Over the past few years, Marina has been volunteering at Pathways for Children, a local non-profit organization providing care, support, and services to children & families in need. Visiting a few times per week, Marina has worked with the kids at Pathways in music & movement classes. “I was very fortunate growing up to have lots of exposure to music, starting at a young age,” she says, “and I wanted to give these kids a chance to have that special kind of creativity and freedom of expression that comes with music and dance.”
Marina is honored to have been invited to speak and perform at Pathways’ annual Volunteer & Donor Appreciation event, held this year in Gloucester, MA. “When they asked me to perform, I thought, what better song to express the unique strength & character of the hardworking, dedicated people who built this organization, than my own love song to Cape Ann? Music and community, a sense of place and a sense of meaning, are all closely tied — and this song expresses that better than any words could (I hope!).”
Click below & watch Marina’s live performance of her original piece “Cape Ann Song.” Lyrics are posted below. Many thanks to Gloucester’s illustrious Mayor Sefatia for the video!
Cape Ann Song, by Marina Evans
In a little town at the end of the earth
Full of scent and sound of the water
Hangs a history, deep and oh so long
Wild as the sea and pretty as her songs
This is more than an island
More than sea and shore, more than tide and wind
The harbor birds are crying, swooping low and fast
O’er fishermen arriving, hulls heavy with their catch
From a granite ledge with panoramic view
The painter tilts his head to glimpse that golden blue
From salty saloons to the riverside
Poets sway and singers swoon, drunk on love of light
This is more than an island
More than sea and shore, more than tide and wind
You see it in silver scales shining in the sun
In spindrift and great white sails
Mysteries and tall tales…
Generations, living and breathing the ocean, the ocean
Four hundred years of devotion, devotion
Oh a legacy that can’t be sold
Oh and we — we can’t let go
Now it’s in our hands, in our hearts and minds
To live and love this land
By the sea defined
By the sea defined