Two Songs We Sing

by Garry Thomas
Ithaca Meeting

I have two suggestions for Spark’s list of the songs we sing. One is sacred (as in religious): the hymn “As We Leave This Friendly Place.” This song to a Bach melody is always the last song my wife and family sing at worship gatherings in our intentional summer cabin community in the Pennsylvania woods.

The other song is profane, as in popular (but sacred to me): “Forever Young” by Joan Baez. Joanie’s is the most beautiful version of this Dylan song, but Pete Seeger’s is charming and beautiful in its own way. As I recall, it was recorded in his late eighties or nineties when his singing voice was not quite so strong. Of course, his voice and presence was strong even in his last years — and to this day.