RISE Folk Songs
Lyric Archive

“Bread and Fishes”

~Alan Bell

As I went a walkin' one mornin' in spring
I met with some travelers in an old country lane
One was an old man, the second a maid
And the third was a young boy who smiled as he said

We've the wind in the willows, and the birds in the sky
We've a bright sun to warm us, where ever we lie
We have bread and fishes and a jug of red wine
To share on our journey with all of mankind

I sat down beside them, the flowers all around
And we ate on a mantle spread out on the ground
They told me of prophets and princes and kings
And they spoke of the one god who knows everything

We've the wind in the willows, and the birds in the sky
We've a bright sun to warm us, where ever we lie
We have bread and fishes and a jug of red wine
To share on our journey with all of mankind

I asked them to tell me their name and their race
So I might remember their kindness and grace
"My name is Joseph, this is Mary my wife
And this is our young son, our pride and delight”
We travel the whole world, by land and by sea
To tell all the people how they might be free

Like the wind in the willows, and the birds in the sky
We've a bright sun to warm us, where ever we lie
We have bread and fishes and a jug of red wine
To share on our journey with all of mankind

Sadly, I left them, in an old country lane
For I knew that I never would see them again
One was an old man, the second a maid
And the third was a young boy who smiled as he said:

We've the wind in the willows, and the birds in the sky
We've a bright sun to warm us, where ever we lie
We have bread and fishes and a jug of red wine
To share on our journey with all of mankind

“How Can I Keep From Singing”

~Pete Seeger* (see note below)

My life fows on in endless song, above earth’s lamentation.
I hear the sweet, though far off hymn that hails a new creation.

Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear its music ringing.
It sounds an echo in my soul. How can I keep from singing?

While though the tempest loudly roars, I hear the truth it liveth.
And though the darkness round me close, songs in the night it giveth.

No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that rock I’m clinging.
Since love is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?

When tyrants tremble in their fear and hear their death knell ringing,
When friends rejoice both far and near, how can I keep from singing?

In prison cell and dungeon vile our thoughts to them are winging.
When friends by shame are undefled, how can I keep from singing?

No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that rock I’m clinging.
Since love is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?

I lift my eyes, the clouds grow thin, I see the blue above it.
And day by day this pathway clears, since first I learned to love it.

The peace from love makes fresh my heart, a song of hope is ringing.
All things are mine, since truth I’ve found. How can I keep from singing?

_______________________________________

*The original hymn text may well be a Quaker hymn written in the 1850’s by Ann Warner who lived on an island in the Hudson River. Her text refers to Quakers who were jailed for their beliefs. Pete Seeger brought the song to life in 1957 by publishing it in Sing Out Magazine. He learned the third verse (When tyrants...) from Doris Plenn, who wrote it during the McCarthy era in tribute to those, like Pete Seeger, who refused to take loyalty oaths and were often punished.

“If I had a Hammer” (The Hammer Song)

~Pete Seeger

If I had a hammer,
I'd hammer in the morning,
I'd hammer in the evening,
All over this land,
I'd hammer out danger,
I'd hammer out a warning,
I'd hammer out love between,
My brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.

If I had a bell,
I'd ring it in the morning,
I'd ring in the evening,
All over this land,
I'd ring out danger,
I'd ring out a warning,
I'd ring out love between,
My brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.

If I had a song,
I'd sing it in the morning,
I'd sing it in the evening,
All over this land,
I'd sing out danger,
I'd sing out a warning,
I'd sing out love between,
My brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.

Well, I've got a hammer
and I've got a bell
and I've got a song to sing
all over this land
It's the hammer of justice
It's the bell of freedom
It's a song about love between
My brothers and my sisters
All over this land.

“I’ll be on My Way”

~Shawn Kirshner

When I am gone, don’t you cry for me
Don't you pity my sorry soul
What pain there might have been
Will now be passed
And my spirit will be home

(REFRAIN)
I'll be on my way, I'll be on my way
I'll have left my feet of clay upon the ground
I will be glory bound,
I'll be on my way

When I am gone
Don't you cry for me
Don't my pity my sorry soul
What pain there might have been
Will now be past and my spirit will be home

I'll be on my way, I'll be on my way
I'll have left my feet of clay upon the ground
I will be glory bound,
I'll be on my way

When I am gone
Please forgive the wrong
That I might have done to you
There'll be no room for regrets up there
High above way beyond the blue

I'll be on my way, I'll be on my way
I'll have laid my. frown and all my burdens down
I'll be putting on my crown
I'll be on my way

When I am gone, don't you look for me
in the places I have been
I'll be alive but somewhere else
I'll be on my way again

I'll be on my way, I'll be on my way
I'll lift my wings and soar into the air
There'll be glory everywhere
I'll be on way

I'll be on my way, I'll be on my way
I'll have laid my frown and all my burdens down
I'll be putting on my crown
I'll be on my way

I'll have left my feet of clay upon the ground
I will be glory bound,
I'll be on my way

“May the Road Rise To Meet You”

~Roger and Camilla McGuinn

Summertime the sun would shine we'd lay across the field
Sheltered in the shadow of a tree
We'd write up poems to take along and sing out on the road
And you would always sing this song to me

May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be at your back
May the sun shine down warm upon your land
May the rain fall soft upon your face until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand

Autumn leaves would change our tree to colors on the ground
Swirling patterns beautiful to see.
I’d lay my head down on your lap, I would not make a sound,
And you would always sing this song to me

Through the winter days our tree would shiver in the wind
Waiting for the warming touch of spring
I'd hold you in the firelight, we'd stare into the flame
And this is what you always used to sing