Red buds | Pandemic report ©Lauren Helf
April 11, 2020
Pandemic Playlist
As Spring brushes the crabapple with its blush of red buds, the coronavirus spreads death, fear, and unprecedented destabilization across the globe.
This overwhelming, multifaceted tragedy is compounded by staggering malfeasance and iniquity in the White House. Helpless and shut up in our homes, we can turn to music for solace.
Here is my playlist, songs of hope, despair, endurance, prayer and values for these hard times:
Lean on Me__Bill Withers [Live At Carnegie Hall version]
Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow...
Angel From Montgomery (Live)__John Prine [& Bonnie Raitt - Tribute to Steve Goodman version]
...Just give me one thing that I can hold on to
To believe in this living is just a hard way to go...
Hello In There__John Prine
...Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder ev'ry day
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello"...
Reach Out I'll Be There__Four Tops
Now if you feel that you can't go on
Because all of your hope is gone,
And your life is filled with much confusion
Until happiness is just an illusion,
And your world around is crumblin' down;
Darling, reach out, reach on out for me...
A Change Is Gonna Come__[Otis Redding version]
...It's been so long, it's been so long, a little too long
A change has gotta come
So tired, so tired of standing by myself
And standing up alone...
Further On Up the Road__[Johnny Cash version]
...If there's a light up ahead, well brother I don't know
But I got this fever burnin' in my soul...
Wayfaring Stranger__[Emmylou Harris version]
...There is no sickness, no toil, nor danger
In that bright land to which I go...
Mercy Now__Mary Gauthier
...My church and my country could use a little mercy now
As they sink into a poisoned pit it's going to take forever to climb out
They carry the weight of the faithful who follow them down
I love my church and country, they could use some mercy now...
Freedom/ Motherless Child__[Richie Havens - Paris Live 1969 version]
...Sometimes I feel like I'm almost gone
A long, long long way from my home...
Hard Times Come Again No More__[James Taylor with Yo Yo Ma, Mark O'Conner, Edgar Meyer version]
...There are frail forms fainting at the door
Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say
Oh, hard times, come again no more...
All That You Have Is Your Soul__[Emmylou Harris version]
...Hunger only for a taste of justice
Hunger only for a world of truth
'Cause all that you have is your soul...
Calm Before the Storm__Eliza Gilkyson
...Savour all the laughter
Outside the dark clouds form
No-one knows what will come after here tonight
In the calm before the storm...
Knockin' On Heaven's Door__Bob Dylan
...It's gettin' dark, too dark to see
I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door...
Requiem__Eliza Gilkyson
...Hear our mournful plea
Our world has been shaken
We wander our homelands forsaken
In the dark night of the soul
Bring some comfort to us all...
Before the Deluge__Jackson Browne
...Some of them were angry
At the way the earth was abused
By the men who learned how to forge her beauty into power
And they struggled to protect her from them
Only to be confused
By the magnitude of her fury in the final hour...
Beware of Darkness__George Harrison
...Watch out now, take care
Beware of greedy leaders
They take you where you should not go...
American Tune__Paul Simon
...And I don't know a soul who's not been battered
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
or driven to its knees
But it's all right, it's all right
We've lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the road
we're traveling on
I wonder what went wrong...
California Dreamin'__[Melanie version]
...All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray
I've been for a walk on a winter's day
I'd be safe and warm if I was in L.A....
Light Shine__Jesse Colin Young
...You know the world is
Dark with fear,
And people scared to
Let you near
They need you to
Shine on
Shine on 'em all day...
And the Healing Has Begun__Van Morrison
...We're gonna dance, we're gonna stay out all night long
We're gonna dance to the rock and roll
When the healing when the healing has begun...
Morning Dew__Grateful Dead
...Where have all the people gone my honey?
Where have all the people gone today?...
