April 7, 2024: John Balano: Music Is for All Ages

 Message for All Ages

          JOHN:  I went to the library, and it was closed.  And I was so disappointed.  There was a sign on there saying, "We're moving.  We're going to move everything, all the books, from this library to a new building down the road."  And so the magic of the internet is that we can go online and check out library books on your phone.

          So also, you can sit up front, if you want.  There is a picture here.  So here we go.  This one's called Music is for Everyone.  Okay?  So there's a picture of all kinds of people, young people mostly, playing.  "We can clap our hands or stomp our feet.  We can sing out loud or move to the beat.  We can play classical in a symphony, with a big trombone or timpani."  Cymbals.  "We can sing along live, soft as a petal, or shout out loud like heavy metal.  We can bring up sun on a rainy day with some mellow beats and a little reggae.  We can plunk on the piano or strum the guitar.  We can pretend we're on stage, like a big pop star."  Ever do that?  I've done that.

          "We can sing old standards, like a real jazz cat.  We can make up silly words.  They call that scat.  We can play drums.  We can make a racket.  But if you're on the marching band, don't forget your jacket.  We can speak in rhyme and sing hip-hop, or have a mighty fine time playing old bebop.  We can chant special prayers around a big campfire, or sing sweet harmonies as part of a choir."  Harmony is when you hear these slightly different sounds and they make you happy, and you go, wow, how do they do that?

          "We can pick up the banjo in an old country twang, or move to the groove aboard the soul train."  You know, the music, soul train.  "We can tell a good story in a sweet folk song, teach everyone the chorus of a nice singalong."  And that's what they're doing there.  "We can sing an operetta with a big booming voice."  [Sings a high operatic note.]  "Or hum a quiet tune.  It's your choice.  It's fun to explore every kind of way to make music together.  So let's sing and play.  The end."

          And if there's something going on for children's RE, we can sing then out now, but it's all music today, and there's no heavy themes, other than music.  So children are welcome to stay.

 

MESSAGE

          JOHN:  One year, they had two music services.  In the fall of 2003, UU President William Sinkford appointed a task force of six UU musicians to create a new hymn resource.  It offered fresh hymns, chants or songs that enliven worship, music for marking the seasons in the lives of our congregation, and music in several different styles, including folk, pop, spirituals, gospel, praise songs, call-and-response, chants, rounds and traditional hymns.

          Topics sought for the material to be included needed to be UU-appropriate and representative of one of the many areas of our devotional life, including materials highlighting spirituality, LGBT community, earth-centered and nonwestern theologies, both male and female spirituality, and the music of cultures traditionally underrepresented in our communities.

          Singing the Journey debuted two years later, in Fort Worth, Texas, to enthusiastic reviews.  The first printing sold out within three weeks.  The teal hymnal was introduced to UUs at the 2007 General Assembly in Portland.

          One of the currently political correct concerns is cultural appropriation, which means that we shouldn't pretend to be something we aren't.  And I don't think singing someone's song in a different language counts as cultural appropriation, so -- it's as innocent as quoting Confucius if you're not Chinese.

          And it's hard sometimes to sing in foreign languages.  We've got one in Swahili that's coming up, so -- and it's not too difficult.  The words are there in your hymnal.  You can turn to Page -- or to Hymn 1030, "Siyahamba".  But the teal hymnal -- and that'll get you kind of looking at it for now.

          Earlier, we sang "Come and Go with Me to This Land" and that was written in 1930 by Blind Willie Johnson.  And it was made popular later in the 1960s by Peter, Paul and Mary.  Bernice Johnson Reagon, one of the founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.  So that started out kind of as, like, a -- it became a protest song.  And later, Bernice Johnson Reagon was one of the Freedom Singers, and also in Sweet Honey in the Rock, and later, held an appointment as Distinguished Professor of History at the American University.  That's what we sang earlier, "Come and Go with Me."

          So now that you've had a chance to look at some of the words for "Siyahamba", you'll notice that on the bottom there, it starts out in Swahili, and then there's some English verses.  The first English verse is -- we're going to skip that.  That's the marching verse.  We're going to go -- after the "Siyahamba", we'll go straight into the singing and then the dancing verses.  So with that, should we do one really short thing just to kind of get everyone familiar with it?  Stand if you'd like to.  But it kind of goes like this.  [Sings "Siyahamba" introduction.]

          ALICE:  Yeah.  Nice.

          JOHN:  Right?  All right.  And we're going to move to this one.  This is a moving song.  Ready?  So 1030.

          ALL:  [Sing]

          JOHN:  Nice.  I heard some nice harmonies there.

          ALICE:  John, fun fact: I learned that song in the first or second grade.

          JOHN:  Oh, yeah.  Yes.

          ALICE:  Now, all of a sudden, I'm (inaudible) at my elementary school.

          JOHN:  Yeah.  And had you sung it between then?

          ALICE:  No.

          [Laughter, indistinct talking]

          HALI:  It's one of those songs, you just absorb it.

          JOHN:  It makes you so happy.  Yeah.

          HALI:  Yeah.  That was a lot of fun.  Thanks for sharing.  Great.

          JOHN:  Yeah.  Our next hymn out of the teal hymnal is 1026, "If Every Woman in the World".  And this is from Karen Mackay's deep connection to the living traditions of West Virginia women's music, a tradition that Karen Mackay's hands and voice continues to be the means for perpetuating -- the simple ancient wisdom of mountain women.

          In 1982, suffering from harassment at work and unsure of her life's direction, Karen spent a weekend with Aunt Jenny, and received the wisdom that has guided her life and music ever since.  "Just get out and play your banjer."  That was the advice.  "Get out and play your music and give it all you got."  Two weeks later, Karen quit her job.  And a year later, she'd written and recorded songs on her first album, Annie Oakley Rides Again.  The final song on that album was "If Every Woman in the World."  Makes me happy it made it into the teal hymnal.

          Karen's strong belief in the power of women to influence global culture and bring peace to the world found a deep expression in the song, and women all over the world that responded by passing it on from woman to woman, country to country.  It has been sung in the 1985 International Women's Conference in Nairobi, as well as retreats and gatherings throughout Canada and the United States.  It was included on the CD, O Beautiful Gaia, recorded by Carolyn McDade and the women of three different bioregions in Canada and the United States.  The song's current form incorporates three new verses, written especially for inclusion in this UU hymnal.

          "If Every Woman in the World" portrays a powerful dream of planetary peace that begins inside the heart of each person who sings it.  The most important thing to remember in singing this music is to heed the simple wisdom of Aunt Jenny.  Just get out there and give them what you got.  1026.  Stand if you want.

          ALL:  [Sing]

          JOHN:  Singing is hard work.  [Laughter.] Our next hymn out of the teal hymnal is one of my favorites.  I've heard it here a lot also, and other UU churches when I've been a member.  1064, "Blue Boat Home".  Peter Mayer wrote this as a new setting to a Welsh hymn.  "Hyfrydol", I think, is how you pronounce it.

          Peter Mayer, from Minnesota, has been singing and songwriting fulltime for over 20 years, performing in venues across the U.S. and beyond.  He writes songs for a small planet.  small planet.  Think about that.  The interconnectedness, how interconnected we are.  He writes songs for a human journey, songs about life on earth and mysterious, wonderous facts of our existence.  He also writes songs about dress hats, pumpkins in pajamas, and other important stuff.  The song's lyrics encourage us to visualize our planet as we travel together on this planet through the celestial pathway.

          It's even inspired one UU congregation out in the Pacific Northwest to start a summer camp called Camp Blue Boat, which I think is really awesome.  You know, like, maybe one day when we have 300 people and a large group of kids, we'll have a summer camp, too.  That's my vision.  So "Blue Boat Home".  Thanks.

          ALICE:  Hey, John.

          JOHN:  Yeah?

          ALICE:  Can I get (inaudible) to Fred Ruark?

          JOHN:  Oh, absolutely.

          ALICE:  Yeah.

          JOHN:  Fred was a longtime member here, Fred Ruark.  And also, if you're new to us, relatively, and you -- so members get subscription called UU World.  Fred's magazines are over there.  So before you leave here, if you didn't know Fred, go over, pick up one of his magazines and take that.  This song is dedicated to Fred Ruark.  1064.

          ALL:  [Sing]

          JOHN:  So we'll call this one our closing hymn.  1021, which -- we're going to be doing it slightly differently, so pay attention to Dee.  Bill Withers's childhood in the coalmining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, was the inspiration for "Lean on Me", which he wrote after he moved out to Los Angeles -- found him missing the strong community ethic of his hometown.

          He had lived in a decrepit house in the poor section of his town.  Bill Withers said, "I bought a little piano.  And I was just sitting there, running my fingers up and down the piano.  While doing the music, the phrase crossed my mind.  So then you go on back and say, okay, I like the way that phrase, 'lean on me', sounds with the song."  And --

          DEE:  I think we'll sing the version that's in the hymnal.

          JOHN:  Okay.

          DEE:  If you want to follow along.  It's 1021.

          JOHN:  Yeah.  Yeah.

          ALL:  [Sing]

          JOHN:  All right.  Your closing words today.  "Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear the music ringing.  It sounds an echo in my soul.  How can I keep from singing?"