Recently I was a guest on Frank Lewis' Saturday Supplement on Radio Kerry. Frank asked me to put together some information on six songs from my album, 'Home To Kerry', so we could talk about them in detail on his show. When I sat down to do this I didn't think much of it. I always get into the story of the songs I am singing so I thought it would be no problem for me to write about them.
Frank not only wanted me to talk about my songs, he also wanted me to address my reaction to them. This turned out to be an incredibly interesting exercise which really opened my eyes to how much these songs really mean to me. When we perform pieces of music as young musicians we tend to play and sing material that our teacher has chosen for us. We don't have to make a decision about our repertoire, we just learn it. After years of following the guidance of others I found a great freedom in choosing the songs for the album myself. What I hadn't really thought about was why I chose them. I knew the story touched me in all my songs, but why?
To be drawn to the words and music of another person is to be connected to them forever. Something in all these songs resonated with me and I adopted them as my own. After years of singing in a church folk group I am very aware of how we can take ownership of songs. So many times I have seen a leader chose a song and there is no question as to who will sing it as it 'belongs' to someone in the group. This shows how attached we can actually become to a piece of music. How many times have you heard a couple say, 'oh, this is our song'? It is theirs and nobody else's.
I, Grace Foley, am the proud owner of eleven songs relating to Kerry. I did not just buy the rights, I bought into the story. I got caught up in the magic of each and every song and attached my own life's stories to them. Today ask yourself, 'Do I have a song; a song that is mine and nobody else will ever understand how much this song means to me? 'You can tell everybody...this is your song'.
Frank not only wanted me to talk about my songs, he also wanted me to address my reaction to them. This turned out to be an incredibly interesting exercise which really opened my eyes to how much these songs really mean to me. When we perform pieces of music as young musicians we tend to play and sing material that our teacher has chosen for us. We don't have to make a decision about our repertoire, we just learn it. After years of following the guidance of others I found a great freedom in choosing the songs for the album myself. What I hadn't really thought about was why I chose them. I knew the story touched me in all my songs, but why?
To be drawn to the words and music of another person is to be connected to them forever. Something in all these songs resonated with me and I adopted them as my own. After years of singing in a church folk group I am very aware of how we can take ownership of songs. So many times I have seen a leader chose a song and there is no question as to who will sing it as it 'belongs' to someone in the group. This shows how attached we can actually become to a piece of music. How many times have you heard a couple say, 'oh, this is our song'? It is theirs and nobody else's.
I, Grace Foley, am the proud owner of eleven songs relating to Kerry. I did not just buy the rights, I bought into the story. I got caught up in the magic of each and every song and attached my own life's stories to them. Today ask yourself, 'Do I have a song; a song that is mine and nobody else will ever understand how much this song means to me? 'You can tell everybody...this is your song'.
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