Recordings
"If you want to hear some of the best songs
out there today...listen to Sarah Pirtle."
– Pete Seeger
Better Together has just been released as a feast of forty songs that Sarah uses with ages PreK- 6th to build community. They come with her newest book, Better Together: Caring and Including, Instead of Bullying.
Sarah's best known and most covered songs include Walls and Bridges, My Roots Go Down, and Two Hands Hold the Earth. She has recorded over 100 original songs and has received eight national awards for her music. Her songs have appeared in "Sing Out!" Magazine and "Broadside" and her work has been noted in Billboard Magazine.
In the Song Lyrics section, there are lyrics from Heart Wings, Sarah’s newest recording for adults, lyrics from Everyday Bravery, and songs from her children's recordings.
She created fifty-page activity books for her most recent children’s recordings, Pocketful of Wonder and Heart of the World. These books of lyrics and activities are available on this site under Free Downloads.
Linking Up comes with a book and is listed in the Books section of this site.
If you'd like to hear what some of the children's songs sound like, go to the A Gentle Wind website: www.gentlewind.com.
You can hear selections from Everyday Bravery on the CD Baby site.
For Adults |
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For Children |
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"Thank you, sweet sister Sarah, for your deep gift
of spirit, your huge soul and prophetic voice. Your newest song
"Home for Dinner" is a brilliant and heartbreaking song. You
and your voice have been at the heart of my life and soul ever since I
first heard you twenty years ago when we purchased Two Hands Hold the
Earth."
— Naomi Shihab Nye, poet
Lyrics that are inspiring and fun are joined with music to a lively beat.
"Sarah's songs touch the hearts of children and adults alike. Her music is food for the soul."
Better Together
Buy Now from: 
Caring and Including, Instead of Bullying
2011 recording
→ View list of the forty songs (pdf)
Companion to the book. Read more.
How to order:
Email Sarah: sarahpirtle@gmail.com
Set of book and double CD: $35 plus $5 postage.
Double CD alone: $20. Plus $3 postage
The 2 CD package is an eco-wallet with no plastic.
Send payment to:
Sarah Pirtle
Discovery Center for Peacebuilding
63 Main Street, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370
Pocketful of Wonder
Buy Now from:
Winner of the 2009 Parents' Choice Gold Award
Order From: a Gentle Wind
Let’s go outside. That’s the opening song and the central message. This recording encourages families to spend time together outside and supports a childhood nourished by the wonder of the earth.
These lively songs connect children to farm life in selections like “The Chicken Song,” “Vegetable Do-se-do” and “Meadow Waltz” and to outdoor city life with “City Cousin, Country Cousin” and “City Neighbors.”
Pete Seeger commented “what wonderful rhymes” in celebration of the very sing-able humorous songs “A Seed Knows What to Do” and “Kooka Million.” The favorite song of many listeners is “The Fairy House” where a fairy talks candidly about her concern for children.
Lively fiddle, banjo, and mandolin make this a danceable recording to be enjoyed by ages two to ten. As usual, Sarah has made sure that the collection includes a song in Spanish; a traditional song called “La Feria/The Fair” is sung in Spanish and English.
A special feature of the recording are two songs that honor generations: “My Grandmas Love Me” and “Mama’s Weaving” about passing on the skill of Mayan traditional weaving.
A special feature of the CD is that it has sections of text that can be read when it is inserted into a computer. There are photos of Red Gate Farm, the locale that inspired some of the songs. You can find a fifty-page activity book with song lyrics which also can be obtained on this website under "Free Downloads."
Heart Wings
Released June 2009
How to order:
Send $15 plus $3 postage to
Sarah Pirtle
Discovery Center for Peacebuilding
63 Main Street, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370
Email Sarah: sarahpirtle@gmail.com
Read more background on each song at the
Heart Wings lyrics page.
These thirteen songs celebrate the human spirit. “Freeman” describes the courage of a 12 year old boy during the Children’s Crusade in 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. “Knock on the Wall” tells of a friendship of two girls who meet on the Underground Railroad in the 1800’s. “Teresa of Avila” puts her prayer to music. The lyrical flute playing by Sue Kranz ignites the song “Fire Talk” about a vision quest.
This recording is intended for adults but it also has been enjoyed by children ages eight and up. These songs were written while Sarah studied to be an Interfaith Minister and Peace Chaplain at the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine.
All proceeds from this recording go to Sarah’s chaplaincy work with people who have experienced severe trauma.
Everyday Bravery
Buy Now from:
For CD and book: sarahpirtle@gmail.com
"Expansive and intimate. Personal and universal."
— Deb
Smith, NYC
"Your songs are about soul level work."
— Maggie Toran, teacher, MA
"When I listen to your song for Cindy Sheehan, I cry every time.
Such beautiful, heartfelt work. Thank you for blessing the movement, and
the world, with your gift. I want to let you know that as I continue to
do speaking engagements and things, I will see to it that your music is
played wherever possible."
— Stacy Bannerman Military Families Speak
Out
Read more background on each song at the Everyday Bravery lyrics page.
Sarah takes life stories and creates breathtaking lyrics that reach to the heartbeat of the courageous people she celebrates. Home for Dinner is Sarah's acclaimed song about Cindy Sheehan.
The recording is dedicated to Juanita Nelson. The song, The Ballad of Juanita Nelson, describes Juanita at age 16 as she sits down in the all-white railroad cars on a 1939 Jim Crow train to Georgia.
Pete Seeger calls her song, Ibrahim, the best song he's heard about Palestine. House of Hope describes how prisoner of conscience Richard Sitcha uses prayer to maintain his courage while in prison. My Bones Sing is a joyful circle dance song.
Lui Collins' harmonies, Ellen Clegg's percussion, Dan Tinen and Ryan Pirtle-McVeigh on piano, Peter Siegel on mandolin, Sarah Benson on flute, and John Kirk and Becky Tracy on fiddle add extra vitality to this recording of nineteen songs.
See Everyday Bravery Song Lyrics for an essay about the purpose of the recording. You’ll be able to go to the lyrics, read background information, and learn discussion questions for every song.
Sarah has created a 50-page booklet with Everyday Bravery lyrics, chords, background information and discussion questions: send CD $15, Book $10, Postage $5 to the Discovery Center, 63 Main St., Shelburne Falls, MA 01370.
“These are beautiful songs that speak to the purest, kindest aspect of our common humanity. They give more real support and encouragement to people facing the challenges of today’s world than any one CD I’ve ever heard!”
— Ray Korona, recording artist, NYC area.
Green Flame
This recording includes sing-along favorites Here's a Hand, and My Roots Go Down as well as the lyrical Follow the Voice. Other titles among the thirteen songs are Lay Down Your Weary Burden, Montana Wind, The Flowers of Atlantis, Still I Stay Strong, and Being Yes and Saying No. This is Sarah's first recording for adults.
"Green flame is the name I give
to the unstoppable
pulse of life."
How to order: Send $10 plus $3 postage to
the Discovery Center
63 Main Street
Shelburne Falls, MA 01370
Heart of the World
Buy Now from:
Winner of Three National Awards including the
Parents' Choice Silver Award,
Children's Web
Award Finalist, and the
Film
Advisory Board
Award of Excellence
Order From: A Gentle Wind
Sarah's sixth recording provides meaningful lyrics with lively danceable tunes that children and adults enjoy hearing over and over. From the inspiring words of "True to Myself" and "Magic Wings," to the humorous true story of a dog who swam with dolphins, Sarah expresses deep appreciation for the miracles of the earth. There's a special science focus. She's created joyful songs about quarks, DNA, and cells as well as "Whale Watch." Sarah's songs celebrate the best in life. Lively rhythms add spice to lyrics that are playful and profound as they capture the wonders of natural world and the joys of friendship.
Seventeen original songs plus a cajun traditional, "Bonjour, Mes Amis," and Bonnie Lockhart's "Water Cycle." The CD plays a video and provides extensive teacher lesson plans for ages 5-12. John Kirk on fiddle, John Roberts on concertina, and Paul Strausman on guitar add to the lively rhythms.
See song lyrics for the words to “Tree of Life,” “Whale Watch,” “True to Myself,” “The Quark Song,” “Move with the Moon,” and “Cells Start Moving.”
Magical Earth
Buy Now from:
Winner of Three National Awards:
Oppenheim Best Audio
Award, Parents' Choice Award, and
Parent Council Ltd.
Order From: A Gentle Wind
This multi-generational recording has a wide range of musical styles including calypso, zydeco, country dance music, and cumbia, which is an El Salvadorian rhythm for telling the news of a village. Children can dive into these songs because they feed the imagination. "Dolphin Drummers" takes you to Greek Isles where children drummed on the water to ask dolphins to drive fish into their nets.
Several original songs by Sarah on this recording have been recorded widely by other artists including "Mahogany Tree," made famous by Jay Mankita for its story of protecting the rainforest as well as "Talk It Out" and "Walls and Bridges". Also, "Paz Y Libertad" by Jose-Luis Orozco and "Mother Earth" by Sharon Burch, sung in Navaho, are among the fourteen songs.
See the Talk It Out lesson plan for a sample song from this recording. See song lyrics for the words to “Walls and Bridges,” “Mahogany Tree,” “Talk It Out,” and “Follow the Voice.”
The Wind is Telling Secrets
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Winner of the Parents' Choice CLASSIC Award
Order From: A Gentle Wind
This CD includes "Colors of Earth" which is one of Sarah's most famous songs. The irresistible bouncy rhythms of "Mama Crow" and "Mi Cuerpo Hace Musica", humorous songs like "Sitting in the Soup" and "The Terrible Bug", and stirring messages like "The Sun Inside Us" and "Touch the Sky" make this a dynamic recording that children and adults listen to over and over again. For ages 3 and up.
See song lyrics for the words to “Mama Crow,” “The Sun Inside Us,” and “Colors of Earth.”
Two Hands Hold the Earth
Buy Now from:
Winner of the
American Library Association
Notable Award
Order From: A Gentle Wind
Classic songs by Sarah are here: "My Roots Go Down," "That Quiet Place" (recorded by Gordon Bok), "I Talk to My Food," "The Woman Who Gobbled Swiss Cheese," and "Jump Salmon Jump". Twenty songs in all including the traditional song, "De Colores".
See song lyrics for the words to “There’s Always Something You Can Do,” “Two Hands Hold the Earth,” and “I am a Person.”
"Exciting and meaningful songs!
I never get tired of
listening."