I got five people in the room and they're unified through one song. Or you have this great composition, an outline. Now it's time for me to create a different palette and paint it differently.
And I need you more than want you. And I want you for all time. And the first thing I thought of when I read it is false rhyme. That's a false rhyme. That's the biggest, that's the most biggest, awfulest, dumbest, most obvious false rhyme in history. And night after night, at performance after performance, person after person comes up to me. Until now, I'm talking about 100,000 people have walked up to me and said, you know the greatest line you ever wrote? I need you more than want you and I want you for all time.
I think I've had the feeling both times after my children's death, that words often fall short. And falling short doesn't mean not succeeding. Falling short doesn't mean failing. But when I started a new project, I would like a subject that words naturally fall short. So music is that choice.
I did what I thought, at least my curiosity and these women deserved and I started to, you know, look for their music, their names. And then I discovered one story and another story and another story.
The first thought that crossed my mind was this, oh, I bet this is just a big list. It doesn't mean their work was any good. And then I was immediately shocked with my own thought because I went, what? Why did I think that?
I accepted women didn't write music, but I wasn't like thinking about it. It was, I didn't question, let's put it this way, I didn't question. It was much later that I even thought about it.
The first thought that crossed my mind was this, oh, I bet this is just a big list. It doesn't mean their work was any good. And then I was immediately shocked with my own thought because I went, what? Why did I think that? Why did I think that?
it became a joke in our house because my husband is an engineer and he loves music, but it's not his field. And every morning at breakfast, I would tell him, oh my God, you must listen to this. Do you know this woman, la, la, la, la, la. And then he was like, wow, so interesting this. And I was like that for, I think, almost a year.
I did what I thought at least my curiosity and these women deserved. And I started to look for their music, their names. And then I discovered one story and another story and another story.
I was just following my intuition, just following my nose, so to speak. And this guy's voice was fantastic. And it was full of melodic content, and it was full of meaning. And so I began working with it because I sensed that there was going to be a lot happening there.
sometimes when people speak, they almost sing. And there's no better example of that than a black Pentecostal preacher who's really, it's impossible to say if they're singing or speaking. It's hovering between the two of them.
I've been really open about my mental struggles. And thank God we're all talking about it now. And it's not swept under the rug. But yeah, it took me a really long time to sort of navigate how to not sink further into darkness when it hits, and how to know that it's not a forever thing, and to be able to sometimes be quiet or sometimes to write songs to it.
And the first thought that crossed my mind was this. Oh, I bet this is just a big list. It doesn't mean their work was any good. And then I was immediately shocked with my own thought because I went, what? Why did I think that?
I was working as a waitress, but I was also doing a little bit of session work. I was finally getting some work as a session singer... I crashed the audition. I said, hi, Michael, into a video. I said, I just moved here six months ago as a school teacher. And then I sang a song by Denise Williams called Free. And I'm going to be free. And I got called back and we went from there.
every night, I'm sort of just burying everything, you know, so that people can have an emotional connection to some really, really difficult history. I shouldn't have to do that, you know? And so I'm happy to do it, but it wears on you. It wears on you, and the years pass, and you continue to perform blackness for people in a way that is palatable, right?
people like Willie Nelson, people like Dolly Parton, these really great storytellers, when they're singing, you know, if you see Dolly Parton on TV singing, and you press mute, it just looks like she's talking to you, because she is. She's telling the story.
The work that I do is very culturally difficult because what I'm doing is, in a large part, I'm talking about very difficult things in our history to mostly white audiences, you know? So every night I'm sort of just burying everything, you know, so that people can have an emotional connection to some really, really difficult history. I shouldn't have to do that, you know?
every night I'm sort of just burying everything, you know, so that people can have an emotional connection to some really, really difficult history. I shouldn't have to do that, you know? And so I'm happy to do it, but it wears on you. It wears on you and the years pass and you continue to perform blackness for people in a way that is palatable, right? In a way that keeps everybody there and not walking out the door.
In music, we learn that being in harmony with the world doesn't mean everyone is singing the same note at the same time. It's about embracing the dissonance and following the heart to home. We learn that being in time with the world doesn't have to mean stepping into line.
I think that I was really ignoring my personal relationship with the cello. I think I was using the cello as a tool, trying to extract all the good that I could from it in a way that would make an impact for other people. But I wasn't really considering what does this sound, what does this practice mean for me?
I think that I was really ignoring my personal relationship with the cello. I think I was using the cello as a tool, trying to extract all the good that I could from it in a way that would make an impact for other people. But I wasn't really considering, what does this sound, what does this practice mean for me?
Looking back, I think that I was really ignoring my personal relationship with the cello. I think I was using the cello as a tool, trying to extract all the good that I could from it in a way that would make an impact for other people. But I wasn't really considering, what does this sound, what does this practice mean for me?
I realized when he gave me the list at the age of 18 that this was an important document. And I set about learning these songs. But it took me, I think, until now to realize that he was really giving me himself, a part of his heart and soul.
I can say with absolute certainty that from this moment forth your life will be divided into two sections. That before which you heard this choir sing, and that after.
At the age of 44, 45, when many pop stars are being thrown into the oldies bin, he was still able to create very vital, very new, very important music that was opening up minds and hearts and ears around the world.
So the first band director in middle school made me the drum major, right? So my job was to keep time with my gate, right? Which was a terrible idea, right? So then in high school they moved that to we're going to put the tuba on the field and you'll march in place while everybody else goes in planetary orbit around you.
I'm forced into the choice of having, you know, two actors who can probably half sing or two musicians who can half act. And he says, I'd rather, if it's a musical film, I'd rather have two musicians who can half act. And I'll get a performance out of you. And he says, as long as the music's convincing, I think people are going to believe it.
By making it s'wonderful, you get the feeling of the ecstasy without the formality of saying, gee, it's wonderful, which is fine, but not like s'wonderful.
I think we can read in the song this sense of encountering the lowest point of devastation and still having a sense of the divine and possibility and maybe why the song has a particular power in the US context. this place that's made of dreams and also their deferrals.
I thought, am I losing my mind or is this one of the best songs I've ever heard in my life? Well, possibly both. But I was thrilled and amazed. And they looked at me for some kind of reaction and I said, I think that's amazing. And perhaps the biggest giveaway is the fact that I immediately asked them if they could play it again. And perhaps the second giveaway is the fact that they were delighted to play it again.
Most people think of music as something you listen to alone or share with people you already know. But research suggests that music can also be a bridge to strangers — that the experience of moving and making sound together can create feelings of connection and trust, even among people who have never met.
I think a lot of millennial music is united by this sense of deep sincerity. Um this feeling of carefree freedom and this kind of almost careless attitude in a sense. This kind of like live fast, die young ethos.
