“Lyres in the Trees” is a musical mosaic made from a medley of sources: dreams and esoteric experiences I’ve had of “remembering” past lives, a particular Psalm from the Bible, as well as the very conscious meaning I’ve made of the themes of my astrological Nodal Journey.
In evolutionary astrology, from our Soul’s Map (aka our Birth Chart) we can look at the South-North Node axis to get a sense of “where we’ve come from” (South Node) and “where we’re going” (North Node). The unfolding of this discovery in my astrological studies fell into lockstep with my Songwriter’s Journey with the Brothers Koren. It became abundantly clear to me that learning to use my voice to express myself in song was an integral part of my Nodal Journey.
That this song resulted feels as strong a confirmation from the Universe that I could ever wish for!
In the introduction, I pose the questions that had been niggling at me for years…
In the introduction, I pose the questions that had been niggling at me for years…
Was I one of them, long, long ago?
Exiled to a foreign land
Asked to sing but only wept
Later did I sing, but sing laments
For the way it used to be, when I was free?
Hung our lyres in trees - tongues cling - throat sewn - shu-u-ut
The first stanza describes my South Node story of Libra 6th House (working working working, perhaps to the point of slavery)…
Sun up to sun down - clock in, clock out
“Can’t give me a dollar, then gimme a lousy dime"
Fast and slow, black/white - yes and no, wrong/right
"I’ve done your dirty dishes - How much am I s'posed to take?"
I also wanted to pay homage to some of the songs in the musical genres that have always resonated most strongly with me—blues, gospel, folk—so I took a line from folk/blues singer Dave Van Ronk’s song, Mamie’s Blues: “Can’t give me a dollar, then gimme a lousy dime” and a line from blues guitarist/singer Albert (The IceMan) Collins’ song, Too Many Dirty Dishes: "I’ve done your dirty dishes - How much am I s'posed to take?"
The second stanza describes the glimpses I finally started to get in this lifetime that things could be different, especially once I learned to STOP and to tune in…
Pause, sit, listen - stirring inside - and dream
This is not the way life's meant to be
Song awakens - cells vibrate
Time to “turn and face the strange"
Wind blows through strings - music is still being made - Gaia still hums
The line, “Time to turn and face the strange” comes from my all-time favorite song ever—and one that frankly changed my life from the first time I heard it—David Bowie’s Changes. Turns out, it is the perfect way to describe embarking on the daunting and unfamiliar territory of the astrological North Node.
Finally, the coda is a celebration of my North Node in Aries 12th House…
Then one dayWe find ourselves back home playingIn sync with the rhythm - throat wideTongue freely moving againOh oh…
And the trees releaseThe lyres from their boughs - we seizeThe right hand remembers its skillBegins to play againAnd we dance, we singAnd we singAnd I sing
All of this, based on the first few verses of Psalm 137 in the Bible. Which is the hymn that expresses the yearnings of the Jewish people during their Babylonian exile: “By the waters of Babylon,” where they hung their lyres (or harps) in the willows and wept…
In African American history, this Psalm was adapted to empower the struggles for the abolition of slavery, and the subjugation of blacks in American society that continues to this day. And it’s a Psalm that has inspired a number of great songs out there already, including another one of my all-time favorites by Sweet Honey in the Rock, “Rivers of Babylon.”
“Lyres in the Trees” is my own humble offering in solidarity with all who’ve ever been enslaved, exiled, persecuted, not allowed to express their own voice at full tilt.
Let us heal that history and move, unencumbered, into New Earth. Into a world of our own co-creation—a world of equality, cooperation, and everyone achieving their highest potentials—at this incredibly promising time of human history!
Back to SoulMapSongs.
###