What’s Keeping You From Singing?

A soulful reminder of music's power to lift the heart.

Commissioned by Rochester Women's Community Chorus

Poet/Lyricist:

Elizabeth Alexander

A soulful reminder of music’s power to lift the heart during hard times, “What’s Keeping You From Singing?” addresses the joy and well-being so easily obscured by depression's somber cloud.

This song’s memorable refrain poses four questions key to spiritual healing, as framed by cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien: “When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence?” With delicious close harmonies and down-to-earth warmth, “What’s Keeping You From Singing?” offers choral communities a way to hold loving space for these challenging questions.

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What’s Keeping You From Singing?

Elizabeth Alexander

Girl, you got yourself a heck of a smile,
Rosy and rowdy and redeeming.
But I can’t help noticing that it’s been awhile
Since I have seen it beaming.
The wind is beckoning! Come on, come on!
Taste this moment before it’s gone.
Every breath is a secret dawn,
So Sister, come on!

CHORUS:
What’s keeping you from singing?
What’s keeping you from dancing?
What happened to the whispering stories that invite
you to listen to your heart’s own guide?
What’s stopping the sweet, sweet silence of the night
from gentling the winding of your mind?
Oh, whatever’s getting in the way of the truest part of you,
Sister, lay that load aside.
Oh, whatever’s getting in the way of the truest part of you,
Lay that load aside, lay it aside, lay it aside.

Although the road you’re on may be as rough as they come,
Walk on, walk on, walk on.
Remember that the heart of a woman is a powerful drum:
Listen to it beating in you, it’s beating in you –
It’s beating in you:

CHORUS

Although the songs come harder when you’re not feeling strong,
Sing on, sing on, sing on.
Remember that your voice is a ribbon braided into our song:
Listen to it calling to you, it’s calling to you –
It’s calling to you:

CHORUS

Composer's Note:

My mission in composing this song was to respond to the joys, sorrows, hopes and dreams of Rochester Women’s Community Chorus. Soon after the contract was signed, the choir sent me a rich letter describing what was important to its members: community, joy, song, peace, courage...

Included with the letter were several poems and quotes, including an excerpt from Angeles Arrien’s book, The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer and Visionary (HarperCollins, © 1993). Arrien writes: “In many shamanic societies, if you came to a shaman or medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions. ‘When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence?’ ”

At the time, I had more commissions than I could comfortably keep up with, and as a self-publisher I was scrambling to keep up with order fulfillment and administrative tasks. While I loved the music I was composing, I was seriously weighed down by these challenges. I was not able to rest deeply, and my brain felt full all of the time.

In short, I was not singing. I was not dancing. I was not being enchanted by stories. I was not finding comfort in silence.

While addressing the needs of commissioning parties is always paramount, in order to write powerful music I also have to engage the yearnings of my own heart. So I wrapped Arrien’s four questions into the chorus of What’s Keeping You From Singing? and composed a song of insight and compassion for both the women’s chorus and for my own neglected self. As I write these words two years later, I am happy to report that I am working a bit less and singing a bit more.

Performers:

PREMIERE: Rochester Women's Community Chorus / Kristy Houston (Rochester, NY)
Madrigalia / Cary Ratcliff (Rochester and Brockport, NY)
Rochester Women's Community Chorus / Kristy Houston. Sister Singers Network Festival. (Grand Rapids, MI)

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