Feb 2022 collab soul gospel pop
Hannah says:
What an honor it was for me to co-write this song with Beth, who is the absolutely the queen of our local music scene! The song is inspired by a conversation Beth and I had recently. After our conversation, Beth started things off by sending me the lyrics for the chorus and we took it from there. This was a true collaboration, with lots of shooting lyrics ideas and audio files back and forth over email, and progressively building the song piece by piece. I totally enjoyed co-writing this song with Beth, and feel really proud of the final product!
Beth says: Hannah is a monstrously talented artist and I was blown away how she took some words I “scratched” on a page and crafted a gorgeous melody that propelled this song to where it landed. Singing “with” her moved me to tears. I hope we can stand on stage to do this together someday soon! Love love love her!!
I see people all around me doing things I can’t understand
And it’s so wildly tempting to barrel in and desecrate their heartland
And these voices on the airwaves shouting words that make no sense
All I want to do is close my eyes, close my mind and put up my defenses
But I will walk in love
When my legs are weary
When my feet start to falter
I will dig down deep
I will walk in love
When I feel like throwing punches
I will open my arms
And pray for harmony
When somebody comes at me with a point of view so far from my own
It is so wildly tempting to put up fists and let it go to blows
And my blood starts to boil - and I want to make them pay for their sins
But if we build a wall of hate against our own - let me ask: who wins?
Let me be a beacon of light
My enemies they’re just like me, it’s killing me to live like this
I’ll still stand for what’s right
For loving strength, a pillar of forgiveness
@crisp1 Mar 2022
Like a spiritual that you could imagine the marchers singing during the Civil Rights Movement protests in the '60s, like in Selma. A great message and beautiful music, beautiful vocals.
@adforperu Mar 2022
Sounds like a truly organic collab :) Great job, both - the vocal performance here is so haunting. Love the stop-start moments in the chorus, and a big fan how the dynamics ramp up a little bit in that second verse especially.
@bradbrubaker Mar 2022
Favorite line: "And it’s so wildly tempting to barrel in and desecrate their heartland"
A nice secular hymn for these troubling times of division.
Those pauses in the chorus are a nice breath.
@karlsburg25 Mar 2022
Well here's two brilliantly talented artists coming together. A real beautiful emotional melody and build through that gorgeous chord progression really create a beautiful atmosphere for the lyrics. And the chorus has a real classic song vibe to it. So so enjoyed this guys
@danvaillancourt Mar 2022
Wow! Beautiful song! Great uplifting gospel vibe. I love the syncopated staccato hits in the chorus and end of verses. Wonderful positive lyric. Perfect collab.
@sarahk Feb 2022
The two of you made a beautiful musical baby. Well done. That B3 was *chef's kiss*.
@b3nut Feb 2022
Man this is a gorgeous track. Really well done effort from two bright lights of our Madison scene...wonderful!
@ohljazz Feb 2022
Really lovely - the title statement with that pause after "walk" is very powerful
@n24 Feb 2022
Wow your vocals are amazing, really expressive and dynamic! I love the gentle piano accompaniment that drifts along till that punchy mid-section with the more staccato stops and starts, lovely shift in pace. I really liked the introduction of the gentle organ sounds as well in the latter half. Incredible sentiment of strength, maintaining dignity and love in the face of hate. Really beautiful stuff! Great collab!
@tseaver Feb 2022
Nice collab! "Who wins?" is the right question to be asking, and the answering prayer in the bridge the best response possible. Great shift from the slow, mournful verse to the more hopeful, sprightly chorus. Love the textures of the B3.
@kayepeanyc Feb 2022
Just lovely. There are so many great images packed into each line, and the pace of the song gives you time to digest each one. Wonderful performances!
@oswlek Feb 2022
Two amazing talents, and the result is exactly as expected. Better. I'll buy your album if you ever decide to write one together. :)
Piano in the verses is so good. Grabs tight and never lets go. The low, soulful melody is a perfect match for the lyric, gorgeously delivered. Of course there had to be an organ, and it is so well constructed. Even though it was somewhat predictable, it didn't feel trite or contrived in any way. Nice sudden stop with the piano that wakes me up from the trance and lets the chorus introduce itself with my full attention.
My only complaint is that it's only one song! I would have stuck around for the entire album. :)
@ndavies Feb 2022
This is a very expressive duet, and very polished. Every element sounds just right
@kahlo2013 Feb 2022
Wow! Two of my favorite amazing musicians together! This is a beautifully written insightful song! Absolutely inspiring sentiment. Love the keys and the vocals are gorgeous. Love everything about this!
@davidtaro Feb 2022
Ah, gorgeous. I absolutely love those little stops on the chorus. Such a classy touch. That subtle organ is fab. Great dynamic build through the song. Not least in the way you really control the vocal in the first half and then let it go a bit more in the second. I massively approve of that bluesy chord/melody on ‘live like this’ in the bridge. I could hear it getting even bigger on the last chorus (you need that gospel choir again!). And of course a beautiful message, goodness knows we could use it at the moment…
@richaaaay Feb 2022
Soulful indeed. Love how the rim shot comes in when you sing when my love starts to boil and the it just opens up and builds wonderfully from there. Such meaningful lyrics you two have written. The performance and composition is memorable. Brilliant work…