There’s pits you never might get to the bottom of There’s rivers flowing any which way but love There’s words nobody with breath ever should have said Reverberating inside your head
All is falling, falling down Falling down on the ground of God
There’s peaks you never might wish to descend from There’s roads going every direction home There’s songs of healing and joy about to be sung Vibrating on the tip of your tongue
All is rising, rising up Rising up from the ground of God
Be still children be still Breathe the breath of life Be not afraid To give it back
There’s no beginning or end to the question There’s battles around you and war within There’s hope that hits you like a bolt from the blue Obliterating what you thought you knew
All is falling, falling down Falling down on the ground of God All is rising, rising up Rising up from the ground of God
One thing pandemic life has taught me is how to write a song at a moment’s notice. Today my afternoon brought me an unexpected two hours to myself, so I set everything aside and started writing just a few minutes after the door closed and I was alone in the house. It’s become almost a habit now, to sit down and write till I get stuck, then take the dog for a walk and try to work out the rest of it. Which is how I finished this one.
The prompt for #songaweek2021’s week 14 is “inside there’s a fire” which was in front of me as I was writing this one, and I liked it enough to take my title from it too.
This week I have a cold so I got to use my low notes. Also I’ve upgraded my blog so I can now directly embed audio files here, rather than linking to Soundcloud. I didn’t make a video this week since I’m not feeling the greatest, wanted the recording process to be low-hassle.
Oh, maybe you can tell I’ve been hearing a lot of U2 lately thanks to my daughter having newly discovered them and playing their music pretty much exclusively all the time. I think some of Bono’s vocalizing influenced me 🙂
I’m sitting on the back steps on an April afternoon Just minding my own business, making up a little tune Nothing’s wrong In this song Sun shining and the birds are singing and the rain falls now and then Grass growing, little buds are showing on the ends of waking stems Everything Is breathing
My heart keeps beating at the bars Of this bony cage
I’m lying on my back one summer night when I was young Eyes gazing through the blackness at a million sparkling suns Up is down Lost is found Hand of another holding mine and fingers intertwined Just-blossomed lovers coming close in body and in mind So damn true So brand new
My heart is pulsing with the stars Through this eager flesh
I’m looking for the way back to the best that’s yet to come I’m jumping in the river just to find out where it runs Sink or swim I’m all in My heart perpetually starts And starts again
Very limited time to write this week but I was feeling inspired in the afternoon I allotted myself today to write and record this song. For spring, for Easter, for love and life . . .
Pick up your questions and put down your weapons And don’t be afraid anymore There’s something to see here if you care to be here Don’t be afraid anymore
Oh . . . love’s alive
The birds are returning, the babies are learning Don’t despair today The cold ice is breaking the warm earth is waking Don’t despair today
Oh . . love’s alive
Share with your neighbor, welcome the stranger Believe you have enough Give yourself mercy, be patient dear person Believe you are enough
Last night I turned off the news and played classical music while I made dinner. Sometimes no words, only music, is exactly what I need. This week, #songaweek2021 week 12, I wanted to make my own wordless music with the instrument I feel most proficient at, my voice. I used a black screen for the video so if you are so inclined, you may want to put the video on full screen – let your screen go black and feel the music. This is my cry of a song for this young year already freighted with so much grief.
Every year for Good Friday my church puts out a call to artists to choose one of the seven last words of Christ and share something based on the particular last words they chose. For now our church is doing everything online – mostly Facebook Live – including the upcoming Good Friday service. I was getting ready to sign up for “Into your hands I commend my spirit,” and started writing the words to this song, before I realized our family’s plan to go camping that weekend will negate my ability to do any livestreaming that day.
Still, I liked what I had started and decided to go ahead and make it my song for week 11 of #songaweek2021.
Every winter I think I’m dying Come the spring I feel like trying Trying again In the summer I know I’m living Go to fall it all starts giving Giving out, gone On and on and on and on
Chasing down the speed of light Face pressed up to window staring out of my existence Back against the wall of furious insistence Into your hands Into your hands I commend my spirit
Every night’s an invitation To a sweet obliteration Of all that I think I should be In the morning I remember Dreams that fade like dying embers Light as dry leaves Leaving, left, and lost
Chasing down the speed of light Face pressed up to window staring out of my existence Back against the wall of furious insistence Into your hands Into your hands I commend my spirit
Julia Bloom 