Credits:
We learned this song from a Sweet Honey in the Rock recording. We sing this one at Samhain and for funerals because it’s such a gentle, positive way to think about the departed. We all love doing the “ah-ahh, wshh” part at the end of the chorus; the voices of the ancestors singing through the water. Lovely. Breaths is track 6 on our album Crow Goddess. You can purchase it here. Donna sings the solo at the very beginning and the Crow Women ensemble takes it from there.
Lyrics
Chorus:
Listen more often to things than to beings
Listen more often to things than to beings
‘Tis the ancestor’s word
When the fire’s voice is heard
‘Tis the ancestor’s word
In the voice of the waters
Ah-ahh, wshh, ahh-wshh
Those who have died
Have never, never left
The dead are not under the earth
They are in the rustling trees
They are in the groaning woods
They are in the crying grass
They are in the moaning rocks
The dead are not under the earth, so…
(chorus)
Those who have died
Have never, never left
The dead have a pact with the living
They are in the woman’s breast
They are in the wailing child
They are with us in the home
They are with us in the crowd
The dead have a pact with the living, so…
(chorus)
© Birago Diop & Ysaye Barnwell.
YouTube video:
Breaths of the Ancestors
