As a trustee of Ecologisers, the Young People's International Anti-litter Charity based 'across the water' from Ireland in the Outer Hebrides, I have a pet project - the singing and recording of EcoSongs.
My EcoSongs are positive, celebratory, uplifting, empowering eco-lyrics put to famous out-of-copyright song-tunes, anthems, carols, and hymns.
Read more
With Christmas just around the corner, I found a beautiful traditional Irish song called 'The Carol of the Birds.' These are the eco-lyrics to this tune, and I am hoping to find an Irish singer who loves this tune as much as I do!
The 'ecologised' version is called "The Greatest Song"
All around this great world we wake and sing.
Today, today, today.
All around this great world we wake and sing
of the joy and peace compassion would bring
to each creature alive on this Earth,
today, today, today.
The sun, the source of all Earth's life
each day, each day, each day.
The sun, the source of all Earth's life
since first we learned how to survive
as did all creatures on this Earth.
Each day, each day, each day.
Each day, each day, every day.
It is love for all in the universe
some day, some day, some day.
It is love for all in the universe.
Boundless power so diverse,
will change the course of life on Earth,
some day, some day, some day.
Some day, some day, some day.
When our hearts join in the greatest song
one day, one day, one day.
When our hearts join in the greatest song.
Praise love and life: the place we belong
here, in the miracle of this Earth,
one day, one day, one day.
One day, one day, one day.
How come, you may ask, can I connect singing with litter-picking, and getting very young people to do it. Well, it's done via the twin strategies of humour and the Christmas spirit. Ecologisers' have a ten-year project to promote, publicise and popularise EcoSanta. 'Once his sack is empty, EcoSanta is asking children, worldwide, to help him fill it with rubbish the rest of the year as a Gift to the Earth.'
EcoSanta is a ten-year project Ecologisers launched last year. Everything we do is now headed up by 'EcoSanta,' including the eco-lyrics to 'The Greatest Song' which will be part of the album 'EcoSanta's Favourite EcoSongs', planned for 2021.
At a more down-to-Earth level, the Latvians and Estonians attribute their success in gaining freedom from a very oppressive regime to communal singing. It kept their spirits high through some very dark times. That seems appropriate to our global situation today, too.
And, to be honest, who better than the Irish to raise the banner for singing and music? For its relevance to us today, we sometimes need to change the lyrics, so they speak to us about our own times, and the choices we have today.
Of the 70 EcoSongs I have written over the past seven years, 40 are now recorded.
This new musical genre offers a kind of intergenerational continuity, another sort of 'interconnectivity.' Gives old tunes the chance to shine again. Irish music has been my inspiration since first I worked in Donegal. And d'you know, decades later, the echoes from that time play on in my mind.
You can learn more about EcoSanta here.
This article was submitted to the IrishCentral contributors network by a member of the global Irish community. To become an IrishCentral contributor click here.
Comments