09 Mar Good News
An original song by Coco Love Alcorn arranged for Wholehearted Chorus in a gospel style in 4-part harmony. A simplified version of the chorus can be taught quickly for circles as needed.
Composer & Copyright
Original song lyrics by Coco Love Alcorn, music by Coco, Andy Sheppard, Alan Mackie and Drew McIvor. Arranged for Wholehearted Chorus by Lisa G. Littlebird, inspired by Karla Mundy’s arrangement for her Rhythm ‘n’ Roots chorus.
Recording
Lyrics
Chorus:
Good news… we’re breathing
Good news… we’re alive
Good news… we’re here
And no one can deny
Solo:
You can break my heart
You can break my bones
But no one can break my spirit
‘Cause my spirit is my home
You can take my money
You can take my time
But no one can take my spirit
‘Cause my spirit is mine
Chorus
You can fool my mind
You can fool my eyes
But no one can fool my spirit
‘Cause my spirit is wise
You can bound my body
You can bound my day
But no one can bound my spirit
‘Cause my spirit knows the way
Chorus
The spirit finds a way…
Inspiration Track
Teaching Notes
I’ve been successfully experimenting with simplified ways to teach this song in new circles much more quickly than the full arrangement I’ve shared here, and I love to use it as an opener or closer. To simplify, teach the chorus parts first with as many harmonies as your group can easily sustain and let the singers know that we’ll return to that. I sing the verses as a solo or have singers with me who already know them, while the choir holds the “whoa” lightly background. I bring in “the spirit finds a way” part by part and just have each part repeat it over and over while the other parts are added, then go back to the chorus to finish.
When we performed this song with Wholehearted Chorus we added a guitar, bass line and drums.
This recording is in the key of A flat with a starting note of B.
Level of teaching speed/ difficulty (1 = very easy, 10 = very challenging)
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