Making Joyful Noise

If you receive our newsletter or keep up with us on the web site, you know about The Weaver, the cantata for choir, soloists and orchestra that I co-wrote with Mr. Buryl Red.

The lyrics for this entire cantata were written in the space of three days in 1986. Never before, and never since, have I experienced the kind of writing frenzy that came over me while I was working on those lyrics. They seemed to pour out of me. Every time I listen to or perform The Weaver, I am surprised and thoroughly delighted to have been the conduit for this material.

Toward the end of the cantata, there is a piece called, "Raise Your Voices in Praise." The lyrics for this piece were put down on tape while sitting in an airport. I'm sure the people around me must have wondered what kind of strange activity was taking place when they saw me speaking into a tape recorder, laughing, clapping my hands, smiling, slapping my legs with delight, seemingly totally unaware of the world around me.

I give you these lyrics here just because I think they're fun. I hope you find them fun, too.

Come, you doctors of modern science,
You who seek to know the mystery,
Come, clap your hands together and raise your voices in praise!
Oh, sing together in praise!
Come, you artists of every variety,
Come, you thinkers who study society,
Come, clap your hands together and raise your voices in praise!
Oh, sing together in praise!
Sing praise, you builders and buyers and bakers,
You mothers and medics and makers of radios, rockets and red paint,
and ribbons and riverboats.
Sing praise, you plumbers and planters and preachers,
You tinkers and tailors and teachers,
For the Weaver has made you a creature to join in the labor of love.
Come, you healers of mind and body, who mend the sick and who tend the dying;
Come, clap your hands together and raise your voices in praise!
Oh, sing together in praise!
Farmers and foresters, you who labor upon the land,
Leaders of nations, you with thousands at your command,
Thinkers and scholars, you who know the state of the world,
Peasants and simple folk, you who know the weight of the world.
Oh, clap your hands, join your hearts;
All in one, one in all.
Raise your voices together in songs of praise!
Come, you students of ancient history,
Come, you giants of modern industry,
Come, clap your hands together and raise your voices in praise!
Oh, sing together in praise!
Come, you families, tribes and nations,
And dance the dance in a great celebration.
Now come, clap your hands together and raise your voices in praise!
Oh, sing together in praise!
Let every creature great and small,
Let every creature north and south,
Let every creature east and west,
Whatever you do, wherever you go,
Come, clap your hands together and raise your voices in praise!