(I was finishing this post when the news of Donald Trump’s bombing of Iran came through. Like others trying in our own ways to respond creatively to current events, I’m finding it hard to keep up. Several times now, a song I’d planned to offer seemed irrelevant or unhelpful by the time I’d written and recorded it, creating an interesting archival file! But today’s post still feels relevant. Also, after struggling to find a good cover picture to go at the top, I looked at my fridge this morning and saw this very old magnet…from Amnesty International I’m pretty sure. It was the sign I needed to send this song to you today.)
Right now, there are so many issues of concern happening all at once, it’s hard to choose one subject to write about.
Meanwhile, one overarching theme keeps coming up as I speak to friends and watch the news. Not just “how could this happen?” but “how could this happen…again?!”
Enter “Not Again”…a song I wrote several years ago but hadn’t released. Returning to this song today, I saw the simple lyric improvements that had eluded me until now. Like all growing things (including each of us) songs blossom in their own way and in their own time.
“Not Again” is a protest song on several topical issues that are sadly perennial and currently intense: war (in Gaza, Ukraine, now Iran…and other regions as well); gun violence (the killing of American lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband); climate catastrophe caused by fossil fuels (as a lethal heat wave takes place now, and new pipelines are being fast-tracked)…and history repeats itself in the form of authoritarian leaders and genocidal violence.
Although all of this sounds bleak, I find a small measure of hope in protest songs, which are making a comeback these days. (See Jesse Welles especially. ) Through music, especially in community, we’re connected to Life and Spirit in ways that can comfort, sustain and energize us.
Thanks so much for reading and listening…and maybe even singing along! Take good care of yourselves and each other.
(p.s. I thought I might try posting to Instagram too this time, hence the different video format. But Insta remains a mystery to me!)
Not again, like before / counting casualties of war / Here we go, another round / how well we know that siren sound…
I wonder how, I wonder when / we’ll all come together saying “Not again!” / What a day it will be when / we all come together saying / “Not again!”
Not again, he had a gun / just like all the other ones / Here we go, one more time / making sense of senseless crime… (chorus)
Not again, a dirty spill / You’d think we would have had our fill / but here we are, as we were / on the beach with blackened birds… (chorus)
Not again, who could tell / history would repeat itself / it’s gonna feel like deja vu / til we live and love anew… (chorus and repeat)
* revised lyrics in bold
Thanks - chorus is an excellent earworm for these times
I needed to hear this today. It sums up the situation we’re in. Thanks Lynn.