Andy Whitfield CD's

In a performance by The Lancaster Millennium Choir, with the Lancaster Singers and the choirs of Torrisholme and Caton St Paul's schools and the North Atlantic Brass Ensemble. June 2004.

The 42 Articles of the Convention of the Rights of the Child have been distilled down to eight songs, inspired by the plight of the very poor children of the world, and particularly the orphanage Akany Avoko in Madagascar, which is run on a shoe-string and accepts every abandoned street child form the appallingly overcrowded and polluted city of Antananarivo.

Numbers in brackets refer to the corresponding Article in the Convention of Children's Rights.

These are the Rights of every child,
Whoever we are, wherever we live,
And with these Rights
Deep in our hearts
We can have faith in the guidance they give.

We're living in cities
And mountains and valleys,
In forest so green and by the ocean so blue,
Wherever we're living
This document's giving us the same rights as you.

Anywhere and everywhere in the big, wide world:
Anywhere and everywhere the Rights of every child.
Our rights are laid down for us to enjoy
The same for a girl as they are for a boy,
No matter what race or religion we are,
Under the sun and the moon and the stars.

View the first page of sheet music here

Listen to a sample

When we're lost, take time to lend us a hand.
If we tumble down, then show us how to stand.
Give us what we need, to keep us
Safe and strong in the life we need,
When we're in your care be there for us, be there:

Always remember that childhood is something
Something too precious to hurry along
Any decisions concerning this one thing
Should be in the best -
In the child's best interest.

Commentary: The children's song comes from the orphanage in Madagascar where I first heard it, and where the inspiration for the whole work comes from.
The English words that follow are not a strict translation, but a response.

View the first page of sheet music here

Listen to a sample

Every hair on my head has been counted
And it is by my name that I will be called.
Though I may well share my name with others
My name's my own
It belongs to me.
It speaks for me when I'm not there,
Holds me on your breath
And in your thoughts when I have gone.
Say my name, say my name.

When they took away my name they called me
That hated marker that my people all shared
Now I ceased to have my own identity
Without my name it was easier
To hurt when bullies set to work
So much easier
To steal from, torture or to kill
Say my name, say my name

Say it after curfew - say it softly
When frozen midnight halts the soldiers' reign of fear
Is this what the Dzhedel martyrs died for?
To have the right to whisper Ishmael into Ivan's ear?

Catalogued my name may be, and numbered,
But given life only when breathed through your lips:
Those who use my name may say it boldly
So speak it out, use it liberally
In troubled times say it with care,
Speak it tenderly
When we're alone say it with love..
Say my name, say my name.

Understand that there will never be
There will never be another me.

Commentary: There are two songs about the importance of names: especially when you are forced to change yours. This is what happened to the slaves who were stolen from Africa, and it is still happening in certain parts of the world. The middle section of Say My Name refers to events in Bulgaria, near the Greek border in 1984, when armed troops rounded up the local ethnic Muslims and forced them to change their identities to conform with the political imperatives of a "unified socialist" state. The Turkish language was banned, Islamic practices became punishable offences. In the village of Dzhedel many were shot, including women and children. Only five years later, a coup allowed assimilation policies to be relaxed. The lyrics are by Kevin McSherry.

View the first page of sheet music here

View the first page of sheet music for piano here

Listen to a sample

Mama didn't know, Papa didn't know
What to call the baby, when the baby show.

1. Max Zahra Betty Juan Souvina
(Everyone shall have a name to call his own)
Uzbekistan, Oman, Burkina,
(Every one of us shall have a land to call their own)
State parties must ensure
To implement these rights all in accord
With other national laws
It's an obligation they can't ignore.

Mama didn't know, Papa didn't know
What to call the baby, when the baby show.

2. Emily, Noro, Jara, Ninah
(Everyone shall have a name to call his own)
Chile, Bolivia, Argentina
(Every one of us shall have a land to call their own)
Chorus : State parties, etc.

3. Chantal, Odile, Dominique
(Everyone shall have a name to call his own)
Trinidad, Cuba, Costa Rica
(Every one of us shall have a land to call their own)

Chorus

Commentary : the tune is based on a traditional West Indian tune, and the names include some of my friends from Akany Avoko, an orphanage where names and a sense of belonging is very important to the children.

View the first page of sheet music here

Listen to a sample

Let us tell you what we're thinking,
Let us tell you day by day,
Let us tell you what we're feeling,
Listen to us and hear what we say.

1. Whether our voices are big,
Whether are voices are small,
Listen to what we are telling you,
Hear us when we call!
Let us tell you, etc.

2. Whether we whisper it soft,
Whether we shout it our loud,
Listen to what we are telling you,
A small voice in the crowd,
Let us tell you, Etc,

3. Whether we paint or we draw,
Whether we sign or we mime,
Listen to what we are telling you,
It matters every time.
Let us tell you, Etc.

View the first page of sheet music here

Listen to a sample

Watch over us. Wrap us up against the cold and rain
Watch over us - never let us feel the chill again
In the heat of the sun
Give us shelter from his burning eye
When we're sick give us your tender care
When we're hungry give us food to share
When we need some comfort please be there
To watch over us.

1. My name's Emmanuel: I'm Mozambican,
And when the floods came,
And washed away my home
We climbed into the trees,
The day to burn the night to freeze,
But people gave us hope, they
Came with food and rope, they
Helped us build a home
And now we know we're not alone.
CHORUS

2. My name's Saholy: I'm Malagasy
My Mum was begging
I had to stay with Gran and Grandad
Soon I felt bad,
Food was scarce, our home it smelt bad,
So in Court it ended
Now I've been befriended by Akany Avoko
Now I'm proud I go to school!
CHORUS

3. My name is Mary: I'm from Rwanda
My Dad was exiled and forced to wander
Far away, for 18 months
We didn't see his shadow once,
As Tutsi battled Hutu
Now we're asking you to
Grant us your asylum
Make us welcome in your island.

View the first page of sheet music here

Listen to a sample

Commentary: the three children in the song are victims of the Mozambican floods, the sprawling squalor of Antananarivo and the Rwanda civil war respectively. Mary's story is also told in Global Link's traveling exhibition on asylum seekers. www.globallink.org.uk

You have the right
Not to take part in war
When peaceful process is rejected
And when the guns
Begin to rage and to roar
You have the right to be protected
When the drums roll out
And the sergeants shout,
Every chest starts to swell at the sight,
Hold your head up high,
Look them right in the eye
Turn away, you have the right.

2. And when our friends
Put their uniforms on
And bring their rifles to attention,
You have the right
To stay behind when they're gone
Though you're reviled for your dissension.
For the day will come
When that shining gun
Will explode with a crack in the night,
And a mother's tears
Will haunt someone for years,
So take a stand, you have the right!

There are those
Who stand in fear of their lives
As the war rages over their lands.
And they wait
For the knock on the door
When someone will put guns in their hands.
And they pray
For the day
When they can say -
Just go away!

You have the right, etc.

Listen to a sample

Commentary: In our country we can hardly contemplate the prospect of war at home, let alone children's participation in it. But after reading Child Soldier by China Keitetsi. I realised that this is a real possibility for some kids - and we should be aware of it.

Chorus: Keep our families together, (x3)
And if we have no family,
Look after us and love us just the same.

Mende - are you hiding?
I'm here with my face in the dirt
(Speak to me) Mende - Hear your Papa
Can't speak with this hand at my throat
(Please tell me) Mende - where are they taking you?
To be a fine slave in Khartoum.
Nuba girl, Nuba girl,

Childhood is gone,
You must fend for yourself from now on.

Mende - scrub the kitchen
I'll scrub till my fingers are sore
(You hear me?) Mende - do the laundry
With nowhere to sleep but the floor.
(Now listen) Mende - you go to London
And nanny your sister's new child?
Nuba girl, Nuba girl,
Hide her away,
And never show her the light of the day.

Mende - are you listening?
I'm hearing the voice of a friend.
(Stop trembling) Mende - we're your people
Captivity's soon at an end
(Get ready) Mende - and can you run from here?
I'll run till I'm free from my chains
Nuba girl, Nuba girl,
Freedom you'll learn,
But your childhood will never return.

Listen to a sample

Commentary: this is the story of Mende Nazar from the southern Sudan, who was indeed taken from her burning village aged 12 and sold into slavery. Her book is called Slave, and is published by Virago.

Allow us to say our own prayers,
In our own words.
Whether in synagogues or temples,
Whether in churches or mosques,
Or any other place where a prayer may be said to our own God.
And let us sing and dance in the ways of our own people.