Water Song

Water Song emerged from our conversations about water—how it shapes our lives, holds our memories, and connects us across cultures. As artists from diverse backgrounds, we shared personal and ancestral stories of water—its symbolism, its power, and its presence in our everyday lives. These stories became the foundation for the music.

Through improvisation and collective composition, we explore water as a source of renewal and survival, a keeper of history, and a threshold between worlds. Water carries our voices, blending traditions into a fluid, ever-changing soundscape. We invite you to listen deeply, to feel the currents of these songs, and to reflect on your own connection to water.

— Sunny Kim

I. Talking Waters

II. Mountain Springs

III. Dream of a Still River

IV. Drinking Song

V. Still River, Moving Rocks

VI. Ancient Clouds

VII. Bathhouse

VIII. Hurricane, Calling for the Rain

IX. Learning to Swim

I.

And so, this water began to talk to me about itself. And it asked me to go and find this larger body of water close by where I live and to go pray in it. And so, I stood in this long lake, and I was singing a prayer song with my drum over the water. And then that water started to give me some teaching. And it told me, "It’s good, daughter, it’s good for you to pray into the water. Because when you pray into the water, it actually intensifies your prayer."

So literally, you know, that water evaporates, and so that water can travel through the clouds. So your intention and your words travel through the clouds, and they can go anywhere they want to go, right? So, your prayer and this intention that you're setting can travel through the clouds, and maybe they're going to go and send a little snow down over the Andes. And so, I could feel it—that the Andes would say, "Oh, my granddaughter, she's praying. She's praying, she's saying good things, and she's asking for good things. And she's aligning herself with life." And so even the rest of life, all of the jungle, etc., would be sharing in this intention.

So literally, in that way, the water travels, and this consciousness that you're emitting in your prayer into the water begins to travel throughout the consciousness of this life on the Earth. So, it said, "It’s really good that you're praying." And then it said, not only does it travel over space, but it travels through time, because it has always been the same water.

Maybe, as this Mother Earth travels through the cosmos, we might be gaining some water. But nevertheless, the original water is still here, because this is what we call a closed system, right? So that water just stays here. So we can know that every single person that you see, all of our ancestors, had a drink from this very water.

So it really does unite us and tie us all together in such a beautiful and graceful way. So one, yes, it's a call for respect. But also, it's a call for rejoicing. And like, look—look where we are, look how magical this life is. And so, we’re just talking about one element here—water. And that’s just one aspect of this element. So there’s so much magic and mystery all around us, if we have the eyes to see it, and if we have a way of listening for that teaching and that instruction. So for me, the water is extraordinary and sacred.

(By Pat McCabe, Weyakpa Najin Win, Woman Stands Shining)

물의 소리를 들어요, 사랑아.

그 이야기를 들어요, 사랑아.

천 년을 불러왔죠.

그 목소리를 들어요, 사랑아.

들리나요? 물의 노래

수많은 이야기를 품고 있죠.

지금 이 순간, 귀를 기울여요.

귀를 기울여봐요.

부르네, 부르네, 우릴 부르네

Listen to the water, my love.

Hear its stories, my love.

For a thousand years it’s been calling.

Listen to their voices, my love.

Hear its voices.

Many stories it has stored for us to hear.

Now more than ever, listen to its stories.

Listen to its stories.

They’re calling…

(By Sunny Kim)

水从哪里来
又流向哪里呢？

雨，落下
渗入泥土，汇入溪流
蜿蜒成江河
奔涌向大海

上升，上升
化作轻柔的云朵
下降，下降
重回大地与溪流

循环，循环，不息不止

水从哪里来
又流向哪里呢？
它是否携带我的心愿去往远方
跨越时间，穿越山水

如果它真的听见
请告诉我的女儿
我爱她，永远，永远

Where does water come from
And where does it flow?

Rain falls
Seeps into the soil, joins the streams
Winds into rivers
Rushes toward the sea

Rising, rising
Transforming into soft clouds
Falling, falling
Returning to the earth and streams

A cycle, a cycle, endless and eternal

Where does water come from
And where does it flow?
Does it carry my wish to faraway places
Across time, through mountains and rivers?

If it truly hears me
Please tell my daughter
I love her, forever, forever

(By Mindy Meng Wang)

آب را گل نکنیم
سهراب سپهری

در فرودست انگار، کفتری می‌خورد آب

یا که در بیشه دور، سیره‌یی پر می‌شوید

یا در آبادی، کوزه‌یی پر می‌گردد

آب را گل نکنیم

شاید این آب روان، می‌رود پای سپیداری، تا فرو شوید اندوه دلی.

دست درویشی شاید، نان خشکیده فرو برده در آب

زن زیبایی آمد لب رود،

آب را گل نکنیم

روی زیبا دو برابر شده است

چه گوارا این آب

چه زلال این رود

مردم بالادست، چه صفایی دارند

چشمه‌هاشان جوشان، گاوهاشان شیرافشان باد

من ندیدم دهشان،

بی‌گمان پای چپرهاشان جا پای خداست

ماهتاب آن‌جا، می‌کند روشن پهنای کلام

بی‌گمان در ده بالادست، چینه‌ها کوتاه است

مردمش می‌دانند، که شقایق چه گلی است

بی‌گمان آن‌جا آبی، آبی است

غنچه‌یی می‌شکفد، اهل ده باخبرند

چه دهی باید باشد

کوچه باغش پر موسیقی باد

مردمان سر رود، آب را می‌فهمند

گل نکردندش، ما نیز

آب را گل نکنیم

Let us not muddy the water.
Downstream,
Perhaps a dove is drinking,
Or a goldfinch is washing its wings in the reeds.
Perhaps, in a quiet village, a jug is being filled.

Let us not muddy the water
For this flowing stream may be heading toward a sycamore,
Washing away the sorrow of a heavy heart.
Perhaps a dervish is dipping his stale bread into the water.

A beautiful woman has come to the river’s edge.
Let us not muddy the water,
For her reflection has doubled in its clarity.

How pure is this water!
How clear is this stream!
How kind are the people who live upstream!
May their springs always flow,
May their cows always give sweet milk.

I have never seen their village,
But I know
Beneath their fences, God has left His footprints.
The moonlight must brighten the vastness of their words,
Their walls must be low,
And their hearts must know
The exact moment a wild poppy blooms.

What a village it must be!
May music forever echo through its garden lanes.

The people upstream understand water
They have not muddied it.
Let us not muddy it either.

(By Sohrab Sepehri, translation by Gelareh Pour)

II.

두류산 양단수를 녜 듯고 이졔 보니,

도화 뜬 맑은 물에 사영조차 잠겻셰라

아희야 무릉이 어듸오 나는 옌가 하노라

Jiri Mountain's twin streams, once only a story,
flow before me, with peach blossoms and mountain shadows sinking in.
Child, where is the fabled paradise? Is it here, within?

(By Jo Shik, translation by Sunny Kim)

III.

It is in a dream

He is tired of moving

And the trees are sighing

And the moment is real

I am heir to a feeling

And he wants to breathe

I know where this is going

And the water is still

And the rocks are moving

And the bridge is singing

The rocks are moving, the water’s standing still

The water is behaving strangely

Two small rivers quietly twisting together

And a bridge that no one crosses by walking

How can a river be in two places at once

(By Zoe Barry)

V.

در خوابم
بابا خسته است
درختان آه می‌کشند

این یک واقعیت است
من حسی را به ارث برده‌ام
او می‌خواهد نفس بکشد
آخر این قصه را می‌دانم

 آب‌ها ساکنند
سنگ‌ها سیالند
پل‌ها می‌خواند
آب‌ها ساکنند، سنگ‌ها سیالند
 
دو رود کوچک، آرام در هم می‌پیچند
و پلی که هیچ‌کس از آن نمی‌گذرد

چگونه یک رود هم‌زمان در دو جاست؟
بابا خسته است
این یک خواب است

(Persian adaptation of Zoe Barry’s poem by Gelareh Pour)

 VII.

حمومی آی حمومی
فرش و قالیچه م رو بردن
حمومی آی حمومی
فرش و قالیچه م رو بردن
فرش و قالیچه م جهنم
طاس و دولیچه ام رو بردن

حمومی آی حمومی
فرش و قالیچه م رو بردن
فرش و قالیچه و طاس و دولیچه م جهنم
لنگ و قدیفه ام رو بردن

حمومی آی حمومی
فرش و قالیچه م رو بردن
فرش و قالیچه و طاس و دولیچه و لنگ و قدیفه ام جهنم
پیرهن تنم رو بردن

حمومی آی حمومی
فرش و قالیچه م رو بردن
فرش و قالیچه و طاس و دولیچه و لنگ و قدیفه و پیرهن تنم جهنم
تاج سرم رو بردن

حمومی آی حمومی
فرش و قالیچه م رو بردن
فرش و قالیچه و طاس و دولیچه و لنگ و قدیفه و پیرهن تنم و تاج سرم جهنم
النگوهامو بردن

حمومی آی حمومی
فرش و قالیچه م رو بردن
فرش و قالیچه و طاس و دولیچه و لنگ و قدیفه و پیرهن تنم و تاج سرم و النگوهام جهنم
گوشواره هام و بردن

حمومی آی حمومی
فرش و قالیچه م رو بردن
فرش و قالیچه و طاس و دولیچه و لنگ و قدیفه و پیرهن تنم و تاج سرم و النگوهام و گوشواره هام جهنم
حلقه ی طلامو بردن

حمومی آی حمومی
فرش و قالیچه م رو بردن
فرش و قالیچه و طاس و دولیچه و لنگ و قدیفه و پیرهن تنم و تاج سرم و النگوهام و گوشواره هام و حلقه ی طلام جهنم
جورابای پامو بردن

حمومی آی حمومی
فرش و قالیچه م رو بردن
فرش و قالیچه و طاس و دولیچه و لنگ و قدیفه و پیرهن تنم و تاج سرم و النگوهام و گوشواره هام حلقه ی طلام و جورابای پام جهنم
کفشای پامو بردن

حمومی آی حمومی
فرش و قالیچه م رو بردن
فرش و قالیچه و طاس و دولیچه و لنگ و قدیفه و پیرهن تنم و تاج سرم و النگوهام و گوشواره هام و حلقه ی طلام و جورابای پام و کفشای پام جهنم
رخت و لباس ، خونه و اثاث، هر چی که داشتم و بردن

Hamoomi (Bathhouse Attendant), Oh Hamoomi
They’ve taken my carpet and rug.
Hamoomi, Oh Hamoomi
They’ve taken my carpet and rug.
To hell with my carpet and rug,
They’ve taken my basin and small bucket.

Hamoomi, Oh Hamoomi
They’ve taken my carpet and rug.
To hell with my carpet, rug, basin, and bucket,
They’ve taken my loincloth and towel.

Hamoomi, Oh Hamoomi
They’ve taken my carpet and rug.
To hell with my carpet, rug, basin, bucket, loincloth, and towel,
They’ve taken the shirt off my back.

Hamoomi, Oh Hamoomi
They’ve taken my carpet and rug.
To hell with my carpet, rug, basin, bucket, loincloth, towel, and shirt,
They’ve taken the crown from my head.

Hamoomi, Oh Hamoomi
They’ve taken my carpet and rug.
To hell with my carpet, rug, basin, bucket, loincloth, towel, shirt, and crown,
They’ve taken my bangles.

Hamoomi, Oh Hamoomi
They’ve taken my carpet and rug.
To hell with my carpet, rug, basin, bucket, loincloth, towel, shirt, crown, and bangles,
They’ve taken my earrings.

Hamoomi, Oh Hamoomi
They’ve taken my carpet and rug.
To hell with my carpet, rug, basin, bucket, loincloth, towel, shirt, crown, bangles, and earrings,
They’ve taken my golden ring.

Hamoomi, Oh Hamoomi
They’ve taken my carpet and rug.
To hell with my carpet, rug, basin, bucket, loincloth, towel, shirt, crown, bangles, earrings, and golden ring,
They’ve taken my socks.

Hamoomi, Oh Hamoomi
They’ve taken my carpet and rug.
To hell with my carpet, rug, basin, bucket, loincloth, towel, shirt, crown, bangles, earrings, golden ring, and socks,
They’ve taken my shoes.

They’ve taken my clothes, my home, my belongings; everything I owned.

(Iranian folk, translation by Gelareh Pour)