Hi everyone! I made a little lyric video for the song “Chill in The Fire” from my new album, The Second City. The song features the beautiful Persian chanting of Shidan Toloui-Wallace, and this lyric video is set to the photography of Katey Manuchehri. Enjoy!
The lyrics for “I Give Thanks” are here.
This song, as uplifting as it sounds, was written at quite a dark time in my life. My parents’ marriage was breaking down, my mother who had been suffering with Parkinson’s Disease for several years was worsening in her condition and becoming more dependent on me, and I was worried about the well-being of my younger siblings who were caught up in it all. Many of my friends were having challenges with mental health, and there were few people with whom I felt that I could share my feelings with. I felt that I was losing several things that I held the most dear to me, all at once. Somehow though, during this turbulent time, I stumbled upon a sense of clarity: I still had so many, many things to be thankful for. Often we fail to notice the little things, everyday, that are in fact extraordinary blessings that we take for granted. I’m trying to get better at practising the art of gratitude, every day.
[pe2-image src=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-GS8885fPcXo/VH6R_KRrV4I/AAAAAAAAB44/Ncpo_3Kiin4/s144-c-o/mangonect3.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/118294268219415625349/Blog#6088464260527773570″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”mangonect3.jpg” ]
I Give Thanks
I give thanks for the morning sunrise
I give thanks for the clouds of rain
I give thanks for the joy and peace in life
I give thanks for the times of pain
I give thanks for the green grass that grows
I give thanks for nectarines and mangoes
I give thanks for all the people who’ve crossed my path
I give thanks to all the people who’ve touched my heart
Read more
The lyrics for “Expectation” are here. I love to write songs about things that people have in common. My theory is that, the more that we see that we are similar to each other, the easier it will be to break down the stifling barriers of prejudice and indifference. The traditions of every people, culture and religion on the earth include a promise of a time when this world of suffering, conflict and destruction shall end, and peace shall reign forevermore. Many of these traditions include the promise of a special spiritual Being, who is often the return of a spiritual Teacher who has already lived, sent to earth who will bring about this time of peace. It is interesting to me that people of so many different cultural and religious backgrounds, who so often find it hard to get along with each other, should share this common concept of a future peaceful world, with many parallels in the story of how this peace will come about. [pe2-image src=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-3SM-4h9lRDk/VH6R-cCeGBI/AAAAAAAAB44/rixp-IDoK8k/s144-c-o/aurora-borealis-over-hammerfest-1366×768-world-wallpaper.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/118294268219415625349/Blog#6088464248115959826″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”aurora-borealis-over-hammerfest-1366×768-world-wallpaper.jpg” ]
Expectation
Watching time fly away
Ages pass in one way
[Instrumental interlude]
Expectation, expectation
Expectation…
Read more
The lyrics for “Chill in The Fire” are here.
The inspiration for this song comes from a beautiful book written in Farsi (the Persian/ Iranian language) by Baha’u’llah, entitled The Seven Valleys. The book is a long, mystical poem about the quest of the human soul to attain closeness to God, the object of its desire. It describes an analogy of the soul having to traverse seven stages (called seven valleys or seven cities) in this journey towards “the traceless Friend”. The second of these valleys or cities is “The Valley of Love“. In this stage, the soul, having already traversed “The Valley of Search”, is in a state of simultaneous ecstasy and madness. There are many wonderful contradictions of experiences in this valley. My favourite couplet, which is borrowed and adapted by Baha’u’llah from a Persian mystical poem, is:
“A lover is he who is chill in hell fire;
A knower is he who is dry in the sea.”
[pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-fzxFmGfM_Ec/VH6R-UBhKHI/AAAAAAAAB44/F05cb7TV4NM/s144-c-o/fire%252520and%252520ice.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/118294268219415625349/Blog#6088464245964482674″ caption=”fire and ice.jpg” type=”image” alt=”fire and ice.jpg” ]
All the lyrics in this song are based on the compelling images in the text regarding “The Valley of Love”. The Persian chant that is heard in both this song and its introduction is a melodic invention on the couplet that I quoted above, in the original language that it was written in.
Chill in The Fire
نشان عاشق آن باشد که سردش بینی از دوزخ
نشان عارف آن باشد که خشکش بینی از دریا
که خشکش بینی از دریا
Search for my Love in the desert of the world
Each mirage is magic; each horizon tragic
I drink the seven seas and yet still I thirst
And the fire inside me has burned up all logic
Read more
The lyrics for “Give Me a Reason” are here.
This song follows on from the same storyline as the song “Impostor“, and before that the song “Disappointed“. Having gone through stages of sadness and anger, this song comes from a place where I deeply want to forgive the person who hurt me, but am struggling to find the inner strength to let go of my hurt. The images in the song of broken glass represent both that person, as I know that this person has also suffered a lot, and also my broken trust in the person. They can never undo what they did to me, just like you can never unbreak a glass. I still very much love this person, so I want to forgive them, but I don’t know if I can ever trust them again. But I wish that I could.
[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-tqWYb-2F2bM/VH6R-eP3BmI/AAAAAAAAB44/2FPr-uaPBUk/s144-c-o/broken_wine_glass.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/118294268219415625349/Blog#6088464248708990562″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”broken_wine_glass.jpg” ]
Give Me a Reason
Your word was a glass crystallised vase
You turned and you knocked it off my table
And I watched as it shattered, and there I wept
And the sky, it wept with me
Read more
The lyrics for “Under One Sun” are here.
Scientists have discovered that every single human being on the planet shares 99.9% of their genes with every other human. In other words, we are 99.9% genetically the same as everyone else, and only 0.1% different. Through genetic research, scientists have also concluded that we are all descended from a common ancestor who lived in Africa some 200,000 years ago. So we are literally all related to each other, by blood.
Even before I learnt these scientific concepts regarding evolution and DNA, I was a believer in the oneness of humanity from a spiritual point of view. In the Baha’i Writings, it says: “O CHILDREN OF MEN! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest.”
[pe2-image src=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-_ben6WdGtvg/VIprqhTJvTI/AAAAAAAAB-I/eU7AnUMGoBs/s144-c-o/Photo%25252012-12-2014%25252011%25252002%25252031%252520am.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/118294268219415625349/Blog#6091799824209394994″ caption=”Photo 12-12-2014 11 02 31 am.jpg” type=”image” alt=”Photo 12-12-2014 11 02 31 am.jpg” ]
Painting by Phil Doncon.