“We Want Peace” by Lenny Kravitz is the Peace Song of the Day for Sunday, December 4, 2011. This song is about four years old. It is pre-Iraq War. Though, still, sadly it is pertinent to current events.
“Heard Somebody Say“, by Devendra Banhart, is the Peace Song of the Day for December 3rd. (We are catching up on days, because we like to have one peace song assigned to each day.)
“My Grandfather’s Clock Lyrics“, a song written in 1876 by Henry Clay Work, is the Peace Song of the Day for December 2nd. (Yup…needing to catch up again, busy weekend…). You can find the lyrics to this song in our favorite campfire book, Rise Up Singing, in the Time section, page 224.
Composer and musician Philip Glass made a statement at Lincoln Center. His opera, Satyagraha, about Gandhi and nonviolent social change, had just been performed. Glass used The People’s Mic (Mic Check) to make comments to the assembled Occupy Wall Street activists and opera goers. Below are three videos from different perspectives, and the full text.
Philip Glass at Lincoln Center Video
An activist perspective. Trying to get the folks who watched the opera about Gandhi to “cross the line” and join the people:
Since it is the first day of December, we decided it was okay to insert a little holiday spirit into the mix. (We think it’s okay to be sentimental, as long as you don’t put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving!)
So, with the holiday spirit in mind, the Peace Song of the Day is the interwoven song, “Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy“. This song was created especially for a Bing Crosby TV holiday special. It is performed by Bing Crosby and David Bowie. It resonates with warmth, compassion, and a harmony between the ying and the yang.
“Teach Your Children” by Crosby, Stills and Nash, is (or was) the Peace Song of the Day for November 30th. (We are playing catch-up again!). You can find the lyrics to this song in the Rise Up Singing songbook on page 113.
Video below is the song as performed by David Crosby and Graham Nash at Occupy Wall Street…
Or, at least consider a pause from drinking imported/bottled apple juice. The current goings on related to apple juice, arsenic, and the FDA, remind us that we must take care in what we shop and consume — and, that the government is not always on top of things. It seems even regular news stories are hinting at a lack of diligence on the part of the federal government to set the correct levels.