RT by @CarolineLucas: Hello: this is 'Riversong', a "broadside ballad" which protests the slow death of rivers in the UK & around the world––& sings for their revival.

'Riversong' is free to print, share, set & sing, speak aloud on a riverbank, post on walls or windows, adapt, translate, perform, turn into a placard on a protest, colour in, share with schools, friends, community choirs, campaign groups...ANYTHING you want.

No permission is needed for any use: the only condition is that you use it for the good of rivers & people. Download link here or in my bio, hosted by the brilliant @Right_2Roam: https://www.righttoroam.org.uk/riversong

The art is by @nickhayesillus1 & the words are by me. But there's no need ever to credit either of us. This is a choral work, made from & by many voices. Nick's border art is a single, sinuous flow of river-beings, human & more-than-human: Dipper, Otter, Swimmer, Stonefly, Cormorant, Elf Cups, Eel...

The words running around the frame are imagined as River's "undersong", to be murmured below the main lyrics. Substitute the names of your own rivers & river-creatures there to make a new, localised undersong, anywhere in the world.

Historically, "Broadside ballads" were single-side printed sheets designed for announcing or protesting. For centuries, the arts of woodcut, typography & poetry thrived symbiotically on broadsides: image, letter & verse. Legibility & memorability are key to the broadside tradition: we've tried to preserve those qualities here.

7 years ago, Nick & I worked together on 'Heartwood', another free broadside ballad protesting the destruction of 1000s of street trees in Sheffield. ‘Heartwood’ ended up being fly-posted all over Sheffield, used in tree- & forest-protection from Canada to Hyderabad, & translated into Chinese, Dutch & Telugu.

We’d love to see ‘Riversong’ move with similar wild energy in the world. Please share …

[2024-10-27 17:10 UTC]