NOVA High School
NOVA Con
Die in Silence
The Poetry of…
Audre Lorde
written by
NOVA Con students
STYLE Songwriting Workshop
09/06/18
STYLE workshop Song
Die in Silence (Take 1)
Verses
Standing on the corner
Strumming a guitar
Singing a melody
Pouring out her heart
Can you hear the people cryin?
The fight’s not comin; it’s here.
Can you feel their spirits dyin
Cause they’re overcome with fear
Never thought we’d make it,
Make it from the start
Deep from within her
Straight from the heart
Chorus
She shouts to the world and says..
Its better to live loud than die in silence
Songwriting Tips
About the Poets
Audre Lorde
A Litany for Survival
by Audre Lorde
For those of us who live at the shoreline
standing upon the constant edges of decision
crucial and alone
for those of us who cannot indulge
the passing dreams of choice
who love in doorways coming and going
in the hours between dawns
looking inward and outward
at once before and after
seeking a now that can breed
futures
like bread in our children’s mouths
so their dreams will not reflect
the death of ours;
–
For those of us
who were imprinted with fear
like a faint line in the center of our foreheads
learning to be afraid with our mother’s milk
for by this weapon
this illusion of some safety to be found
the heavy-footed hoped to silence us
For all of us
this instant and this triumph
We were never meant to survive.
–
And when the sun rises we are afraid
it might not remain
when the sun sets we are afraid
it might not rise in the morning
when our stomachs are full we are afraid
of indigestion
when our stomachs are empty we are afraid
we may never eat again
when we are loved we are afraid
love will vanish
when we are alone we are afraid
love will never return
and when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid
–
So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive.
Langston Hughes
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
by Langston Hughes
I’ve known rivers:
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy
bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
I’ve known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
Maya Angelou
And Still I Rise
by Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
–
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
–
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
–
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
–
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
–
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
–
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
–
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
–
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Meet Your STYLE Teaching Artist
Nate Bogopolsky
Hello Town Hall Family. Very excited to be here for the 3rd time. I hope it turns into something more over the year. Humpty Dumpty here we come.
— Nate B.
Check Out What Nate B. Is Listening To
Tiffany Wilson
Let’s write some music together! I con’t wait to see where this program goes.
— Tiffany Wilson
Check Out What Tiffany Is Listening To
One
Esperanza Spalding
Melissa Montalto
I’m excited to be working with STYLE for the first time.
— Melissa Montalto
Check Out What Melissa Is Listening To
Green Garden
Laura Mvula
Hold On
Alabama Shakes
Fun Music Websites
Incredibox
Button Bass
Hypercube
Chrome Music Lab
Do you know any cool music websites?
Jazz Computer
Music Popcorn!
Hey you! Give this a shot. Explore all the different genres of music — it will be fun!
