Lyr Req/Add: Sewing a Name-- AIDS Quilt Song

Subject: Lyr Req: Sewing a Name-- AIDS Quilt Song
From: Cuilionn
Date: 01 Dec 09 - 10:18 AM

Hello, Folks--

It's World AIDS Day. I'm thinking about the AIDS orphans in Africa and all those who suffer from this disease and the ignorance that surrounds it. May they all be touched by healing and compassion. May the work of education, community care and justice-seeking continue with renewed energy and shared resources.

I'm trying to piece together the words of "Sewing a Name," a beautiful song written (by Cathy Fink?) about the NAMES Project quilt and all the dear people whose lives were cut short by AIDS. My hope is to regather the words so I can sing it to myself through the day.
Can't seem to track down my old cassette of Claudia Schmidt singing this, and it's been too long for me to fully recall. Can anyone help refresh my memory? I think it starts, "I'm sewing a name for the world to see, sewing a name to reassure me..."

Moran Taing / Muckle Thanks,

--Cuilionn

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewing a Name-- AIDS Quilt Song
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Dec 09 - 03:26 PM

Allmusic.com says Cathy Fink wrote SEWING A NAME, and Claudia Schmidt & Sally Rogers recorded it on their album "While We Live" (Red House Records RHR45, 1991). It's still available, according to Red House Records.

I wasn't able to identify any other recordings.

I was able to transcribe this much from some samples:


I'm saving this name like a book from the past.
It has tattered edges and a spirit that will last;
I'm saving this name for the world to see
That the life you lived is now part of me.

We're joined in (or "joining"?) a family of others who sew,
And watching a beautiful artwork grow,
And trying to see that the world won't ignore
The rights and the loves we've been fighting for.

Subject: ADD: Sewing a Name (Cathy Fink)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Dec 09 - 04:19 PM

What a nice song! The CD doesn't have a lyrics sheet and I can't find the lyrics on the Web. Here is my by-ear transcription, incorporating Jim's transcription. I couldn't find a Cathy Fink recording. Seems to me there was an AIDS quilt CD - I wonder if Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer did a recording of the song for that CD.

SEWING A NAME
(Cathy Fink, 1987)

I'm sewing a name for the world to see,
I'm sewing a name to reassure me
One life is never lived in vain,
One man's pleasure, not another man's pain.

CHORUS
I'm saving this name like a book from the past,
It has tattered edges and a spirit that will last;
I'm saving this name for the world to see
That the life you lived is now part of me.

We're joining a family of others who sew,
And watching a beautiful artwork grow,
And trying to see that the world won't ignore
The rights and the loves we've been fighting for.

CHORUS, then instrumental break

Well, it doesn't matter what stitch I use,
Your favorite colors are the ones I choose;
And I couldn't leave off your sparkly blue tie,
You wore the day I caught your eye.

CHORUS

I'm sewing a name for the world to see,
I'm sewing a name to reassure me
One life is never lived in vain,
One man's pleasure, not another man's pain.

CHORUS

Source: by-ear transcription from Claudia Schmidt & Sally Rogers album "While We Live" (Red House Records RHR45, 1991).

Subject: RE: req/ADD: Sewing a Name-- AIDS Quilt Song
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 07 Dec 09 - 05:18 PM

This seems to be a different song:

NAMES
(Cathy Fink)

Chorus:
And I know, my name could be there
And I feel, the pain and the fear
And this human love and passion
Do not make us all the same
We are counted not as numbers but as names

A patchwork of thousands of precious names
There must be someone there you know
Woven together in a quilted frame
The names the loved ones won't let go

We grieve for the lovers and the families
And I pray they'll meet again some day
But until that time I will carry the flame
As their numbers grow we'll not forget the names

A lover, a carpenter, a father, a friend
A sister, a minister, a man
Each quilted piece holds a memory
Each memory helps us to go on

as sung by Roy Bailey on 'Never Leave A Story Unsung' (1991)

[1991:] Written for the Names Quilt, a memorial to victims of AIDS. The project began in San Francisco. It has rapidly become a major work of folk art that is a moving memorial to and celebration of, the lives of those who have died. Each name is on a patch six feet by three feet. There are now 13,000 pieces in the quilt. In July 1989 I was invited to sing this song at the opening of an exhibition of part of the quilt at the Vancouver Art Gallery. It was a privilege to be invited and it was the most moving event I have ever been involved with. (Notes Roy Bailey, 'Never Leave A Story Unsung')