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A Rose (Gladys Casely​-​Hayford)

from When I Rise Up by Loah

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[Loah] "This Sierra Leonean poet was also an amazing find. She also had many Christian themes in her work and set many of them in Sierra Leone. Joseph’s Betrothal is my favourite. It tells the story of Mary and Joseph getting married, as if they were from the Krio tribe of Freetown, so their parents were sitting down together to arrange the marriage by speaking in parables. The fusion is so poetic and beautiful, I love it! The second poem, Creation, is the only romantic poem I have in the whole series, and it felt like an apt chorus for this song - the archetypal man and wife, singing of their love for one another."

lyrics

Joseph’s Betrothal / Creation

“Your garden grows a rose”, his people said.
“Yes”, Mary’s father raised his old white head.
“We have a rose”, he answered and his face
Lit with love’s light poured radiance o’er the place.
“We wish to pluck that rose that it may grow
Henceforth in Joseph’s garden”, “Aye, I know,”
Lisped Mary’s father, deeply sunk in thought.
“Transplanting of a rose is always fraught
With danger. Who knows if fresh soil
Will nurture it as ours with skilful toil?
Will love smooth out its petals, shade from sun,
Water when thirsting, tended by your son?”
“My son will tend it, it will bloom more rare,
This rose of yours, entrusted to our care.”
Thus did they toss the matter to and fro.
The parents of the two in sunset’s glow.


A flush, a curve, a wind that blows -
A breath of life, ’twas called a rose.
A little sorrow and joy in part,
A breath of love, ’twas called a heart.
A heart a rose, God took those two.
He wove them together; He called them you.

credits

from When I Rise Up, released December 16, 2021
Music - Loah, Michael Praetorius (Est Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen)
Lyrics - Gladys Casely-Hayford
Vocals - Loah
Piano - Johnny Taylor
Guitar - Loah, Niwel Tsumbu
Mandolin - Niwel Tsumbu
Production & Mixing - Cian Finlay
Engineering - Cian Synnott at Windmill Lane Recording Studios
Mastering - Ruadhraí Cushnen at Camden Recording Studios

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Loah Dublin, Ireland

Loah is Sallay-Matu Garnett, a singer songwriter of Irish /Sierra Leonian descent. She performs her unique blend of Afro- folksoul across solo projects and with collaborators. In 2020, she returned to her old vocation as a pharmacist to frontline, yet continued to contribute culturally, presenting several music shows and releasing When I Rise Up, an EP of poetry from the 1920s set to music. ... more

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