Come Home — An Ancient Forest Lullaby
Come Home – an ancient forest lullaby is the collaborative work of passionate artist activists across Canada. Funded by the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, as part of our From Harm to Harmony community arts project co-facilitated by musician/writer Laura Barron and environmental artist, Juliana Bedoya, this lullaby resulted from several online sessions hosted in late 2021. Â
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The lullaby represents the point of view of the Ancient Mother trees, themselves, as they guide Earth’s children (all humans) through the wise words they wish to share about protecting them.  The project was inspired by Laura’s work through Carnegie Hall’s Lullaby Project, where her own non-profit, Instruments of Change, has been engaging with single mothers escaping violence, to co-create original songs for their babies that foster bonding and healing. Â
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This empathetic creative process began with collaborative lyric-writing sessions, where Laura led participants from BC and NB (including Karine Cormier, Kaitlyn Gillis, Danielle Manual, Heather Marmura, Clara Shandler, Kristin Singh, Dana Sipos, & Danielle Smith) to write love letters to the forest; love letters from the forest to human kind; as well as haiku-inspired poems that used an invented syllabic pattern derived from the Fibonacci Series (1-2-3-5-8) as fodder for the lyrics.Â
Fittingly, this Golden Mean pattern (Fibonacci) wondrously appears in many biological contexts including the bracts of a pine cone, the proliferation of tree branches and more. It also factored strongly into the resulting compositional process. With the group acting as art directors, they shared tracks of music which they felt could appropriately inspire the style they wished for their lullaby. Then, they democratically voted on their favorites which informed Laura’s compositional process. A similar curational approach was used to select “stop” words and phrases from each participant’s narrative and poetic pieces of writing, which were ultimately woven together into verse form for the lyrics. Â
Victoria-based singer/songwriter, Dana Sipos brings her deeply soulful vocals to this haunting a capella lullaby. And the lyrics are set to a five-layered vocal accompaniment which represents the mycelium (fungi) layer of interconnected communication that occurs beneath the ancient forest’s soil. Each layer includes either a 1,2,3,5, or 8 syllable word from the co-created lyrics. And the b flat minor melody also uses the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 8th notes of its scale.
A true team effort, the final product was expertly mixed by producer Ben McClelland, and mastered by Dan Bereza.
Listen to the A capella version of Come Home here:Â
Verse 1
Rest on moss carpet
moist with your sylvan tears
My boughs await
a cradle for your sorrows
Lay still before me
flesh to lychen
and share your breath
with mine
Bridge – 2 x’s
Your solace
Your shelter
Your air
Your muse
Verse 2
Scent of cedar
Hint of tamarack
Grandmother
father and friend
Inhale the rich patina
of our tangled lives
Exhale all you’ve forgotten
Exhale your rooted shame
Chorus
Come home to you
Come home to me
Truth lives inside us
in symphony
Come home to you
Come home to me
Behold of what comes
from one little seed
Verse 3
Give me your presence
under dappled light
Your face lit by
our same sun
Place your palm gently
on my jagged bark
I am protected by your love
your healing touch
Bridge – 2 x’s
My solace
My shelter
My air
My muse
Verse 4
A melody to mend the cracks
whispers in my branches
Let my rustling voice
sustain you
Your ancestors have listened
The song lives in their bones
Do you recall – the music
also lives in you
Bridge – 2 x’s
Our solace
Our shelter
Our air
Our muse
Chorus
Come home to you
Come home to me
Truth lives inside us
in symphony
Come home to you
Come home to me
Behold of what comes
from one little seed
Explore our Community Art Project
Videos: From Harm to Harmony
These videos made by the members of our community art project explore how local artists are using their art to foster positive emotions in the face of climate anxiety, and a harmonious vision for our future.
