Musician Jess Green (AKA Pheno) with Skywhale and Skywhalepapa
We are the Skywhales
A Song by Jess Green and Patricia Piccinini
The Song
Canberra musician Jess Green (AKA Pheno) collaborated with Patricia Piccinini in 2020 to compose the song We are the Skywhales for the Every heart sings project. Jess has performed for theatre, dance and television; collaborated with Katie Noonan, Renee Geyer and Nell; played at the Closing Ceremony of the 2018 Commonwealth Games and was Composer in residence at the 2019 Canberra International Music Festival.
We are the Skywhales Karaoke
The skywhales touch the hearts of everyone who experience them. As they rise on each early morning, and drift across Australian skies, Skywhale and Skywhalepapa inspire awe and wonder. They also inspire song writing and singing – sing your heart out with this karaoke version of We are the Skywhales.
The karaoke music video combines Jess's shortened version of the song with Clem Stamation's animation using images from the children’s book Every Heart Sings, Patricia Piccinini’s prints The skywhale suite and footage of the skywhales in flight during their national tour of Australia.
Lyrics
We are the Skywhales
we heard a story
way back when in the days of old
we did slither among the fishes
walked out of the soup we’re told
but how how, we asked them how
could we have walked on earth back then
in a million years they said,
a creature morphs again and again
fire down in our bellies
catching the wind in our tails
fire down in our bellies
catching the wind in our tails
we had legs to walk on
we did roam with feet to ground
we went foraging for a future
a brand new seed was what we found
but why why did we rise up
was it by magic that we flew?
inside our bodies a crazy mixture
that carried us up into the blue
swirl-ing around was heat and air,
tiny creatures hidden there
making a vapour - we did swell
slowly our bodies began to rise
up we went, leaving the earth then
time passed we grew our tails
steering in the wind
all together our hearts are bouncing,
with the call that sings us high
dreaming of up of where we're going
beautiful blue, beautiful play-sky
wind takes us many places
our song is loud wherever we're flung to
feel the gaze on our little faces
every body's heart sings when it's sung to
fire down in our bellies
catching the wind in our tails
we sail up and up above you
we are the skywhales!
fire down in our bellies!
catching the wind in our tails
we sail up and up above you
we are the skywhales!
Old Father Time he wanders on
Mama nature sings her song along
it’s a beautiful thing, how we become
and keep on becoming (keep on becoming)
until there’s no-one else like us, until there’s no-one else
like us,
until there’s no-one else
like us,
we are the lucky ones
still roaming the globe
our bodies need a lot of love
flying naked in the air
we ride clinging to papa’s back
we learn to float with Mama’s care
and as we soar among the clouds
we see ourselves in the shadows below
and all the other creatures free
living together in a delicate flow
hear our hearts humming with our mamas song
papa sings as we soar along
we're holding on
Papa's arms are strong around us
wonder a mile high
we are the lucky ones
still roaming the globe
all together our hearts are bouncing,
with the call that sings us high
dreaming of up of where we're going
beautiful blue, beautiful play-sky
wind takes us many places
our song is loud wherever we're flung to
feel the gaze on our little faces
every body's heart sings when it's sung to
fire down in our bellies
catching the wind in our tails
we sail up and up above you
we are the skywhales!
fire down in our bellies!
catching the wind in our tails
we sail up and up above you
we are the skywhales!
© Jess Haas (nee Green) 2020
