Four on a hillside: A quartet for strings, winds, kids, and a spring day.

Reading hint: Scroll down BELOW the two-page picture to find the words, repeated for reading--a little larger!  (In the picture, the words, like the kites, start near the ground and then go to the sky. You can see each page bigger, if you want: Left side. Right side.)

All words are readable below--scroll far down! Song: Cory starts, then Allison, Emily, Joshua sing. (You can hear just solos by clicking names just below.) For "all at once," see note at very bottom.    

      Cory                    Allison                                        Emily                                   Joshua

[scroll down          I was having no luck with my     The wind has a hundred hands    [scroll down      
 for                       upside-down fishing,                 or more, and I've only got two--     for   
 Cory's                 I couldn't get one of these          Oh, my--                                    Joshua's
 words]                 breezes to bite.                        But still I'm not losing                 words]
                            I kept running. And running             in this tug-of-war. . . .           
                            And trying. And wishing.           The wind's pulling tight;
                            And thinking I just wasn't          That's all right, I'll pull tighter!
                            doing it right. . . . .                   The wind    
                            But then suddenly something    is my friend,
                              was starting--no doubt!--          and we'll fight
                            and I felt my kite lifting,             to the end,
                            the string pulling taut,               'cause
                            as it ran through my fingers,      my friend is 
                            ran up and ran out--                    a fighter. 
                            oh, but is it the wind, or my kite   All right; 
                            that's been caught?                   So am I!

The secret's out!    Neither one! They're both flying, And at last, in our playground, My kite's pinned up
While breezing by, they've gone for a glide,             so blue and so wide,               there like a ribbon
March whispered,  and together they're sailing,        we have fought to a standstill, bluer than
"Winter's past!"     and soaring so free,                   up high,                                 blue skies,
Now from              and look up!                              And my kite,                         To tell
this windy             The wind's taking my kite           like our game, now is             the world that I
hill, we fly                        for a ride,                       perfectly tied . . .                   award this
our flags of            way up there on the waves         between the earth                  perfect day 
spring at last!        of that bright sky-blue sea!         and sky!                                first prize!

   Cory                     Allison                                     Emily                                  Joshua

Cory sings a song, then Allison*, then Emily*. Next, all three sing their songs all at once, and then Joshua sings. Finally, all start again, one after another--until all four kite-flyers are singing their own songs at the same time.

(To hear just that last part, click here).

In those "all at once" parts, the words are sung as they're lined up from left to right, above. Use the colors to help your ear pick out the words of Cory, Allison, Emily, and Joshua. 


Psst. A not-so-secret. My daughters Allison* and Emily* are singing the girls' songs.

HEAR "KITES" song (windows media) - 5 minutes