Woven Green’s “Lift It Up” is an anthemic call to action. It’s no individualistic prompt, however. Rather, this is a song imagining every heart beating as one. It’s expressly universalist in nature.
This plan is “the only way we’re going to save this ship from sinking,” the male/female dup sing. It’s a hopeful song, not a scared sentiment, though. The song’s bridge features lyrics that express a belief in how love will ultimately prevail.
Just as the song calls upon everybody to get just get along, it also expresses a desire to save nothing less than the entire world. That’s a tall order. However Woven Green’s mission is a spiritual one, and so it’s to be expected that their songs include mighty tall orders, such as this one.
When they call for peace on Earth, it’s easy to connect this song to many of the protest songs in the 60s. The 60s was a turbulent period in American history. This was primarily due to the highly unpopular Vietnam War. Young people were particularly opposed to this war, for the most part, and these were the ones also creating the era’s popular music. It was just impossible to picture a peaceful world while so many soldiers were being killed in this overseas conflict.
Sadly, though, once one war ends, another one begins. It’s the story or world history. This makes it difficult to believe in universal world piece – ever. Woven Green have the best intentions, but we can be forgiven for being a little skeptical, right?
The song begins with a mostly guitar accompaniment. It goes from just a female vocal, to a male/female harmonized vocal on the chorus. It’s sung from the perspective of one imagining/dreaming about a better, more peaceful world. In her mind’s eye, she can visualize a world that’s peaceful.
This track is from the pair’s album Into Bloom. Jim and Ashley Cash, who first met while students at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, have been creating music together since 2006. They also where many hats, as do many contemporary musicians these days, and are multi-instrumentalists, both audio and film producers, in addition to being public speakers. They incorporate many of their collegiate study subjects into their musical creations. Some of their college and post-college interests include philosophy, psychology, eastern religion, folklore, ethnomusicology and mythology. That’s a large collection of interests to choose from, which makes Woven Green so much more than just another typical pop act.
This is the sort of song our world could really use right now. So much political discourse is so divided today. Everybody is too busy trying to make sure their side wins the rhetorical war, instead of trying to bring people together. It’s not clear where Jim and Ashley stand politically, at least not based this song, but it is obvious they are working towards unify not just the United States, but ultimately the whole world.
Sure, it’s easy to shoot a cynical glance Woven Green’s way over the overly optimistic tone set with this song. However, it’s also nearly impossible to disagree with the song’s aim, which is to bring about world peace. We cannot achieve lasting world peace until we are all in it together.
https://www.instagram.com/wovengreenmusic/
-Dan MacIntosh
