The Face of Kindness

At Summerfolk I had the great experience of being a facilitator for a songwriting workshop, along with Alex Sinclair and Heather McLeod. Each of us helped direct our own groups of about 6 people, and we had about 45 minutes to assemble some ideas and turn them into a song, which we then performed in our groups.

I was really lucky to have the Moxywoman in my group. Her ability to honour everyone's gifts with grace was a boon to our process, and she also has a chorister's appreciation for melody. Plus she took notes and pictures...

The process was pretty basic. A blue sky session produced a bunch of ideas, and a turn of phrase we all liked: "the face of kindness." We then took that notion and explored it a little bit in images, which we eventually pared down to poetry that would make solid lyrics.


Once we had a rhyme scheme and the images for each verse, we picked out a pretty melody and some simple accompaniment. That was then overlaid with three stanzas of lyrics, and the result was a prayer-like song which we all seemed to appreciate. We performed it en masse for the whole company.

TMW and I are now sharing ideas back and forth to fashion a bridge and/or chorus for the song. I'll be performing it first chance I get... campfire at Shelter Valley, anyone?


The Face of Kindness

C G C
How old do you think I am?

Am G F
I'm eighty-four and I live next door.

C G C
(With a) tired heart and tired hands,

Am G C
But I see the face of kindness.


How long do you think I'll live?
Will I have time to make my mark?
There's so much love I want to give.
Will I know the face of kindness?

How long will these towers stand?
What stops the sun from rising?
Clouds and shadows on the land.
Reveal the face of kindness.

Copyright 2006 (S. Atkins, R. Barreca, R. Davis, C. Lang, R. Moore, D. Newland)