TOPIC: Adoption
A family celebrates its coming together
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THE STORY
Jackie and Kathy came to me wishing for a song to celebrate their family and to tell the story of their daughters' adoptions from Guatemala in a way that would make sense to their girls now, at their current ages (3, 6) and would also hold deeper levels of meaning that they could come to appreciate anew when they listen again to the song as adults. I learned of their trips to Guatemala, of the many ways in which their family began to take shape and turn into something real and amazing. I got to draw on my own time in Guatemala, having visited the cabin where my husband lived for two years in his "Habitat for Humanity" days. But the very crux of what makes this song feel so special to me, as the writer, came from out beyond the stories, out beyond my experience of Guatemala. It came from something Kathy said that shot right through me when she said it--it was so unadorned and obvious. It made me understand and feel on an even deeper level how much is true and the same for all children in all families, regardless of how those families came together. I turned her comments into the bridge of the song, and I love the way it makes the specificity of this story suddenly feel so universal:
We can't know all of where you've been,
Just like we can't know all of where you're going.
And it's not always easy here.
It's not always easy anywhere...
Jackie and Kathy came to me wishing for a song to celebrate their family and to tell the story of their daughters' adoptions from Guatemala in a way that would make sense to their girls now, at their current ages (3, 6) and would also hold deeper levels of meaning that they could come to appreciate anew when they listen again to the song as adults. I learned of their trips to Guatemala, of the many ways in which their family began to take shape and turn into something real and amazing. I got to draw on my own time in Guatemala, having visited the cabin where my husband lived for two years in his "Habitat for Humanity" days. But the very crux of what makes this song feel so special to me, as the writer, came from out beyond the stories, out beyond my experience of Guatemala. It came from something Kathy said that shot right through me when she said it--it was so unadorned and obvious. It made me understand and feel on an even deeper level how much is true and the same for all children in all families, regardless of how those families came together. I turned her comments into the bridge of the song, and I love the way it makes the specificity of this story suddenly feel so universal:
We can't know all of where you've been,
Just like we can't know all of where you're going.
And it's not always easy here.
It's not always easy anywhere...
Rainbow at Tikal Mayan ruins in Guatemala EPILOGUE
What I loved most about how this song "played out" for Clare and Sonia, the recipients, was learning that the girls had been listening to it pretty much constantly! (It's always my secret goal to either make someone cry when they hear a song, or for them to discover that they have a Continuous Repeat button they didn't know about on their CD player). I am lucky enough to have a 3 and 6-year-old living in MY house (take a small bow, Ben and Sam Tull, you magnificent humans, you) so I "field tested" the song at bedtime one night before handing it over to Jackie and Kathy and...well, it was the requested bedtime song for about a month straight around here (always a good sign!) Ben and Sam even worked out symbolic dance moves to it (you simply have not lived until you have seen a 6-year-old BECOME a rainbow). Jackie and Kathy bidded (bidded? bid? work with me, I don't know...) valiantly for this commissioned song at a fundraiser auction, and came out the winners. This song was donated by me to a very good cause (raising scholarship money for the Lesley Ellis School in Arlington, Mass). But Jackie and Kathy were so pleased with the song that they actually sent me an after-project "donation-to-Anna" check, just for me, totally out of the blue!! I took that as a good sign that they were quite happy with the song. I mention it here because, if any of you out there just feel like sending me money out of the blue, I have learned that I really like the experience and want to encourage EVERYONE to freely send money to me, whenever they want. (Unmarked bills are best, I think).
What I loved most about how this song "played out" for Clare and Sonia, the recipients, was learning that the girls had been listening to it pretty much constantly! (It's always my secret goal to either make someone cry when they hear a song, or for them to discover that they have a Continuous Repeat button they didn't know about on their CD player). I am lucky enough to have a 3 and 6-year-old living in MY house (take a small bow, Ben and Sam Tull, you magnificent humans, you) so I "field tested" the song at bedtime one night before handing it over to Jackie and Kathy and...well, it was the requested bedtime song for about a month straight around here (always a good sign!) Ben and Sam even worked out symbolic dance moves to it (you simply have not lived until you have seen a 6-year-old BECOME a rainbow). Jackie and Kathy bidded (bidded? bid? work with me, I don't know...) valiantly for this commissioned song at a fundraiser auction, and came out the winners. This song was donated by me to a very good cause (raising scholarship money for the Lesley Ellis School in Arlington, Mass). But Jackie and Kathy were so pleased with the song that they actually sent me an after-project "donation-to-Anna" check, just for me, totally out of the blue!! I took that as a good sign that they were quite happy with the song. I mention it here because, if any of you out there just feel like sending me money out of the blue, I have learned that I really like the experience and want to encourage EVERYONE to freely send money to me, whenever they want. (Unmarked bills are best, I think).
EVERY DAY (THE GUATEMALA SONG)
Long ago your Mommies rode an airplane through the sky
Past the white clouds, to a land where they’d never been before
They made this journey not just once; they went the whole way twice
So they could carry you, Claire and Sonia, all the way from where you were
Back to their door
You come from a land of wild jungles and live volcanoes
You come from a land of bright colors and shining rainbows
You come from a land that’s mystical and far away
And we’re so glad you came and we’re so glad
You’re here today
Now we are the four of us a family
All in one house with toys and books and love
Every day we watch you play and grow and love each other sisterly
And we remember fondly how you came to us
You came from a land of wild jungles and live volcanoes
You come from a land of bright colors and shining rainbows
You come from a land that’s mystical and far away
And we’re so glad you came and we’re so glad
You’re here today
And we can’t know all of where you’ve been
Just like we can’t know all of where you’re going
And it’s not always easy here, it’s not always easy
Anywhere
But we’re here for you all the days that we are here
And we will hold you so near, and so dear
And we’ll remind you
That you come from a home of wild laughter and loving family
You come from a home where we all feel that we’re supposed to be
You come from a land that’s mystical and far away
And you come from home here, where you’re so loved
You are so loved, every day, every day, every day…
La la la la la la…
(c) 2006 Anna Huckabee Tull
THE WRITING AND RECORDING STORY
I tried to use my voice in this song in a manner that would represent and celebrate the fact that Claire and Sonya are lucky enough to have TWO mommies!! So both of those harmonizing female voices that you hear are Yours Truly. The producer and guitarist on this song is my beloved friend and the producer of a real-live actual Grammy-nominated song--the one and only: Eric Kilburn. I tried incorporating some synthesizer-based pan-flute sounds into this song as well. You do not hear them here because my beloved husband (previous resident of Guatemala) quivered, shook his head, got an Alka-Seltzer kind of look on his face, and suggested I cut the flute and keep my day job. (Wait--this IS my day job!). Anyway, the pan flute did not make the cut. But in the end I think it is a better song for its simplicity.
THE ARTIST
Anna Huckabee Tull is an award-winning Boston Singer-Songwriter with five national releases to her credit, and a Master’s Degree in Spiritual Psychology and Applied Psychology. [More about Anna]
© 2006 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!
I tried to use my voice in this song in a manner that would represent and celebrate the fact that Claire and Sonya are lucky enough to have TWO mommies!! So both of those harmonizing female voices that you hear are Yours Truly. The producer and guitarist on this song is my beloved friend and the producer of a real-live actual Grammy-nominated song--the one and only: Eric Kilburn. I tried incorporating some synthesizer-based pan-flute sounds into this song as well. You do not hear them here because my beloved husband (previous resident of Guatemala) quivered, shook his head, got an Alka-Seltzer kind of look on his face, and suggested I cut the flute and keep my day job. (Wait--this IS my day job!). Anyway, the pan flute did not make the cut. But in the end I think it is a better song for its simplicity.
THE ARTIST
Anna Huckabee Tull is an award-winning Boston Singer-Songwriter with five national releases to her credit, and a Master’s Degree in Spiritual Psychology and Applied Psychology. [More about Anna]
© 2006 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!
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