Why An Alternative Rainbow Songbook?'God is a comedian, playing to an audience too afraid to laugh' (Voltaire)

'The earth laughs in flowers' (Emerson)

When I first came to the Rainbow I felt like an outsider. I didn't have dreadlocks, I didn't know the words to the bhajans, I only vaguely considered myself a hippy and, although I could sense the joy and love that was pouring through the atmosphere, I felt locked out.

I just didn't know how to connect to people who believed that they had been King Arthur in a previous lifetime or that when flies buzzed around us they were secretly repairing the holes in our auras. I saw the Rainbow like one big hippy refugee camp and didn't come again for years.

When I eventually returned my heart was a bit more open and the Rainbow seemed to me like a 24 hour comedy show. Instead of judging and withdrawing from what I saw, I channeled my perspectives into these songs and had a lot of fun laughing at the Emperor's New Clothes.

I half-expected to have leftover polenta thrown at me for some of the verses I sang but instead people started giggling as the words struck a nerve. Others felt the same way as me but had kept their doubts to themselves and our laughter brought us closer together.

Even more rewarding was that I finally felt like I belonged to the Rainbow. It;s often said that 'every colour of the Rainbow is welcome' in the Gatherings and I felt I had last discovered mine. I could laugh at and with the Rainbow and still be part of it.

The occasional Rainbow Fundamentalist considered the gatherings to be too sacred for humour – one Austrian sister even burned a copy on the fire. But if the jokes didn't touch a nerve here or there they wouldn't be doing their job.

As one anthropologist wrote:

"Many native traditions held clowns and tricksters as essential to any contact with the sacred. People could not pray until they had laughed, because laughter opens and frees from rigid preconception. Humans had to have tricksters within the most sacred ceremonies for fear that they forget the sacred comes through upset, reversal, surprise. The trickster in most native traditions is essential to creation, to birth."

Spirituality ends the moment we start taking ourselves too seriously.

Tommy 2010

tom@tomthumb.org

A Few of the Trickier Chords

Please feel free to change, distort, interpret, rewrite and do anything else funky and creative with the songs in this book. Many of them are based on melodies of other songs which should make them easier to pick up but if you're still in doubt some of them can be heard on www.tomthumb.org

Song Index

1. Hippy Rehab – forget Prozac, just head to the nearest Rainbow for all the free hugs you could ever need.

2. Let's Go to Babylon – when the freaks are freaking you out and you need the urban antidote to crystal fever.

3. Mexican Medicine – a homage to the Peyote spirit, based on an old Madonna tune.

4. The Beneficio Song – there's no rent in a tipi...

5. Rainbow Loving – Grease meets the Rainbow love fest. Tell me more, tell me more...

6. You Can't Always Get What You Want – but if you try sometimes...

7. Rainbow Rock – would Elvis have come to a Rainbow?

8. Be a Colour in My Rainbow – our lives are lit by the light of those we love.

9. I Love All of Me – turning around the depressing old jazz song and making amigos of our egos.

10. Alternative Magic Hat Song – it's holy but it aint got no holes

11. Om Namah Shivaye, Life Goes Om – a Beatles rip-off on making a family within the Rainbow family.

12. There She Was in the Main Tipi - singing hari, hari, om

13. Come Together - I and I means you and me.

14. The Rainbow Family - they're friendly and they're freaky.

15. I Believe in Magic - it can happen to you, too.

16. Everyone's Happy Inside - they just don't know it yet.

17. It's Time to Play the Music - (Muppets theme song)

18. You've Got to Believe in Shiva - coz he's the only cool god.

And some spare pages for your Rainbow songs...

Hippy Rehab(ilitation)

A E9 E13

When you’re feeling negativeA E9 E13And you’ve run out of reasons to live,A A7 D DmWhen your heart is blocked and your feelings are locked,A E7 AGet down to some hippy rehab

When your head is full of fears,And you're living neither now nor here,When you’re tearing out your hair and you’ve forgot how to share,Get down to some hippy rehab.

E7 AOh, you’ll get bitten by bugs, You’ll get kisses and hugs,

D9 E9Walk everywhere barefeet and say Ommmmmm before you eat

E7 A

Oh, you can grow your dreads, do your birth chart,

D9 E9

Then go make your bed, out under the stars,

So grab your guitar,And a bag full of marijuana,And go with the flow down to the rainbowAnd get some hippy rebab (that’s rehabilitation!),And get some hippy rehab.

Let's Go to Babylon

Am The Rainbow is where it’s at, I don’t doubt thatE7But today I could do without,AmI’m sick of bhajans and shamans in tranceE7And all the freaks are freaking me out,G Am G AmPots of brown rice and falling head liceE7 AmDropping out and turning on,

Am E7 AmBaby, let’s go jump in the van and go to Babylon,

We could eat some meat, and watch some tvAnd drink beer in a bar,Then go to a club, dance to some dubAnd take drugs that are design-ar,I’ll act cool and I know that you’llDress up like an atomic bomb,Baby, go put your crystals away, we’re going to Babylon,

We can meditate another day,Let’s go see how the city folks live,Turn on the mobile, send some email,Plug into the Matrix,I’m sick of bug bites and candle lightand though the Rainbow is where we belong,Baby, let’s take a break for a day, and go to Babylon.

Mexican Medicine (To the tune of Madonna’s La Isla Bonita)

Dm Am DmLast night I drank some San Pedro,F C AmThe shaman made the tea, a holy ceremony,Dm Am C DmAll the way from Mexico, took me where I longed to go,C Gm DmHow I love that morning glow, te quiero San Pedro,Dm Am C DmMother Earth beneath our feet, and smoking holy leaves,C Gm DmMagic in all that we see, a Mexican medicine,

A naked crowd in the sweat lodge,Holy herbs to purify, open the door before I die,Singing bhajans in the dark, songs to open the heart,And trying hard not to fart, oh San Pedo,The next day dying of heat, while everyone makes their speech,And all I can think is when do I eat, a Mexican medicine,

F C AmOh, I want to feel like I did that night,F G GmWith the Great Spirit guiding us to the light,F C AmThe magic that is in the cactus,F G Gm DmHelps us love the life and the life to love us,

And we ate paste of peyote,Grandfather, oh abuelo, told us what we longed to know,Froze my ass off through the night, then by the morning light,We all got the feeling right, oh, Peyote!4 spoons of cold, black guck, feeling strange in the gut,And trying hard not to throw up, a Mexican medicine

Chorus

Oh, last night we drank some San Pedro….

Beneficio Song

(to the tune of the Cheers theme song)

G DLiving in the city can be quite shittyG Dwhen all you want is some fresh air,G DOr maybe you’ve been on the road for too longG DAnd you want to rest somewhere,Bm E AThere’s no rent in a tepee,C7 D7in Beneficio,

G F CWhere everyone walks with bare feet,G F CAnd they say Om before they eat,Bm CYou want to be where you can see,Bm Cpeople going with the flow,Bm C You want to go where the goodD7 G D GGanja grows,

When the reiki just aint working,Maybe you lost your touch,If you can’t remember your mantraAnd the ganja costs too much,Go where you can grow your own, In Beneficio,

Where everyone loves to get high,And you can let your freak flags fly,You want to go where people know,The words to the bhajans,You want to go where nobody,Makes plans,

So if you want to make babiesOr grow marijuana,Pregnancy and THCAre the valley’s karma,Up in the mountains of Spain, in Beneficio,

Where everyone walks with bare feet,And they say Om before they eat,You want to be where you can see,People going with the flow,You want to go, where the good ganjaGrows,

Rainbow Loving

(To the tune of Summer Loving from Greece)

C F G F G(boys) Rainbow Loving, it's a love fest,C F G F G (girls) Sisters and Brothers, it's like incest,C F G A(boys) Met a girl with her own teepee,C F G A(girls) He had dreads down to his feet,C F G Am (both) Rainbow Romance, singing bhajans F G Cand heart chakras rotating fast,

C F G F G C(boys) Tell me more, tell me more, did you make her some massage?C F G F G C(girls) Tell me more, tell me more, did he open his heart?C F G F G(both) Hari om, hari om, hari om, hari hari,C F G AHari om, hari om, hari ommmmmm

(boys) She showed me how to control my mind,(girls) He told me my mayan sign,(boys) She said the answers were deep inside myself,(girls) Said he'd love me 'til 2012,(both) Rainbow Love, naked in the sun,surrounded by the family,

(girls) Tell me more, tell me more, did he have lice in his dreads?

(boys) Tell me more, tell me more, did she have hair on her legs?(both) Hari om, hari om, hari om, hari hari,Hari om, hari om, hari ommmmmm

(boys) Things got steamy down by the sweat lodge,(girls) I said 'no sex' 'til he had a wash,(boys) She was a goddess, yeah she was in tune,(girls) My period came with the full moon,(both) Rainbow Sex, chakras connectand nowhere to buy condoms,

(boys) Tell me more, tell me more, did she know some tantra?(girls) Tell me more, tell me more, did you make love under the stars?(both) Hari om, hari om, hari om, hari hari,Hari om, hari om, hari ommmmmm (Am and slow, sad)

(boys) No attachment, I had to meditate,(girls) The I ching told me we had to separate,(boys) We parted with gifts of flowers.(girls) Our farewell hug lasted an hour,(both) Rainbow Love, better than drugs, F G COur hearts one in the fa-m-i-ly,F G CThis is Sacred,

You Can't Always Get What You Want(slow)C FWell, I went down to the food circle,C FBegging bowl in my hand,C FI saw they where serving polenta,C FI said oh no, not again, man,

C FBut you can't always get what you want,C FNo, you can't always get what you want,C FSay, you can't always get what you want,DBut if you try sometimes,FYou just might find, C F CYou get what you need, yeah, you get what you need,

(Faster)

I saw her today by the main teepee,She had flowers braided in her hair,She was practiced at the art of reiki,Well, I could tell by her aura, yeah,

I said let's go down to the river,You know, we could get naked and swim,But along came this real cool fire dancer,and she went away to swim with him,

Chorus

(slow again)

I went down to see the shaman,Said, oh shaman, make my wishes come true,He said, oh but it's all written in the stars, man,not much is really up to you,I said don't give me none of that bullshit,see, I create my reality,But the shaman he just started laughing,Lit his pipe and handed it to me, and he said,

Chorus

Rainbow Rock(to the tune of Jailhouse Rock)

F# GCome on, daddy, don't you be square,F# GIf you want to be a hippy, better grow your hair,F# GGet a piercing or a tattoo,F# G G7But it's what you got inside that makes you cool,

C7 G G7Let's rock, everybody let's rock,D7 C7Whether you're a hippie or not, GCome dancing to the Rainbow Rock,

Now I'm not a Hindu, you understand,But I got nothing against no bhajan,Singing mantras puts you into trance,but it's not what you want when you want to dance,

Let's rock, everybody let's rock,Whether you're a Hindu or not,Come dancing to the Rainbow Rock,

G G7Yeah dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing to the Rainbow Rock,C7 G G7Dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing to the Rainbow Rock,D7 C7 GDance until you drop, yes, dancing to that Rainbow Rock,

Now if you believe in demons or angels with wings,well, hippies will believe just about anything,Leave your soap at home, oh my, oh gosh,In the Rainbow no one needs to wash,

Let's rock, everybody let's rock,Whether you wash or not, come on and dance to the Rainbow Rock

Be a Colour In My Rainbow

F Fmaj7You could be my colour of blue,F Fmaj7like the sea I dive into you,C C6 C C6 C C6Be a colour, be a colour, be a colour in my rainbow,You could be my colour of red,like the blood rushing to my head,Be a colour, be a colour, be a colour in my rainbow,

F F6 CMy life is lit by the light of the ones that I love,C C6 C C6 C C6do-do-do-doo, do-do-do-doo, do-doo-do-doo-doF F6 CMy life is lit by the light of the ones that I love,C C6 C C6 C C6do-do-do-doo, do-do-do-doo, do-doo-do-doo-do

You could be my colour of brown,sentimental autumn leaves falling down,Be a colour, be a colour, be a colour in my rainbow,You could be my colour of pink,kiss all night 'til our lips synch,Be a colour, be a colour, be a colour in my rainbow,

chorus

You could be my colour of green,making love in spring time fields,Be a colour, be a colour, be a colour in my rainbow, You could be my colour of yellow,sunlight making me soft and mellow,Be a colour, be a colour, be a colour in my rainbow,

All of Me(upbeat jazz)

G B7All of me, I love all of me,Em E7 C AmThough I'm proof that no one is perfect,B7 Em E7My teeth are yellow, I've got dandruff,Am D7But when I look in the mirror, I look with love,G B7Say, my ego, is my amigo,Em E7 CIf I didn't love me how could I ever love you?Cm Bm7 E7I do my best to grow and progressAm D7 Gand that's why I love all of me,

All of you, I love all of you,Even the bits I'm not so crazy about,If I've got a problem with someone else,That's a problem I've got with myself,All of you, I love all of you,Because in your eyes I see my reflection,We're just two parts of the same heart,And that's why I love all of you,

All of me, I love all of me,Though sometimes I'm hard to live with,I'm a nightmare first thing in the morning,I've got my demons, I give you fair warning,

All of you, I love all of you,Because in your eyes I see my reflection,We're just two parts of the same heart,That's why I love all of you.

Alternative Magic Hat Song

(played fast with a quick change on the G to the A and a funky feel)

E G A Magic people, E G AHow about that?E G APut your magic money in the E G Amagic hat,A7 The magic hat is holy A7but it aint got no holes,B7 C7 B7Puts magic food in your magic bowls,

Magic moments, Magic meals,We all know how good the magic feels,The magic don't just grow on trees,The magic comes from you and me,

Om Namah Shivaya

(Based on Oh blah di, oh blah dah)

E B7Shanti met Maya by the main tipi, EMaya she was singing bhajans, AShanti says to Maya I like the way you sing E B7 EAnd Maya says this as she takes him by the hand,

E B7 Cm#7Om namah shivaya, life goes Om, hey!E B7 ELalalalalalala, life goes Om,E B7 Cm#7Om namah shivaya, life goes Om, hey!E B7 ELalalalalalala, life goes Om!

Shanti married Maya after magic hat,the family gathered around,the light of the rainbow in their eyesand everywhere you could hear the sound:

chorus

In a couple of years they build their own tipi,

Do the festivals in a volkswagen van,

and make their own rainbow family...

Shanti plays guitar for the magic hat,Maya lets the children lend a hand,All day long Shanti digs big shit pitsand in the evening Maya still sings her bhajans,

Oh namah Shivaya, life goes Om, hey,lalalalalala, life goes Om,Oh namah Shivaya, life goes Om, hey,lalalalalala, life goes Om... and if you want some love, hahahaha,sing Om namah Shivaya, hey!

There She Was..

C F CThere she was, sitting in the main tipi,C F Csinging hari, hari, hari om, hari om,C F CFlowers in her hair and bells on her feet,C F Csinging hari, hari, hari om, hari om,C G C GShe looked good, she looked fine,C G C GShe looked good, she looked fine C G C G7And I nearly lost my mind,

C AmOh, oh, ooooh, I knew I was falling in love,F G G7Oh, oh, ooooh, I knew she was the one I'd been dreaming of!

Before I knew it she was sitting next to me,singing hari, hari, hari om, hari om,Singing softly and massaging my feet,singing, hari, hari, hari om, hari om,We went, to my tent,We went to my tent,She showed me what making love meant...

Oh, oh, ooooh, I knew we were falling in love,Oh, oh, ooooh, this is what we'd been dreaming of,

Now we're together almost every single day,singing hari, hari, hari om, hari om,We sing and we pray and we meditate,singing hari, hari, hari om, hari om,I'm her god, she's my goddess,I'm her god, she's my goddess,Every day in love is a day blessed,

Oh, oh, ooooh, we are so in love,Oh, oh, ooooh, and we're living the life we've been dreaming of,

singing hari, hari, hari om, hari om.

Come Together(Yes, another Beatles rip off)

DmCheck your email, get the map and directions,

Grab your guitar, hitchhike 500 miles,A7In the rainbow you're never alone, G7 DmYou know you've got there when you hear 'welcome home',DmHey little brother, we're of the same blood, yeah,

Hey little sister, oh how I've missed ya,A7I and I means you and me, G7One thing I can tell you is you've got to be free, F G A Dmcome together, right now, family,

Get water for the kitchen, get wood for the fire,better relax 'cos nothing's under control,go with the flow, no need to fear it,all is in the hands of the Great Spirit,Put the colour of the rainbow, all together,and you get one bright,shining light,The rainbow's a tribe, you can belong if you like,Babylon's nothing but a state of mind,So come together, right now, family,Yes, come together, right now, family

The Rainbow Family(to the tune of The Addams Family)

E AThey're happy and they're hippy, B7 ESome are a little dippy,E ASometimes it gets quite trippy B7 Ewith the Rainbow Family,

They're friendly and they're freaky,They like to live in tipis,Even if a little leaky,The Rainbow Family,

EFreaks,AHippies,B7 ELove and Peace,

So if you're on your own,Come and be welcome home,You'll never be alonewith the Rainbow Family!

I Believe in Magic

E (with a riff on E6)If you don't know where you life is going,

See which way your river's flowing,F#7If there's one thing I know it's this,B7You've got to follow your bliss, EWherever it goes,

Cm#7 A You see, I believe in magic,Fm#7 B7It can happen to you,Cm#7 AThough I don't understand it,Fm#7 B7 Fm#7 B7It happens to be true, (it can happen to you)

If you're looking for truth,You'll still be looking when you're 72,The secret is there's nothing to do,truth is busy looking for you,Didn't you know?

So if you want to live in bliss,learn to love life as it is,don't worry about the where and how,live life in the here and nowand you'll be fine,

If you've lacking love you'll stay poor,If you've got enough then you'll get more,Time waits for no man or god,If you want pure love... marry a dog...

Everyone's Happy Inside

C FEveryone's happy inside, C FThey just don't know it yet,C FEveryone's in love with life, C FIt's the best kept secret,C FWe are made of the C Fstuff of the stars,C FWe dance our lives to the C Fbeat of our hearts,G F C FWe dance 'til we die and we're born againG F C FWe dance 'til we die and we're born again, lalalalala

It's Time to Play the Music(to the tune of the Muppets theme song)

C Ebdim GIt's time to play the music,C Ebdim G7It's time to dance by moonlight,C C/Bb F/A G#Light the fire, get inspiredC G7 CAt the rainbow tonight,

It's time to make some magic,It's time to let our spirits shine,Here together now and foreverat the Rainbow tonight,C/G F#m Fma7 F/EAt the inspirational, sensational, celebrational, Rainbowational,Dm7 G13 CThis is what we call the Rainbow!

F CI wonder why angels are so flightyF C7while we're left on the ground,F CIt's coz they take themselves so lightlyF G7and don't bring anyone down!

You've Got to Believe in Shiva

C AmOh you've got to face the facts,F GEven if they're odd,C B Am GYou've got to believe in ShivaF G CBecause he's the only cool god.

F G C AmHow many gods have dreadlocks?F G C C7Or skin that's moonlight blue?F G C AmAnd Kali, well she's hardly the kind of womanF Gmost gods could wake up next to...

Chorus

How many gods dance destruction?With cobras wrapped around their necks?How many gods stay stonedfor thousands of years at a stretch?

William Blake Song

A9 Dmaj7To see a world in a grain of sand,A9 Dmaj7And a heaven in a wild flower,A9 Dmaj7To hold Infinity in the palm of the handEmaj7 Amaj7and Eternity in an hour,

William Blake, weary of Time,Like a sunflower, counting the steps of the sun,Ever seeking that sweet, golden clime,Where the traveler's journey is done,

A9 Em9Rose, thou art sick,A9 Em9 The invisible worm that flies through the night sky A9has found your bed of crimson joy, Em9 A9And with his dark, secret love, Em9 with his dark secret love,G D D7Does you life destroy,

A9 Every morn and every night,Dmaj7some are born to sweet delight,

A9Every night and every mornEm9 A9Some are to darkness born,A9 Some are born to sweet delight, Em9 G D D7Others are born to endless night,

A9Hold onto a joy Em9and the winged life you destroy,A9 Dnaj7But kiss a joy as it fliesEmaj7 Amaj7and live in Eternity's sunrise.Emaj7 Amaj7Because Eternity's in love with the Productions of Time.

Little Prince Song

E Fm# B7 E I've seen drunks and geographers,, accountants and kings,Cm# D B7I've seen so many very strange things,A7People with no roots who go,E Cm#7 D B7Anywhere the winds blow, (a tree told me so),

I never should have listened to a word she said,I should have just breathed in deep her scent,I was too young, I was too dumbto know how to really love her, now i'm in this desert,

A7She was vain, she was a pan,Eher pride drove me away,A7But I was too young, I was too dumb B7to know how to really love her...

So now I must find a way to return home,There's a flower I left there all alone,she's just got 4 little spines,what counts in life can't be seen with the eye (so now I must die),

B7 ELook for me on a star...

Your Songs

Your Songs

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