodist. Now he's a runner." Running may not be a religion, but as Dr. Sheehan would go on to say, "It's a retreat, a place to commune with God and yourself, a place for psychological and spiritual renewal." Indeed, many runners consider the roads and trails as places of worship, where they reflect, dream, and give thanks. After all, a church, synagogue, or mosque isn't defined by its four walls. Rather, it's a place where people of shared beliefs gather to connect with themselves and those around them and show their gratitude for the blessings in their lives--sometimes even a PR."The spiritual benefits available in running--appreciating nature, developing a communion with others, seeing how things in the universe connect, meditating--can quiet the mind, facilitate introspection, and help you become more virtuous and whole," says Warren A. Kay, assistant track and cross-country coach, associate professor and chair of the religious and theological studies department at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts. As Kay and other running theologians have found, you can become a more relaxed, satisfied runner with spiritual awareness--no matter your religious beliefs (or lack thereof). Spirituality 101It's been well documented that a spiritual outlook can positively impact your overall health. Numerous studies have found that people with spiritual ties deal with stress better, recover from illness faster, and ultimately, live longer lives.Although the specific link between spirituality and athletic performance has yet to be scientifically explored, Kay says he sees anecdotal evidence for it in his class, The Spirituality of Running. Kay first offered the three-credit course last fall. There was so much interest he had to turn students away. To enroll, students must be avid runners. Some are on the track or cross-country squads; others run in other sports or on their own. Kay's students, 25 in all, come from many religious backgrounds. During the semester, they discuss the historical role religion has played in sports, analyze spirituality in running literature and film, and write personal essays about spiritual experiences they've had while running.Kay, 53, a former 1:54 college half-miler who runs 30 miles a week, hopes his lessons help students look beyond the performance aspects of the sport and use their runs to discover more about themselves and the world around them.Jacqueline Fazioli, 21, says Kay's class helped her gain strength from her teammates. "Cross-country is not an easy sport," she says. "But it can be made easier by the people around you. Making that connection is a spiritual thing."Another of Kay's students, Adam Johnson, 22, said the ideas he learned in class helped him cope when he couldn't run. "When I had an injury, I was able to put things in perspective. It changed the kind of runner I am. I now run as an expression of myself rather than for competition."That doesn't mean that spirituality and competitiveness can't coexist. Scott Jurek, who won the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon for the second time in July, credits his meditative approach to running for his racing success. "When I go running I call it 'turning off the noise,'" says Jurek, 31, of Seattle. "Some people solve problems or listen to music. I try to focus on my body and enjoy my surroundings. This helps me in races. I'm able to go on autopilot and push through difficult moments. People will ask, 'How did you do that?' and there's really no explanation; it's spiritual."What Jurek describes might sound familiar. This heightened state of consciousness is as much "Zen running" or "getting in the zone" as it is spiritual. The concepts and payoffs are the same: Running "in the moment" with a greater sense of awareness and appreciation can make you a stronger, more confident runner and perhaps a more content individual, in general.Former cross-country champion and Olympian Doris Brown Heritage says the spiritual quality of her runs enhances her overall quality of life. "I run every morning with an attitude of worship and thankfulness as nature unfolds, says Heritage, 64, a track and cross-country coach at Seattle Pacific University. "There are things outside ourselves that can feed our souls."To develop your own spiritual connection with running, the Rev. Roger D. Joslin, an Episcopal minister in Bentonville, Arkansas, and author of Running the Spiritual Path, says to concentrate on your breathing (for more tips, see "Higher Powers,") "Listen to the sound of your feet, feel the shift of the wind--but more than anything, listen to your breath," says the Rev. Joslin, 55, who has run three marathons. Focusing on your breathing enables you to still the mind and become aware of things--including the simple pleasure of running. "When running is joyful and calms you and frees you to be creative and think of the positive side of life," says Heritage, "then it's truly worthwhile."

Blue Hills: A Spiritual Perspective

by Margaret Lathrop


"I shall lift up mine eyes unto the everlasting hills."
I love that sentence. I love its musical inflection and its evocative beauty that conveys a sense of inner stillness and profound comfort.
The poet was not speaking about mountains, but rather he spoke of pastoral hills, gently undulating along the horizon like waves of a placid lake on a summer day.
Mountains are not comforting. They are awe-inspiring and fiercely beautiful, but they are also overwhelming in their majesty, and rather intimidating.
But hills hold their valleys cupped gently as a child holds a butterfly, protecting the valleys from the ravages of storm and tempering their climates in small ways about which we so seldom think.
These low, blue hills that surround our valley town are the sort of hills that the ancient psalmist had in mind, and no day passes that I fail to look toward them and marvel at their loveliness.
I think of these hills as the "blue hills," part of the ancient Niagara Escarpment that was built up untold millions of years ago by the skeletal remains of tiny crustaceans that lived in the shallow sea that once covered this valley. But their coloring shifts with the changing light and the revolving seasons. It ranges from sapphire to rose to indigo to muted violet.
Nothing on earth is truly everlasting but surely these encircling hills, ancient as they are, can give mortal man a sense of the eternal.
Once those hills were crisscrossed by small, forgotten back roads where it was safe to meander along at a pace of our own choosing. Often, my late husband would drive slowly along those roads, stopping often in order that we might savor the views of Lake Winnebago in the distance or breathe in the fragrance of the wild roses that cavorted so freely along the hedgerows.
Now those back roads have been altered to accommodate the increased volume of high-speed traffic of our present age.
When folks get into their vehicles and turn on air conditioners and soundtracks, they successfully insulate themselves from the natural world. They become as strangers in their own country, cocooned and separated from the very land that sustains them. There's a sadness in such purposeful separation.
Speaking only for myself, I can say that now more than ever I am wedded to the beauty of the world without which life would seem sterile.
From crimson sunsets to shimmering moonlight to the translucent light that pours itself across these ancient hills at dawn, I am sustained and comforted by the artistry of the Creator. In their constancy I find a spiritual perspective that allows me to let go of the heartache of loss and find comfort in knowing that long after my feet no longer follow the earth path, my soul will remain a part of this green valley and my spirit will become a part of the luminous light that flows across "these everlasting hills."

The Spirit Survives

by Margaret Lathrop

Throughout the tumultuous story of the human race, across the multiple millennia, that part of the human psyche we would define as being of the spirit has somehow endured.

There have been many times and there will be many more yet to come when history has inflicted such grievous wounds upon that spirit that it has gone almost dormant.
But like the desert rose, when circumstance brings a change for the better, it blooms again.
Like the mythical phoenix, the human spirit rises from its own ashes.
Always we recognize the manifestation of man's innate spiritual capacity in his ability to perceive and appreciate beauty, his ability to experience compassion and to manifest that empathy in altruistic deeds, even self-sacrifice.
And finally, the presence of the spiritual side of our nature is expressed through creativity and the urge to create, to take the raw clay of our existence and form it into something that is beautiful.
Even when times were darkest there have always been some among us whose heart could soar across the heavens on the wings of some lonely raptor.
Always there have been those who never entirely let the songs of their spirits go still. Always when life seemed its most desolate there have been those who paused to look up and see hope in the far off fire of the stars.
Knowing history as well as I do, it's safe to say that life has always been precarious. Life can change in the blink of an eye.
What with wars and famines and the sudden eruption of disease and every sort of weather one can imagine, we have always been challenged and often we have been, at least temporarily, defeated.
Climate change itself is nothing new. It has had a major impact on human history for as long as earth has been a home for living creatures.
In many ways, it's amazing that we have endured as long as we have. And yet our human spirit has learned to sing, to dance, to laugh, to love and to create and appreciate beauty.
There is no doubt in my mind that we will continue to do so regardless of what the future may hold.
We will never be content to just survive. Even if only a few of us do so, all of us will benefit when the few look up at a star-studded firmament and experience a sense of profound wonder.
Many may pass a flower growing through a crack in the pavement, but if only one of us pauses and is touched by its beauty, it will assure that the human spirit will not perish. The lone singer on a barren hillside under a rain-drenched sky will be the one who keeps the flame of our spirit burning bright.
We are bound together by the common warp of our human nature. And through that warp runs a golden light that can never be extinguished. It is the eternal flame of the Divine Spirit that manifests itself in the creature we call "man."

Eckhart Tolle and the buzz of new music

I know this site is supposed to be for poetry, but I just discovered an author who has been around for a long time. His name is Eckhart Tolle. His new book is called "Oneness with All Life."

"You never no longer derive your identity, you sense of who you are, from the incessant stream of thinking in the old consciousness you take to be yourself. What liberation to realize that 'the voice in my head' is not who I am. Who am I then? The one who sees that. The awareness that is prior to thought, the space in which the thought---or the emotion or sense of perception---happens." NOW THAT'S PRETTY GOOD!

Here is what WIKI says about him:

Early life
Born Ulrich Leonard Tolle in Lünen, near Dortmund, Germany, Eckhart Tolle lived with his father in Spain from about the age of 13 to 19, approximately between the years 1961 and 1967, after which he moved to the UK. He had no formal education between the ages of 13 and 22, refusing to go to school because of its "hostile environment"; but he pursued his own "particular interests."
Tolle graduated from the University of London and entered, but did not complete, a doctoral program at Cambridge University, having studied literature, languages and philosophy. At the age of 29, Tolle experienced what he calls an "inner transformation," after suffering long periods of suicidal depression. Since 1996, he has lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
[edit] Teachings
Tolle's non-fiction bestseller The Power of Now emphasizes not being caught up in thoughts of past and future as a way of being aware of the present moment. His later book A New Earth further explores the structure of the human ego and how this acts to distract people from their present experience of the world. He asserts that it is the feeding of the human ego that is thought to be the source of inner and outer conflict, and that only by examining the ego may people begin to see beyond it and obtain a sense of spiritual enlightening or a new outlook on reality.

Influences
At about the age of fifteen he received five books that were written by a German mystic, Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken, also known as Bô Yin Râ. Tolle responded "very deeply" to those books. He said the first texts with which he came in contact after the awakening and in which he found deep understanding were the New Testament, the Bhagavad Gita, the Tao Te Ching and teachings of The Buddha. In The Power of Now, he mentioned the writings of Meister Eckhart, Advaita Vedanta, A Course in Miracles, the Bible, mystical Islam, Sufism, and Rumi's poetry, as well as Zen Buddhism's Lin-chi (Linji in pinyin ) (Rinzai) school. In the book Dialogues with Emerging Spiritual Teachers by John W. Parker, he has acknowledged a strong connection to J Krishnamurti and Ramana Maharshi and stated that his teaching is a coming together of the teachings of both those teachers, and it is a continuation of that. In addition, he states that by listening to and speaking with the spiritual teacher Barry Long, he understood things more deeply.[
The first of his four books was The Power of Now, a #1 New York Times best-seller that has been translated into over 33 languages. He has also recorded numerous audio interviews and a video. American talk-show host Oprah Winfrey considers The Power of Now to be one of her favorite books. Tolle's most recent book, A New Earth, also topped the Times chart in March, 2008.
In January 2008, Winfrey selected A New Earth s her Oprah's Book Club selection, accompanied by a 10-week live online seminar (or "webinar") with Tolle, which started on

In a 2003 interview with the Telegraph Magazine, Eckhart Tolle indicated that he has no intention to create "a heavy commercial structure" or to set up an ashram.

Tolle has an interesting presentation style, he is probably an acquired taste:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg9lY7_hCGA&feature=related

As far as inspirational music, check out this band called "The Bird and the Bee" who I first saw yesterday on the Ellen G show. They definitely craft their own sound and I cannot get their song, "Love Letter to Japan" out of my mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp2D8IOxFIA

politics

let's tighten our belts and reach across the isle

without bipartisan bickering?

transparency in government but cloaked in code

a war of words or.....

compromise with deadlock?

faces of war

summoning up war analogies

arguing for pork projects

bottling up items in committee

that' the way we do things around here

both sides eagerly posturing and winking

is anything getting done?

pretending to take a stand, but not taking a stand

keep your head down, your mouth shut

appease your constituency

Mexico

fun in the sun
fun on the sand
fun on the beach
fun with friends

comfort and peace
new culture soaks in
youth exploding with vigor
the old even feel young

warm rays
fresh air
new times
new experiences and new memories created

friend consciousness

Is your concern on the mark or beyond the pale?

"What is love?"
"How is love acquired?"
"What do people love and why?"
"How do we know what we know?"

Why bother with all the questions when it's the epistemology of your smile that is meaningful?

Oh Gandhi, MLK, Christ, Obama and holy Jainism

Oh brief spark of life

Oh friendship the ultimate high

Seek it out now before the flame is gone

Tim you are a Christian and I am an agnostic, yet we are good friends.

Richard Dawkins please try to explain this

Bill in spiritual flux from cancer, friendship remains deep

Craig in Christian strictness, you are my solid friend

Mike musically fine and a mentor

You will not betray me

Debbie you are my best friend

what is soul?

is it body or mind?
is it real or spiritual?
is it contrived or natural?
is it wonderment or pure fiction?

can i capture it with science?
i can certainly pray about it
can i wrap my arms around it?
i can feel it when i play guitar and sing

will we ever prove your existence?
do you lie beyond the five senses?
can i touch you?
can i possess you or do you possess me?
who are you my friend, dear mr. soul?

paradigms

pardigms shifting but subtly
paradigms we live under are stubborn
creating their own well worn patterns
the well worn patterns are hard to undermine

changing myself is my own internal paradigm shift
thomas kuhn would agree that...
paradigms are accepted reality
paradigms are reductionistic
it's hard to work against their grain

paradigms are:

what is to be observed and scrutinized
the kind of questions that are supposed to be asked and probed for answers in relation to this subject
how these questions are to be structured
how the results of scientific investigations should be interpreted


paradigms are great, but they are limited by our own senses