These song clips (and complete song lyrics) are from the album “All Rise,” available in digital form (for downloading) at CD Baby as well as iTunes. Copyright 3Levels.org 2015-2020. All rights reserved.
Songs from “All Rise”
- Rise
- A Garden in 3D
- Rather Than Smoke
- Veggie Time
- The World a.k.a. Our Gym
- Always Training Something
- Living in 3D
- Our Watch
- What Are We Made Of?
- Calling All Heroes
Rise
Idea: to grab an audience’s attention and explain how and why the project originated
(News clips):
We’re back with a health emergency tonight
This year’s drought will cost California 2.2 billion dollars
The outbreak will get worse before it gets better
Scientists say it’s the biggest threat yet to the health of our planet’s oceans
26 million Americans suffer from type 2 diabetes
Residents urged to stay indoors
A bleak picture of the immediate future
We’re going to work now
We’ve seen commitment to bettering health, teachers, farmers, others whose lives
Open doors and eyes, and new possibilities
Giving support in a lot of kind ways, to make this a better world
So we might then explore, the same great abilities
Yet our challenges seem to grow each day
Disease, pollution, drought, (so) much pain and disarray
We need more champions on this epic quest
Here and now. So who’s next?
We’re here in this hour (rise)
To teach and empower (rise)
And see health tower
(Hm) a great thing to supersize
We’re feeling that fire (rise)
To work and not tire (rise)
And help to inspire
All we can reach to rise
So now in an effort to demonstrate that our daily choices can produce change
As we work and play, or make food thoughtfully
And showing that health takes various forms that frequently intertwine
Like oceans and humankind, the trick is sharing artfully
So let’s do this, it’s our day to seize
Taking action in our lives and all-size communities
And getting the word out (hey!) we’ll need a lot of friends
Plus a microphone (hm) and camera lens
Chorus
All this effort legitimized
And help to inspire all we can reach by
Helping find a balance in our daily lives
Staying mindful taking on each enterprise
Seeking out where possibility resides
Facing weaknesses once they’ve been recognized
Accounting for the costs that we’ve externalized
And showing what a great community provides
And hey with you, maybe turning the tides
Chorus (everyone getting energized)
One more time
Chorus (a great thing to supersize yeah)
It’s a big ‘ol world out there
Lots of oppression and despair
But with amazing work by people like you and me everywhere
Who knows how many can rise
A Garden in 3D
Idea: to increase interest in gardening and awareness of its potential to benefit 3D Health
It’s been a crazy year like every one so far
Mooched rides and biked in snow, just trying to avoid my car
Read books, tried new sports, and learned songs to sing and
Between great talks with friends
Did a little backyard gardening
Crazy, yeah life is pretty crazy, and I grew a garden in 3D
I got some stuff to read so I’d have a partial clue
But then I got impatient, it seemed a cinch to do
Bought seeds, tilled the ground, and pushed each one into place
Then I waited, fork in hand, so ready to have a taste
Hungry, then I got hungry, ahem a garden in 3D? Bueller?
That first try ended poorly, as you might well expect
Failure is rough but we learn when we reflect
I went back, read my stuff, and made some farmer friends
This time cultivating I’d do more than pretend
Plan B, if plan A goes (crash sound) try B, I’d still grow a garden in 3D
We had timely rain and from the sun got warm but not charbroiled
The natural fertilizer sure seemed to please the soil
Beans came up, spinach too, squash spread well beyond the kale
But the carrots, not so much, for them an epic fail
Slowly, sometimes slowly, but I grew a garden in 3D
Friends came by to help pick and get an up close tour
We mixed some salad greens, made stew, and froze some more
There was still enough to give to neighbors who had less
What better way to share some gardening success?
Party, woo my kind of party: based on a garden in 3D
Dialing it in takes time but this garden thing’s alright
I’m stronger, better fed now, and in general less uptight I
Made new worm and human friends and ate my backyard view
And measured my food’s miles in feet – that means less CO2
Slimy, earthworms are slimy, but help growing gardens in 3D
Next year I’ll add some rainbow chard, yeah you know that’s what’s up
Heirloom seeds, TLC and I hope no big hiccups
Now having seen nice impacts, I’ll be more intentional
Us, our friends, and the planet winning makes it 3-dimensional
More than me, it became much more than me
But I grew a garden, yes I grew a garden
You know I grew a garden in 3D yeah
1, 2 (a garden), 3D
There are many things
We can do in
Like vacationing in
And partying in
Even working out in
And of course there’s gardening in
Rather than Smoke
Idea: to explain how tobacco products are a scam and share alternatives to using them
Here are some things I’d rather do with friends than smoke:
Learn new recipes and test my latest home-made joke
Discuss things that are weighing on our minds
And swap ideas for books to read and random movie lines
A lot I do rather than buy into the same old Big Tobacco scam
There’s one thing that I would rather inhale
Clean air – there’s some in Omaha, St. Pete, and Farmingdale
Likely on a hilltop in Santa Fe
But I prefer avoiding smog, so typically not LA
A lot I do rather than buy into the same old Big Tobacco scam
What I’d like to touch my lips instead of a cigarette:
Non-toxic lip balm, or salad topped with my own vinaigrette
A woman’s face without a lot of blush
Even the cereal I had yesterday that’s long since turned to mush – yeah, that’s kind of gross, but I’d still prefer it
A lot I do rather than buy into the same old Big Tobacco scam
A bunch of things I’d rather spend my money on:
Fresh-picked vegetables from down the road or an Avett Brothers song
Some driving goggles for my friend’s dog Clyde
And a bike tune since like me the pick-up’s in no mood to drive
A lot I do rather than buy into the same old Big Tobacco scam
A list this long might just take another song, but I won’t bore you all like that
Not that I’m finished, either
Things to increase versus cancer risk:
My listening skills… and thus chance to get the gist
Knowledge base, my jump rope speed, and dance move repertoire
And how ‘bout some record sales so this gets played near and far
A lot I do rather than buy into the same old Big Tobacco scam
Lastly, things I’d rather smell like instead of butts
Split wood, the grass, old hockey gear, well maybe just the pucks
Ocean air, a lilac, a Christmas tree
Perhaps a bit of natural musk, but ideally odor-free
A lot I do rather than take in toxic chemicals that otherwise are banned
Seek a nicotine rush based on some evil business plan
Give up big piles of hard-earned money to the Man
Plus trade my health for breath defined by hints of garbage can
So NO! I won’t! Buy into (cough) – ew – the same old big Tobacco scam (pfff nope)
Veggie Time
Idea: to increase interest in eating (and growing) fresh local vegetables
It’s time, that time, oh yeah
It’s time, let’s dine
They’ve been doing their thing for so long
Puling minerals out of the ground
And that’s real key for you and me to get strong
Living well, sticking around
Healthy soil it means a whole lot
For what ends up in the roots
Could be spinach maybe a kumquat
Same thing happens with fruits
I try to get them in season
And use them when they’re still fresh
Rinsing, dicing, chopping or slicing
Helps me to fuel a good sesh
Benefits flow when we eat them
You know I’m proof that they’re real
And worth what we do to get them
Overall? Yeah a good deal
The work to grow each seed and row
The time to know and savor the subtle flavors oh
For young and old made hot or cold red, green, and gold
They’re vegetables
Arugula, kale, asparagus, carrots
Bok choy, celery, onions, and beets
Watercress, chard, sweet potatoes, parsnips
Cauliflower, peas, broccoli, and leeks
Friendly farmers selling them at markets
Or you can get a CSA share
Maybe garden and really work it
Grow a huge pumpkin, take it to the fair
No processed junk assembled in a factory
Designed to get us all hooked
All that marketing won’t attract me
Wrong ingredients last time I looked
Real food tends to have a short shelf life
And not only profit a store
Versus stuff that comes with a stealth price
What we’re choosing now is worth more
The work to grow each seed and row
The time to know and savor the subtle flavors oh
For young and old made hot or cold red, green, and gold
They’re vegetables
Use them any way you like, steamed, cold, perhaps stir-fried
Alone or mixed in, it’s alright
At any meal or snack, the best foods love us back
And show us what shared health attracts
Bet it’s worth it
Okay let’s bring it down
I think you know what time it is
This is how we do it in my house
I’d like some vegetables, more vegetables, please
It’s veggie time
I’d like some vegetables, more vegetables, please
Yeah, veggie time
I’d like some vegetables, more vegetables, please
Still veggie time
I’d like some vegetables
You know it’s always veggie time
Nice
The World a.k.a. Our Gym
Idea: to build awareness of a number of ways to be physically active in a place like Maine
This year my friends and I found many ways to move
We were confident there was a lot it would improve
Like how we looked, our grades, our immunity, and mood
So with help from coaches we set out to see what we could do
We played volleyball, kickball, dodgeball, and football and never hit a car
Got a bunch of dance moves down so far
And wondered what it’s like to be a pop-n-lock superstar
Out on a road trip, we stopped for chin-ups at a playground
Then plyometrics, yeah we like to bounce around
Some pretty fast wind sprints and then on to the next town
Alone I shot some hoops and got my hand stands looking sweet
Did jump rope double-unders to a phat beat
Practice should be fun if you do or don’t compete
At least that’s the word on my street
Because ooh, aah it’s oh my gosh amazing
What’s possible to feel for those joining in
We took the world and made it our gym
Wooo hoo the world a.k.a. our gym
We took jiu jitsu, swing, CrossFit, and swim class to understand
New ways to push though awkwardly when we began
But with a lot of good reps went from “no way” to “bam”
Cramming for a big test for hours we got giddy from the review
It seemed a silent dance party was overdue
The library staff never even knew
Until it really grew
Because ooh aah it’s oh my gosh amazing!
What’s possible to build for those joining in
We took the world and made it our gym
Woo hoo the world a.k.a our gym
At times we were sick or hurt, and took some time to heal
But soon got back to finding out just how mm mm good all this feels
We climbed Katahdin and admired some orange, red, and yellow leaves
Though it got cold we stayed warm raking in short sleeves
There’s a lot more to fall than football on TV
I stood outside a elevator, my buddy spied on people going up
He’d signal me the floors at which they planned to stop
I ran the stairs and beat them there just to see jaws drop
Because ooh aah it’s oh my gosh amazing
What’s possible to find for those joining in
We took the world and made it our gym
Woo hoo the world a.k.a. our gym
Well that’s about it, except building that snow fort on winter break
And sledding, snowshoeing, and skating on the lake
And doing squats and push-ups in the airport and not caring what strangers thought,
Playing hallway hockey at home,
Building a kicker and working on ski and snowboard freestyle moves,
Watching John Oliver clips while doing abs and stretching,
Climbing ropes, walls, rocks, trees, and frozen waterfalls
Shoveling snow off the baseball field so we could play before May,
Balancing on a stability ball on my stomach, back, and knees
Building snowmen to act out scenes in the yard,
Filling bags with roadside trash (for time),
And capturing the flag at a 4th of July party,
Lifting barbells, dumbbells, and kettlebells in my friend’s garage and several weight rooms
Paddling canoes, kayaks, and rafts,
Racing a chairlift on cross-country skis,
Throwing a Frisbee and trying to look cool sometimes catching it,
Weeding flower and vegetable gardens by hand and
Shoveling the driveway because Roundup and snowblowers are for quitters, no offense, and
Juggling a soccer ball and counting the highest number of touches before a drop.
Because ooh aah it’s oh my gosh amazing
What’s possible to do so join right in
Strengthening from core to every limb (lot of strengthening)
Yeah, there’s a lot we’ll definitely do again (and again)
Two words we live by: carpe diem (they’re Latin)
So help make the entire world our gym
Woo hoo (oh and practicing for when 4-square becomes an Olympic sport)
The world a.k.a our gym
Always Training Something
Idea: to increase mindfulness and awareness about what we’re doing and why at any given time
Our bodies are machines that respond to how we use them
Losing or gaining new capacities with time
Genes count but much still depends on what we’re choosing
It helps both to be aware and do things by design
What to build and how to get there are the questions
The world reflects our will based much on thoughts and actions
We’re always training something (2x)
You know we’re always training something
Like now
Each time we slouch or sit up, be generous or spiteful
Give up or try again, we reinforce that path
Blaming others, calling names, or feeling blessed or grateful
Our choice: what we minimize and what we max
We miss out when our energy and time gets wasted
More fun to build something we’re proud of – can you taste it?
We’re always… so what next?
Brooke had a D-1 dream, and lived to make it happen
Training, food, sleep – all geared to raise her game
Each day new contributions to successes she was mapping
Made it possible to reach a level few have claimed
Tim’s life was Xbox and it took all his attention
Eyes glued to the screen, his thumbs lightning fast
The gaming world was his but the real one much in question
Tough to look or feel good on just Red Bull and Kraft
Two outcomes, each tied to different daily choices
Which ones can help us most in shaping our courses?
We’re always… oh yeah
Progressive overload means more training stress with time
Systems need a nudge to strengthen, young and old
Pushing safely’s crucial – think smart program design
To overcome fun challenges until we reach our goal
Though plans can change while conducting exploration
Making choices mindfully helps all kinds of creation
We’re always…
Under any light
What we say or write
Even Friday night
No this isn’t hype
You and me alike
Let’s be dynamite
And try to get it right
Living in 3D
Idea: to clarify the meaning of 3D Health and increase interest in it
Yeah these are tough times
We see clear signs
Acidic oceans, bees in decline
If we can’t change some basic approaches
It could mean leaving the world to the roaches
We care, so let’s declare
We’ll stand for building health we can share
Across borders, species, and time
Feeling fulfilled: a trend on the incline
Let’s start with a model
One we can take up to full throttle
See the big picture, find a good mixture
Living in ways to make health a fixture
Not one, 3 dimensions
Community, environment, and the person
We can see how they interrelate
And share a common fate
We’re thinking/seeing/living in 3D…
We’re making this stand so more can be healthy
Alright, first of all
Let’s cover the health known as personal
What’s the state of my body and mind?
Can they reach the heights for which they’re designed?
We want more than to just live
So we give and look around for creative
Ways to push and find self-expression
In relationships and jam sessions
That calls for courage and drive
Big dreams take lots to realize
Food, sleep, lotta skill-building
That’s if we’re willing… CHORUS
On to community health
Doing great stuff in groups and being helpful
Going beyond oneself
To be there for others like Buddy the Elf
Then environmental
No more treating the Earth like a rental
We’d be done without soil and trees
Hence the call to be thinking in threes
Personal health was one
Community, then environmental
None should be left out, so sing it out loud
‘Cause 3 ain’t a crowd… CHORUS
We’re thinking in 3D, we’re seeing in 3D, we’re living
We’re making this stand so more can be
Thinking in 3D, and seeing, and living in 3D
We’re making this stand so more can be healthy
Alright, let’s do this
3D Health what? (personal, community, environmental)
Ah yeah, that’s what I’m talking about
A lot of people out there
Thinking in 3D, and seeing in 3D
Now count: 1, 2, 3
We’re making this stand so more can be healthy
Our Watch
Idea: to increase awareness of environmental challenges and interest in taking them on
The environmental challenges we face seem without end
There’s not that much at stake, some are trying to pretend
Just systems that sustain us: food, water, oxygen
Our way of life versus some nasty trends, and it’s our watch
Yours and mine – our watch
Microplastic beads in lakes, pesticides near where we’re tilling
Cities cloaked in smog, not only nice views is it killing
Heavy metal-tainted soil’s not safe to grow food when we’re willing
We treat the Earth like a dump and it’s filling on our watch
Yours and mine – our watch
Fish stocks are crashing from the Gulf of Maine to Vietnam
Monarch butterflies and most amphibians may not last long
Who knows how we’ll grow food if all the honeybees are gone
Turtles, bats, macaws, the list of those at risk goes on… and on
Being mortal means we only have some time
So what legacy shall we leave behind?
Herbicide-resistant pigweed’s choking crops throughout the South
MRSA and VRE survive antibiotics when they’re doused
New viruses from people and animals too closely housed
More lie in places we send trucks and plows on our watch
Yours and mine – our watch
There’s still a leak at Fukushima from reactor #4
And 25 years later oil from the Valdez found on shore
The Elk River spill proved some chemicals are badly stored
How many of these must we all pay for on our watch?
Yours and mine – our watch
Arctic methane freed from melting ice is serious bad news
As acidifying oceans kill corals, more than a few
Sea level rise could mean some island nations get removed
Yet we crank out more CH4 and CO2 on our watch
Yours and mine – our watch
Though up-front costs of changing course may seem tall
They’re dwarfed by those to come the longer that we stall
Will we wash our hands like Pilate and deny clear evidence?
For handing down the Earth like this there’s no moral defense
Nor excuses we need leaders with real courage and good sense
To look past the politics and represent on our watch
Yours and mine – our watch
What to do? How about all we can with what we have to find
Real solutions with our creative energies combined?
I’m scared but still believe we share the strength inside
To step up and look this in the eye on our watch, our watch
Citizen activation
Like mass demonstration
Carbon price creation
Divestment application
Waste minimization
Resource conservation
Resilient system operation
Like local cultivation
Reduced wealth concentration
A woman’s say in procreation
Big picture consideration
For all life: veneration
System interrelation
Green innovation
Peace propagation
Mass participation
And transformation
In this generation!
This hopeful movement fueled by love and anger at life’s wane
Seeking to realize more than exclusive short-term gain
Must prevail, though just in the fight there’s much to attain
Playing full-out helping others do the same on our watch, yeah our watch
Hey! It’s our watch
What Are We Mad Of?
Idea: to increase awareness of what we’re eating and how it makes us feel, look, and function
So what (what) Say what (what) what are we made of?
Funny thing (ha ha ha hm) about digestion
Food gets broken down and then turns into fuel
Parts become us: bones, arteries, and eyes
And the rest moves on through, that’s the rule
We all benefit from high-performance hamstrings
A sharp mind and strong jugular
So it makes sense that we might care about what we consume
To build, to burn, and stay regular
We’re made from building blocks of protein
Fat, carbs, minerals, and no, that’s not all
Vitamins and stuff we’re just learning about
Found in the foods we ate while we evolved
Most of us try to eat to get some balance
From foods that help us function, while tasting nice
On the face it seems like straightforward stuff
But what I’ve learned’s got me thinking twice
So what (what) are we made of?
What have we had to eat?
It effects the way we think, feel, or sprout
So what (what) are we made of?
Fed well we’re tough to beat
It helps to know our food throughout
And there’s no doubt
Sometimes we get a lot more than we had in mind
Making lunch or choosing a restaurant option
Toxins that can do us harm by causing cancers
Or others that can disrupt hormones and reproduction
Plus lots of corn and soy has recently been altered
With foreign genes to have or use pesticides
No one’s quite sure what they’ll impact in the end
But they’re in huh a ton of foods, and that’s no lie
Some whacked ingredients are listed on the label
Others times you have to look online, maybe read some research papers…
Making food in secret – shhh!
Doesn’t do much good me or the neighbors
So what (what) are we made of?
What have we had to eat?
It effects the way we think, feel, or sprout
So what (what) are we made of?
Fed well we’re tough to beat
Experiments: who’s finding out?
It’s tough without
So I prefer getting food from locals or my garden
Much easier to know what’s in it, and thus, me
And I cook a lot and choose helpful restaurants
When I eat it’s good to know just what’s in that recipe
If you are hearing this with ears made from corn
And crazy stuff snuck in the food and drinks your having
Know that there are other ways to go about it
Ideas to find and make food perhaps worth grabbing
So what (what) are we made of?
What have we had to eat?
It effects the way we think, feel, or sprout
So what (what) are we made of?
Fed well we’re tough to beat
What we put in has got to count
For others, too
So what (what) are we made of?
What have we had to eat?
With different fuel, we change the route
So what (what) are we made of?
Fed well we’re tough to beat
Let’s choose for good, inside and out
It’s on, no doubt
Alright song’s almost over. When it is, maybe we’ll make a snack: cut up some veggies, bust out some nut butters, maybe do ants on a log. That’s the kind of processed food we’re into – the kind that mainly gets processed in our digestive tracts. Oh yeah.
Calling All Heroes
Idea: to reinforce the call to action (conduct a personal health experiment and create a service learning project, or else contribute to an ongoing project)
Time now to build this community
And the significance of our stand
To honor the work done for you and me
And from it learn, shift, and expand
There are many paths for contributing
When others’ fulfillment is linked with ours, yeah
Winning means sweet effects rippling
Shared laughs, partnerships, healing scars
Here is our call (hey)
Those who get it done – never halfway
One for all (hey)
Those improving soil where they cultivate
Big or small (hey)
Those who stand for others with no say
(Calling all) all of you heroes today
Perilous forces are all around
Many exploiting for short-term gain oh
Most come from within – we’re all breeding grounds
But once perceived a whole lot can change
These cancers take much to overcome
Like having “our kind” mean the world, yeah
Integrity, humor, a pounding drum
To answer the flags of fear, once unfurled
Here is our call (hey)
Those who live with pain yet are unfazed
One for all (hey)
Those exposing lies when we’re led astray
Big or small (hey)
Those who share their grace where there’s dismay
(Calling all) all of you heroes today
Cynics can say there’s nobody out there
coming through that door
But I say we are
Ways to give, some truly powerful
Exist in each school, job, home, or jail ah huh
Through practice to find the most suitable
The best versions of our selves can prevail
Who’ll rise to carry the relay torch?
Tapping new energy to uplift oh
By sharing this ever-rewarding course
As benefits multiply with each gift
Here is our call (hey)
Those who offer help on our worst day
One for all (hey)
Those expanding minds as they educate
Big or small (hey)
Those who’ll sacrifice for a just way
(Calling all) all of you heroes today
(Calling all) all of you heroes today
(Calling you) Calling all heroes
It’s in you, it’s in me
(Calling me) Calling all heroes
What else were we made to be?
(Calling now) Calling all heroes
Any class, creed, size or shade
(Calling us) Calling all heroes today!