Quoting from Corrinne May's
myspace blog entry...
Beautiful Seed -The Stories Behind the Album
This is the stuff that is being printed in the Japanese liner
notes when 'Beautiful Seed' is released in Japan in September 2007 by S2S/ Major Chord Records.
Just thought I'd share them with you.[SPOILER ALERT] - For those who want to explore the songs by themselves, please don't read any further :)
As asked by Major Chord Records :Regarding the Japanese liner notes: would you make some comments on each song -- what did you try to express with those songs, what kind of feelings did you have when composing them? Is there any story behind the songs?
1) Love Song For 1I love observing nature. I love looking up at the stars, or the clouds and trees, knowing that the God who created all this beauty also created me. This is a song of gratitude and love.
2) ShelterFriends support and help each other through difficult times. This song is about friendship.
It is a song to a friend to tell her that I will be here for her through the difficulty she is going through. All she has to do is call me and I will help her in whatever way I can.
3) On The Side Of MeThis is a song about the power of love. No matter how unloveable I think I am, there is someone who loves me a lot. Loves me despite all my faults, my failures, despite my bad habits. I think it's wonderful to be loved for who I am, no matter what.
4) Five Loaves and Two FishesThis song is based on my favourite bible story. The story is about how Jesus made a miracle happen by taking five loaves and two fishes offered by a little boy, and using that to feed 5000 people.
I think it's an amazing story about how, no matter how small we may think about what we have to offer, we should trust that our offerings, our gifts are never wasted. Our gifts and our talents should be treasured for they can be used in many beautiful ways.
5) Beautiful SeedI think people often forget how the smallest, most seemingly insignificant things can have such beautiful possibilities. All it takes is one person to make a difference in this world. People like Mother Teresa, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. testify to this fact. But often, we are so afraid to try, to speak up, or to make a difference.
I named the album and the song 'Beautiful Seed' because I think that a seed is a wonderful metaphor for our lives. We are all like seeds. Seeds grow unseen in the soil and then sprout, and some seed become the biggest, most majestic trees and others grow to eventually bear wonderful fruit, and yet others, grow to provide shade. We are like trees. When we are in our mother's womb, no one can see us growing, but we are there. And all the potential for our lives is present in that moment, small as we are at that point in our lives, we are who we are now because of what we've gone through. And just knowing that, makes me sad to read about the increasing numbers of abortions that occur. People have forgotten that all the potential for life comes from something small, seemingly insignificant, seemingly lifeless.
Recently, I read about how scientists managed to grow a date palm plant from a 2000 year old seed. How amazing.
6) Leaving Bad habits are hard to break. But sometimes, the best thing to do is to find a new way of doing things, to leave the things that are not good for us. This song is about making the decision to start anew, to do things right, to leave the bad situations behind.
7) Scars (Stronger For Life)Scars form whenever we hurt ourselves, if we have an injury to our bodies, our bodies respond by healing, and often, forming scar tissues over the wounds. The scar tissue is usually thicker and stronger than our normal skin. In our lives, we often encounter events, or situations with people that hurt us, for eg, a lot of us have gone through the painful feeling of a break-up with a girlfriend or boyfriend, or the loss of a loved one, or the pain of being ill. I believe that when we go through the sad and painful events in our lives, we eventually heal, and we become stronger as a result of the challenges we experience.
8) City of AngelsI've lived in Los Angeles for 8 years and it's always struck me as a very interesting city.
It is a city of contradictions, a city of opposites, a lot of glitz and glamour juxtaposed with poverty and grit. It is a city in a desert, and in many ways, the desert is often not just a physical, geographical reality. I feel that the desert, has a deeper, metaphorical meaning in this city. People are often thirsty, hungry for love. Of course, this is a reality everywhere in the world, but it feels more intense here in Los Angeles.
So I thought I'd pour my thoughts into a song.
9) My Little NephewThe first time I held my nephew in my arms was a wonderful moment of realization that I am now an aunty to my brother's son. Children change so fast as they grow and my nephew lives in Singapore, as does the rest of my family. I on the other hand, live far away in Los Angeles and despite my wanting to be able to see him change and grow, and to be around for family gatherings such as his birthday, it's hard to only see him now and then, whenever I go back to Singapore. I sat down at the piano one day, and wrote a song for him.
10) Slow DownIt's hard to watch my grandparents getting older, and walking a little slower as the years go by. I thought about how life starts off with kids, teenagers and young adults rushing around with the exuberance of youth, and how, as we get older, we all slow down.
I also thought about how sometimes, working adults run around so much, focused on careers, on all the things in life that seem so important, that they lose sight of the really important things in life, things like time with the family, for instance.
11) Green-Eyed Monster The term 'Green-Eyed Monster' is used to describe someone who is jealous about somebody else's success.
I think most of us have been through an occasion where we find ourselves comparing our own achievements with those of our peers. Sometimes, in comparing ourselves with others, we end up feeling bitter and resentful, and that is not the way that we should be feeling. I wanted to write a song to tell myself that there is no use in comparing myself to others. I have my own story to tell. I have my own path to walk. No one else can walk the path I am meant to walk. So I should not compare my own life with others. It is a waste of energy and time. So I decided to write a song about this.
12) On My WayI've travelled a lot over the past few years, to Singapore, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, Maine, Philadelphia, etc. as I'm often going to various cities to perform my music. Most of the time, I'm on the road by myself, driving to various venues. Sometimes I get lost, sometimes, I get into traffic jams…
I think that life is like being on a journey. We have a final destination to get to. We're all travelers on this road of life. I think that life is like a winding road where it's hard sometimes to figure out where the road is going to go, and sometimes it's easy to get lost and confused. 'On My Way' is a song of hope and encouragement, that no matter how far the journey is, every little step that we take, brings us closer to our final destination, and as long as we keep on walking that journey, we will get where we need to be eventually.
13) 33When I turned 33 last year, I thought to myself, that Jesus was 33 when he lived his last year on earth. I thought that it was pretty amazing that I was now the same age as him. So somehow, that made me wonder how it would have been if I had lived during the time of Jesus. Would our paths have crossed? Would we have been friends?
It also got me thinking that some lives are so short, just like Jesus' was, and some lives are much longer. But ultimately it doesn't matter how short or long someone's life was; what matters is that life is lived to the fullest, no matter how much time you are given to live.
14) Shelter (Cherry Blossom Edition)Even though I listen to mostly English pop music, as a child I often listened to the Chinese pop melodies that my grandmother would play on the radio, and my father would teach me some Asian folk songs. I was inspired to write a Asian-styled piano arrangement to 'Shelter' after listening to Kavin's string arrangement for the song. Lately, I've been experimenting more with pentatonic keys and modes and so, I decided to try an Asian-styled arrangement on the piano. I loved it very much, so we decided to include it in the album because it adds a different, more dramatic feel to the song.
Listening to her album now while writing this... Glad that I bought it, was stunned by her vocal and lovely music in her previous album "Fly Away"... Each song is ministering in a certain way...
The only regret was that I didn't realised she actually came to Singapore for a concert at NUS UCC on 3rd August! What a pity... It would have been a great experience to listen her singing live... Heard it was sold out pretty fast... not surprising at all... What's surprising is to find out only today that she was actually an NUS alumni! Wow... My senior... LOL...
Well, at least I'll be going for 陈绮贞's concert on 29th Sep! 5th row! Yey... =)
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