We Are All Stars
November 13th, 2008Note: To listen to the song One Constellation.
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of spending a weekend camping with girls 5 - 16 years old as part of a local Maine Girl Scout “camporee”. I was the staring attraction for Saturday evening, with tired but expectant girls arriving at a large campfire just as darkness descended. Mind you, I couldn’t compete with the traditional “smores” that were planned, and tried to keep my guitar away from all that — GOO — while 60-some girls went to and fro the roaring fire with marshmallows in various darkened stages. It began to be funny, this “keeping the guitar safe”, with the scout leaders joining in and forming a wall of safety.
At long last, satiated by sweets, the girls settled in to soak up the warmth of a fire and share song and story.
I began with some songs everyone knew. For example, “The Bear Song” (”The other day, I met a bear. A great big bear, in the woods out there….”) I fear those of you who know this song will not be able to sleep tonight as it will be playing over and over in your head. Sorry! Others: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”, and “On Top of Spaghetti”….
Next, each troop offered a song of their own. Quite a delight.
Finally, my troop leader contact, Karen Hinchliffe, began to ask me some questions about the art of songwriting. “Which comes first, the melody or the words?”. I turned it back to the girls and asked them: Have you ever made up a song in your head? Which comes first? As with many things in life, it is never predictable and always different. Sometimes a phrase haunts me for days and then suddenly emerges as a melody and song. Sometimes a melody pops into my head seeking words. (I’ve been working on one dynamite blues melody that came to me — still don’t *feel* the emotion enough to convert to a song with lyrics!)
Next, she asked me, “Can you help us write a song?”. Why yes! I said, swallowing hard. Why not? And so I described that all songs are fundamentally written about “what you know”. In that approach, lies authenticity and truth. So, given this weekend’s theme of Astronomy, I asked them to think about what they’ve done or learned that they might want to write about.
And so it began. One girl boldly offered that “We’re all stars in the sky.” So, I strummed some common chords: G, C, D. Then, I advised that most songs, though not all, rhymed. So, we want to rhyme with the word, “sky”, I urged. From the fire lit darkness I heard a voice, “How about, ‘One Constellation…um, uh, … ‘ And then another voice, “Way up high!”.
And in that moment, a song began. It is a simple song, exactly the right kind for sitting around a campfire. But the theme — about each of us being different in our own special way AND at the same time being a part of One Constellation — carried with it a wisdom greater than our own. The experience of creating something unique in the world was enchanting. So much so, that the Girl Scouts decided they wanted to record the song. And so, we now have a beautiful version — recorded at Port-Media, with Michael McNerney, the co-Producer of my own CD, Feed the Tribe.
I leave you with a note from my good friend and wonderful scout leader, Karen in her email to the troops:
A very special thanks to the generosity the following people showed us in sharing their many gifts and talents with us today in studio to create: One Constellation (2008) Recorded and produced by Michael McNerney (www.port-media.com) with Mickey Roache (acoustic guitar), John Comeau (bass guitar) and our own angelic star singer/songer Jennifer Comeau (www.jennifercomeau.com) who co-wrote this song with us during Girl Scouts of Maine at a Machigonne Neighborhood Camporee and who today directed 20 “nex-jen-ers” from Troops 1700, 1712, 1921 and 2166.One Constellation
Intro: [C] [G] [D] [G] [G]
[G]We’re all [C]stars, [D]in the [G]sky
[C]one constell[G]ation, [D]way up [G]high [G]
Verse:
[G]Sitting here next to [C]yo
[D]glowing so [G]bright
you [C]light up my [G]day
[D]and my [G]night [G]
[G]We’re all [C]stars, [D]in the [G]sky
[C]one constell[G]ation, [D]way up [G]high [G]
Bridge:
[Am]We’re all [C]different in our [D]own special [G]way
but [Am]when I sing this [C]song
I feel I have to [D]say…
[G]We’re all [C]stars, [D]in the [G]sky
[C]one constell[G]ation, [D]way up [G]high






