1. |
Morning Prayer
00:54
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Morning Prayer
by Anna Fritz
Good morning earth and sky
wind and rain and sun.
Thank you for this life
a new day just begun.
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2. |
By the River
03:59
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By the River
by Anna Fritz
chorus:
Meet me by the river
where they won’t hear our voices.
Lately there’s been trouble
and we can’t be too careful.
Your people came here begging.
We offered you a home.
I took you in to my own bed,
I loved you as my own.
CHORUS
I heard them on their horses,
riding in the stream.
They lay two women down with hatchets
in a bloody nightmare dream.
CHORUS
This forest is my body,
the raging stream my blood.
You can drag me off or kill me dead
but I belong to this here mud.
CHORUS
Your people took my elders,
my sisters and my child.
If you have any love left for me
you’ll let them all run wild.
CHORUS
outro:
This land is my only home.
My body, of sand and stone.
I eat from the fertile ground.
The ground eats when I lay me down. X2
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3. |
Ella's Song
04:22
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4. |
Balm in Gilead
03:11
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Balm in Gilead
- Traditional / Anna Fritz
chorus:
There is a balm in Gilead
to make the wounded whole.
There is a balm in Gilead
to heal our broken souls.
If you can see the damage,
the injustice and the pain,
you must speak with all your courage
‘til we find harmony again.
CHORUS
Sometimes I feel discouraged,
as if my work is all in vain
but the spirit of the people
revives my soul again.
CHORUS
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5. |
Paradise
03:30
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6. |
Leave it in the Ground
02:21
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Leave it in the Ground
by Anna Fritz
Coal, oil, gas
none of these shall pass.
Leave it in the ground
and turn the trains around. X2
Cascadia is a place of great power.
We stand at the mouth of the river,
rooted to the land and its people,
we turn the trains around. X2
Coal, oil, gas
none of these shall pass.
Leave it in the ground
and turn the trains around.
We are a people awakening.
We are a people reclaiming.
We are a people demanding:
turn the trains around! X2
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7. |
On A High Hill
04:09
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On a High Hill
by Habershon / Gabriel and Anna Fritz
On a high hill I am standing
with my chest bared to the sunshine
as a hawk flies high above me,
making circles in her own time.
May the circle be unbroken
by and by, Lord, by and by.
There’s a better way of living
on this earth, friends, if we try.
No more hurry, no more worry,
no more struggle, no more strife.
On a high hill I am standing
with my only precious life.
May the circle be unbroken
by and by, Lord, by and by.
There’s a better way of living
on this earth, friends, if we try.
On a high hill we are standing,
faces raised up to the sunshine.
We are grateful, we are joyful,
blessed family stretching through time.
May the circle be unbroken
by and by, Lord, by and by.
There’s a better way of living
on this earth, friends, if we try.
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8. |
Lay Down My Burden
04:40
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Lay Down My Burden
by Anna Fritz
I ask for a story of my people
from long ago, across the water.
Don’t know just where I come from,
aching for knowledge of the way.
Longing for belonging,
for the teachings of a people, of a land,
for an ancient way of knowing.
I lay down my burden on the bank of the river.
I step into the current and flow to the ocean.
I rise from the water on the breath of the ancestors.
I blow on the embers and reignite the fire.
Then I dance the dance of freedom and weep the tears of sacrifice.
And in my blood is conqueror, oppressor, rapist, and slaughterer
And in my blood is famine, displacement, orphaned, and wandering
And in my blood is grandmother, truth teller, plant knower, rain drinker
And in my blood is grandfather, earth tender, loving protector
I lay down my burden on the bank of the river.
I step into the current and flow to the ocean.
I rise from the water on the breath of the ancestors.
I blow on the embers and reignite the fire.
I dance the dance of freedom and weep the tears of sacrifice.
Then I lay down my burden on the bank of the river.
OUTRO
PART ONE:
The ancestors are watching me, they give me wings to fly. X8
PART TWO:
I fly. X4
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9. |
Big Strong Legs
02:20
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Big Strong Legs
By Anna Fritz
PART ONE:
These are my big strong legs.
They hold me up, up in the world.
These are my big strong legs.
They hold me up, up in the world.
This is my big strong heart.
It holds me up, up in the world.
This is my big strong heart.
It holds me up, up in the world.
These are my big strong friends.
They hold me up, up in the world.
These are my big strong friends.
They hold me up, up in the world.
PART TWO:
Whole and perfect as I am,
since my birth.
Naked beauty as I am,
child of earth.
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10. |
I Hold You Up
01:57
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I Hold You Up
by Anna Fritz
I hold you up in the light of God.
I hold you up in my own heart.
I hold you up in the healing light.
I hold you up ‘cause the time is right.
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Anna Fritz Portland, Oregon
Anna Fritz is a cello-wielding activist folksinger based in Portland, Oregon. She has released three solo albums: Wake (2005) The Gospel of Tree Bark (2013) and On A High Hill (2016). She sings about colonization, climate, racial justice, spirituality, and connection to the natural world. Anna has also played with Portland Cello Project, The Decemberists, My Morning Jacket, and many others. ... more
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