Guest Artists:
Carlos Duran, percussion
Devon Gilfillian, vocals
Saro Lynch-Thomason, vocals
John Paul, bass
Odessa Settles, vocals
Empress Woodard, spoken word
Simba Alik Woodard, spoken word

Community Partners:
Moms Demand Action
SEIU Local 205
Southern Movement Committee
TN Equality Project
TN Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition

Program

Psalm of Protest (2023 - World Premiere)
Words: Alden Solovy; Music: Jason Shelton
Mary Scheib, solo

Daughters of Freedom (1871)
Words: George Cooper; Music: Edwin Christie

Find the Cost of Freedom (1970)
Words and Music: Stephen Stills
Arr. Nick Page
Matthew Pyles, Kevin Foster, Patrick Dunnevant, trio

Shosholoza
Trad. South African
Arr. Albert Pinnsoneault

Bella Ciao
Italian Folk Song
Arr. Jerry Estes

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
Trad. Civil Rights Era
Odessa Settles, guest artist

Hold On
Trad. Spiritual
Arr. Moses Hogan
Amy Darrow, Melissa Lawmaster, Lauren Herring, trio

Spoken Word: “Pulpit”
Empress Woodard

Wild Embers (2017)
Words: Nikita Gill; Music: Melissa Dunphy

Nibi (Water) Song
Words and Music: Doreen Day
Mo Ashwood, solo

More Waters Rising (2016)
Words and Music: Saro Lynch-Thomason
Arr. Saunder Choi

Baraye (2022)
Words and Music: Shervin Hajipour
Arr. Jason Shelton

Spoken Word: “Dangerous Tongue”
Simba Alik Woodard

Which Side Are You On? (1931)
Words and Music: Florence Reece
Saro Lynch-Thomason, guest artist

A Quien Engañas Abuelo? (ca. 1970)
Words and Music: Arnulfo Briceño

What’s Going On? (1971)
Words and Music: Renaldo Benson, Al Cleveland, Marvin Gaye 
Devon Gilfillian, guest artist

Hell You Talmbout (2015)
Words and Music: Janelle Monae & Wondaland
Guest Artists: Simba Alik Woodard, Empress Woodard

Love is Love is Love (2017)
Words and Music: Abbie Betinis

Born This Way (2010)
Words and Music: Stefani Germanotta (aka Lady Gaga) and Jeppe Laursen
Arr. Patrick Dunnevant
Destin Weishaar and Alana Griffith, solos

The Times, They Are a-Changin’ (1963)
Words and Music: Bob Dylan
Arr. Adam Podd
Elizabeth Miller, solo

Another World is Possible (2016)
Words & Music by FLOBOTS

Program Notes

Psalm of Protest (2023)
Words: Alden Solovy
Music: Jason Shelton
World Premiere

Solo: Mary Scheib

The Psalms are some of the oldest-known songs of protest. American/Israeli poet Alden Solovy writes that “In both of my countries, Israel and the United States, self-interested governments attack democracy and decency. These Psalms of Protest combine the unique form and language of the Psalmist with the prophetic voice crying out for justice.”

When children are stripped from their parents’ arms,
When refugees are jailed as criminals.
How long, G-d of justice?
How long will arrogance strike with impunity,
Attacking the heart of innocence?

They are like ten-thousand bees stinging the eyes,
Relentless with violence.
They are like ten-thousand nettles piercing the skin,
Relentless with hatred and without remorse.

Let the arrogant be brought low.
Let the wicked repent.
Let righteousness heal these wounds
And set the captives free.

Daughters of Freedom (1871)
Words: George Cooper
Music: Edwin Christie

Daughters of freedom arise in your might!
March to the watchwords Justice and Right!
Why will ye slumber? wake, O wake!
Lo! on your legions light doth break!

(CHORUS:)
Sunder the fetters "custom" hath made!
Come from the valley, hill and glade!

Daughters of freedom, the truth marches on,
Yield not the battle till ye have won!
Heed not the "corner," day by day
Clouds of oppression roll away!

Daughters of freedom, the "Ballot" be yours,
Wield it with wisdom, your hopes it secures.
"Rights that are equal" this ye claim,
Bright be your guerdon (reward), fair your fame!

Find the Cost of Freedom (1970)
Words and Music: Stephen Stills
Arr. Nick Page

Trio: Matthew Pyles, Kevin Foster, Patrick Dunnevant

Originally released as the b-side to Neil Young’s protest song, Ohio, Find the Cost of Freedom was inspired by a visit to a Civil War battlefield. Crosby, Stills & Nash revisited the refrain as part of a longer song, Daylight Again, in 1982.

Daylight again
Following me to bed
I think about a hundred years ago
How my fathers bled

I think I see a valley
Covered with bones in blue
All the brave soldiers that cannot get older
Been asking after you

Hear the past a'calling
From Armageddon's side
When everyone's talking and no one is listening
How can we decide?

Do we find the cost of freedom
Buried in the ground
Mother Earth will swallow you
Lay your body down

Shosholoza
Trad. South African mine workers song
Arr. Albert Pinsonneault

A call-and-response anthem, Shosholoza has transcended its origins to become the unofficial second national anthem of South Africa. The late former South African President Nelson Mandela described how he sang Shosholoza as he worked during his imprisonment on Robben Island. He described it as "a song that compares the apartheid struggle to the motion of an oncoming train" and went on to explain that "the singing made the work lighter"

Bella Ciao
Trad. Italian labor/resistance song
Arr. Jerry Estes

The original version of Bella Ciao (“goodbye, beautiful”) was sung by women who were migrant rice paddy workers in Italy’s Po valley. The song was then adapted during WWII to become a resistance anthem of the partigiani (Italian patriots), fighting against fascism. The lyrics tell of a soldier’s wish to be buried in the mountains beneath a beautiful flower if he should have to die for liberty.

This morning I awakened (goodbye, beautiful)
This morning I awakened and found the invader

Oh partisan, carry me away (goodbye, beautiful)
Oh partisan, carry me away when I feel death approaching

Bury me up in the mountain (goodbye, beautiful)
Bury me up in the mountain under the shade of a beautiful flower

And all those who pass (goodbye, beautiful)
And all those who pass will tell you what a beautiful flower it is

And this flower of the partisan (goodbye, beautiful)
And this flower of the partisan is the flower of liberty

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
Adapted from the trad. Spiritual, “Hold On”
Guest artist: Odessa Settles

“I have stood in a meeting with hundreds of youngsters and joined in while they sang ‘Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ’Round’. It is not just a song; it is a resolve,” King writes. “A few minutes later, I have seen those same youngsters refuse to turn around from the onrush of a police dog, refuse to turn around before a pugnacious Bull Connor in command of men armed with power hoses. These songs bind us together, give us courage together, help us to march together.” – Martin Luther King, Jr

Many of the songs of the civil rights movement were re-purposed from the songs of the Black church. That is, they were already deeply familiar to the people singing them, and with a few adjustments to the lyrics they went from the church to the street, propelling an unstoppable movement.

Hold On
Trad. Spiritual, late 19th century
Arr. Moses Hogan 

Trio: Amy Darrow, Melissa Lawmaster, Lauren Herring

Until his untimely death in 2003, Moses Hogan was one of the most celebrated contemporary directors and arrangers of spirituals. In his short life, he created dozens of new original arrangements of classic spirituals, and formed several choirs that performed them with new vitality.

Nora, Nora, let me come in, 
The doors’ all fastened and the windows pinned. 
Keep your hand on the plow and hold on!

Nora said you done lost track, 
You can’t plow straight and keep looking back.
Keep your hand on the plow and hold on!

If you wanna get to heaven let me tell you how, 
Just keep your hand on the gospel plow. 
If that plow stays in your hand, 
Land you straight in the promised land.

Mary had a golden chain, 
Every link spelled my Jesus’ name. 
Keep on climbing and don’t you tire. 
Every rung goes higher and higher.

Wild Embers
Words: Nikita Gill (2017)
Music: Melissa Dunphy (2017)

Born to refugee parents and raised in Australia, Melissa Dunphy immigrated to the United States in 2003 and has since become an award-winning and acclaimed composer specializing in vocal, political, and theatrical music. Nikita Gill is a British-Indian poet, playwright, writer and illustrator based in south England. She has written and curated seven volumes of poetry.

We are the descendants
of the wild women you forgot
We are the stories you thought
would never be taught.

They should have checked the ashes
of the women they burned alive.
Because it takes a single wild ember
to bring a whole wildfire to life.

Nibi (Water) Song
Words and Music: Doreen Day (Ojibwe tribe of Minnesota)

Solo: Mo Ashwood (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma)

Doreen Day wrote this song to sing with her grandson on the way to school each day. They have given permission for everyone to share it, and to sing it to the water every day.

More Waters Rising
Words and Music: Saro Lynch-Thomason
Arr. Saunder Choi

From the songwriter: “For me, this song is about seeing what's coming on the horizon: harder times that are inevitable and unavoidable. But the answer to the fear of what’s coming is resiliency and claiming a strength within ourselves that has been there all along. Aspects of this song are inspired from elements of African-American Civil Rights and protest songs. This song is meant to be sung in groups. Please share this song - use it at protests, use it in church, use it in meetings, add new verses, spread it around!"

There are more waters rising,
This I know, this I know.
There are more waters rising,
This I know.

There are more waters rising,
They will find their way to me.
There are more waters rising,
This I know, this I know.
There are more waters rising,
This I know.

There are more fires burning,
This I know ...

There are more mountains falling,
This I know ... 

I will wade through the waters,
This I know, this I know.
I will wade through the waters,
This I know.
I will wade through the waters,
When they find their way to me.
I will wade through the waters,
This I know, this I know.
I will wade through the waters,
This I know.

I will walk through the fires
This I know ... 

I will rebuild the mountains
This I know ...

 Baraye (2022)
Words and Music: Shervin Hajipour
Choral arr: Jason Shelton

"Baraye" (Persian: برای, lit. "For" or "Because of") was inspired by the death of Mahsa Amini and its aftermath. Widely referred to as "the anthem of the protests," Baraye received huge critical acclaim for its vocals and portrayal of the emotions of the Iranian people all around the world. At the 65th Annual Grammy Awards the song won the first-ever special merit award for Best Song for Social Change.

Hajipour was arrested on 29 September 2022, two days after the song was initially published.

For dancing in the alleys
For the fear when kissing
For my sister, your sister, our sisters
For changing rusted minds
For the shame of poverty
For the regret of living an ordinary life
For the dumpster-diving children and their wishes
For this dictatorial economy
For this polluted air
For Valiasr and its worn-out trees
For Pirooz and the possibility of his extinction
For the innocent banned stray dogs
For the unstoppable tears
For the scene of repeating this moment
For the smiling faces
For students and their future
For this forced heaven
For the imprisoned elite students
For the Afghan kids
For all these “for”s that are beyond repetition
For all of these meaningless slogans
For the collapse of fake buildings
For the feeling of peace
For the sun after these long nights
For anxiety and sleeping pills
For men, homeland, prosperity
For the girl who wished to be a boy
For women, life, freedom
For freedom
For freedom
For freedom

Which Side Are You On? (1931)
Words and Music: Florence Reece

Guest artist: Saro Lynch-Thomason

In 1931, the miners and the mine owners in southeastern Kentucky were locked in a bitter and violent struggle called the Harlan County War. In an attempt to intimidate the family of union leader Sam Reece, Sheriff J. H. Blair and his men, hired by the mining company, illegally entered their home in search of Reece. Reece had been warned and escaped but his wife, Florence, and their children were terrorized. That night, after the men had gone, Florence wrote the lyrics to "Which Side Are You On?" on a calendar that hung in their kitchen. She took the melody from a traditional Baptist hymn, "Lay the Lily Low", or the traditional ballad "Jack Munro".

Come all of you good people
The news to you I'll tell
Of how the good old union
Has come in here to dwell

CHORUS
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on, now
Which side are you on?

They say in Harlan County
There are no neutrals there
You’ll either be a union man
Or you thug for J.H. Blair

Oh people can you stand it?
Oh tell me how you can
Will you be a lousy scab
Or will you be a man?

They say they have to guard us
To educate their child
Their children live in luxury
Our children almost wild

My daddy was a miner
He’s now in the air and sun
He’ll be with you fellow workers
'Til every battle’s won

Come all of you good people
The choice is up to you
A world for the good of everyone
Or the profits of a few

A Quien Engañas Abuelo
Words and Music: Arnulfo Briceño (Colombia)
English translation by Johanna Gomez and Fernando Castro
(Portara singers who brought this song to us from their native Colombia)

Between 1948 and 1958, the Republic of Colombia was the scene of widespread and systematic political violence, known as La Violencia. An estimated 200,000 people were killed during this period, including 112,000 between 1948 and 1950 alone. Two million others migrated, mostly to Venezuela, or were forcibly displaced from their homes. No single analytical framework can adequately capture the various reasons why violence erupted and escalated. However, the majority of historians agree that intense partisan rivalries between Colombia’s two traditional political parties—the Colombian Liberal Party and the Conservative Party—provided the initial catalyst.

Who are you kidding, grandpa?
I know that you are crying
Since “papa” and “mama” are resting in heaven
You never told me how, you neither told me when
But on the hill there are two crosses that are reminding you

The old man lowered his head and caressing the boy
Says: “You’re right son, hate has changed everything
The pawns have gone far, the furrow is abandoned
I no longer have strength, the plow weighs me so much

And you are just a child to get the ranch up
“Chucho the muleteer,” the one who lives in the cane fields, told me:
That some are killed by “Godos” and others for “Liberals” (Godos and Liberals are political parties)
But it doesn’t matter grandpa, so what really matters?

My parents were so good, they didn’t hurt anyone
I only understand one thing, that before God we are all equal
Some that they call “caudillos” appear in the elections
Who are promising schools and bridges where there are no rivers

And to the soul of the farmer comes the politic color
Then he learns to hate even who was his good neighbor
All for those damned politicians.”

Now I understand you, grandpa, for God’s sake, don’t keep crying!

What’s Going On? (1971)
Words and Music: Renaldo Benson, Al Cleveland, Marvin Gaye 

Guest artist: Devon Gilfillian

This song's inspiration came from Renaldo "Obie" Benson, a member of the Motown vocal group the Four Tops, after he and the group's tour bus arrived at Berkeley on May 15, 1969. While there, Benson witnessed police brutality and violence in the city's People's Park during a protest held by anti-war activists in what was hailed later as "Bloody Thursday". Upset by the situation, Benson said to author Ben Edmonds that as he saw this, he asked, "'What is happening here?' One question led to another. Why are they sending kids so far away from their families overseas? Why are they attacking their own children in the streets?"

Upset, he discussed what he witnessed with friend and songwriter Al Cleveland, who in turn wrote and composed a song to reflect Benson's concerns. Benson wanted to give the song to his group but the other Four Tops turned down the request. "My partners told me it was a protest song", Benson said later, "I said 'no man, it's a love song, about love and understanding. I'm not protesting, I want to know what's going on.'" In 1970, Benson presented the untitled song to Marvin Gaye, who added a new melody and revised the song to his liking, adding in his own lyrics. Benson later said Gaye tweaked and enriched the song, "added some things that were more ghetto, more natural, which made it seem like a story than a song... we measured him for the suit and he tailored the hell out of it." Gaye titled it "What's Going On".

Gaye, himself, had been inspired by social ills committed in the United States, citing the 1965 Watts Riot as a turning point in his life in which he asked himself, "'With the world exploding around me, how am I supposed to keep singing love songs?'" Gaye was also influenced by emotional conversations shared between him and his brother Frankie, who had returned from three years of service at the Vietnam War and his namesake cousin's death while serving as troops.

Nashville singer-songwriter Devon Gilfillian, along with a long list of talented friends, re-recorded Marvin Gaye’s now-classic hit in 2020, following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Proceeds from album sales were donated to local organizations that fight voter suppression and support democratic justice.

Hell You Talmbout (2015)
Words and Music: Janelle Monae & Wondaland

Guest Artists: Simba Alik Woodard, Empress Woodard

In honor of the ever-growing list of Black people who have died at the hands of those sworn to protect and serve them. Say their names.

Love is Love is Love (2017)
Words and Music: Abbie Betinis

Composer note: “This song is dedicated to the victims, and survivors, of hate crimes everywhere, and specifically for those at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in June 12, 2016. Love is often the bravest thing we do. May love prevail.”

Born This Way (2010)
Words and Music: Stefani Germanotta (aka Lady Gaga) and Jeppe Laursen
Arr. Patrick Dunnevant

Solos: Destin Weishaar and Alana Griffith

My mama told me when I was young, "We are all born superstars"
She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on in the glass of her boudoir
"There's nothing wrong with loving who you are"
She said, "'Cause He made you perfect, babe
So hold your head up, girl, and you'll go far"
Listen to me when I say

I'm beautiful in my way 'cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way
Don't hide yourself in regret, just love yourself, and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way

The Times, They Are a-Changin’ (1963)
Words and Music: Bob Dylan
Arr. Adam Podd
Elizabeth Miller, solo

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
And you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'