mountain masala

Alive@5 in 2015

Surely There is Room

Thank you to the wonderfully gifted Malcolm Gordon for the gift of this song as we seek to pray and hope for a welcome for asylum seekers in this land. Malcolm has offered it freely as a gift to share.

In these wide open spaces
This land needs tilling
But there's rumours of war
There's whispering of killing
Over mountain and flood and over the plain
This dark cloud reigns

Put my hand to the plough
There's no turning home
For this stirring within 
Won't leave me alone
And alone is one thing that you'll never be
There is no 'them', there is only 'we'

Surely there is room for one more
Love make a way
How many saviours, unseen and displaced here
Will we leave out in the rain?

The weight of these times
Is measured in tears
The risk of this love
Is death to our fears
Give our voice for the groaning
Of children in chains
Forever there's hope wherever there's pain

Surely there is room for one more
Love make a way
How many saviours, unseen and displaced here
Will we leave out in the rain?
Surely there is room for one more
Love make a way
Picture what we could be
A generous family
Where welcoming arms hold open the door

In these wide open spaces
The wind blows alone
And the streets are just valleys that wander and roam
There is room for the pilgrim to lay down their load
And build a home.

Download "Surely There Is Room" (4.6 mb mp3)

 

"Be Our Light" - New Song

Here's a new song that I wrote with my friend David MacGregor from Brisbane. The lyrics are based on the themes of Psalm 27.

Be the light that shrouds the twilight
Be the might that holds our fears
Be the home that yearns our dwelling
Be the stone that takes our tears

Refrain
Christ be our light
Whom shall we fear?
Deep in the night
Spirit, draw near

Be the cry that whispers mercy
Be the seeker when we hide
Be the taker and the giver
Be the pathway and the guide

Be the sacrifice that breaks us
Be the shelter in the flood
Be the promise that remakes us
Be the parent who is good

I wrote this at Songwrite, the first Uniting Church national songwriters gathering in Canberra in February 2014. I tweaked them a bit in the months since. Then a couple of months ago I asked members of the Songwrite facebook group if they wanted to write a tune. A couple of peoploe said yes, and a really interesting period of experimentation followed.

David's melody seemed to work really well for me, so after a little fine tuning here it is. I love the reflective yet gently uplifting mood of the melody. Thanks to Dale MacGregor for providing the vocal. I've known David and Dale for about 35 years, so it is lovely to compose a song together. Maybe there'll be more.

From "Deeper Water" published by Mediacom Education 2021.

Download Be_Our_Light_VOCAL_[Bflat] (3.6mb mp3)

Download Be_Our_Light_Backing_Track (3.8mb mp3)

Song on iTunes as part of David Macgregor's album "More Than Dream"