Photo by SH Lam on Unsplash
We Rise
Hymn composed by
Batya LevineContextual information
“We Rise” came through the day after Trump was elected in 2016. The results came in a few weeks after I had returned from Standing Rock, and in the wake of the election, I felt a profound sense of hopelessness. I needed to believe that collective power and resistance was possible in the face of such great unknown. I reached inward for a prayer, for a shred of hope, and what I found was the powerful and prayerful Native and Indigenous led resistance I had witnessed and experienced at Standing Rock. In that moment, I started to sing, praying into my bones that vision of holy resistance. This song is one small attempt at holding onto that vision, and praying it into our collective bones. May we believe in our collective power and resilience, and learn to LIVE it, as we work to dismantle the oppressive forces within ourselves and in the world around us. No matter what struggles lie ahead, may we keep fighting and rising for and with each other. In hope, in prayer, we find ourselves here. We’re. Right. Here.
“We Rise” came through the day after Trump was elected in 2016. The results came in a few weeks after I had returned from Standing Rock, and in the wake of the election, I felt a profound sense of hopelessness. I needed to believe that collective power and resistance was possible in the face of such great unknown. I reached inward for a prayer, for a shred of hope, and what I found was the powerful and prayerful Native and Indigenous led resistance I had witnessed and experienced at Standing Rock. In that moment, I started to sing, praying into my bones that vision of holy resistance. This song is one small attempt at holding onto that vision, and praying it into our collective bones. May we believe in our collective power and resilience, and learn to LIVE it, as we work to dismantle the oppressive forces within ourselves and in the world around us. No matter what struggles lie ahead, may we keep fighting and rising for and with each other. In hope, in prayer, we find ourselves here. We’re. Right. Here.
Tune Name
[We Rise]
Tune Name
Text Meter
Irregular
10.9.10.9
Song Composer
Batya LevineHymn Arranger
Composer Background information
Jess Benjamin
Batya Levine (they/them) uses song as a tool for cultivating healing and resilience in their work as a communal song leader, shaliach tzibur (Jewish prayer leader) and cultural organizer. Batya is a Co-Founder and Co-Director at Let My People Sing!, and they compose original music made of Ashkenazi yearning, queer heart-medicine, and emunah (faith). Batya has released two albums, Karov and Yivarececha, with Rising Song Records.
Spiritual tags
Other tags
Lyricist Background information
Batya Levine (they/them) uses song as a tool for cultivating healing and resilience in their work as a communal song leader, shaliach tzibur (Jewish prayer leader) and cultural organizer. Batya is a Co-Founder and Co-Director at Let My People Sing!, and they compose original music made of Ashkenazi yearning, queer heart-medicine, and emunah (faith). Batya has released two albums, Karov and Yivarececha, with Rising Song Records.
Arranger Background information
Arranger Website LinkLyrics
We Rise
We rise, humbly-hearted.
Rise, won’t be divided.
Rise, with spirit to guide us.
Rise.
In hope, in prayer, we find ourselves here.
In hope, in prayer, we’re right here.
In hope, in prayer, we find ourselves here.
In hope, in prayer, we’re right here.
And we rise, all of the children.
Rise, elders with wisdom.
Rise, ancestors surround us.
Rise.
In hope, in prayer, we find ourselves here.
In hope, in prayer, we’re right here.
In hope, in prayer, we find ourselves here.
In hope, in prayer, we’re right here.
And we rise, up from the wreckage.
Rise, with tears and with courage.
Rise, fighting for life.
We rise.
In hope, in prayer, we find ourselves here.
In hope, in prayer, we’re right here.
In hope, in prayer, we find ourselves here.
In hope, in prayer, we’re right here.
We rise, humbly-hearted.
Rise, won’t be divided.
Rise, with spirit to guide us.
Rise.
Resources
Music XML and MEI and MIDI and Musescore files