Singer-songwriter Lisa Safran wrote this inspiring song after learning about the Send Girls to School Project. Lisa told us, “I was very inspired by this project, and after doing some research I learned that over 60 million girls globally do not receive an education. Being a teacher in the U.S. and Thailand and seeing the amazing contributions that girls made in my classrooms over the years, I felt that I needed to do something to help raise awareness about this travesty.” Click the left arrow on the player console below to listen.

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They Just Need School
Music and lyrics by Lisa Safran
Vocals: Lisa Safran
Guitar: Chris Faust

Anna skips, twirls, and dances then kicks at the open fire
In the back alley where she’d rather not say what she did that day

Nandi grabs all the papers from the nearby bin that she’s been sleeping in
The words from the page do nothing to stop her from being thin

Our girls are out there
They just need a chance
They could be writers, musicians, amazing mathematicians
They could even dance

Our girls are out there
Without any school
They could be doctors, professors, scientists, inventors
They could even rule

They just need school
Give them a book and teach girls to read
They just need school
Give them the numbers and girls will lead
They just need school
Give them a pen and they’ll write a book
They just need school
Isn’t it time that we stopped and looked

With 60 million girls out of school
Poverty will win and have its way today

With 60 million girls out of school
Poverty will win and have its way today

Sumi works with her hands as fast as she can stitching clothes to sell
With no breaks, she aches and her muscles cramp in the dark and damp

Leina looks at her face with tears of disgrace in the light of dawn
Her youth is almost gone but for the one rag doll that she drags along

Our girls are out there
They just need a chance
They could be writers, musicians, amazing mathematicians
They could even dance

Our girls are out there
Without any school
They could be doctors, professors, scientists, inventors
They could even rule

They (We) just need school
Give them a book and teach girls to read
They (We) just need school
Give them the numbers and girls will lead
They (We) just need school
Give them a pen and they’ll write a book
They (We) just need school
Isn’t it time that we stopped and looked

With 60 million girls back in school
Poverty will be a thing of yesterday

With 60 million girls back in school
Poverty will be a thing of yesterday

With 60 million girls back in school
Poverty will be a thing of yesterday

With 60 million girls back in school
Poverty will be a thing of yesterday

They (We) just need school
Give them a book and teach girls to read
They (We) just need school
Give them the numbers and girls will lead
They (We) just need school
Give them a pen and they’ll write a book
They (We) just need school
Isn’t it time that we stopped and looked

Copyright © 2007 Lisa Safran. All rights reserved.

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Lisa Safran has been improvising and composing music since the fourth grade. Providing musical accompaniment for improvisational comedy groups led to her performing improvisational and stand-up comedy throughout the U.S. and Canada during the 80′s and early 90′s. Life as a stand-up comic convinced her to return to school where she completed a Masters degree in teaching and earned a multiple subject teaching credential.

While teaching full-time, she collaborated in 2004 with the poet Naomi Ruth Lowinsky and developed music and arrangements for several poems from the book Red Clay is Talking (Scarlet Tanager Books, 2000). After surviving the 2004 tsunami while on holiday in Thailand, Lisa moved to Thailand in 2005 to teach. There she began playing the guitar and although she tried to take lessons, the instructor only spoke Thai, so she again found herself improvising and creating on her own.

In 2007, Lisa moved back to San Francisco and is enjoying life among other like-minded musicians in a city ripe for musical expression. In addition to performing music, Lisa performs improvisational comedy around the Bay Area with the troupe “Too Many Larrys” and works as a professional development provider for a non-profit educational organization.

Chris Faust is a musician, teacher, and instructional technologies expert in San Francisco. Since his arrival in the Bay Area twelve years ago, he has participated in a steady stream of performance projects: acting, dancing, singing, and playing guitar. In 1999, Chris and his wife Mary Bishop collaborated with Lisa Safran and others to write, produce, and perform in a full-length musical drama. Bonds formed through that experience later evolved into “Shaped Like Saints,” the songwriting team of Shippy and Faust, which culminated in 2003 in a CD album of original music.

Currently, Chris works with a local community college designing teaching modules for creative software, and works alongside his wife as a theatrical set designer. He is very happy to be back on stage with Lisa, in the presence of her amazing creative energy. “‘They Just Need School’ is the perfect project for me, combining my creative and professional interests with a goal at the heart of my social consciousness. Elevating the status of women is the path to world peace and prosperity. Educating the girls is crucial.”

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