TOPIC: 20th anniversary: young couple to older couple

TOPIC: WELCOME NEW BABY!

THE STORY
Sandy came to me wanting a song that would serve as both a lullaby and a welcoming greeting to her new grandson Jonah. There were two unique challenges in creating this song: (1) Sandy (humbly, I think) requested that the song be from her but not use the word “I” (pretty much all of my songs, you might note, are written in the First Person because I believe that gives them the most intimacy—so this was new territory for me). And (2) this song was to acknowledge the fact that Sandy’s husband Lew had passed away and would not be present to greet Jonah, but this was to be done in such a way that this fact would not be overly obvious nor made an “issue” of in the song. 

TOPIC: Anna and her Brand New Husband (1997) Driving All Across the US for Months on their Honeymoon!

TOPIC: Wife to husband

TOPIC: A closer look at two love songs

FOREVER LISTENING: THE STORY (1996)
I wrote this song ten years ago, when I was newly in love with the man who turned out to be THE man--my husband Jim. This was one of those great experiences when a song just sort of "appears," fully formed. I was at a unique turning point in my life--I had left a painful marriage and a powerhouse Chicago advertising career in  the dust, and I was a 30-year-old, living back at my parents' house, licking my wounds, regrouping, working as a cashier in a little retreat of a store that sold incense and candles and spiritual books, and, all of a sudden, I was falling in love. (love!)  (LOVE!!!!) This song showed up in my head and it was sort of fighting its way past the piped-in music in the store so I kept on making up excuses to step outside with a pencil and a crumpled store recipt, scribbling down the words as they seemed to fall from the sky.  This song was like a marvel to me. I felt like I was almost "channelling" something, and that has been the feeling that has kept me creating songs for all the years since. This song is the most-requested song when I do live converts. It has been performed at weddings, played in birthing rooms, and every so often I get an email from someone who heard it at a spiritual retreat and wants to know more. It's definitely a song from one lover to another but I was astonished to discover when my son was born that it worked as a love song from a parent to a baby, too. And the folks who use it on spiritual retreats assure me the lyrics can fit for one's relationship with The Divine as well. Ah! The joy of tapping into a unversal truth!

TOPIC: Mother to grown children

TOPIC: Bride's sister toasts groom

Ten years ago, I wrote and recorded my first-ever commissioned song. It was for a wedding. I did so not because I was planning on writing a commissioned song. Back then, I'm not even sure I knew what a commissioned song was. But I'm getting ahead of myself. And this month (--less writing!--) I can let the TV tell you. Because not too long ago, I was the featured guest on yet another TV show, where I was asked how all this commissioned songwriting stuff got started. So here is that story: 

For Valentine's Day this year, here is one of the deeper LOVE SONG projects I have ever had the luxury and joy and honor of falling into.

It's also an interesting tale of how one song can, very unexpectedly--from all the way on one side of the country--lead to a song on the other side of the country.

This is a song of deep and abiding love between two partners, whose family is comprised of two loving parents and their two adopted-from-Guatemala daughters.