Song of Myself - Story Behind the Song

TOPIC: A SONG IN CELEBRATION OF THE SELF!
Song of the Month: Song of Myself 
[listen to song]    [view lyrics]    [return to song-of-the-month directory]

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the way this uplifting, self-affirming song turned out! Please share this song with anyone who is good at celebrating themselves--or anyone who wants to get better at celebrating themselves.
 


(PHOTO - Bill, the Official Recipient of this Song of the Self...but it turns out it's for YOU, too!)
 
  
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG
This assignment turned out to have a totally unexpected twist to it. It started out straightforward enough: Kris came to me wanting a song for her husband Bill's 60th birthday. My assumption was that she would probably want a love song, from her to him. But during the interview it emerged that, in fact, what she wanted was a song for and about her husband that was to have not a trace of her, the giver, in it! At first I was baffled (a love song without a giver and a receiver?!). Then, suddenly, I was inspired! A Song of the Self! What would THAT sound like?! Suddenly, I wanted to know! And it was with that curiosity that I launched into "Song of Myself."  Or, rather, IT launched into ME.
  
 
THE RECORDING STORY
This was one of those songs that just CAME ALIVE in the studio.
That's Eric Kilburn on the guitar and mandolin and bass. That's Larry Luddecke on the keyboards. These guys are high-caliber studio musicians and producers who knew just what to do with this song. And, do you hear the clarinet in there? That's Kris herself. She had not played her clarinet in 20 years---hadn't even taken it out of its case. But as a fond farewell to her old instrument, and as a way of inserting a special part of herself into her husband's song after all, we brought her into the studio and--voila! There she is in the song!
 
 
EPILOGUE
Kris loved the song!  Kris's husband Bill loved the song! I love the song! (I confessed to my Song-of-the-Month Email readers that I have been driving all over town in my car playing this with the volume blasting). And in addition to all of that, shortly after Kris presented this song to Bill, I got their OK to share it at a very special women's gathering, and to watch a roomful of women engage in a 1-on-1 exercise using this song: women paired off, gazing into the eyes of each other while listening to "Song of Myself" in its entirety.  The experience, for me, of watching a group of people really take in and share this song, to powerful, tearful, soul-opening results was simply indescribable!  I can't quite explain how moved I am, not only by creating these songs, but by getting to witness the impact they can sometimes have on certain people. "Song of Myself" seems to be yet another one of those songs with legs! And, it would appear, based on the reaction so many had when they heard the recording at this recent gathering--it has heart, as well. That is, I think, because it grew directly out of the inspired love of one amazing wife for her equally amazing husband!   I hope you find something in this song for yourself. I believe it's in there, if you want to find it.
 
 
A WORD ABOUT BILL
I can't resist sharing with you here that Bill, the one for whom the song was written, has come to be one of my favorite people on the planet. Most of the time when I am commissioned to write a song, it is for someone I have not met before undertaking the project. And so far it seems the right people always find me, such that strangers quickly become friends. But in this case, this was a song commissioned by someone I know pretty well--Bill's wife, Kris. And it was a song FOR someone whose friendship has meant the world to me, for many years now. Bill has taught me new ways of thinking, new ways of approaching daunting tasks, new ways of parenting, and, perhaps most importantly, new ways of having fun. I think "Song of Myself" is a song I have always wanted to write, without ever quite knowing it. Think for a minute about how loving a partner would have to be, to ask for a song in which the giver removes herself from the lyrics completely! That's how amazing Bill's wife Kris is, in my eyes. And think how fitting it is, that I would be able to write a song that speaks to my own self, through the act of writing it for another--and one who means so very much to me. I am reminded again and again of how we find the best in ourselves when we are reaching out to give to another. It is my extreme honor to have written this song, through the loving filter of Kris, for my dear friend Bill. And it is my extreme delight to have discovered a message from myself to myself in there somewhere as well. I hope you find a message from you to you in there also.  Happy listening! 

THE ARTIST
Anna Huckabee Tull is an award-winning Boston Singer-Songwriter with five national CD releases to her credit, including the recently-released "Every Day," a collection of songs exploring the relationships between parents and children, young and old. Anna is also a Psychologist and Life Coach, with a Master's Degree in Spiritual Psychology and Applied Psychology.  [More about Anna]. She has two sons, Ben and Sam, who she tries her best to encourage to hear and sing their OWN songs, day after day, and one husband who should be put up for sainthood, if for no other reason than it can be tough sometimes to live with an utter enthusiast.

 LINKS


© 2007 Anna Huckabee Tull. The rights for this song are filed and registered with the United States Copyright Office as a Sound Recording by Anna Huckabee Tull. Copies of these songs may not be sold or bartered. But sharing? Sharing is all good!