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DIFFERENT SHIPS, SAME BOAT

DIFFERENT SHIPS, SAME BOAT ~ Songs for the Soul of America: Hurt | Hope | Healing

Hello, I'm Terah (Terry) Cox. This last phase of fundraising is to help take this book collection of lyric poems and commentaries the rest of the way. It's almost finished, and I'm scurrying to make more time in the 24-hour day to be able to release in February/March 2024!!!! Thanks to all who have given your friendship, kindness and generosity in so many ways to help make this happen. See also for more details: https://www.terahcox.com/different-ships.html
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The name of this project was inspired by a visionary who was at the forefront of social justice action in our country during one of its hardest passages. As we continue to navigate the turbulent waters of social, political and economic diversity of all kinds, including how to reconcile different value systems and the long-term effects of marginalization, social injustices and special interests, Martin Luther King Jr.’s paradoxical words: “We may have come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now,” are as timely and urgent today as when he first spoke them.

The mission of the “Same Boat” project is to help inspire more heart-based values in the bottom lines of practices, protocols and policies at every level of public life and in our individual aspirations and endeavors. By listening and learning about each other’s lives, celebrating our differences and taking comfort in our sameness, we can each do our part to contribute to the “rehumanizing” of people, communities, organizations and governments.

Truth matters, but that's not what will save us. We are at a time in our world when every voice matters, words matter and truth matters. And while the pursuit and recognition of truth is vital to the integrity of our civilization, truth has more and more become a pawn for power, barter and bias. If we are ever going to heal the great divide in our country, I believe we have to look beyond our stubborn truth-sparring to the one language we all understand – the language of the heart. For it is the heart that conjures the willingness to listen, and the kindness, compassion and understanding that reveal a more loving, universal and truer truth: that beneath our different perspectives, circumstances, creeds and cultures, there is a sameness of heart. We all want to love, be loved, and give something worthwhile to the world from the love and truth of who we are, even if we've become unconscious to these innermost desires. And if we want to 'save the soul' of our America, we must all—individuals, local communities, organizations, corporations and governments—bring more heart into more and more of our personal, professional, political and socio-economic bottom lines.

And so the lyrics, and ultimately songs, of the Same Boat project are inspired by stories of both plight and potential—people who are hurting and people who are helping. Because at the beginning and end of the day, it is people who matter—to ourselves, each other, and the Earth itself. The heart knows, and eventually the pocket shows, that there is no true victory or lasting power that can be won on the backs of those who are deprived or suffering. For as philosophers and forward-thinkers have asked us to consider through the ages, as well as the more savvy heads of corporations and governments have learned, no one truly thrives unless all thrive.

These themes permeate the DIFFERENT SHIPS project. As I often like to say, every individual is a seed of our collective humanity—as we each are, so the world becomes. And so this project is my seed planting of love—with the inner and outer inspirations that conjure the words, the love that fuels the process, the diverse talents of some amazing musical collaborators, and your support--we hope to take it all the way "into the light!"

The Project
This is an ambitious project, but one that my long time work as an author, songwriter and speaker has equipped me for. This GoFundMe campaign addresses the first phase of what I envision as a three-phase project: (1) the writing, design and publication of the book, (2) collaboration with music writers, guest musicians, artists, producers, etc. to co-write and record music to some of the lyrics in the book, and finally, (3) live events with a combination of music and speakers on the topics of the book, with a charitable component from sales of the book, music and performances.

Book Description & Logistics
The DIFFERENT SHIPS book now contains 75 lyric-poems with accompanying commentaries, organized into three chapters: "Hurt," "Hope" and "Healing," which explore the different kinds of hurt that are shredding the collective soul of America, and the hope so many of us have in our hearts to bring about the healing that we must believe is possible. The funding received for Phase 1 will help to provide time for writing and the hiring of a cover illustrator, as well as book design, layout and publication. I plan to publish the book initially through my own publishing company, WORDS MATTER PRESS, with a new release target for February/March 2024.

You may view below new lyrics for the book, "The Trouble with Bootstraps," "Every Bottom Line," "A Truer Truth," "Somebody's Heart"and "Into the Light," the latter inspired by a "Watch Night" speech given by interfaith leader-activist-author-filmmaker Valarie Kauer. For more details about some of my inspirations for this project, the social action causes the project proposes to benefit, and several additional lyrics from the book-in-progress, please also visit my DIFFERENT SHIPS website page (link below). I also suggest to listen to "A New American Dream," a shortened version of which was performed in an NBC pre-Olympics show.

For a short bio of Terah and more details about the project, view here:

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Sample lyrics for the SAME BOAT project:

THE TROUBLE WITH BOOTSTRAPS
© 2017 Lyrics by Terah Cox, inspired by Joshua Wilkey article,
“My Mother Wasn’t Trash,” May 10, 2017: www. thisappalachialife.com/single-post/2017/05/10/My-Mother-Wasnt-Trash

A flower can push through
a crack in the concrete
if it’s got somewhere to root
But you can’t ask a man
to pull up by his bootstraps
if he don’t have any boots

Every now and then
They throw him a bone
Just when he’s about to go under
But sooner or later
What they give him with one hand
They’re takin’ back with the other

The trouble with bootstraps
is you gotta have boots
But the bankers and bootmakers
are all in cahoots
Keepin’ all your half-a-chances
just out of reach
Like pie in the sky
and carrots on strings—
There’s no use for bootstraps
if you’re cut off at the knees

Joe worked in a steel mill
Slaved in a coal mine
Worked till the work used him up
His cup might be half-full
Instead'a half-empty—
but now he’s too sick to hold a cup

When the timber barons came
They cut down the trees
They raped and pillaged the land
Took livelihood and dignity
From the farmer and craftsman
And they’re still takin’ all they can

The trouble with bootstraps
is you gotta have boots
But the bankers and bootmakers
are all in cahoots
Keepin’ all your half-a-chances
just out of reach
Like pie in the sky
and carrots on strings—
There’s no use for bootstraps
if you’re cut off at the knees

The ones who blame poverty on the poor
can’t or don’t want to see
That poverty is a symptom of a broken system
and cause and effect is everyone’s travesty

Yeah the trouble with bootstraps
is you gotta have boots
But the bankers and bootmakers
are all in cahoots
Keepin’ all your half-a-chances
just out of reach
Like pie in the sky
and carrots on strings—
There’s no use for bootstraps
if you’re cut off at the knees
There’s no use for bootstraps
if you’re all outa' dreams


***
EVERY BOTTOM LINE
© 2019 Lyrics by Terah Cox

What if every bottom line
was more than dollars and cents?
What if Wall Street went to Main Street
to make a difference?
What if every ladder's top rung
launched someone else’s dream?
What if every bottom line
put someone’s moon on a string?

What if every bottom line
would send a needy kid to school?
What if every bottom line
had a built-in golden rule?
What if everytime time runs out
for somebody in lack
Someone's big fat bottom line
would pick up the slack?

What it’s gonna take
is a change to somethin' better
Somethin’ to remind us
that we’re all in this together

Then every bottom line
and quarterly report
could line some family's pockets
that keep comin’ up short
And every corporate coup
might fund a mom-and-pop new start
If every bottom line
might have a little more heart
If every bottom line
had just a little more heart

But this song is not to say
that there aren’t good folks out there
Puttin’ their money and their time
into helpin’ out somewhere
We can’t ask more of any
than the will to do their best
And we hope that you can be
an inspiration to the rest

‘Cause what if every bottom line
would do what can’t be done
And every bottom line
had room for everyone?
Like if every bottom line
valued everybody's worth
And every bottom line
cared about the Earth?
And what if your own bottom line
found a way to start?
'Cause little by little your bottom line
found a little more heart?
Like someday every bottom line
will have a little more heart
Yeah someday may all our bottom lines
have a little more heart

***

A TRUER TRUTH
© 2017-23 Lyrics by Terah Cox, inspired by the crisis of truth in our time

A puppet stands at a podium
A pawn of money and power
Lies like flies swarmin’ his lips
It’s not his finest hour
On another stage a truth-seller
Of a truth as the only one
But for every lie or only-one-truth
A truer truth goes unsung

A truer truth
is not in the facts
A truer truth
is not in the news
But a truer truth
just might be had
by walkin’ in
another man’s shoes
‘Cause for every truth
in all the Earth
and all the heavens above
A truer truth is always
the one born of love

Every truth has its shining moment
Every truth has its glory day
But the truer truths, as time will show
Will grow and sometimes change
We can wave our patriotic pride
And draw our lines in the sand
But a truer truth will heal a divide
with the kindness of a helping hand

A truer truth
is not in a book
A truer truth
is not in a place
But a truer truth
just might be found
in the smile of
a small child’s face
And for every truth
in all the lands
and all the oceans of stars
A truer truth
is always the one
that opens hearts
A truer truth is always
the one…born of love
And when the battle’s at our door
And we wonder what we’re fighting for…
Maybe the truer truth for all
is each one’s own inner call

A truer truth
That’s not out there
A truer truth
in here somewhere
Inside of me
inside of you
in every dream
that dreams us true
A truer truth
That has its start
with what we love
and who we are

*****

SOMEBODY'S HEART
© Lyrics: Terah Cox

A tired old woman
lays her rice on the counter
Diggin' for dollars while
the groans get louder
Folks in the line
got places to go—
‘Hey lady,’ one yelled,
‘you're movin too slow!'

It’s Valentine’s Day
and a boy has chosen
for his mom and sister
each a red rose, and
The little bit of change
he pulls out to pay
is not enough to buy
two roses that day

But then somebody's heart opened
And somebody’s heart didn’t close
And the one somebody bought the bag of rice
And the other bought the second rose

On the outside lookin’ in
He stood alone shivering
Bent like a bareboned tree
In the cruelty of winter
His face pressed to the glass
Like a leaf in the wind—
And then someone came out
And invited him in

‘Cause somebody’s heart opened
Somebody’s heart saw the need
And that somebody reached out a hand
And let compassion take the lead

She stood on the stage
Awaiting their decision
Praying that this time
A chance would be given
‘Cause she’s given her all
She’s tried for so long
She knows this is where
Her purpose belongs

And then somebody’s heart opened
And looked her heart in the eye
And that somebody made all the difference
Between a dream that lived or died

Every life has a moment
A turning point of time and place
And that’s the moment when
We most need an act of grace
‘Cause sometimes it’s too easy
To slip through the cracks
If nobody’s heart has your back

But when somebody’s heart opens
Someone’s hope is set free
And we see that it’s true—
What happens to you
Also happens to me
‘Cause every heart is connected
Like leaves on one great tree
And when somebody’s heart opens
Someone finds the courage to be

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INTO THE LIGHT
© Lyrics: Terah Cox, Inspired by Valarie Kaur (see more below)

A fearless young Sikh woman
stood up one New Year’s night
with her story and her passion
and her heart’s second sight
Like a beacon at the pulpit
of love’s holy might
She dared us to look
at the dark of our world
in a whole different light

She said all our labor
Our history of hurt
All our worldly battles
Over heaven and earth
Are more than we know
More than they ever seem
Maybe this nightmare
is actually the birth of
our heart’s highest dream

She said…
Maybe this darkness
is not the dark of our tomb
but the hard hurting labor
of a new America’s womb
Maybe this darkness
is just the long hard night
That will finally bring us
all the way into the light

If you and I are willing
we can cross our great divide
And use our hearts to see
what’s on each other’s inside
But if we keep looking through the lens
of everything we fear
We’ll miss our chance
to let go of the past and be
reborn together right here

Maybe this darkness
is not the dark of our tomb
but the hard hurting labor
of a new humanity’s womb
And so let’s push with our hearts
through this long dark night
Until we come all the way
into the light

In the meantime, she said,
tonight let us breathe
While we share heart to heart
the things we each believe
And come morning we will labor
with the softer breath of love
to birth the better world
our hearts are dreaming of

For I believe this darkness
is not the dark of our tomb
but the long and hard labor
of a new humanity’s womb
And so let us push together
through this dark, dark night
Until we come all the way
All the way into the light

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Inspired by Sikh interfaith leader, filmmaker and activist Valarie Kaur’s riveting speech at National Moral Revival Poor People’s Campaign Watch Night Service 12/31/16 with spiritual leaders from various traditions: “What if this darkness is not the darkness of the tomb, but the darkness of the womb…what if our America is not dead, but waiting to be born. …Tonight we will breathe, tomorrow we will labor the labor of love.”

See more info & lyrics for the SAME BOAT project here: www.terahcox.com/different-ships.html
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Terah Cox
Organisator
Staunton, VA

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