When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, people started asking me to write a song about it. I really didn’t want to go there, and there were so many good parodies coming out, I didn’t feel the need to write one. But then when I was going to sleep one night, I thought about writing a song about when it was over. Here it is:
Lyrics:
WHEN THIS IS OVER (Hali Hammer)
When this is over – We’ll take the masks off of our faces
And we’ll go to favorite places like we did before
When this is over – We’ll see friends that we’ve missed so much
And fill the need for human touch once more
When this is over – The skies will be much clearer
Sacred life will seem much dearer
And Mother Earth – at long last – has had a chance to breathe
When this is over – No Covid-19 news to start our day
No more wonderin’ how long will it be this way
It will be – a most welcome relief
(Instrumental verse)
When this is over – Will we appreciate the little things
In our lives and live for the joys they bring
And treasure what good people do
When this is over – we will recover from the strife
We will cherish precious life, and mourn for those who didn’t make it through
When this is over –
Our houses will be much cleaner
Our gardens will be much greener
With time to do – things we had no time to do
When this is over – Will we still make time to slow it down
And to meditate on what we have found
In the end, that’s up to you
When this is over –
We’ll see friends that we’ve missed so much
And fill the need for human touch one more
LADY LIBERTY SPEAKS
(words by Hali Hammer, music by Hali Hammer and Randy Berge)
I have stood here in this harbor – near one hundred forty years
Torch hoisted high, with an expression proud
And I’ve seen generations disembark upon this land
In awe, as though they’d stepped on hallowed ground
Affixed upon my podium there is a poem that reads
– “Give me your tired, your poor”
Ah, but I’ve been feeling poorly, and tired I have grown
To see what now is happening on my shore
I really cannot understand the way that things have changed
How immigrants are treated in this way
I wish the masses could be huddled ‘neath the green folds of my skirt
To breathe a little easier for a day
(Instrumental verse)
And yes, there has been bigotry, too often there is cruelty
Now rising exponentially in our land of opportunity
This explosion, now, of hatred, this propulsion now of scorn
Makes me feel the copper crown I wear might as well be made of thorns
So I cry out for the children abused and scared and caged
And weep to think of how we’ve fallen so far the wrong way
White power and no gun control, divisions, primal fears
While salt spray rising from the sea helps camouflage my tears
While salt spray rising from the sea helps camouflage my tears
Oooooh…
Here’s my parody of the old standard “All of Me”, updated with new words about health care.
It was a big hit when I played it at the rally I attended in Sacramento today (5/23/19) for Disability & Aging Capitol Action Day. I was the last person on stage before we marched to the Capitol where we had lunch and were briefed on what to say before we went to offices to lobby for long-term care and other issues. Left Berkeley on the bus with other participants at 8 am and got back around 5. Exhausting but productive day.
Unfortunately I am singing this again. Please donate to the fire victims if you possibly can.
CALIFORNIA’S BURNING (Hali Hammer)
California’s burning – The sky’s a smoky gray
California’s burning – Don’t go outside to play
California’s burning – With fires flaring near, it’s hard to breathe the air
California’s burning
California’s burning – The sun peeks through the haze
California’s burning – Don’t see it much these days
California’s burning – It sets a molten red, I wish that it were gold instead
Cause California’s burning
Insatiable fires send birds flying from their wires
So many of them, how did they begin?
Like a scene from ancient Rome, folks evacuating homes
While ashes boldly ride upon the wind
California’s burning – It’s burning up the trees
California’s burning – That brings you to your knees
California’s burning – The animals have fled their cozy forest beds
While California’s burning
Insatiable fires send birds flying from their wires
So many of them, how did they begin?
Like a scene from ancient Rome, folks evacuating homes
While ashes boldly ride upon the wind
California’s burning – Hot embers fill the sky
California’s burning – They bring tears to my eyes
California’s burning – It makes you want to cry with everything so dry
California’s burning – California’s burning – California’s burning
Are you an activist performer, or looking for one? If you would like to join our network of performers, we will provide a page for you, and you can make it your website! If you are looking for an artist, type their name or a city and state in the search field. Those with existing websites can link to your page from our network, and those without a website will now have somewhere to post their work. Go to https://progressivemajoritycreativenetwork.wordpress.com/
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NOTE TO EVENT ORGANIZERS: Think of your event as a living organism. We all need to breathe in and breathe out. Think of the breathe in as speaker and the breathe out as musical interlude. Speakers require attention and focus. After about 4 or 5, most people find it hard to maintain concentration. How long can you breathe in? Add some music or performance art for the breathe out. Performance by its nature is participatory. Voila! Now people can once again breathe in all that important information when the next speaker appears onstage.
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Hi All,
After publishing the “We Will Rise Together” video about the Berkeley event I got feedback from several people that the chorus was so universal, they’d love to hear a new version as well. So here it is, hope you like it! If you look for the last one, it’s now called “We Will Rise Together: Berkeley”.
WE WILL RISE TOGETHER (Hali Hammer)
We will rise together, we’ll be wise together
We will watch the winter turn into the spring together
We’ll hold hands together, we will band together
We’ll breathe in and out as one and we will rise, rise, rise
Our hearts will pound as one and we will rise, rise, rise
Millions rose upon their feet as they marched into the street
To stir their souls and make their voices heard
In our cities large and small, young and old answer the call
To show the world the best side of America.
(CHORUS)
We must not yield to fear, we must keep our message clear
We must rise above the darkness to where our love lights beam
– We must protect the rights of all within our sight
Remember most of us are here because an immigrant had a dream
(CHORUS)
Now all across the country, folks are talking to each other
As we share the need for caring so that we can carry on
We never will give in, so collectively we’ll win
For the darkest night becomes the new light of a breaking dawn
We will rise together, we’ll be wise together
We will watch the winter turn into the spring together
We’ll hold hands together, we will band together
We’ll breathe in and out as one and we will rise, rise, rise
Our hearts will pound as one and we will rise, rise, rise
Hi Friends,
I have not been able to keep my mind off all the fires in the Northwest and all the grief they have caused. California is so dry that a fire which started on a Saturday in Lake County had burned 30,000 acres by Sunday. Harbin Hot Springs, where I go with my partner Randy for retreats, has been incinerated. People have lost everything – evacuated from their homes, all their worldly possessions gone in the blink of an eye. This past week’s Valley and Butte fires brought the total number of acres burned in California this year to over 700,000 with another month left of fire season.
Back in 2008, we had over 1000 fires going at once. I wrote a song, “California’s Burning”. I’ve just done a quick recording of it and am sharing it as an mp3, along with the words. I am also listing three options with links for places to donate to the victims of this drought and subsequent fires that will help these people directly.
If the song moves you, please help. Even a small donation will be put to good use. I’d appreciate this: if you do make a donation, just reply to halih@yahoo.com. Write Yes in the subject heading. I don’t need to know how much you’ve donated but I’d love to know if I’ve made a difference and I just hope I can do some good here in my own way.
#1: https://act.climaterelief.org/donate/donate_CAdrought_350_wildfires
CA Drought Relief Fund Co-sponsored by 350.org:
Help People Affected by Wildfires and Drought in CA
The Every Last Drop Promise: 100% of your donation will go to our local Relief Partners who are helping people affected by wildfires and drought in California. Your money will be put to work providing:
• Emergency financial assistance to victims of wildfires through the Supplying Aid to Victims of Emergency (SAVE) program
• Support for firefighters and their families across the state
• Bottled water supplies to households in poor communities where wells have run dry
• Water storage tanks for homes and communities, and residential hookups to municipal water mains
#2: Donate securely online at: www.redwoodcu.org/lakecountyfirevictims (through the Redwood Credit Union) (Please note: there is a small online processing charge. I donated $50 and paid an additional $1.80. I could also have incorporated the charge into my donation). To donate in person: Visit any of RCU’s 16 North Bay or San Francisco branches to make your donation.
To donate by mail: Mail check payable to Lake County Fire Victims Fund.Mail to: Lake County Fire Victims Fund c/o Redwood Credit Union, PO Box 6104, Santa Rosa, CA 95406.
#3: For those of you with a personal connection to Harbin Hot Springs: go to harbin.org. Staff relief information is on the front page. You can donate through PayPal (you don’t need a PayPal account) or you can donate by check.
At the time of the fire on Saturday 9/12, a total of 285 residents, practitioners and local staff worked at Harbin from phone operators and yoga instructors, to cooks, carpenters, housekeepers, gardeners and water system operators. A large percentage of these people were not typically seen by guests, but their contributions were critical to providing the Harbin experience for those who came here for retreats, workshops and day visits. Now, many of these individuals have simultaneously lost their homes, possessions, community of friends, neighbors, and place of work. 100% of the money collected will go to Harbin residents and employees.
Here are the words to the song. Thanks to Randy Berge for the lead guitar on the recording.
CALIFORNIA’S BURNING (Hali Hammer)
California’s burning – The sky’s a smoky gray
California’s burning – Don’t go outside to play
California’s burning – With fires flaring near, it’s hard to breathe the air
California’s burning
California’s burning – The sun peeks through the haze
California’s burning – Don’t see it much these days
California’s burning – It sets a molten red, I wish that it were gold instead
Cause California’s burning
Insatiable fires send birds flying from their wires
So many of them, how did they begin?
Like a scene from ancient Rome, folks evacuating homes
While ashes boldly ride upon the wind
California’s burning – It’s burning up the trees
California’s burning – That brings you to your knees
California’s burning – The animals have fled their cozy forest beds
While California’s burning
Insatiable fires send birds flying from their wires
So many of them, how did they begin?
Like a scene from ancient Rome, folks evacuating homes
While ashes boldly ride upon the wind
California’s burning – Hot embers fill the sky
California’s burning – They bring tears to my eyes
California’s burning – It makes you want to cry with everything so dry
California’s burning – California’s burning – California’s burning
