Month: March 2020

Climate Emergency: “Who Will Pass This On”

Applause to Greta Thunberg Bristol climate strike: ‘The world is on fire’

Laura Siersema Trio performing “Who Will Pass This On” live in 2012, using the same words:  “You gotta get up — the world’s on fire.” I’m on the piano with Billy Klock on drums, and Wim Auer, fretless bass.

 

WHO WILL PASS THIS ON

You and I are not unscathed
we seek the bones of our own making
whisper in the smell of autumn
who will pass this on–

We are one
from the beginning
deeper than oceans
wider than sky
trembling like the sun–
you gotta get up–

Blazing in their holy places
listen, the voices warning:

You gotta get up
the world’s on fire–
you gotta get up
the world’s on fire–

We are one from the beginning
deeper than oceans
wider than sky–

I had always dreamed–

You and I are not unscathed
we seek the bones of our own making
whisper in the smell of autumn
who will pass this on–

original version (so totally different) Talon of the Blackwater (2009)
c 2012 Laura Siersema

Aberfan: First Hymn (“All Things Bright and Beautiful”)

On October 21, 1966, in the small mining village of Aberfan, Wales, a man-made mountain of coal waste collapsed on a primary school and nearby houses, killing 116 children and 28 adults.

The “daily rendition [in morning assembly, 9am] of ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ – a hymn written a few miles away in the bucolic tranquility of the Usk Valley – was postponed that day.  They would sing it before they went home when the head teacher planned to wish her pupils a safe and enjoyable holiday.”  (Aberfan:  A Mistake that Cost a Village its Children by Ceri Jackson, BBC News, October 21, 2016)

The catastrophic collapse occurred about 9:15am.

Here is a demo sample of voice and piano parts  from Aberfan (7 pianos, voice and tools of rescue).  ‘First Hymn — Rock Sequence’:  

Aerial view, October 21, 1966, courtesy of AGU Blogosphere

Aberfan is a sponsored project of New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt organization.  Contributions on behalf of Aberfan must be made payable to NYFA, and are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.