Robin, a war veteran who also happens to be Trans, contacted me several months ago to commission a song. I asked her to give me every thought she could on how she wanted it to sound and what she wanted it to include. When the time came for the song to emerge, sitting with her words and my own page of notes in front of me, it poured out of me all in the same evening. I rarely accept song commissions, but I'm grateful I accepted this one.
To all of my witchy and Queer siblings, may these lyrics ring as true for you as they did for Robyn:
no shame can touch you,
even when the would-be monarchs wish it so, no.
Fire stands beside you, and love blazes brightly
everywhere we go.
Warriors, I see you.
Mix, vocals, percussion, guitars, and bass by S. J. Tucker
Fiddle by Alexander James Adams
Mastered by Ginger Doss, Eagle Audio NWA
Lyrics
Warrior, I see you in your own unraveling,
doubts without, doubts within
Conjuring your life by your very own hands,
crawling out of shadow into shadow work’s demands,
but here’s the thing:
no one leaves Her cauldron less than what they were before.
Lift your eyes.
Love has lit her lantern, burning constant through the storm. Oh,
Warrior, (warrior)
come and see. (Sister, come and see.)
Not a single one of us
is who we used to be. (who we used to be.)
Warrior, (warrior)
change your tune (change your tune)
by earth and sea and sky,
by firelight and rune.
Warrior, I see you. We, none of us, are who we were.
We must be who we are right now.
Shape shifter’s blessing on your path and on your heart.
We both know what you’re made of, even when you’re torn apart.
And I know,
strife may yet make exiles of us all.
But hear me now:
The truth of you will thrive anew, no matter where you are. Oh,
Warrior, (warrior)
come and see. (Sister, come and see.)
Not a single one of us
is who we used to be. (who we used to be.)
Warrior, (warrior)
change your tune (change your tune)
by earth and sea and sky,
by firelight and rune.
Chant:
All is love, all is craft, and all may heal together
All is love, all is work, and all may heal together
All is love, all is change, and all may heal together
All is love, all is known, and all may heal together
Warrior, I see you holding high a Trickster’s name
Goddess knows: without, within.
Change and magic be your strength, transition in your every step,
‘til you walk made whole again.
No shame can touch you even when the would-be monarchs wish it
so. No, no, no, no, no.
Fire stands beside you, and love blazes brightly everywhere we go. So,
Warrior, (warrior)
come and see. (Sister, come and see.)
Not a single one of us
is who we used to be. (who we used to be.)
Warrior, (warrior)
change your tune (change your tune)
by earth and sea and sky, by firelight and rune.
By earth and sea and sky, by firelight and rune.
By earth and sea and sky, by firelight and rune.
Firelight and rune.
Firelight and rune
(All is love, all is craft, and all may heal together
All is love, all is work, and all may heal together
All is love, all is change, and all may heal together
All is love, all is known, and all may heal together)