Holly Near is a unique combination of entertainer, teacher and activist. An immense vocal talent, Near's career as a singer has been profoundly defined by an unwillingness to separate her passion for music from her passion for human dignity. She is a skilled performer and an outspoken ambassador for peace who brings to the stage an integration of world consciousness, spiritual discovery, and theatricality.
Holly was born to parents from the states of North Dakota and New York. They were political activists, ranchers, and supporters of culture in the rural community of Ukiah, California. Although Holly sang publicly from the time she was eight years old, her professional career began in her early twenties when she worked as an actress in film and television. She also appeared in Hair on Broadway. Eventually music returned to become her major focus, especially that music which articulated the social conditions of the world community.
In 1971, when she was 22 years old, Holly joined Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, and other artists in the Free The Army Tour, singing to soldiers who were resisting war and racism from within the military. Near started writing and singing political songs. Following in the footsteps of such writers as Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Beverly Grant, and Hazel Dickens, she added newly discovered feminist perspective to anti-war songs and developed a unique and recognizable style.
Near was probably the first woman artist to start an independent record company when in 1972 she founded Redwood Records which became a major force in alternative music for nearly 20 years. Near's vision for Redwood was to promote and produce music by politically conscious artists from around the world, a mission fulfilled for almost two decades.
Finding herself at the forefront of a growing feminist movement, Near worked for world peace and multi-cultural consciousness. The world was her university and social change movements informed her songs. She sang the secrets long before such ideas found space in the major media. Near helped support the work of artists from Nicaragua, Chile, Australia, Canada, England, Argentina, Cuba, Uruguay, Vietnam, El Salvador, Mexico, and the United States. She was outspoken on such issues as gay and lesbian rights, a woman's right to choose, stopping domestic violence, and opposing nuclear war.
Holly has traveled from the fields of central California singing in support of The United Farm Workers to El Salvador where she sang for peace amidst war and conflict. Her songs were sung clandestinely in Latin American prisons and sung boldly by Irish and English women who joined together to protest war. Whether in support of nurses striking for better conditions in the emergency room or in opposition to racist violence on the police force, Holly sings a bold truth.
A peace activist and advocate for human and civil rights, Holly has linked the multitude of issues that are our lives, refusing the idea of separate "causes." When asked how she keeps her energy for this work, she smiles: "I am selfish. I reach for the world I want to live in. And I believe in leaving our best efforts as a gift to our children."
Amidst all her work for peace and human rights, Holly is a consummate singer and entertainer. When she sings show tunes or songs from the 30s, her audience knows that Ms. Near could have chosen to be a Broadway musical star or a cabaret artist. And yet, these great songs come through Holly's unique world experience and we hear them as if for the first time. Out of this gentle, vibrant woman comes a huge voice, a unique sense of humor, an unexpected theatricality and a startling power. The moment she feels trapped in a genre, she breaks into a song that challenges the boxes and stereotypes.
In an interest to document social change music, Near's papers are archived with the Schlesinger Library at Radcliff. Near teaches performance craft and song writing. She has been a cultural leader for over 35 years and now shares her experience in creative and challenging master classes. Holly reminds both students and audience alike about the importance of their lives, and whenever they are with her, they feel a sense of being welcomed home.
Both as a participant and a leader, she bears personal witness to the hugely important role that music plays in political action movements. Throughout her lengthy career, Ms. Near has used her performances to educate, challenge, and inspire. The unifying and healing quality of her work explains the diverse nature of the groups who call on her to speak and sing.
She presented the 2004 Ware Lecture for the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly in Long Beach, California; delivered the keynote address for Women Change America, a conference presented by the National Women's History Project at Smith College; spoke to participants at HerbFest in Iowa and the Bioneers Conference in California; and led a Martin Luther King Day celebration in Northern California. She participated and performed at the March For Women's Lives in Washington, DC and at the Stop The War demonstration in New York, NY before the US invasion into Iraq.
In 2004, Holly joined Eve Ensler for a march in Juarez, Mexico to protest the uninvestigated killing of hundreds of young women. In Toledo, Ohio, she sat witness to the testimony of women reporting rape and other violence against women. Holly helped raise funds for 10,000 Kites, a collaborative anti-war project between young people from Israel and Palestine who in spring of 2005, flew kites over the wall that separated them.
Last year, Holly joined thousands of protesters in Columbus, Georgia to demand that the infamous School of the Americas be closed down. She will attend again this year. Dictators and military police are trained at this school in skills that are used to destroy growing democracies, skills which include repression and torture.
Near's portrait hangs at The Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio along with those of other social change artists including Paul Robeson, Marion Anderson, Pete Seeger, Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte, and Woody Guthrie. She has received numerous awards for her work for social change, including honors from the ACLU, the National Lawyers Guild, the National Organization for Women, NARAS, Ms. Magazine (Woman of the Year), and the Legends of Women's Music Award. Most recently, she was one of 1000 PeaceWomen nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005.
Holly is not resting on her laurels, but continues to write and sing political songs with grace and humor. Holly Near's integrity earns her the reputation as one of the most articulate political artists of our time. Her newest CD, Show Up, proves that she continues to sing with a power and maturity that may only come from decades of love and fear, despair and inspiration.
Think About Your Troubles
Holly Near Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Think about your troubles
Pour yourself a cup of tea
Then think about the bubbles
You can take your teardrops
And drop 'em in a teacup
Take 'em down to the riverside
To be swept up by a current
Then taken to the ocean
To be eaten by some fishes
Who were eaten by some fishes
And swallowed by a whale
Who grew so old he decomposed
He died and left his body
To the bottom of the ocean
Now everybody knows
That when a body decomposes
The basic elements
Are given back to the ocean
And the sea does what it oughta
And soon there's salty water
Which is not to good for drinkin'
Cause it tastes just like a teardrop
So we run it through a filter
And it comes out from a faucet
Where it pours into a teapot
Which is just about to bubble
Now think about your troubles
In this song, Holly Near urges the listener to take a moment to put their troubles into perspective. She suggests sitting down at the breakfast table, pouring a cup of tea, and watching the bubbles rise to the surface. She then advises taking the metaphorical teardrops, putting them in a teacup, and throwing them into the river. The current carries the teardrops to the ocean, where they are consumed by fish, who are in turn consumed by a whale that eventually decomposes and returns its basic elements back to the ocean. The cycle of life and death is a reminder that troubles are fleeting and temporary.
The lyrics encourage listeners to let go of their worries and focus on the bigger picture. They acknowledge the pain and hardship that people experience but suggest that, in the grand scheme of things, they are just drops in the ocean. The imagery used by Near is both emotional and physical, drawing a comparison between teardrops and the saltiness of the ocean. The final verse brings the listener full circle, returning to the image of a teapot on the boil, signalling the end of the tumultuous journey.
Line by Line Meaning
Sit beside the breakfast table
Settle down beside the table where you eat your breakfast
Think about your troubles
Contemplate upon the issues you are currently facing in your life
Pour yourself a cup of tea
Pour yourself some tea in a cup
Then think about the bubbles
Focus on the bubbles that arise while pouring the tea
You can take your teardrops
Your tears can be collected
And drop 'em in a teacup
Empty them in a cup for retaining
Take 'em down to the riverside
Transport them to the bank of a river
And throw 'em over the side
Throw them over the edge into the river
To be swept up by a current
They would be carried away by the river's flow
Then taken to the ocean
Transported to the ocean by the river
To be eaten by some fishes
Eaten by fish living in the ocean
Who were eaten by some fishes
Those fish were eaten by other fish
And swallowed by a whale
The fish ends up getting swallowed by a whale
Who grew so old he decomposed
The whale dies of old age one day and decomposes
He died and left his body
The whale dies and the only thing left behind is its body
To the bottom of the ocean
The whale's remains sink to the ocean floor
Now everybody knows
It is common knowledge
That when a body decomposes
When any deceased animal's body degrades
The basic elements
The fundamental components are released
Are given back to the ocean
Released components return to the ocean
And the sea does what it oughta
The ocean's natural cycle takes over
And soon there's salty water
The water results in high-levels of salt content
Which is not too good for drinkin'
It's unfit for consumption
Cause it tastes just like a teardrop
It brings to mind an association with a person's sorrowful tears
So we run it through a filter
Therefore, the water is subjected to filtration
And it comes out from a faucet
Filtered water is finally available for usage in households
Where it pours into a teapot
The water finds its way into a teapot
Which is just about to bubble
It's heated for boiling or simmering
Now think about your troubles
Having taken one through the journey of water filtration and evaporation, the singer encourages the listener to revisit their troubles with new clarity and perspective
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HARRY NILSSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind