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Songs and lullabies rushed to my mind after choosing "The Gardener's Wife" story for the grand finale piece of the "Family Famine: Hunger for Love".
In a matter of moments, I could envision the gardener's wife rocking a baby in her arms. This image quickly switched to me caressing a baby. As my husband and I do not have children yet, such an image stirred emotions of great excitement.
The words came out of my mouth and I could see them sung to my future children.
In the story, a baby is sent to the gardener and his wife by the river. Water is also an essential part to birth.
So the words that came to me:
Oh my child, my precious child
The waters sent you here
Oh my child, my precious child
To have you close and near
This lullaby is short though such a song of love is often that way.
I called my storytelling friend, Holly Robison, and told her my discovery. I sung the lullaby to her and asked if she could sing it as a duet for a certain part of the story. We have told tandem tales before where we harmonized.
She said yes.
I explained that when the song is first sung, I would sing it. Then Holly would harmonize with me for the second time. She would "oooo" the tune while I narrated that throughout the village other mothers and fathers sung the song. This would be a hint to the audience to join in. As they would have heard the words twice and there are four lines with two lines repeating, then it would be simple enough. The words--though few--would also be in the program.
I may have an ASL interpreter so we would have the song in sign language.
Something happens when everyone sings together.
As the adopted children of the gardener and his wife grow up in the story, then the song will be sung again though not in such a dramatic way as the first time. However, the audience would be familiar with the tune and the words and could join in each time.
As the gardener and his wife wanted children for a long time, it seemed natural that the wife would have another song--a grieving song--while waiting for that moment.
The words and tune have yet to come to me.
There is a line that I feel must be part of it:
There's a hunger in my soul. I yearn for more.
As I explore the story more, then more inspiration will come.
Until we tell again,
Rachel Hedman
Professional Storyteller
Former Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance (2005-2008)
How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com
Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.comOther places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller
