Letter to America/The Green Fields of Canada – Song Download

MP3, M4A or FLAC Download, along with PDFs of lyrics and other information

After the song Grey Larsen adds a haunting Irish alto flute solo (with accompaniment) – a  slow air called “The Green Fields of Canada,” his wordless interpretation of a traditional Irish ballad of emigration.

To listen to this song and slow air click the play button below. (You may have to wait several seconds for playback to begin.)

Cindy Kallet released a recording of this song on its own (without the flute air) on her 2024 album Ride in the Light. You may listen to that remix of the song, and purchase a download, here. You may buy the album Ride in the Light here.

Cindy Kallet wrote “Letter to America” after hearing about the refugees who, in late January 2017, just a week after the presidential inauguration, were found, barefoot and freezing, crossing the northern New England and New York borders into Canada, fearing for their lives if they remained in the United States. The song imagines one refugee’s view of a country previously envisioned through the lens of the inscription on the Statue of Liberty.

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”     Emma Lazarus

The song’s style pays tribute to some Irish ballads of emigration, which speak of America as the promised land.

Cindy Kallet: guitar and voice
Grey Larsen: piano, low D tin whistles, Irish alto flute, harmonium and voice

A lead sheet (music notation) of the song is available HERE.