The first stanza of this song revealed itself to us on 30 October 2017. On 30 October, residents gathered together with us to write words and phrases that would become one of our favorite songs to sing. The writing of this song was one where we engaged in a lot of translation and discussion. Our friend Mohammed (I am the change) helped an older gentleman to translate from Arabic to English a very poignant idea of being a word in the world with the role to make the world a better place. The two spoke together to translate from Arabic to English.

I would be a good word of joy

I would live in all houses and push the evil away

I would bring honor to the world, and always I would bring joy

The resident also spoke French, so I talked with him about the idea as well. A staff person wrote his ideas down in French.

J’aimerais bien que je suis un mot (I would like very much that I was a word)

Je suis un mot de l’amour (I am a word of love)

Je fais l’amour de la littérature (I create love in the written word)

This song idea was one of many that were shared on this particular day. On any given page we hang on the wall, people may share stories, words, and phrases that eventually become several different songs.

We worked on two other songs from ideas shared on this day. You can read about one of those songs at Free Again

We loved this first stanza and found ourselves singing it time and again, finally returning to work on it and finish on a Monday visit, 12 February 2018.

To read more about the writing of this song, visit Guiding Song: I Am A Word (Part I) and Guiding Song: I Am A Word (Part II)

This is a performance of the song at the annual Petit-Château volunteer dinner in December 2017:

This is a live performance at The Brussels Folk Club at La Porte Noire/The Black Door from 9 September 2018:

This is a live performance opening for The Core comedy troupe at The Sister Café 11 September 2018: