{"id":241,"date":"2017-09-23T17:55:48","date_gmt":"2017-09-23T17:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbtilsen.com\/wp\/?page_id=241"},"modified":"2017-09-26T17:42:18","modified_gmt":"2017-09-26T17:42:18","slug":"sacred-ground-notes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.barbtilsen.com\/wp\/sacred-ground-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacred Ground Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

SACRED GROUND by Barb Tilsen<\/strong>
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\nThese songs of peace, parenting, and communal struggle span many years. I wrote \u201cDaughtersong<\/strong>” in 1982 when I was pregnant with my youngest child, Molly. My desire to sing about hope in the midst of hard times and the legacy of strength and survival we share became a conversation to her. \u201cWaters of Life<\/strong>\u201d is a musical meditation on the power and beauty of two beloved shores and the climate changes that threaten them. I first wrote this song about acid rain in the 1981. I periodically re-write the lines as the environmental threats evolve and the stakes continue to rise. Our water is precious. Mni\u0301 Wic\u030cho\u0301ni, Water is Life. \u201cMay Day<\/strong>\u201d spotlights the May Day Festival and Parade, a vibrant community celebration organized annually by the amazing In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theater in my neighborhood in Minneapolis Minnesota. \u201cThe Cabin Song<\/strong>\u201d by Isaac \u201cIke\u201d Russell, the only song here written by another songwriter, is special to me. I have known Ike since he was a child. He first sang this song to me at my hospital bedside in 2016. My daughter Molly wrote its final verse while sailing on the ocean.<\/p>\n

I wrote the musical poem \u201cSacred Ground<\/strong>\u201d in the mid-nineties reflecting on the profound connection I felt singing to my own babies as well as to those of friends and family in my musical work with young children. Combining the singing voice and the speaking voice through poetry and song, I wanted to express the wonder I felt, the deep and abiding promise to cherish, protect and nurture these new lives and the world in which they grow. I wrote \u201cThe Birth Song<\/strong>\u201d for my oldest daughter Becka and my son Eddie. Becka was born in a car, Eddie was born at home, each one an amazing birth story. I could finally find the words to express the profound experience of giving birth after he was born. \u201cTwo and a Half<\/strong>,\u201d also for Eddie, celebrates the impish attitude and brash charm only a child of that age can bring. \u201cChanges<\/strong>\u201d for Becka, is the conversation she and I had when she was starting kindergarten, just tweaked in the smallest way to make it rhyme. At my daughter Molly\u2019s bat mitzvah service I sang \u201cDancing in the Circle<\/strong>,\u201d a song I wrote to celebrate her caring strength and grace in this beautiful moment in her life.<\/p>\n

The song \u201cKimberly Rose<\/strong>\u201d tells a story especially powerful to my family. Young Kimberly Rose Means was killed by a drunk driver in 1981 while on a spiritual Run For Freedom from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to Sioux Falls Prison. The Run ended that year at the site where she was killed. In 1993 my 11-year old niece, Kimberly Rose Tilsen, organized a Run in honor of her namesake to finish the Run for Freedom. With the help of family, classmates, and friends, my niece\u2019s young voice on this song tells the moving story of this Run. More information with slides and interviews about the \u201993 Run for Freedom can be found here. (link to Run For Freedom slide show coming soon)<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve included my songs about the lives of those who\u2019ve gone before us, their courage and strength, their hope and resilience. \u201cFreedom\u2019s Roots<\/strong>\u201d is about my husband\u2019s great- grandmother, Marian LeSueur, an incredible speaker, organizer and teacher. I adapted its final verse from the moving poem Irene Paull wrote as a eulogy in tribute to her.<\/p>\n

Irene Paull sent her powerful poem \u201cGrandma\u2019s Battle Cry<\/strong>\u201d to our family to be read at the 80th birthday celebration of Marian\u2019s daughter, my husband\u2019s grandmother, Meridel LeSueur. Meridel\u2019s daughter Rachel called me immediately after receiving it saying she thought this should be a song. I was so moved by it, my melody and arrangement flowed naturally from Irene\u2019s evocative words.<\/p>\n

I believe our right to make change is a fundamental, integral part of our democracy. In 2010 young people in Minnesota were facing trial for organizing political protests during the 2008 Republican National Convention. I wrote \u201cWe\u2019ve Got the Right<\/strong>\u201d to sing at a benefit concert for their defense. In 1988, I was invited to sing for the 20th anniversary of the Honeywell Project which had been challenging Honeywell Corporation to convert their weapons manufacturing business to peaceful production. The theme of their celebration was Mahatma Gandhi\u2019s powerful words, \u201cEven a single lamp dispels the deepest darkness.\u201d I wrote \u201cEven a Single Lamp<\/strong>\u201d to sing there.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been immersed in the poetry and writing of Meridel LeSueur my whole adult life\u2014this beloved member of our family, grandmother, mentor and muse. She has been one of the biggest influences on me as a poet and songwriter. Meridel has inspired so many generations with her incredible work. When I was younger, she would have me type her journals so she could work with them in her writing\u2014with carbon paper in triplicate so she could literally cut and paste what she wanted for whatever poem or story she was working on! I\u2019ve set several of her poems to music, \u201cCommunal Global Day<\/strong>\u201d is one of my favorites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SACRED GROUND by Barb Tilsen These songs of peace, parenting, and communal struggle span many years. I wrote \u201cDaughtersong” in 1982 when I was pregnant with my youngest child, Molly. My desire to sing about hope in the midst of hard times and the legacy of strength and survival we \u2026 Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-241","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.barbtilsen.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.barbtilsen.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.barbtilsen.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.barbtilsen.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.barbtilsen.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.barbtilsen.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":351,"href":"https:\/\/www.barbtilsen.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/241\/revisions\/351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.barbtilsen.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}