Amy McQuaid-England’s film “The Garden” is a look at how sustainable communities can grow using local resources. For the soundtrack McQuaid-England also sought out a local resource, the creative talents of singer/songwriter, visual artist and a former councillor April Ann McGinnis. "The Garden" will be shown as part of Film Friday at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery Oct 7, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. There will be repeat showings throughout the evening.
McGinnis, now residing in Kingston, says she wrote the song after seeing some early footage of “The Garden.”
“Having been involved in a lot of community engagement initiatives as well as poverty reduction and making the public more aware of the issues of poverty, precarious employment, insecure food and housing, I felt I could add some value with an original song. Watching her original footage brought tears to my eyes and I was strongly compelled to write something musically and lyrically for it,” she says.
McGinnis says a community garden’s gift is empowerment. Families work together, neighbours work together, trust and caring between people grows and a meaningful self-reliant community emerges from the toil.
“To me, this film plus the musical story, and the real life story of a family who benefits from the garden while struggling otherwise, is a tremendously powerful way to spread an important message,” she says. “That message includes dignity and respect for all, no matter their station in life, it is a message of hope - for our children and our ability to thrive and survive.”
LYRICS
Chorus:
We'll go to the garden and we'll plant some seeds
Seeds of tomorrow And we'll grow that we need
To raise our children so proud and strong
Cause we know at the garden everyone belongs
Verse one
Every morning we leave our homes
Return tired every night
Work our fingers to the bone
Try hard to do what's right
But the world can be a lonely place
It's getting harder to survive
So we go the garden
Where everything's alive
Verse two
As I pull the covers over you
Tuck you safely in
Kiss your forehead tenderly
I hope for tomorrow
But our hopes are growing dim
So we go to the garden
Soak in the sun
Plant some seeds for tomorrow
A new day has begun