Yes Lyrics

All music and lyrics by Barbara McAfee unless otherwise noted.
© Big Bug Music

Yes
May you breathe easy
May your heart be light
May you open your life to each joy, each delight
May you walk with assurance that your way is blessed
May you dwell in the spirit of YES....YES Chorus
 
May you know your beauty through your loved ones' eyes
May you face every change with a taste for surprise
May you welcome each stranger as a treasured guest
May you dwell in the spirit of YES....YES Chorus
 
May we hold all who suffer with loving care
May our being together ease the loads that we bear
May we take up the habit of happiness 
May we dwell in the spirit of YES...YES Chorus

What If?
How would I live if I knew I was good?
Unbound, set free from the habits of “should?”
If something deep inside my soul
Was completely trustworthy, totally whole?
How would my days unwind
If I overrode that chatter in my mind?
Stopped tearing myself down for major redesign and just....
Lived my life?
Live my life.  Live my life.
 
What if I was no better, no worse
Than any other human being -
It might break the curse
Of comparing, contrasting ‘til I make myself sick
Just might forego the carrot,
Give up the stick...
What if I knew every break could mend
If I cut myself the same slack I’d offer a friend?
What if there was no fortress to defend and I
Just lived my life?
Live my life  Live my life
 
What if all that crap I wish would leave
Was the source of compost for my rarest seeds?
What if all that striving to be my best
Was just self-hatred in a fancy dress?
What if I found magic in the ordinary?
Lightened up the load that I carry?
So you won’t read on my tombstone on my dying day:
“Got it all done.  Died anyway.”*
 
I lived my life.
Lived my life (before I died)
I lived my life.
 
*  This line comes from comedienne Loretta LaRoche.

Such As These
She cleans an airport bathroom singing gospel tunes
Makes a fine cathedral from that hollow room
“His eye is on the sparrow” - she’s singing true
Singing Sister, I hope he keeps his eye you......
 
All day long he’s standing guard
Each time I pass, he’s got a kind word
He’s a guardian angel in a tough disguise
When I tell him so, I see joy in his eyes....
 
And life is made lovely by such as these
By such as these.....  

We’re passed along from grace to grace:
Every willing hand, every kindly face.
It’s through the toil of strangers we take our ease....
Life is made lovely by such as these....
 
Sax on the sidewalk on a rainy night
Not a tooth in his head, but he sounds so right
I drop him a twenty and some words of praise
Seems far too little for the gifts he gave....
 
And life is made lovely by such as these
By such as these.....
 
We’re passed along from grace to grace:
Every willing hand, every kindly face.
It’s through the toil of strangers we take our ease....
Life is made lovely by such as these....
And may life be made lovely ......  for such as these.

Perfect Day
September 2, 2009 - Mallard Island

A brilliant watermelon dawn
Watched while half in dreaming
A piping mug of coffee held
In hands still cool from morning’s dewfall
A perfect day, a perfect day
 
Words unspooling from the pen
Bright thoughts kaleidoscoping jewels
The breathless plunge, the sturdy stroke
The sun’s hot shimmer warming chill skin
A perfect day, a perfect day
 
Ripe tomatoes in a bowl
Sweet basil crushed between the fingers
Laughter dancing on the breeze
A sunset sojourn at the piano.....
 
Silent paddle, gentle wind
The pearl moon casts a path of silver
Lingering on the silent shore
Grateful tears for having lived this
Perfect day, perfect day.

Do-Be-Do 
Based on a poem by Lao Tzu
Always we hope someone else has the answer
Some other place will be better than this
And if we wait around long enough
It will all work out...
This is it
No one else has the answer
There is no better place than where we are
And even if we don’t quite understand how,
Everything is just the way it should be....
 
Do be do be do be do be do
Do be do be do be do
 
At the center of your being you have the answer
You know who you are
You know what you want
No need to go outside for better seeing
Rather abide at the center of you
The more you leave it
The less you learn
Search your heart and you will see
The way to do is to be
 
Do be do be do be do be do
Do be do be do be do

​Little One (Pema)
The first time you drew breath, Child,
You sang your song out loud and strong.
The first time you opened up your eyes,
You saw beauty all around.
From the angels’ hands into your papa’s
From your mama’s womb into the world
You are welcome here
You are welcome here
Baby Girl.
 
The first time you smiled, Child,
Our hearts filled with delight.
And every time you’ll cry, Dear Girl,
We’re here to tell you things will come ‘round right
From the sweet times through the heartache
From the sand grains come the pearls
We are with you
And we will hold you
Little Girl.
 
Oh, the marvels you’ll see
Oh, the times you will know
You’ll carry our love along with you
Anywhere and everywhere you go.....
 
The first year of your life is passed
You’ve traveled far since first you came
You’ve bloomed just like a lotus flower
Girl, you’ve grown into your name
Feel the loving hearts around you
Your adventure’s just begun
Here’s our promise and our blessing
Little One.
 
From this moment through your whole life long
May you sing your song loud and strong
And may your eyes stay keen and bright 
​to see the beauty all around
Always loving hearts around you
Heaven knows who you’ll become
Here’s our promise and our blessing….Little One.
​
Bridge Over Troubled Water
by Paul Simon
When you're weary
Feeling small
When tears are in your eyes
I will dry them all
 
I'm on your side
When times get rough
And friends just can't be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
 
When you're down and out
When you're on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you
 
I'll take your part
When darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
 
Sail on Silver Girl,
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way
 
See how they shine
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind

Unexpected Love
I want to write you a love song, Baby
Though the world doesn’t really need one more
And everything I think to say to you has been said before
I’ll take a risk, that’s what lovers do
Just open my heart to you
And sing what comes through
 
This is quite an unexpected love song
You are such a fine surprise
In all those years of being friends
We never realized
That we’d love so exquisitely
How magic our dance would be
When we set it free
 
Haven’t talked at all about tomorrow
Been too enchanted by today
And isn’t life made of moments anyway?
There’s such spacious simplicity;
Things are just as they ought to be
Between you and me
 
So here, my darlin’, is your love song
I’ve just aimed to say what is true
But words can’t ever capture the gift that’s you
I am grateful and I am blessed
What a mystery, who would have guessed?
Let my kisses express the rest
To you....

Autumn of Life
By Jean Leicester and Barbara McAfee
Autumn of life, radiant colors
Season of orange and gold
Colors that dare me to dream a new life
Where courage does not have to roar (2x)
 
Moving and changing, roots reaching deep
Keeping the unknown alive
Living my life like an unfinished song
Where only the next line is clear (2x)
 
Life with less push, more flow
Treasuring all that I know
Riding this wild new mind
Learning to take my sweet time....
 
Older and wiser, bursting with life
Setting my spirit free
Guiding my steps from this moment on
The wisdom of children and fools (2x)
 
Life with less push, more flow
Treasuring all that I know
Riding this wild new mind
Learning to take this sweet time,
That’s mine,
My autumn time.....
 
Autumn of life, radiant colors
Season of orange and gold.....

Holy Cold
Holy cold, etchings of frost on the window
It’s twelve below nothing outside
Holy cold, stronger than life’s tiny ember
A word in the mouth of December, a siren’s song

Chorus:
Oh, the lure of oblivion pressing so close to my flesh
The thrill of chill gives me goosebumps....

Holy cold, pulling me out into midnight
The moon vivid blue on the snow
Holy cold, styrofoam squeak of my boot steps
Peppermint air fills each deep breath with icy fire....Chorus
 
Holy cold, paying a call on high summer
Seconds from hot to half-numb
Chilled to the bone
Holy cold, lurking in bright northern waters
Even though I’m their daughter
They’d pull me down.....Chorus
 
Holy cold, how can it feel hot as fire
With Antarctic songs on the waves?
Holy cow!  A holler comes bursting out sudden
What else can you do when that baptism comes?...Chorus
 
The thrill of the chill
The enticement of ice
I’m lost to the frost
My nose is half froze
The thrill of the chill gives me goosebumps.....

Grove
My roots were set in stony ground
I sent them deep and there I found.
Water from a secret spring
That kept my heart from withering
 
Followed on those tangled years
When I thought my joy was bought with tears
Caught in a web of cruel design
The hands that tied the knots were mine
 
Would that I could travel
From this day to those years of shadow
Put my hand on my shoulder......
 
I was voiceless for so long
It brings such sweetness to my song
My native joy so long suppressed
Flowing now in blessedness
 
I see you in your suffering
Seek for ways that I may bring
Kindness that will ease the day
A ray of sun to pierce the grey.
 
Would that I could travel
From this place to your land of shadow
Put my hand on your shoulder.......
 
Our roots entwine beneath the ground
Our branches with bright leaves are crowned
In this grove, our sacred home
We’re blooming together in the temperate zone.

A Woman's Voice
Based on a poem by Ana Akhmatova
A woman's voice like the wind, rushes --
Nocturnal it seems, moist and black,
And as it flies, whatever it brushes
Changes and will not change back.
Its diamond shine comes to bathe and bless,
Things are draped in a silver light,
It rustles its suggestive dress,
Woven of fantasy, silken and bright.
And the power that propels the enchanted
Voice displays such hidden might,
It's as if the grave were not ahead,
But mysterious stairs beginning their flight.

Women Rise!
An anthem composed for The Women’s Leadership Revival Tour with Margaret Wheatley which visited 13 North American cities
Chorus:
When women wake, mountains move.
When women wake, mountains move.
When women rise, the world rises with us.
So women wake, women wake
Women rise, women rise, women rise....
 
In a million small gestures, we weave it all together
Much of what we do goes unseen and unsung
But from our daily labors, our downright stubborn loving
A new world is begun....Chorus
 
We’re not going to wait ‘til we’re perfect
The women we are will just have to suffice
We likely won’t ask for permission to change things
We may not even be nice....Chorus
 
Is there something that grabs your attention?
A face or a story that won’t let you go?
Each gesture you make in repairing this world
Will matter more than you’ll ever know...Chorus
 
Along Our Way
Let us celebrate our living; let the Spirit be our guide
Let us walk through this world together side by side.
May we honor all our families and the ones who came before
May the years teach us to love each other more
 
Chorus:  There’s a new sun rising in our eyes
And I know that we’re both in for a big surprise
There’s more to this love than we could ever see today
We’ll find much more love along our way.
 
Let’s stretch the edge of imagination; let’s dive to the heart of the mystery
May the roads of our lives now join in beauty
May we make our home a refuge; may we make our hearts a shrine
May we weave a brand new story yours and mine...Chorus 

Good life, man and woman
Sweet river, many blessings
Sweet love, hearts dancing
Wild hopes, long vision