Name: How Can I Cry
Duration: P00H03M56S
Description: An old song of mine that helped my 20 year old self cry out about the inequality I was waking to.

How Can I Cry

from In Our Voices by Moira Smiley

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An old song of mine that helped my 20 year old self cry out about the inequality I was waking to.

lyrics

I’m walking slowly, taking in a cloudy day.
A river of people passes me and goes away.
I'm feeling weary,
I'm feeling like I'm wasting time.
The trouble in my life just ain't worth a dime.

Sisters and brothers, forgive me for the things I say.
I'm losing the meaning, I'm losing sense of night and day.
The sun that I'm seeing is the same around the earth.
So why is our freedom ruled by our birth?

And how can I cry about freedom
when I've lived a whole life of liberty?
And how can I sing about suffering and pain?
I sing for all the souls who do not complain.

Tomorrow and justice seem so high and far away, while people are hungry, mistreated each and every day.
Whatever, oh can I do? I'm standing here on solid ground.
I sing for the silent people, Lord, hear our sound!

I’m wondering why blues & blacks & grays
are covering my world?
What is the mystery of the dove
that she stays so long away?
Why are my sisters singing songs
of their pain so beautifully?
Why are my brothers crying tears of silence so helplessly?

And how can I cry about freedom
when I've lived a whole life of liberty?
And how can I sing about suffering and pain?
I sing for all the souls who do not complain.
Who do not complain.

credits

from In Our Voices, released February 19, 2021
Moira Smiley - soprano vocals + body percussion + sound design
Karla Mundy - soprano vocals + body percussion
Dawn Pemberton - alto vocals + body percussion
Jake Asaro - tenor vocals + body percussion
Gregory Fletcher - bass vocals + body percussion

Produced by Moira Smiley & David Weber. 2020
Copyright Moira Smiley Music, ASCAP All Rights Reserved

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about

Moira Smiley Bristol, Vermont

Moira Smiley is a Singer / Composer. Touring & writing with the finest in various worlds of music, she brings clarity and visceral emotion to any song she sings. She accompanies herself on banjo, accordion, piano, and hand & body percussion. She's toured with Tune-Yards and Solas among many others. Moira recently sang with Tune-Yards on Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. ... more

moirasmiley.com

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