Description
Love is Welcome Here combines an uplifting melody and words, including spoken word poetry about creating spaces of compassion and vulnerability for ourselves and others. The joyfulness of the text allows it to be programmed into a variety of concerts or worship services, both secular and sacred.
Love is Welcome Here, which speaks to allowing us to bring our pain, our fears and our sorrows, can help us practice compassion. As Joe says in his Poet Notes, “I feel the more we’re able to practice feeling and creating the world we long to live in together, the closer we get to that world existing within and around us.”
Lyrics
Only love is welcome here.
Only love is welcome here.
Only love, love, oh love, sweet love.
Only love is welcome here.
Only kindness is welcome here.
Only kindness is welcome here.
Only kindness, yes, loving kindness.
Only kindness is welcome here.
So bring your pain and bring your sorrow.
Bring your hopes and bring your fears
and we will wrap our loving arms around you,
because love, only love, is welcome here.
Copyright © Catherine Dalton, 2021, ASCAP
Spoken Word
Here is where we give you the permission you haven’t yet given yourself
To show up and be your most authentic self
You can cry here
You can take your time here
To be you is not a crime here!
We are all divine here
We shine brighter when we all shine here
We rise higher when we all rise here
We practice being kind here
We celebrate the fact that we are still alive here
Love, only love is welcome here
You can make mistakes here
No guilt blame or shame here
There’s only grace here
We know you by name here
We’ve been waiting for you
So glad you came here
We hope that you stay here
All that you are can be reclaimed and embraced here
Only Love is welcome here
…
Here is where we give you the permission you haven’t yet given yourself
To show up and be your most authentic self
Only Love is welcome here
Copyright © Joe Davis, 2021, ASCAP
Composer Notes
The verse and chorus of Love is Welcome Here came to me each night for weeks during the summer of 2020. It was my body’s way of calming me and helping me sleep. It was also a reminder that art can work in mysterious ways, if I’m listening. When Maggie Sabin asked me to select the text for a commission by the Osseo Chamber Singers while we were in the midst of a world-wide pandemic and social reckoning, I suggested these words and melody that had been gifted to me from the Universe. I am beyond thrilled that Joe Davis said he would collaborate on this project by writing the a poem for the bridge!
Poet Notes
I wrote this poem as a reflection on what it means to commit to creating spaces of vulnerability and compassion, where we can bring our full selves without fear of judgment or shame. I want to experience more spaces like this in the world, which is why I’m intentional about exploring what that can sound like and feel like through my poetry and music.
I feel the more we’re able to practice feeling and creating the world we long to live in together, the closer we get to that world existing within and around us.
maureen Putnam –
I love the idea and piece. It was very fun to meet you too
Catherine Dalton (store manager) –
Aww…Thank you, Mo! It was wonderful to meet you as well. I wish you all the best as you head into a new season of music full of hope and joy! Let me know if there is anything you need.
Gwendyline Aguiar –
I performed with the NC Governor’s School East 2023 choir this past month, and as it was the first and last song we sang over the course of the session, I wanted to leave a review and let you know just how much this piece impacted me! I’ve been struggling recently to truly sing from a place of love. Singing with my hometown choir became a chore full of hard feelings between other members and just a lack of passion for music. But your music, this song, has lifted me out of that! I can’t help but be brought to tears of joy when I listen to/sing Love is Welcome Here. It reminds me why I sing, to create beautiful music with beautiful people. The words are just as powerful as the melody and you can’t help but smile when you sing this song with the people you love. When we sang this song for the last time, we all held each other up through our tears, that’s the power of music. Thank you for sharing your creation with us ❤️