Songwriting, Recording, and Creative Arts-Based Research
Funded by the Children and Youth Refugee Research Coalition (CYRRC), this project explored how music is an important part of culture, integration, wellbeing, and creative expression for young people in newcomer and refugee communities in the Greater Toronto Area (Canada). In partnership with COSTI Immigrant Services in Toronto, participating children and youth had the opportunity to share their stories by composing and singing songs and recording their songs in a recording studio.
The specific aims of this project investigated how collaborative ethnographic songwriting and musical mentorship 1.) allowed young people to reimagine themselves while expressing and documenting, in song, their lived experiences related to integration and resettlement in Canada; 2.) promoted well-being and a sense of belonging for young people in their new lived contexts; 3.) created possibilities for others, including service providers and undergraduate students, to learn about the experiences, perspectives, and emergent identities of young people in newcomer and refugee communities through song; and 4.) assisted young people in building creative capacity and musical skills.
Six young people participated in this project through semi-structured qualitative interviews, arts-based activities, and song composition. Six songs were composed throughout this project during online and in-person sessions and five of these songs were professionally recorded in a studio. These songs are available for listening on this page. Youth co-researchers also presented and discussed their songs at several academic conferences. A training workshop, recommendations based on our research findings, and lesson plans have been created to share with settlement agencies and undergraduate students in the Children, Childhood, and Youth Studies program at York University. These educational outputs are aimed at centering the lived experiences of young people in newcomer and refugee communities, and the value of music in their lives as tools to share their perspectives, ideas, and stories.
Songs
This is Me Now
Verse:
Just waiting
Waiting for a long time
Patience being tested
Every day
My bags, they are packed
Left it all behind
Used to be everything
But not now
Chorus:
This is me now, different than yesterday
Sometimes I feel too much, sometimes I don’t say enough
Tangled pieces inside
Who knows who I’ll be tomorrow
Verse:
The world keeps changing
Dreaming up a fantasy
But I realize
It’s out of my control
Chorus:
This is me now, different than yesterday
Sometimes I feel too much
Sometimes I don’t say enough
Tangled pieces inside
Who knows who I’ll be tomorrow
Bridge:
So many unanswered questions
So many wrong ways or right
Who I see before me is not me
But the person I left behind
Verse:
Like a stranger
Don’t know what to do (breath)
If you only knew
What I’ve been (breath) through
By Sora
Produced by Don Kerr, Sora, and Kael Reid
Sora – lead vocals
Kael Reid – acoustic guitar
Doug Friesen – bass
Mike O’Brien – synthesizer
Don Kerr – percussion and synthesizer
Stay with Me
Verse:
I am divided into two parts
I feel like I’m living in between
Me and Allah and me and my life
I’m fighting against this strife
I am happy that I am here
But I’m sad that I’m not there
I want to hold these two places
And fill this empty embrace
Chorus:
I have given you all of my heart
I’m annoyed and tired with everyone
You are the one who hears my voice, always
You are the one who takes both of my hands
I have no companion except you
Stay with me because I have been
Broken for a lifetime
Verse:
I left my home and left everything
I have to start from nothing
Waiting is painful, brings me to tears
How many hours, days, weeks, years?
Chorus:
I have given you all of my heart
I’m annoyed and tired of everyone
You are the one who hears my voice, always
You are the one who takes both of my hands
I have no companion except you
Stay with me because I have been
Broken for a lifetime
Bridge:
Before the war, there were flowers red and white
Happy children playing under blue skies
Now, my people are weeping blood
Their cries flooding my mind at night
Please, wipe my people’s tears away
Verse:
Without hope, without dreams
I am afraid I will disappear
You make colourful my life
You bring me to paradise
Chorus:
I have given you all of my heart
I’m annoyed and tired of everyone
You are the one who hears my voice, always
You are the one who takes both of my hands
I have no companion except you
I have no companion except you
I have no companion except you
Stay with me because I have been
Broken for a lifetime
By Masoma
Produced by Don Kerr, Masoma, and Kael Reid
Masoma – lead vocals
Kael Reid – acoustic guitar, background vocals
Annabelle Chovostek – violin
Doug Friesen – electric and stand-up bass
Don Kerr – cello, percussion
The Dinosaur Ages
Chorus:
I came across a time machine
I went inside, lights started flashing
There was whirring and buzzing
It started spinning fast
I travelled back millions of years
To the dinosaur ages
Welcome to the dinosaur ages
It’s a beautiful, beautiful home
For the dinosaurs
Verse:
Tyrannosaurus Rex, T-Rex for short
These dinos are carnivores
They have sharp teeth, they like to eat meat
The king of the tyrant lizards
Verse:
Brontosaurus is a gentle herbivore
They use their neck to reach into trees
72 feet long, living up to 100 years
Their name means “Thunder Lizard”
Chorus:
I came across a time machine
I went inside, lights started flashing
There was whirring and buzzing
It started spinning fast
I travelled back millions of years
To the dinosaur ages
Welcome to the dinosaur ages
It’s a beautiful, beautiful home
For the dinosaurs
Verse:
Triceratops is also a herbivore
They eat cycads, ferns, and conifers
On their “three-horned face,” you don’t want to get stuck
Because they weigh as much as a truck
Chorus::
I came across a time machine
I went inside, lights started flashing
There was whirring and buzzing
It started spinning fast
I travelled back millions of years
I came across a time machine
I went inside, lights started flashing
There was whirring and buzzing
It started spinning fast
I travelled back millions of years
To the dinosaur ages
Welcome to the dinosaur ages
It’s a beautiful, beautiful home
For the dinosaurs
Verse:
Triceratops is also a herbivore
They eat cycads, ferns, and conifers
On their “three-horned face,” you don’t want to get stuck
Because they weigh as much as a truck
Verse:
Spinosaurus, “spine lizard”
It lives on land and in water
With spikes down its back, like a giant seashell
It eats sharks and it has webbed feet
Verse:
Velociraptor, a “quick plunderer”
With huge claws on its back legs
People believe that this fearsome predator
Was fast, agile, and feathered
Chorus:
I came across a time machine
I went inside, lights started flashing
There was whirring and buzzing
It started spinning fast
I travelled back millions of years
To the dinosaur ages
Welcome to the dinosaur ages
It’s a beautiful, beautiful home
For the dinosaurs
Bridge:
I wish I could fly
Reach up to the sky
I could see the whole world
Protect myself and other people
If I was a dinosaur
If I was a dinosaur
If I was a dinosaur
If I was a dinosaur
By Nabeel
Produced by Don Kerr, Nabeel, and Kael Reid
Nabeel Albatal – lead vocals
Kael Reid –acoustic guitar, background vocals
Doug Friesen – bass
Mike O’Brien – electric guitar
Don Kerr – percussion
Let it Be Nature
Verse:
Sunlight in the sky
Pretty flowers on the ground
Red and blue and green and yellow
Beautiful colours everywhere
Chorus:
The stars in the sky
Are beautiful in the night
Lights glow everywhere
Pretty days of my life
Verse:
Butterflies are orange, black, and white
Dancing in the trees
They fly through the summer air
They flutter on the breeze
Chorus:
The stars in the sky
Beautiful in the night
Lights glow everywhere
Pretty days of my life
Verse:
Birds tweeting in the leaves
Soaring in the sky
Eating seeds in the grass
Playing games with their friends
Chorus:
The stars in the sky
Are beautiful in the night
Lights glow everywhere
Pretty days of my life
Bridge:
One time I was sad
Then, I touched the leaves and it made me happy
I have to be strong in my life and
Never forget who I am
Listen to your heart
Stay true to who you are
When your soul is down
Nature picks you up and puts you on the ground
Chorus:
The stars in the sky
Are beautiful in the night
Lights glow everywhere
Pretty days of my life
The stars in the sky
Are beautiful in the night
Lights glow everywhere
Pretty days of my life
The stars in the sky
Are beautiful in the night
Lights glow everywhere
Pretty days of my life
By
Nataly
Produced
by Don Kerr, Nataly, and Kael Reid
Nataly
– lead vocals
Kael
Reid – acoustic guitar
Doug
Friesen – bass
Mike
O’Brien – piano/synth
Don
Kerr – percussion
Protect Each Other
You're running around playing games
Never forget who you are
You gotta stay strong
Forever.
You gotta just keep on moving, you!
Never forget if you're one of a kind
You gotta be somebody you love and know
You have to stay strong when you're lost in the dark
Stay strong in your heart
The dark is nothing!
I just want you in my life
I don't want you to leave
Just stay with me no matter who I am
And never leave.
I just wanna get moving and grooving
You and I, we're just one of a kind
I'm standing up to everyone in this world
I promise I will stand up for you.
You gotta stay strong and never forget
You gotta love all of the things
You should be not listening but just be grateful
And never forget anything else
Stay with me in my heart.
You're my only friend
You're my only person.
You're running around
Running around
Making a perfect sound.
Never know where to go
Like a DJ in my home
You gotta keep moving and grooving and do it
I just want you to stay and play with me all day.
Produced
by Don Kerr, Nataly, and Kael Reid
Nataly
– lead vocals
Kael
Reid – acoustic guitar
Doug
Friesen – bass
Mike
O’Brien – piano/synth
Don
Kerr – percussion
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