Shapeshifter

Commissioned by Phoenix: Colorado’s Trans Community Choir

2016

Phoenix has been a home for me since 2016. I still remember walking up to a lavender-painted garage with a keyboard on my back and introducing myself with they/them pronouns for the first time. Six months later, I was writing for the choir. 4 years later, and I’m still going to rehearsal, even if there are stretches of months I can’t go. This is the first piece I wrote for trans choir, and described what I feel is part of the gift of trans and non-binary people.

The performance recording on Soundcloud is from a September 2019 collaboration between Phoenix and Acchord (Portland’s trans, non-binary and gender nonconforming a cappella group), performed during Phoenix’s 2019 tour.

Text:

Shapeshifter
Watches the night
turn to day
Shapeshifter
dances through the twilight.

Wisdom of the bridge
Lifts the veils of Earth.
Wisdom of the bridge
Watches every dance.

Wanderer
Travels the land
and jumps the bridge.
Wanderer
dances in the moonlight.

Wisdom of the bridge
Lifts the veils of Earth.
Wisdom of the bridge
Watches every dance.

Shapeshifter folds through the lines
Knows the plane is not just linear.
Shapeshifter folds through the lines
Knows the plane is not just linear.

Alchemize the wound
Alchemize the wound
Alchemize the wound
Alchemize the wound.

Shapeshifter, our medicine
Creature that teaches the bridge.
Shapeshifter, our medicine
Creature that teaches the bridge.
Shapeshifter.