TOPIC: I LOVE MY WIFE!
A Husband Shows His Love for His Wife on her 40th Birthday
| "Shining Brilliant" - Free Download |
Gina's Album Cover THE STORY
Alan came to me wanting a song for his wife Gina that I could perform live for her at her 40th Birthday Party. The goal was to blow Gina away in the presence of all the people who loved her best of all. As I listened to Alan talk about all that Gina is to him, a sense of this song began to emerge. Gina is and always has been a very powerful woman. But listening to Alan talk, it seemed to me that her power had evolved, as she had grown into her own womanhood, and wife-hood, and motherhood, in a unique and beautiful way. Alan explained how the first time he saw Gina in all her strength and certitude, he had been so blown away, he could barely think of a word to say. That lead to the opening lines of the song:
The first time that I saw you I was speechless
The way you wore your power like a bullet-proof vest
Alan came to me wanting a song for his wife Gina that I could perform live for her at her 40th Birthday Party. The goal was to blow Gina away in the presence of all the people who loved her best of all. As I listened to Alan talk about all that Gina is to him, a sense of this song began to emerge. Gina is and always has been a very powerful woman. But listening to Alan talk, it seemed to me that her power had evolved, as she had grown into her own womanhood, and wife-hood, and motherhood, in a unique and beautiful way. Alan explained how the first time he saw Gina in all her strength and certitude, he had been so blown away, he could barely think of a word to say. That lead to the opening lines of the song:
The first time that I saw you I was speechless
The way you wore your power like a bullet-proof vest
Alan's story continued through his persistent efforts to get closer to Gina, and her repeated rebuffs. Eventually, though, Alan found a way of engaging with the inner-energies of Gina, as Gina eventually found ways of inviting him in. The image I was left with was the glorious way that a woman can become even more powerful, in her conscious willingness to soften, and open, and allow herself to bloom more and more fully over time. I was left with the dramatic image of a flower coming into full bloom, and that is the way this song found its sound and shape.
The first time that I saw you I was speechless
The way you wore your power like a bulletproof vest
And every time I look upon you since
I see the way your power touches everything
I’ve watched you with the sweat stream off your face
I’ve seen the way that pain has no meaning when you’re moving and
I see you with a simple, focused grace, over and over
Making something with a strength beyond reason from some
Deep, evolving place
And it makes me need to tell you
You are beautiful,
You are shining brilliant
You’re a miracle, love,
Every minute
And you don’t even know
But looking at you now is like nothing I’ve seen ever before
Your beauty’s like the wide bright ocean, and I am
Once again speechless in awe
‘Cause you’re in full bloom now
And it makes me need to tell you
You’re so beautiful,
You are shining brilliant
You’re a miracle, love,
Every minute
You’re stronger than you know
You’re softer than you show
And I’m watching you
Grow
(c) 2006 Anna Huckabee Tull / Custom Crafted Songs
EPILOGUE
Gina had absolutely no idea this song was coming. Alan had very thoroughly covered his tracks by taking Gina on a cruise to celebrate her birthday earlier in the year, so the thought that the party was anything more than a gathering of friends had not dawned on her. [Yes, gentlemen readers, Alan is the guy who makes the rest of you look bad come Wife's Birthday time. He took a LOT of ribbing for this at Gina's party from all the other men whose wives were there taking notes 'Let's see...cruise? huge catered party? live performance of original song?!!? Mmmmm Hmmm."
One other little thing you should know about Alan and Gina. They have been die-hard fans of mine for years--trekking out to Anna Huckabee Tull concerts in the snow, purchasing multiple copies of pretty much every album I have ever put out, and just generally being avid supporters. So Gina definitely knows who I am. And once she spotted me up at the front of the room with guitar in hand, she knew what was about to happen. I LOVED performing this song live. There was so much about it that I loved--the way the room fell to a hush, the way Gina gave me this look like, "Don't MAKE me cry in public," the way the room BURST into applause when the song was over, the look on Gina's face, the look on Alan's face, the whole thing. It was one of those really magical moments, followed by endless little snippets of overheard comments, most of them from other men at the party slapping Alan on the back and saying, "Man, that's it...you are DONE. You never have to get your wife another present for the rest of your LIFE.
But I have to say, even with all the high points and great quotes to savor on my drive home, the moment that really MADE it for me was the way that the crowd audibly sighed together at one specific line in the song. The song arcs up to its final ending with the lines:
You're stronger than you know
You're softer than you show
And in the moment following that line, I had the immense pleasure of hearing an entire room of Gina-loving people sigh in simultaneous affirmation. Here were all the people of Powerful Gina’s Inner Circle, and clearly, all of these people in one way or another had seen and known the softness that is at her core. Sometimes, I think, the people who are the most powerful on the outside have the sweetest, softest places deep within for those who are willing to take the time to love them and really know this. As a songwriter, a moment like the collective sigh in that room is the grandest of all grand rewards. I thought to myself, "I caught it!" There is so much that I love about creating songs for others, but moments like those catch what is at the very center of it--the joy of truly striking an accurate and resonant chord about what is at the core of someone special.
THE RECORDING STORY
I recorded this song at The Moontower Recording Studio in Cambridge. That's me on guitar (a rarity--it's usually someone else!) and Catherine Birrer Peterson on percussion. And the special added touch in this song is Mike Quinn from Moontower on an old Wurlitzer keyboard. I was looking for a sound that would capture the tentative beauty of a flower opening--shifting from the tight bud that can withstand all weathers into the flower that opens itself magnificently onto the world. I wrote a wordless bridge for this song that is three layers of my vocals, symbolizing the opening of a flower, or of a heart, or of a woman stepping fully into her own life. Wahoo for Forty!!!
© 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!
Gina had absolutely no idea this song was coming. Alan had very thoroughly covered his tracks by taking Gina on a cruise to celebrate her birthday earlier in the year, so the thought that the party was anything more than a gathering of friends had not dawned on her. [Yes, gentlemen readers, Alan is the guy who makes the rest of you look bad come Wife's Birthday time. He took a LOT of ribbing for this at Gina's party from all the other men whose wives were there taking notes 'Let's see...cruise? huge catered party? live performance of original song?!!? Mmmmm Hmmm."
One other little thing you should know about Alan and Gina. They have been die-hard fans of mine for years--trekking out to Anna Huckabee Tull concerts in the snow, purchasing multiple copies of pretty much every album I have ever put out, and just generally being avid supporters. So Gina definitely knows who I am. And once she spotted me up at the front of the room with guitar in hand, she knew what was about to happen. I LOVED performing this song live. There was so much about it that I loved--the way the room fell to a hush, the way Gina gave me this look like, "Don't MAKE me cry in public," the way the room BURST into applause when the song was over, the look on Gina's face, the look on Alan's face, the whole thing. It was one of those really magical moments, followed by endless little snippets of overheard comments, most of them from other men at the party slapping Alan on the back and saying, "Man, that's it...you are DONE. You never have to get your wife another present for the rest of your LIFE.
But I have to say, even with all the high points and great quotes to savor on my drive home, the moment that really MADE it for me was the way that the crowd audibly sighed together at one specific line in the song. The song arcs up to its final ending with the lines:
You're stronger than you know
You're softer than you show
And in the moment following that line, I had the immense pleasure of hearing an entire room of Gina-loving people sigh in simultaneous affirmation. Here were all the people of Powerful Gina’s Inner Circle, and clearly, all of these people in one way or another had seen and known the softness that is at her core. Sometimes, I think, the people who are the most powerful on the outside have the sweetest, softest places deep within for those who are willing to take the time to love them and really know this. As a songwriter, a moment like the collective sigh in that room is the grandest of all grand rewards. I thought to myself, "I caught it!" There is so much that I love about creating songs for others, but moments like those catch what is at the very center of it--the joy of truly striking an accurate and resonant chord about what is at the core of someone special.
THE RECORDING STORY
I recorded this song at The Moontower Recording Studio in Cambridge. That's me on guitar (a rarity--it's usually someone else!) and Catherine Birrer Peterson on percussion. And the special added touch in this song is Mike Quinn from Moontower on an old Wurlitzer keyboard. I was looking for a sound that would capture the tentative beauty of a flower opening--shifting from the tight bud that can withstand all weathers into the flower that opens itself magnificently onto the world. I wrote a wordless bridge for this song that is three layers of my vocals, symbolizing the opening of a flower, or of a heart, or of a woman stepping fully into her own life. Wahoo for Forty!!!
© 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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