wedding songs

"L'chi Lach"; Debbie Friedman

I played my first wedding in the spring of 1979. The young woman who lived east of our farm about a half of a mile asked me to accompany the vocalist. The vocalist, Dave, was six foot four inches tall. I was thirteen years old and probably five foot one. What an amusing picture that must have made.

I remember that we performed two songs. S. joined Dave and me on the first song, playing the famous flute solo on Chicago’s “Colour My World”. Then Dave sang “The Wedding Song”, also known as “There Is Love”. Paul Stookey, of Peter, Paul and Mary fame, wrote this song for the marriage ceremony of his friend Peter Yarrow, also of Peter, Paul and Mary. The Captain and Tennile recorded the version of the song that I had heard.

“The Wedding Song” was THEE wedding song for a long, long while. When I started playing for friends’ and classmates’ weddings, hardly a "Do you take this woman..." went by without this beautiful song appearing inside the ceremony folder. Originally, Stookey conceived the song from the standpoint that Christ sings the song in the guise of the singer, or troubadour:

I am now to be among you

At the calling of your hearts

Rest assured this troubadour

Is acting on My part.

However, foreseeing that many might misunderstand, get confused or declare blasphemy, he changed the point of view: The singer is now the singer:

He is now to be among you …

Is acting on his part.

When I moved to the east coast, I started playing with an ensemble that frequently performed at Jewish wedding ceremonies. Whenever Cantor M. would be involved in the ceremony, he would bring a lovely arrangement of a song called “L’chi Lach” or “And You Shall Be A Blessing”. The piano part never included the lyrics, and, as I needed to concentrate on my contribution within a larger ensemble, I never really had the opportunity to listen to the words. I assumed that “L’chi Lach” was a wedding song.

Composer Debbie Friedman drew inspiration from God’s words to Father Abraham in Genesis 12:1-2 when she wrote this song. The song doesn’t so much symbolize a marriage as it does the beginning of a journey; one where the traveler not only receives blessings, but also becomes a blessing, to his friends and to God. Sentiments as broad as this subsequently become appropriate at bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs.

Since 2007, Ms. Friedman has instructed at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s School of Sacred Music in New York, assisting in the studies of both rabbinic and cantorial students. A documentary film about her called “A Journey Of Spirit” was produced in 2004. Although she was born in Utica, NY, her family moved to Minnesota when she was five.

I played a Jewish wedding ceremony a few years ago where the groom wanted to include this song. So I dialed up my friendly, neighborhood iTunes store and downloaded the song. And now it’s on my iPod.

Credits: To Peter, Paul, and Mary. Thank you for your songs, your music, and your style. I learned “Puff The Magic Dragon” from you.