Love That You Give, The
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Sound Recordings
Vocal Learning File - BLEND
Instrumental Learning File
Submitter Comments
I have never written a song before, so this one took a while to evolve. It first came to me as I was driving home from singing at Hospice Austin Christopher House. With COVID-19 protocols in place, only three members of the Austin Threshold Choir are allowed to sing each week as long as we remain outdoors singing from the patios outside patient rooms. So even though I can’t always see the patients (or travelers, as we call them), I was still thinking about them that day as I always do when driving home. Somewhere on I-35, I began singing to reassure them that all the good things they tried to give of themselves in this life would endure; I wanted them and their loved ones to be comforted in knowing that the loving essence of their being remains. I recorded the song on my phone, but I just didn’t have the confidence to pursue it further. Later, I saw this quote by author Mitch Albom which reminded me of the song: “Love is how you stay alive even after you are gone.” Just days after that, I participated in a fun and inspiring online songwriting session with Karen Drucker that bolstered my belief that the song might have potential. From that session, I finally got the courage to at least share the song with my singing sisters, Marcia Bernstein and Julie Slim. Their generous love and enthusiasm – not to mention their incredible skill in developing harmonies – cinched it. “The Love That You Give” has become a favorite of ours to sing for travelers and their loved ones on a regular basis.
The song is in three-quarter time and might become rather lilting as a waltz. However, it’s intended to be sung more slowly without becoming ponderous.
Lyrics
The love that you give lives on.
The love that you give lives on.
The love that you give lives on.
The world lives on with your love.
Verse suggestions:
Love—The love that you give lives on. … The world lives on with your love.
Peace—The peace that you share lives on. … The world lives on with your peace.
Joy—The joy that you bring lives on. … The world lives on with your joy.
Grace— The grace that you show lives on. … The world lives on with your grace.
Light—The light that you shine lives on. … The world lives on with your light.
Song—The song that you sing lives on. … The world lives on with your song.