Do be do be do

I’m taking a six-week Shamanism course for which our homework this week was to bring a song to class. Once class had begun, our teacher dimmed the lights and had us sing our songs one by one for the entire group to hear. It wasn’t easy to sing out to the group like that, but it was a powerful experience.

What is a song, anyway? It looks to me like it’s a wonderful piece of work that knits rhythm, melody and meaning together. Look at the birds’ songs. It’s hard to imagine that they aren’t communicating with each other in song. Depending upon the species and the situation, I imagine they say, “This is my territory, bug off.” “Hey guys, I’m over here.” “Danger! Danger!”

If the birds have words to put into their songs, I don’t understand them, but they must be using some sort of language with their songs - perhaps even only via tone, accent and pace. Don’t we do the same? Even a Bach chorale carries powerful mood, and there's surely meaning in that.

If you could sing or play a song right now that would convey your current state, what would it be?