Texts and Translations
There's a Meeting Here Tonight
Bob Gibson
arr. Cantus
There is a meeting here tonight!
Well there’s a meeting here tonight,
There’s a meeting here tonight,
I can tell by your friendly face
there’s a meeting here tonight.
Well I went down in the valley one day,
met old Satan on my way.
What do you reckon old Satan did say?
He said, “Turn back, young man
You’re too young to pray.”
Satan got mad and I am glad,
Lost a soul he thought he had.
Satan is a liar and a conjuror too,
You better watch out brother he’ll conjure you.
Well there’s a meeting here tonight,
There’s a meeting here tonight,
I can tell by your friendly face
there’s a meeting here tonight.
-Joseph Gilbert and Eddie Brown
America the Beautiful
Samuel Ward
arr. Paul John Rudoi
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country love
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
-Katharine Lee Bates
TaReKiTa
Reena Esmail
Dha Tarekita, Dhum Tarekita, Nom Tarekita Takadimitaka
Takadimi Takajanu Takadimi Na
"Practically speaking, this piece is based on sounds the Indian drum, the tabla, makes, called "bols" — they are onomatopoeic sounds that imitate the sound of the drum. The result is something like a scat would be in jazz — ecstatic, energetic, rhythmic music that feels good on the tongue."
-Reena Esmail
El Manisero
Moisés Simons
arr. Yosvany Estepe Díaz
Caserita no te acuestes ya llegué
El manisero llegó
Si te quieres por el pico divertir
Cómprame un cucuruchito de maní
Que calentito, y rico esta (traigo mani)
Ya no se puede pedir más
Ay, caserita no me dejes ir
Cómprame mi maní
Porque después te vas a arrepentir
Y va a ser muy tarde ya
El manisero ven que ya llegó
Ya está aqui
Cuando la calle, sola esta
Acera de mi corazón
El manisero, entona su pregón
Y si la niña escucha su cantar
Llama desde su balcón
Esta noche no voy a poder dormir
Sin comerme un cucurucho de maní
El manisero, entona su pregón
El manisero se va
Ya se fué
Homemaker don’t lie down, I’m here!
The peanut vendor has arrived.
If you want to have a treat for your mouth
Buy a cone of peanuts!
How warm, and delicious (I bring peanuts)
One can hardly ask for more!
Ah, little homemaker, don’t let me go
Buy my peanuts
Because, later, you will regret it
And it will already be too late...
The peanut vendor has arrived
They are here.
When the street is empty,
On the sidewalk of my heart
The peanut vendor makes his announcement
And, if the girl hears his song,
She calls him from her balcony.
I won’t be able to sleep tonight
Without having eaten a cone of peanuts!
The peanut vendor makes his announcement
and then the peanut vendor leaves.
He’s gone!
-Moisés Simons
Lejanas Voces
Carlos Cordero
Lejanas Voces
en el campo de la hierba
entre mi corazón y el infinito.
Lejanas voces,
las escucho dentro de mí.
Como si aún me cantaran
las más hermosas melodías.
Distant voices
on the field of grass
between my heart and the infinite.
Distant voices,
I hear them inside of me.
As if they still sang to me
The most beautiful melodies.
-Lilia Boscán de Lombardi and Carlos Cordero
Rimas Tropicales
Tania León
Cuando canta la guitarra
Es una isla bailando,
Una sirena soñando
Que en otra vida es cigarra.
Canta ella y alguien narra
El esplendor de la palma,
Suena el tambor, ya no hay calma,
La fiesta no tiene fin:
¿Será que un dulce clarín,
Está sonando en el alma?
When the guitar sings
It is like an island dancing,
A mermaid dreaming that she
In another life is a cicada.
She sings and someone tells
Of the splendor of the palm tree,
The drum resounds, calm is ended,
The party goes on and on:
Is it a sweet bugle call
That is sounding from the soul?
-Carlos Pintado
Tipitin
María Grever
arr. Raul Dominguez
Ladrón de amores me llaman, por robarme su cariño,
Como un juguete que a un niño se le antojara al pasar.
Con él, me robé, tus besos y un rizo de tus cabellos,
Pero me he enredado en ellos, y no me puedo escapar.
Todas las mañanas bajo tu ventana, canto esta canción.
Y es sólo el sonido del fuerte latido, de mi corazón.
Con miguitarra en la mano, y en ella un ramo de flores,
Por las mañanas temprano, voy cantando mis amores.
Y en mi cantar voy diciendo, que nunca te he de olvidar,
Que aunque la vida me cueste, el cantar no he de dejar.
They call me a thief of love, for having stolen your love,
Like a toy a child fancies when walking by it.
With it, I stole your kisses and a lock of your hair,
But now I’m tangled in it, and I can’t set myself free.
Every morning below your window, I sing this song.
This is the sound of the strong beating of my heart.
With my guitar in my hand, and in it a bouquet of flowers,
I go out every morning, singing about my love.
And in my song, I keep saying that I will never forget you,
Even if I die, I will never stop singing.
-María Grever
N-400 Erasure Songs
Melissa Dunphy
II. N-400: An Erasure
i.
notice: any immigration
notice: hearing
notice: see
notice: you
ii.
to the immigrant :
homeland is
a process
delayed.
iii.
fingerprints disposable
a number unpermitted
immigrants: are
all of the above
iv.
about the United States:
do not
support
the criminal history
v.
you are what
you have
abandoned
vi.
identify: alien
copy: self
vii.
separate your
open wounds in the
process
viii.
verify:
all has
been destroyed
ix.
naturalization can not capture
your free
can not level
your personal
for political
x.
this application simplified
is persecution of
your own safety
to ensure social security
xi.
reschedule
reschedule
reschedule
reschedule
a time
time
time
again time
time
date and
time
xii.
resubmit
resubmit
resubmit
xiii.
please
xiv.
you will
never
belong
-Laurel Chen
That Lonesome Road
James Taylor and Don Grolnick
arr. Simon Carrington
Walk down that lonesome road all by yourself
Don't turn your head back over your shoulder
And only stop to rest yourself when the silver moon
Is shining high above the trees
If I had stopped to listen once or twice
If I had closed my mouth and opened my eyes
If I had cooled my head and warmed my heart
I'd not be on this road tonight
Carry on
Never run feeling sorry for yourself
It doesn't save you from your troubled mind
Walk down that lonesome road all by yourself
Don't turn your head back over your shoulder
And only stop to rest yourself when the silver moon
Is shining high above the trees
-James Taylor and Don Grolnick
Manush Dhoro, Manush Bhojo
Baul Rashid Uddin
arr. Shabnam Abedi
Manush dhoro, manush bhojo,
Shon boli re pagol mon
Manusher bhitore manush, koriteche birajon
Manush ki ar emni bote,
Jar chorone jogot lute
Ei na poncho bhuter bote,
Kheliteche niranjon?
Choddo talar upore dalan,
Tar bhitore phuler bagan
Laili ar Mojnu dewan,
Shukhe kore je ashon
Hold fast to people, cherish people,
Listen, I tell you, O crazy mind.
Humanity exists within himself
Is he merely called “human”,
The one at whose feet the world falls?
Is this not the five ghosts’ pretext –
Their Aarti play?
Above the 14 floors stands a mansion;
Within it, a garden of flowers
Laili and Majnu attend as ministers;
In joy, they prepare the seat.
-Baul Rashid Uddin
Plakatap
Sydney Guillaume
Enfants de tous pays,
Jeunesses de partout,
Chantez, sautez, dansez!
A pied ou en vélo,
Sacoche sur le dos,
Plakatap – Plakatap,
Plakatap – Plakatap!
Fêtez, chantez!
Célébrons d’un seul cœur la grande Humanité
Et chantons tous en chœur notre Fraternité!
Malgré ce qui se passe,
En dépit de l’espace,
Nous sommes une famille
De garçons et de filles.
Vivons dans l’Unité
D’une seul Humanité.
Chantez, pompez, dansez!
Plakatap – Plakatap!
Avec le même amour,
Allons jour après jour,
Chantez, pompez, dansez
La Ronde Fraternelle
Des enfants de la Terre.
Plakatap – Plakatap,
Plakatap – Plakatap!
Children of all countries,
Youth from everywhere,
Sing, jump, dance!
On foot or by bike,
Our bangs on our backs,
Plakatap – Plakatap,
Plakatap – Plakatap!
Let’s party, let’s sing!
Let’s celebrate Humanity with one heart,
And let us all sing our Fraternity in chorus!
Regardless of what’s happening,
In spite of the distance,
We are one family
Of young men and women.
Let us dwell in the Unity
Of one Humanity.
Sing, jump, dance!
Plakatap – Plakatap!
United in the same love,
Let us go day by day,
Singing, jumping, dancing
The Fraternal Dance
Of the children of the World.
Plakatap – Plakatap
Plakatap – Plakatap!
-Gabriel T. Guillaume
The Road Home
"Prospect" tune from Southern Harmony
adapt. Stephen Paulus
Tell me, where is the road
I can call my own
That I left, that I lost
So long ago?
All these years I have wandered
Oh, when will I know
There's a way, there's a road
That will lead me home
After wind, after rain
When the dark is done
As I wake from a dream
In the gold of day
Through the air there's a calling
From far away
There's a voice I can hear
That will lead me home
Rise up, follow me
Come away, is the call
With the love in your heart
As the only song
There is no such beauty
As where you belong
Rise up, follow me
I will lead you home
-Michael Dennis Browne
Mi Tierra
Fabio Alonso Salgado and Gloria Estefan
arr. Yosvany Estepe
De mi tierra bella, de mi tierra santa
Oigo ese grito de los tambores
Y los timbales al cumbanchar
Y ese pregón que canta un hermano
Que de su tierra vive lejano
Y que el recuerdo le hace llorar
Una canción que vive entonando
De su dolor, de su propio llanto
Y se le escucha penar
La tierra te duele, la tierra te da
En medio del alma cuando tú no estás
La tierra te empuja de raíz y cal
La tierra suspira si no te ve más
La tierra donde naciste
No la puedes olvidar
Porque tiene tus raíces
Y lo que dejas atrás
Siguen los pregones, la melancolía
Y cada noche junto a la luna
Sigue el guajiro entonando el son*
Y cada calle que va a mi pueblo
Tiene un quejido, tiene un lamento
Tiene nostalgia como su voz
Y esa canción que sigue entonando
Corre en la sangre y sigue llegando
Con más fuerza al corazón
La tierra te duele, la tierra te da…
Tiene un quejido
Tiene un lamento
Nunca la olvido
La llevo en mi sentimiento , ¡sí señor!
Oigo ese grito
Vive el recuerdo
Corre en mi sangre
La llevo por dentro ¡como no!
Canto de mi tierra bella y santa
Sufro ese dolor que hay en su alma
Aunque esté lejos yo la siento
Y un día regreso, yo lo sé
Siguen los pregones , la melancolía…
La tierra te duele, la tierra te da…
From my beautiful land, from my sacred land
I hear that cry of the drums
And the drums at the street jam
And that street call that a brother sings
Who lives far from his homeland
And whose memories make him cry
A song he keeps singing
Of his sorrow, of his own tears
And you can hear him suffering
The land pains you, the land gives to you
Deep in the soul when you are not there
The land pushes you with root and lime
The land sighs if it no longer sees you
The land where you were born
You cannot forget it
Because it holds your roots
And what you leave behind
The street calls continue, the melancholy
And each night beside the moon
The peasant keeps singing the son
And every street that leads to my town
Has a moan, has a lament
Has nostalgia like his voice
And that song he keeps singing
Runs in the blood and keeps arriving
With more force to the heart
The land pains you, the land gives to you…
It has a moan
It has a lament
I never forget it
I carry it in my feelings , yes sir!
I hear that cry
The memory lives
It runs in my blood
I carry it inside of course!
I sing of my beautiful and sacred land
I suffer that pain that is in its soul
Though I am far away, I feel it
And one day I will return, I know it
The street calls continue, the melancholy…
The land pains you, the land gives to you…
-Fabio Alonso Salgado and Gloria Estefan
Leron, Leron Sinta
Traditional Filipino Folk Song
arr. Saunder Choi
Leron, Leron sinta
Buko ng papaya
Dala-dala’y buslo,
Sisidlan ng bunga.
Pagdating sa dulo’y,
Nabali ang sanga.
Kapos kapalaran,
Humanap ng iba.
Gumising ka, neneng;
Tayo’y manampalok.
Dalhin mo ang buslong,
Sisidlan ng hinog.
Pagdating sa dulo’y,
Lalamba-lambayog.
Kumapit ka, neneng;
Baka ka mahulog.
Ang iibigin ko’y
Babaeng maganda.
Ang rosas niya’y pito;
Ang saya niya’y siyam.
Ang lalakarin niya’y
Parte ng dinulang.
Isang pinggang pansit
Ang kanyang kalaban.
Leron, Leron my dear,
Blossoms of the papaya tree,
With a bamboo basket,
He’d gather some fruits.
But when he reached the top of the tree
The branch broke.
Oh, what a trick of fate,
He had to search for another.
Wake up, neneng;
Let’s pick some tamarind fruits.
Take the bamboo baskets,
To put the ripe ones in.
Upon reaching the top of the tree,
The branches swayed heavily.
Hold on tight, neneng,
As you might fall.
The one I will love
Is a beautiful girl.
She has seven roses
And nine dresses.
The journey she will take
Is the distance of a table.
A plate of noodles
Is her foe!
-Traditional Filipino Folk Song