Who Will Set Us Free? is a powerful song of lament and longing written by Father Bernardo Maria Perez and Philippine composer Francisco Feliciano. It is based around a five-note (pentatonic) melody and can be sung unaccompanied or with a drone instrument (like a shruti box).
The song can be taught without printed text or music using call and echo. Leadership can be offered by a cantor or by a group of voices taking the lead, creating a powerful dialogue and reinforcing the spacious, reflective quality of the music. The song could be useful in Advent, Lent, or times of communal grief and challenge.
"Who will set us free? (Who will set us free?)
Jesus (Jesus)
Jesus (Jesus)
We're waiting (We're waiting)
We're waiting for you (We're waiting for you)
You said you'd be coming (You said you'd be coming)
Don't let our hope be futile (Don't let our hope be futile)"
Additional verses:
Who will clear our sight?
Who will be our light?
Who will give us life?
This setting is published in Sing the Circle Wide published by Inshallah, a choir comprised of singers from the Waterloo Region that learn song of praise and prayer, of joy and lament, from around the world.
Here is a video of the song shared by Debbie Lou Ludolph at our One-Day Workshop at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Waterloo, Ontario in 2017. (Please note: the first phrase of the song was cut off but can be heard in subsequent repetitions.)
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