Different Ships

This seafaring song was written for Sea Sound Sing, a cappella Festival in Brighton in 1998. The lyrics, as well as being a well-known phrase, came from a solidarity song originally written by Betsy Rose. An updated version can be found in the marvellous new book Community Voiceworks published by OUP. I have quite recently found out that this quote is attributed to Martin Luther King Junior!

My Eyes Are Opened

My Eyes Are Opened has been sung by community choirs all over Europe! It is more infamously known as ‘The bup bup song (I refer to it as my ‘one hit wonder’).  Not everyone knows, however, that it has a sister song called Yes which is designed to follow straight on from My Eyes. Both songs were originally inspired by poetry by  e.e.cummings’ poem I thank you God for most this amazing  

My interpretation is very different to Eric Whittaker’s! But I love his too!

Shine

This is one of my happiest songs to date! I describe Shine as 21st Century blues. I wrote this song after a friend, who had gone an amazingly exciting global adventure, wrote me a postcard with only the words ‘Shine – without explanation’ on it. She never did explain.

Stitch a Sail

This is a real golden oldie! It has been sung in many incarnations over the years. The words were originally by Leeala and Rachel Buchann, two poets who have published their poetry in We’moon. A call to creativity….get stitching!