Jahnavi and I recorded this song in July of 2021,
Accompanied by the 4 second long reverb of a decommissioned ammunition storage tunnel.

It felt like the most appropriate location.

This song was written over the course of 5 or so years, starting by a vision of singing the worldless melody with a drum I had yet to make.

This started a long process of attempting multiple different times to make the drum that would complete the song, which I finally succeeded at in 2018.

https://www.galenhefferman.com/crafts-and-instruments

On completion of the drum, which my friend named رعد, the Arabic word for thunder, the rest of the lyrics came to me in a meditation.

In the meditation I saw the words written in electric blue letters in the stars of the refrain

We are all stars, we are all stars, and someday soon, someday soon, we'll hold each other close and cry cry cry cry cry.

I saw a scene of the end of the war machine in a devastated landscape, and I felt the joy of this that is happening every day and simultaneously has yet to happen.

The rest of the words came in a ten minute writing burst right after.

Oh the joy that it is over.
Oh the devastation that it was ever allowed to get this far.
Oh the work that must be done to heal and repair.

This song is a prayer for that, recorded in a place that is its locational partner.

We Call You To Our Sides will remain a fundraiser song - all proceeds going to urgent fundraisers for families in Palestine, and perhaps other fundraisers in the future when these ones are no longer urgent. 🙏

This song came out of the first few months of witnessing the current g*noc|de in Gaza and really dropping everything else in my life to show up in support. I hadn't been making any art or music, other than singing with groups of people at actions, and there was a day I just needed to write and sing to move through what was happening.

While this song speaks to many times throughout time and encompasses so much of what we are faced with, it's important to name the lineage of this song, and the specific times from which it was born -

Namely, the horrific b**bardment of Gaza which is still happening now almost a year later.
The horrors that are ongoing in Congo, Sudan, Iran, Kashmir, Turtle Island, and countless places, too many to name here...
The rapid loss of species, ecosystems and parts of cultures on Earth due to colonization and the greed and wastefulness of capitalism, industrial-civilization, and the endless-growth-mindsets that so many people are infected with...
and...

And also - in the swirling complexity of destruction and healing, horror and beauty which we live in every day -

It was also born from witnessing living traditions that are honoring of Earth and Spirit and our unwavering interconnection with all of Life.
Those living traditions which have survived brutal colonization and been tended through so much, and sometimes even brought back through visions and dreams.

It was also born from witnessing so many people's choices to feed Life and stand up for our kin in a beautiful way.

This song calls on help for All of our Human Family in Re-Membering how to live on Earth in a good way.


It's hard to write about all of this.
It's vast.
I hope that you feel the fullness of it even with the stumbling of trying to release this song and write "about this track" when it deserves a hundred conversations in council around a fire, and communal grief ritual, and prayer, and an entire book of poetry instead of this rectangle I'm typing in.


The other very important lineage that needs naming is that from the Persian/Farsi verse.
These two lines are from the poem Bani Adam by Sa'adi, a Persian poet who was alive in the 1200s.

Galen and I learned to sing this while studying classical Persian music with our teacher and friend Fared Shafinury, with his school Radif Retreat.
While learning the first Dastgah of Persian Radif, we memorized and sang these first two lines of the poem, as the traditional piece we were learning only included these two.

While I haven't been able to attend classes the last couple of years, it is something I know I will keep coming back to, and I am so thankful to Fared and all of the friends we have made through those studies.
Studying Persian music and poetry has pushed me and taught me so much and I am grateful to be a guest.


بنی‌آدم اعضای یک پیکرند
که در آفرينش ز یک گوهرند
چو عضوى به‌درد آورَد روزگار
دگر عضوها را نمانَد قرار
تو کز محنت دیگران بی‌غمی
نشاید که نامت نهند آدمی

One translation:

"The children of Adam are limbs of each other,
Having been created of one essence.
When the calamity of time affects one limb
The other limbs cannot remain at rest.
If you have no sympathy for the troubles of others,
You are unworthy to be called by the name of a Human."

For more information about this poem, there's a great segment about it on the Chai and Conversation website: www.chaiandconversation.com/persian-poetry/saadi-bani-adam-intro

Fared Shafinury: www.faredshafinury.com

Radif Retreat: www.instagram.com/radifretreat


____


To find the fundraisers I will be donating to, go down to the section titled "supporting kin near and far" for all the links:
linktr.ee/jahnaviveronica


Thank you
♥️

A song for Bríd
A song for Imbolc


this song came to me on Imbolc & Bríd/Brigid's day one year ago, while walking down to the creek on the land where I used to live.

There are many stories within stories, but for now I will keep this brief.

This song means a lot to me, I hope you enjoy and feel held by this.


This can be sung in community singing circles, and the two main parts can be layered with the right timing! If you want to carry this song for Bríd, please do, with credit.





may the songs ripple out,

for the living Earth


*

These songs were recorded, mixed, and mastered in 4 days in our living room, with the assistance of many, on 2 mics, setting the rule that we would do a maximum of three takes. The intent of this EP was to let go of perfection and create.

We would appreciate so much if you would support, so we can get more songs out, and potentially record in a bigger way.

Much Love,
Galen

www.galenhefferman.com
www.patreon.com/galenhefferman
www.gofundme.com/galens-first-album-and-tour

Whole Again was recorded by candlelight, mixed, mastered, drawn and printed in 5 days.

These songs are from many different important and beautiful parts of my life, and I'm so happy and grateful to have them in one place now to share. From "Bring Me Home" which came through when I was 16 years old making music in my dad's home studio; "Fire In My Heart" which came to me through a bed of dancing and sparkling coals on a full moon night at 19 years old, then the rest through a powerful experience with fire 7 years later; "Whole Again" which started as a poem and transformed into a song just a few months ago in the most intense part of my Saturn Return at 28; to "Wild Lace" which came through right after my 29th birthday, sitting on a hillside surrounded by wild carrot.

May they be received with all the love and magic and prayers that they were born with...

Thank you to Galen Hefferman for creating these recordings with me, for being such an inspiring and dear person in my life, for all the encouragement and support on this journey of song.

This was a labor of love and trust and letting go - to get our music out there and have something to share with you all, and to help us on our upcoming travels.

Thank you for supporting me in making music and sharing it with the world.

With so much love and gratitude

-Jahnavi

www.facebook.com/jahnaviveronicamusic


You can find Galen's EP at galenhefferman.bandcamp.com