Water is Life. Growing up a water baby with my two favorite animals or mammals being Turtles and Dolphins. I grew up loving the beach and any body of water I could get my hands on. Sadly I grew up far away from any major body of water but always felt I had a spiritual connection to the water and feel the most happy when I am hangin by the water. When I was in AmeriCorps my unit was water unit go figure and most of my service projects where near a body of water which was beautiful.

I have also been diving deep into the No DAPL movement where the Standing Rock tribe and other tribes have been fighting for their water rights as well as learning more and more about the Flint Water Crisis after doing a day of action in Detroit in solidarity a couple years ago.

So in honor of water & the many things she does for us here is a list of beautiful water songs to listen to when your drinking water, chillin by the water or giving thanks to water.

Also this weekend starts a series of river education, art & ceremony days here in DC 4 weekends in April that will be honoring our local water ways that I am apart of called Honoring Our Sacred Rivers.

Dr. Masaru Emoto- Water Crystal Healing:

Ryusuke made and sings “Water Song” with his daughter Hanayo. The song is all about water and Dr. Emoto initially created the original lyrics and Aman Ryusuke created
the song based on that. It is a beautiful song and Dr. Emoto always played this song at the end of his seminars.

Dorene Day, Waubanewquay, Marten Clan- Water Song:
Produced by Stephen Lang

The story of the Nibi (Water) Song told by Beatrice Menase Kwe Jackson, Migizi Clan.

This song was written by Doreen Day at the request of her grandson. She attended a conference about the water in which the internationally known speaker, Dr. Masaru Emoto said, the very least we should do every day, is to speak to the water:

Water, we love you.
We thank you.
We respect you.

So she did this. Every day on their drive to drop Mashkoonce (Little Elk) to school, they passed a body of water. And every day they said these words to the water as they drove by. They made games by saying it in different voices and then would say it as fast as they could. Then one day Mashkoonce, said, “Nokomis why can’t we say this in our language?” So, Dorene asked her daughter’s language teacher to write it in Ojibwemowin. Dorene had the words taped to the car visor as they learned the words.

One day this grandson Mashkoonce said, “Nokomis why don’t we sing the words, don’t you think the water would like it to be sung?” So she thought about it and came up with the tune. They sang this song to the water every morning on their drive to school.

It is sung like a lullaby and we don’t use shakers or drums.

Doreen and her grandson, Mashkoonce, give permission for everyone to share this song… sing it to the water every day.

Some of the lyrics that remind me of the water are: 

Ne-be Gee Zah- gay- e- goo
Gee Me-gwetch -wayn ne- me — goo
Gee Zah Wayn ne- me- goo

Pearl Jam- Oceans/Amongest the Waves:

These two songs are some of Pearl Jam’s finest efforts in my book. Both songs evoke a sense of wonder about the ocean/sea. San Diego surfer Eddie Vedder has a deep love for the ocean & Stone Gossard understands the importance of taking care of mother ocean & our Mother Earth. They’re both these balled type songs one from their album Ten and the other from their album Backspaccer.

Oceans is during Pearl Jam’s prime during Ten. The song is pretty soft for most of the song until the end where the vocals, drums & acoustic guitar pick up and get heaver and heaver. At the very end a light acoustic guitar is played. The video depicts that by having the band by the water chillin, jumping into it and having a great time and also shows them at live shows with Eddie jumping into the crowd “crowd surfing” turns into real waves.

Some of the lyrics that remind me of the water are: 

“Hold on to the thread
The currents will shift
Glide me towards
You know something’s left

And we’re all allowed
To dream of the next
The next time we touch

You don’t have to stray
The oceans away
Waves roll in my thoughts

Hold tight the ring
The sea will rise
Please stand by the shore
I will be, I will be there once more”

Amongest the Waves is a great track from Backspacer. As Eddie gets older his vocals are still so amazing. In this track you hear a lot of guitar and drums with most of the song being pretty mid-tempo until the chorus when everything picks up and of course a good guitar solo is add in there too. The video is kind of like Oceans where is cuts from the sea to them playing a show. They end the video with kind of like a PSA: “There is only one ocean for everyone, Look after it for present and future generations” which I love as it shows their massive love for the sea.

Some of the lyrics that remind me of the water are: 

Sublime- Badfish:

Now this song is not technically even about the ocean & is more about drugs. Yes this song is about shooting up yet the visuals for this song and the imagery the lyrics invoked make you think it’s about surfing in the sea or hangin by the ocean on a nice beach day. The music video even has the band chillin by the ocean playing a beach party having a fun time. It’s a very chill beach vibin song as well and every time I listen to it I’m takin right to the beach. This song also helps to convey the message wither Bradly was going for this or not that most if not all bodies of water out there are super polluted thanks to humans messing it up.

Some of the lyrics that remind me of the water are: 

“Baby, you’re a big blue whale
Grab the reef when all duck diving fails
I swim but I wish I never learned
The water’s too polluted with germs”

Maimouna Youssef ft. Walks on Water- The Knowing:

This poem is so powerful. Done by Mama Walks on Water on her daughter local artist Maimouna Youssef’s first album it is basically Maimouna singing in the background with her mom reciting her poem. The way she recites it is so beautifully done & makes you think your in a body of water just swimming in it or a drop of water. It’s a work of art!

Some of the lyrics that remind me of the water are: 

“You became soft, most and liquid as a tear

And that tear became a rushing river that knew no boundaries 

It tour your shorelines loose as it ran freely through every cell in your body”

Florence + the Machine- What the Water Gave Me:

My Boho Queen! I love Florence Welsh and what she represents for women in music. She makes music that is very indie singer songwriter with dance tracks thrown in there. Her vocals are incredible and on this track it’s no different. This is a very beautiful track which starts of slow with some haunting strings on a harp and backing vocals on top of Florence’s big booming ones. Then a tambourine comes in to complement her until the big chorus and ending which is just her going crazy with her voice (sometimes I forget she is only 27-28). The music video is very simple with Florence and the band in the studio with kind of trippy visuals just getting down at Abby Road Studios in London. I picked this song as a water song mainly because of the title but also because of the light and airy nature of the song with the harp and tambourine.

Some of the lyrics that remind me of the water are:

“So lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow”

Nahko & Medicine for the People- Ocean as Well:

I love Nahko & Medicine for the people. Their singer songwriter vibes are so beautiful mixed with Native American, world music and funk. This song is definitely about water and how important it is but also about how we can become one and connect. It’s a very soft yet up beat song with the instrumentation in the background and Nahko Bear & Hope’s vocals which I love. Plus I love the brake down in the middle when it’s just the funky instruments going in like the drum, piano & bass.

Some of the lyrics that remind me of the water are: 

Incubus- Aqueous Transmission:

One of the most beautiful songs Incubus has ever put out. They started out as a more hard core band back in the late ’90s until they changed their sound a little for a more general alt-rock sound with some experimentation. Having a DJ in the band helped with that as well as Brandon Boyd’s softer side with his vocal delivery. This is one of those tracks. It starts off with soft sitar strings which makes for an enjoyable intro rift mixed with a flute until Brandon’s beautiful vocals kick in. Then at the chorus more sitar strings & flute come in faster this time with a little transition record scratch from DJ Killmore with Brandon’s vocals and then at the end of the song it has a 4 min and 17 sec. instrumental of the sitar strings & flute with a flute solo add at the beginning while Brandon repeats “I’m floating down a river”. At the very end it gives you nature sounds to listen to many that you would hear around a river, lake or creek. Now all though this song is technology about a break up and not a body of water the way the lyrics talk about “floating down the river” it makes for great imagery of getting in a boat and slowly sailing down a river.

  Some of the lyrics that remind me of the water are: 

Graffiti 6- Calm the Storm:

Graffiti 6 are a British band and their lead singer has a fantastic voice. This song right here is my favorite song by them by far. His raspy tone of voice is so perfect for the song and the instrumentals just compliment it so well. It starts off with some drums which almost sound like when someone is beat boxing and then a great funky guitar riff until the singers vocals kick in which are a little muffled but fit perfect. The drums & guitar pick up around the chorus with some tambourine added in as well. Ok you got me a lot of these songs on this list are not actually about water but hey. This song is about a stormy relationship that the singer is trying to get through. The title alone is perfect as well as the lyrics which are beautiful mixed with the drums and guitars even though it is a little bit repetitive I’ll admit. I always listen to this song during a rain storm it just gives off that vibe.

Some of the lyrics that remind me of the water are: 

Eva Cassidy- Wade In the Water (Cover):

Eva Cassidy was a fallen star who fell right at the prime of her career and sadly didn’t became as big as she should have and still to this day is a little know star. One of my mom’s favorite singers and a local DC singer at that we listened to her a lot together growing up so I grew up really appreciating her rich voice. This lady could sing and does one of the best Over the Rainbow covers ever! With this song she takes the old Negro spiritual from slavery time and really puts her spin on it with lots of horns and piano mixed with her raw vocal talent. Now coming from Maryland where Harriet Tubman lived and freed many slaves using the underground railroad she was paying tribute to that time. The songs meaning was a signal to slaves when they would escape to get into the water to hide if a slave catcher was hot on their trail. It’s a powerful song about the power of water and how it saved so many slaves to live another day free.

Some of the lyrics that remind me of the water are: 

  “Wade in the water
Wade in the water
Children wade, in the water
God’s gonna trouble the water”

Blue October- Into the Ocean:

This was a band that had a few hits in the mid to late 2000s and I liked them all with this one being my favorite of all. I loved the softness of this track and the singers vocals matched perfect with them. The song starts off pretty slow with quite vocals until picking up a little with the instrumentation but not much mixing in some string instruments. Again using water as a metaphor for a relationship but it’s very well done. Even the visuals in the video give off a water theme kind of an emo water theme but still. The band is singing while the lead singer is doing some kind of play where he is on a boat and there is a big fake shark in front of him and then there are some emo little ballet girls that pop up too.  It even starts to rain in the video towards the end. All and all the song it’s self is very calm and tranquil giving off a very quite night sitting on the beach watching the waves go by kind of vibe.

  Some of the lyrics that remind me of the water are: 

“I want to swim away but don’t know how
Sometimes it feels just like I’m falling in the ocean
Let the waves up and take me down
Let the hurricane set in motion
Let the rain of what I feel right now come down
Let the rain come down”

TLC- Waterfalls:

This one is classic! Now if you haven’t heard it for shame but basically this song is about a number of different social topics while saying how we shouldn’t leap into the waters of life before we are ready. The first social topic discussed is gang violence and how a young boys life was taken too soon trying to be big and bad hangin with the big boys on the block leaving your poor mother to grieve your loss. The second topic discussed in this video is about a man who dies of AIDS/HIV because he didn’t use protection to have his partner be checked before he slept with her. TLC have always been socially aware and talked about real issues going on in the communities. The way the incorporated the water theme into the song and music video where they are dancing in the water turning into water and then dissolving into it is clever and really brings the message home.  Plus the beat goes hard in this song too and of course the vocals are on point with Left Eye’s amazing rhyme just spitting so much truth.

Some of the lyrics that remind me of the water are: 

“Don’t go chasing waterfalls.
Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to.
I know that you’re gonna have it your way or nothing at all,
But I think you’re moving too fast.”

Civil Twilight- River:

So good! A good jam band with an alt-rock vibe. This song has so many water lyrics in it I couldn’t not add it. Not actually sure if this is about actual water or not but even if  not it’s the perfect song to play when your around a body of water. Sadly the music video doesn’t really portray that as it is a tour video but I love the singer’s voice and instrumentation in the song with lots of guitar and drums.

Some of the lyrics that remind me of the water are: 

“Take the little devil to the river, baby
I don’t mind, I don’t mind
Just take the little devil to the river, baby
I don’t mind if we never get out
Never get out”

The Beach Boys- Surfin USA:

This is a fun song by the Beach Boys. They perfected surf rock in the ’60s-’70s giving you that sunny California beach life. This song is no different with a fun set of lyrics about hangin by the beach going surfing and livin life. This mixes guitars and drums with a 5 person singing group. Perfect for a day at the beach or a just a warm sunny day by the pool.

Some of the lyrics that remind me of the water are: 

“If everybody had an ocean
Across the U. S. A.
Then everybody’d be surfin’
Like Californi-a
You’d seem ’em wearing their baggies
Huarachi sandals too
A bushy bushy blonde hairdo
Surfin’ U. S. A.”

Brad Paisley- Water:

This is the perfect summer song. A country song full of story telling about the fun you can have with water. The song starts off with what sounds like water drops before the guitar kicks in. He talks about swimming in lakes, the little inflatable pools you get from the store you put in your backyard and even spring break in Daytona Beach. The video has Brad and his band playing at a pool, jumping in the water, playing under a water fall and clips of of others around water and in the pool. It’s has all your country cliques and is the perfect kick back song to get you ready for that summer beach weather. It’s got guitar and violin solos at the end is just a fun track about water.

Some of the lyrics that remind me of the water are: 

“Inflatable pool full of dad’s hot air
I was three years old
Splashin’ everywhere
And so began my love affair
With water

On a river bank
With all my friends
A big old rope tied to a limb
And your a big old wuss
If you don’t jump in
The water

Yeah when that summer sun starts to beatin’ down
And you don’t know what to do
Grab your swimming trunks
Ice up that old igloo
Drive until the map turns blue”

In Credo-Siesta del Sol (Laid Back Summer Cut):

This song is a super chill instrumental song that will make you think your actually at the beach right now. It starts with the sound of some waves crashing on the shore with some simple guitar strums. The whole song is made up of simple guitar strums from different guitars with the waves crashing before a chill horn beat comes in. It’s a very relaxing track which makes me think of laying on the sandy beach letting the waves come and over take me while I fall asleep under a beautiful sunset.

Well there are of course many other water songs out there that are amazing but here are just a few to wet your whistle so you can hum along.

Well Till Next Time…Water is Life!