Gloomy Sunday - Tribute to Abbey Lincoln

Abbey Lincoln
© Verve Records // Photo credit: Adger W. Cowans
















“I write when I'm inspired,” she explains. “I don't just sit around waiting to write-or sing or paint for that matter. I wait.
If I hear something, I'll write it down or commit it to memory one way or another.”
Abbey Lincoln (Source: James Nadal)






Clip from the film ABBEY LINCOLN: The Music Is The Magic directed by Carol Friedman

Down Here Below

Down here below...
The winds of change are blowing
Through the weary night.
I prayed my soul will find me
Shining in the morning light,
Down here below.
Down here below,
It's not so easy
Just to be.
Sometimes I'm really all at sea.
You made me when the world was new
And skies were blue...
And I'm here because there's you.
They say I'll never see your face
And we're out there from your grace,
The one you fashioned with your hand,
And scattered all across the land,
But I am happy just to know
That you must go
Where I must go
For there are winds and scars to show
Livin' here down here below...
Down here below,
The setting sun is shining
On the melancholy mood.
I hear the distant thunder
And the crying of the blue
Down where below

I'm yours alone
The only one to call my own
The only one I've ever known
Sometimes I see you
Standing there
Sometimes I'm freer.
And you are here,
Down here with me,
You made me just the way a hear,
Or less feeling, eyes to see
A strange embrace, a simple hand,
A spirit free that says: "I can",
And I'm happy just to know
That you will go
Where I must go,
For you send me this I know
Living here, down here below,
Living here, down here below,
Living here, down here below.

Abbey Lincoln



"Blues for Mama" is a song written by Abbey Lincoln






Throw It Away

I think about the life I live
A figure made of clay
And think about the things I lost
The things I gave away

And when I'm in a certain mood
I search the house and look
One night I found these magic words
In a magic book

Throw it away
Throw it away
Give your love, live your life
Each and every day

And keep your hand wide open
Let the sun shine through
'Cause you can never lose a thing
If it belongs to you

There's a hand to rock the cradle
And a hand to help us stand
With a gentle kind of motion
As it moves across the land

And the hand's unclenched and open
Gifts of life and love it brings
So keep your hand wide open
If you're needing anything

Throw it away
Throw it away
Give your love, live your life
Each and every day

And keep your hand wide open
Let the sun shine through
'Cause you can never lose a thing
If it belongs to you

Throw it away
Throw it away
Give your love, live your life
Each and every day

And keep your hand wide open
Let the sun shine through
'Cause you can never lose a thing
If it belongs to you

'Cause you can never lose a thing
If it belongs to you
You can never ever lose a thing
If it belongs to you

You can never ever lose a thing
If it belongs to you
You can never ever lose a thing
If it belongs to you

Abbey Lincoln