That’s Good News

Working to get each other free.

Lyrics

I feel a new day coming.

And that’s good news. And that’s good news.

I feel a new way showing. (3x)

And that’s good news. Oh, that’s good news.

I feel a new dawn glowing. (3x)

And that’s good news. Oh, that’s good news.

I feel an old river rolling. (3x)

I feel a new star shining and guiding (3x)

I feel a new day coming. (3x)

About This Song

Solstice morning December 21, 2020 I awoke hearing this exact song in a dream. It’s an amazing feeling when music arrives in a dream, and happily this is a frequent phenomenon. More than a hundred times songs have started this way, emerging in the early morning dark. I go over them in my mind to hang on and remember. When I got up on Solstice, immediately I recorded what is here.

When I sing this song, I like to experiment with different lyrics and ask people to suggest what words they would like to put into the song. Like these:

I feel new truth arising.

I feel old lies shaking off.

We have strong fire to rebuild the world.

Or honor phrases from Amanda Gordon’s poem, “The Hill We Climb” like this:

We step out, aflame and unafraid.

We will never again sew division.

Love becomes our legacy.

To use her words, sing each phrase three times as separate verses, clarifying these are Amanda Gordon’s words from her poem, and use the title of her poem as the refrain. “The hill we climb, the hill we climb” to replaces, “And that’s good news.”

Above I described this song using words of Ali Bell-Delgado, Learning Fellow of the UU Church of the Larger Fellowship. Ali said during a benediction, “We are doing all we can to build a new way. All of us are working to get each other free.”