Seeds of Change Copyright ©2022, 2024 Alphasongs LLC (ASCAP), all rights reserved, Music and Lyrics by Matthew L. Kearns (ASCAP) Part 1 - Seeking a Place of Peace 1a - Verse Trees that surround me, they shade my path.   Keep me calm and cooler.   Feel gentle breezes, the leaves sway. The skies seem ever blue. Find new perspectives and focus on what really matters.  1b - Reflection On this path, I seek a special place,   A field that’s open, with sunshine, right by the water.   In my mind, a place to settle down and seek inner tranquility, peaceful serenity, inner harmony, peaceful scenery.  Part 2 - Planting Seeds of Change 2a - Verse There on this field,  I will be planting seeds of change, perspectives and shade my path Keep me calm and cooler. Try to move from my past.  2b - The Planting There in the sunshine, seeds have been planted   Give them some water, give them attention.   Nourishing sunshine warms their infancy.   Look at what's growing here, sprouting with new ideas  2c - Vigilance And as sands of time drop through the hourglass,   there will be stormy times, unforeseen circumstance. Nurture the seeds of change. They are your destiny.   Protect and help them grow into new ideas.  Part 3 - Abundant Growth 3a - Verse Shooting above the ground.  Finding the warm sunshine. Reaching to the sky, leaves sway, swaying. New branches, they abound.   Growing rich with colors, beautiful blossoms there.   3b - Reflection On this path, I found a special place,   a field abundant with sunshine, right by the water.   In my mind a place to settle down and seek inner tranquility, peaceful serenity, inner harmony, peaceful scenery.   3c - Vigilance And as sands of time drop through the hourglass,   there will be stormy times, unforeseen circumstance.  Nurture the seeds of change. They are your destiny.   Protect and help them grow into new ideas.   Part 4 - The Harvest I think I found my place.  Here in this fertile field.   Sunshine peeks through the leaves   Trees rich, bearing bountiful fruit, so sweet.   And this fruit will nourish new thoughts and new fields for growing these seeds of change with tender love for the rest of my life.  Harvesting my seeds of change. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Notes  A few years ago the rhythm of my life changed. I came to a traumatic time, during which  it was necessary to make some decisions about changing from past associations to new directions and new associations. One new direction was through composing lyrics and music. This was one of many seeds of change that I consciously planted in the spring of 2019, when I discovered I could compose. Hence, the title of this song came to me two years later. Looking back at that time, it became clear to me how some relationships could not continue. Knowing these separations would be traumatic, I made very deliberate conscious changes in my life, planting Seeds of Change.   One of the seeds I planted was a very conscious effort to embrace my musical ideas and grow my abilities to realize them in music. I planted other seeds as well: improving my mental and physical health, resuming transcendental meditation, working on my musicianship skills, focusing on better performance at work and strengthening relationships with friends and family. As a result, my life is on a journey to a better place. The lyrics in this song reflect this new harvest, cultivated from the seeds of change that I planted. The lyrics are auto-biographical, and the structure is somewhat free-form, written in four sections; 1. Seeking a Place of Peace, 2. Planting Seeds of Change, 3. Abundant Growth, and 4. The Harvest. I wanted the music to be at a nice walking tempo, reflecting a desire to put my life on a more even keel, so to speak. The tenor and bass parts provide this rhythmic steadiness throughout the piece, but with many subtle variations. The soprano and mezzo-soprano parts carry most of the narrative content, but there are moments of textural contrast where these voices step aside to let the alto part take the lead. Performance Notes  This piece is scored for small-to-medium vocal ensemble, ranging from one-on-a-part to several singers per part. There is also a rhythmic role assigned to hand claps, which are intended to both reinforce and enhance the rhythmic structure of the song. These are optional and could be left out; however, I would encourage including the written clapping parts. I hope you have fun with it! Audio tracks generated with Cantamus software