- 2 to 3-part a cappella - Flexible voicings. |
Put a Song in the Air by Fay White.
Celebrates the power of song and the connectedness of people. "Put a song in the air and it can go - places you will never know All around the world, all around the world - all around the wide world Put a song in the air and it can heal - make a hardened heart to feel . . . Put a song in the air and it will slip through - past the barriers jumped up between me and you Put a song in the air, the truth be sung - we are one O we are one - All around the world . . ." |
- Unison or 3-part round - A cappella or with simple parts notated separately for glockenspiel, violin and/or cello |
So Many Stars! (Yingarti Japalinga) by Ian Ross Williams, Queensland.
A sparkling 3-part round delighting in the night sky. "So many Stars on this clear night, Yingarti Japalinga Meteorites and Satellites, Yingarti Japalinga Hear we are in the Universe, how beautiful and strange Time and space that I now traverse, how beautiful and strange See the light! sining light! in the starry, starry night See the light! Shining light! in the starry, starry, starry night!" |
- Unison or SATB barbershop-style - A callella or - Guitar and ukulele chords - trumpet optional 
- Unison, SAA or 3-part flexible - Piano, cello parts - Guitar chords |
Bike by Mal Webb. Quirky fun song from a highly original writer. Great for working on breath control. Might leave singers a little puffed.
"Push on a pedal, push on a pedal get your (gasp) heart started Push on a pedal push it down and up again . . . Get on your bike - sit on the seat - put your feet on the pedals - and ride it all around . . . . Get that car out of my way, I want to ride ride my bike today Keeps me fit and gets me there - won't go stinking up the air! Leave behind the daily grind Let your mind unwind - if it's life you tend to like - - you better get get yourself a bike. . . " Wind Harps by Fay White. The story of the ancient Casuarina Trees that grow through southern Australia. Lyrical melody evokes the sound of wind in the needle-like foliage.
"When the wind and rain were new on earth, then the Casuarinas came to birth No human there to see them stand - in the forests of Gondwanaland. No human ear, no human eye, as they spread their jointed fingers high - to catch yje breeze that makes them hum - in the rippling wind their needles thrum . . . . . Wind Harps of the Wimmera - allo-casuarina leumanii Brother buloke through dja dja wurrung country, sigh as the breeze blows by. Wind Harps of the western plains, keen when the west wind blows Songs of old Gondwanaland and the days they used to know . . . . |
- SSA or SAA - A cappella |
Pomelo Tree by Fay White. Pentatonic song telling the story of the Pomelo Tree brought to Australia by Chinese mining families during the goldrush.
"From Canton to Dai Gum San, the Ah Dore family carried the seed From See Yap to the new gold land, comes the tree of life, the Pomelo Tree . . . Gather the heart leaves fresh and mild - bless the life of a newborn child Steep the leaves in soft, sweet water, bathe the head of a baby daughter |
- Unison, SAA or TTB or 3-part flexible - Piano and/or guitar or can be sung a cappella with drum |
Wildfire by Fay White. True story of bushfire in Grampians'Gariwerd mountains in Victoria.
To hear full song click on Listen page in menu bar on this website. "Forty degrees, hardly a breeze, the forest is dry as kindling Suddenly in the heat of the night, the sky is lashed with lightning Goes for hours, spectacular powers lighting up the sky It strikes and strikes till the forest's on fire = in the craggy rocks up high . . . . Fire . . . . Sirens wail, fire trucks go, for days the tension's mounting Glued to the news, phone's no use, radio's what you're counting on For help to come from miles away, conditions couldn't be worse Hot wind blowing out of the north - the fire-fighter's curse . . . Then it comes . . It comes like a jet plane racing at you with a roar . . . |
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- SATB or flexible - Piano and/or guitar - Cello optional |
Out of the Ashes by Fay White.
Melodic ballad that moves from the devastation of a fire-ravaged landscape to the dawn of renewal and re-building life after disaster. To hear full song click on Listen page in menu bar on this website. "The fire came through with roar and noise - awesome power and might Somehow we found the strength to stay - that long and anxious night At dawn the sound of crashing rocks, the fall of dying trees We looked and saw the forest and the farms brought to their knees . . . Fallen to ashes, fallen to ashes - all that beauty gone, fallen to ashes . . . . So summer passed and autumn came, with days of mist and frost And welcome rain began to fall - we grieved for what was lost And the land began to lift it's head to meet the falling rain And we began to find the strength and will to start again Out of the ashes . . . . |
- SATB or SSATTB - A cappella - Mix and match order of parts |
Glory by Stephen Taberner.
Joyous piece about the glory of the sky and the potential of the human heart. "Find glory in the firmament, glory in the firmament Find glory in the firmament - glory at the bottom of your heart. Touch the sky with glory, fill your heart with glory. Find glory . . . . Stephen says of this song - "I'd listened to Bach and marvelled at how the parts dovetailed together, wondering how on earth he did it. So I gave myself 8 bars, wrote 7 chords, and tried to weave the parts in with each other" |
- SAATB or 3 to 4 part flexible - A cappella |
Hear the Wind by Helen Wright.
Sung as an open-throated call, this songs revels in the wonder of the natural world, earth as mother and the healing potential of sky, wind, trees and stars. With my back to the stone, and my face to the sky My ears are open to the sounds - in perfect peace i lie and I can - hear the Wind . . . . . heal me, mother heal me With my face to the sunset and my mind in the stars My heart feels the wonder of just how small we are - and I can - hear the Wind . .heal me. mother heal me The trees whisper their stories, they are older than time I am listening with my soul - the spirits talk to me and I can - hear the Wind . . Healing, healing . . . |
- Unison or 3-part flexible - SSA or SAB Piano and/or guitar accompaniment |
The Tide has Turned by Digby Hannah
"The curling waves surround the rocks - the tide has turned, the tide has turned A rising sea that can't be stopped - the tide has turned, the tide has turned The maker's teeming artistry - the reef with its diversity Awaits the plankton-laden sea - joyful that the tide has turned We've known anger, hurt and pain . . . . bitter times with spirits drained . . . . But we have sensed a brighter day, seen debris slowly washed away The welcome tide is on its way - here it comes, the tide has turned No cruel webs of dark oppression . . . . or silent walls of separation . . . . She who birthed the ocean tide, dissolves the tears, erodes the pride And heals our hearts to open wide - as surely as the tide has turned |
- SATB - Solo tenor or soprano or small group - Piano and/or guitar |
Miracle by Michael Kennedy.
Inspired by the young people of Timor Leste "The ear can hear the softest plea - seed grow the tallest tree - enough can be a feast indeed miracle Treasure in a simple thing - a smile despite the hell you're in - forgiveness for the darkest sin miracle The living god in a dying land - a culture lost rises again - beginning when you reach the end miracle Miracle - heavy on the air - scatters seed everywhere O the heart survives the heartless thief - the hope that rises out of grief - l ove survives beyond belief A reason to go on discovered - the spirit found between two lovers - child born, dies for others Miracle - heavy on the air - scatters seed everywhere - the ear can hear the softest plea |
