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"With this release, Tracy Wispelwey joins an elite group of musicians that includes Anais Mitchell, Ben Harper, Michael Franti, Bruce Cockburn, Ani Difranco, and Tracy Chapman: singer-songwriters who address social and spiritual issues with prophetic insight. What sets this collection apart even from that august group is the rich, sometimes-big and sometimes-frail mixture of electronica, trance, anthem, and hymn...One hopes these songs will help create a new genre."
-Brian D. McLaren, author of “A New Kind of Christianity”

“The collection is powerful in its message of peace and solidarity with the world’s poor and suffering. The Restoration Project lives up to its name as both announcing and participating in God’s reparative work in the world and drawing in the voices and stories of numerous communities and individuals Wispelwey has met in her journeys.”
-Steve Holt, writer, Sojourners Magazine & God’s Politics

The story of this project…

As I have traveled to share music and participate in other creative conspiring with friends around the world, I have also visited many different worshiping communities. My encounters left me with many questions. Do the songs we sing reflect more the music industry standards than the sounds and melodies of our own communities? Are the songs we choose reflections of the past more than the way we currently witness Spirit move? How can deep truth intersect issues we are called to engage here and now and come to the fore in the vocabulary of our songs? This project is the fruit of my own journey and struggles with these questions woven through my encounters with Spirit and transformational love in the midst of 21st century global realities.

I have written many songs, but my questions centered around songs that could be sung in community, a genre I admittedly have not ventured into with a few exceptions. In the spring of 2009 I did an artist in residence with New York Faith and Justice and then spent a summer with the people of Amahoro-Africa. Both of these experiences led me to think about songs that could be sung while people are walking… whether it be in the streets with my friends at NYFJ engaging in non-violent direct action, or the refugee and internally displaced communities I encountered in Africa that were forced to walk in the wake of violence and injustice.

Then I landed at Harvard Divinity School. My first semester I took a course on theologies of reconciliation and given my experience and questions, I was encouraged to explore the spirituality of peacemaking in light of singing. It was there that the melodies and words of these songs began to take shape. I focused on the beatitudes as a scripture capable of cultivating communities of peacemakers. The songs solidified between my own voice and my love for world music, the chanting of Taize and the cry of gospel spirituals. The songs and melodies were further refined as I sang them with communities over the next year and finally had a collection of songs to share.

In production I desired to pull the unique sounds, instruments and melodies that also inspire me as I travel, into the collaborative space of electroacoustic composition. I invited friend and communities to contribute parts and live recordings that could be woven into the final project. For those who listen, I hope you enjoy. For those who sing, sing loud and often!

The structure of this project…

Why the beatitudes? The beatitudes are a gift to us, a kind of guide for engaging every manner of injustice and suffering in the world as Jesus did, bearing the seeds of this transformational love. Furthermore, in the beatitudes we find Jesus calling out the purposes of the community together. It is not “blessed are you,” the individual, it is “blessed are you all” together. Each one can be proclaimed as much as it can be prayed and invoke the work of the Spirit and transformational love.

My translation of the beatitudes as well as my interpretation of them through the songs has been deeply thought about and intentionally crafted. Still, it is just a single offering born out of their treasure. Two things might be noticed immediately in my translation. 1) “The kingdom of God” has been replaced with “the dreams of God,” a phrase I picked up from Desmond Tutu in his writing on love and forgiveness. 2) “Meek” has been translated as “nonviolence.” Just as Biblical peace, or Shalom, is much more than the absence of violence, “meekness” is not a narrowly defined passivity or quietness. It is an intentionality that withdraws from self-serving power agendas, choosing patient and nonviolent means. To make nonviolent choices concerning our consumerism, food, transportation, etc. takes a tremendous amount of creativity, perseverance, faithfulness and hope.

These songs are built on short melodies that can be sung over and over again, in a home, as part of a worship gathering, while you are marching or walking. I have created quasi-lead sheets and guitar tablature to help bring the songs to life in their simple melodies outside of the album production. In addition to these beatitude songs, there are an additional six songs that carry the stories of people and communities I have been blessed to know, and whose courage and faith drive me to continue writing and singing.


Blessed are the poor and poor in spirit,
for theirs are the dreams of God.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the nonviolent,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of doing justice work,
for theirs are the dreams of God.
-Matthew 5:3-10, Luke 6:20-22