Silver Dove
A new song of hope just out. Also, see the new video and read how the song came about.
Note: today we are releasing a new single, “Silver Dove.” It is a song of hope and is the culminating song on my new album, “Nothin’ Lastin’,” which will be released October 7. Check out the animated version of the album cover, brilliantly conceived by Edward Bateman and premiered at Folk Radio UK. Below is the full version. To see and listen to an excerpted version CLICK HERE. Singing with me is the glorious Mollie O’Brien, her husband, Rich Moore playing guitar, brother, Tim O’Brien on mandolin and Amy Paterson with a flugelhorn solo.
Here is the full version. Lyrics below
Liner Notes
This song came from a cultural exchange to a dictatorial country, Turkmenistan. There, I got to play music at many schools. Those lovely children, like young people everywhere, were naturally free. As we age, can we be conditioned out of freedom? I used to think not but I’m not so sure anymore.
I came so close to forgetting the origins of “Silver Dove.” I’d even forgotten that writing it grew out of a trip to Turkmenistan in April 2013 as part of a cultural tour called The American Cowboy Show. The Turkmen government paid our way to set up a booth at a massive horse exposition with cowboy gear, photos, art and four of us singing cowboy songs. This was all to honor the Turkmen national horse, the Akhal-Teke, a powerful symbol for the country. It was a grand weekend, a national holiday with nearly a thousand participants flown in from around the world to glory in the horse’s legacy.
I had traveled to greater Central Asia before as part of cultural exchanges, first to Mongolia, then Kyrgyzstan. Neither of these places prepared me for Turkmenistan. It ranks sixth in the world for exports of natural gas and its capital city, Ashgabat, showcases the wealth that natural resource bestows. The city sits in the middle of the desert with low-lying hills off to one side, its streets lined with modern, marble-clad buildings. The shining stone buildings give Ashgabat a magical, almost Oz-like quality, but the buildings are mostly deserted.
The country’s Head of State was Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow. The main thing I can say, besides his long name, is that he really knew how to keep a tight control over his nation. Turkmenistan ranks as one of the most repressive countries in the world, coming in just behind North Korea and Syria. We felt it every day we were there. The horse conference seemed staged, with only a controlled group of followers invited to the festivities. Hundreds of school kids in traditional costumes were bussed early each morning to greet the President and impress the visitors by dancing, holding flowers, and standing tall.
The most blatant example of control was a big horse race staged for the festival. The stands were full of cheering crowds and the President joined in the race against the country’s fastest jockeys and horses. As he came around the bend to the finish line, he miraculously pulled ahead to win the race. What happened next was a surprise. His horse stumbled and the President took a big tumble. The crowd gasped as they caried him off in an ambulance. It was an extremely tense and silent half hour until he came back to the arena to show the throngs that he was unhurt. There was a swell of emotional cheering. Then, as we left the arena, security forces checked every smart phone and camera to make sure no one was leaving with an embarrassing photo as a memento. Also, when we went through security leaving the country, all our cameras and memory cards were examined to make sure we were not taking compromising material out of the country. Of course, it is difficult to contain something like that and today anyone can find footage of the horse accident.
After the weekend of pomp and posing we had a few days to visit schools in the region, viewing their arts and education and sharing our own cowboy traditions. Our gratitude at being able to encounter the young people of the country grew with each stop. These visits, unlike the official part of the trip, had a lovely quality of give and take. For instance, we went to a school dedicated to teaching English and German. After we did our cowboy show, the students put on an English program, giving us a history of the Turkmen people, their poetry, their music, and a grand dancing finale with American and Turkmen flags waving as they sang a rousing version of Michael Jackson’s “We are the World.” There wasn’t a dry eye in our bunch.
Like children all over the world, Turkmen kids have natural curiosity, innocence, and boundless faith in the world. They are not jaded. They do not need to control the narrative. It unfolds naturally and honestly and was a stark contrast to the leadership of their country.
I’ve thought a lot about what it takes to force a controlling narrative on a people, about the resources required to organize things so tightly. The real cost of control is an eventual loss of trust and with it the loss of freedom. Without confidence in the truth, it is a struggle to make real change and progress. We do not live in a particularly repressive country, yet I watch the erosion of public trust and it saddens me. And my sadness is mostly for the children to whom we give distrust as their inheritance.
When I recorded “Silver Dove,” I had forgotten what it was all about. I thought the song was about doves taking our prayers to heaven. Thank heavens Candra Day, who organized our tour to Turkmenistan, reminded me that this song is about the children. It’s all about the children.
Lyrics
On the wings of a dove, on the wings of a prayer
It’s the hope of all people for a life that is fair
Where all God’s religions don’t shout so loud
And they all work together bringing hope to the crowd
Chorus
Silver Dove, come take our prayers
Lift them to Heaven, and lighten our cares
Where women walk freely and hold their heads high
And the rich man takes only enough to get by
Where leaders are judged by how much they give
And the government’s motto is live and let live
Chorus
Just look in a child’s eyes, then say there’s no hope
We must all take the leap and fix what is broke
On the wings of the dove, on the wings of a prayer
In the eyes of the children we’ll find what is fair
Chorus
May the children help us find the way
Teresa’s Birds of Praise video featuring “Silver Dove”
A Review
A couple years ago I sent a draft of the new album out to a few people who I consider to have glorious ears. I was surprised by the response. These unsolicited comments gave me heart to go on. I present them, one at a time, more in gratitude than in pride.
“What a beautiful gift to give to the world. Thanks so much for sending the book and CD. If we were living during the time we grew up in college, this would be one of those recordings that somehow finds its way to every other dorm room in the country. I hope many more people get to hear it.”
Phillip Aaberg, Montana
These words, music and video are sad, beautiful and hopeful.
Fantastic Hal!!