Music: LAY DOWN by Melanie Safka

If we learn nothing else from history it should be:

— Nothing is more valuable than love, more courageous than peace, or more precious than life.  Hate, fear and greed hold us hostage to forces that drain our spirit, steal our creativity, limit our opportunities, and rob us of our future.

— The world is so much smaller than we think.  We depend on each other so much more than we imagine.  We’ve reach a time when we need to take our best selves forward with our hearts and eyes open and our arms linked.

The song LAY DOWN by Melanie Safka (1969), speaks to this simply and eloquently.  These words in particular have been stuck in my head for days.

We were so close, there was no room
We bled inside each other’s wounds
We all had caught the same disease
And we all sang the songs of peace

Melanie Safka – Lay Down (candles In The Rain) – via MetroLyrics

As Melanie explained to American Songwriter in 2013, she wanted to express the “sense of community” and the “incredible flow of human power.”  The Edwin Hawkins Singers (gospel) joined her in the 1970 version in the video below.

(Youtube link — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6DGMnCZVVg)

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MELANIE SAFKA

Singer, songwriter, musician
(Pop, folk, country)
Wife, mother, UNICEF spokesperson
Emmy winner

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