In February of 2011 I finished the melancholy 8 song album entitled Losing Heart.
The title of the album is based on a popular talk by former Governing Body member Dan Sydlik entitled "Don't Lose Heart."
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With the lyrical themes I attempted to address a variety of topics such as not wanting to show a spirit of self-sacrifice, blood, childbirth/having a family in the last days, loneliness, imperfection etc.
The singing styles I used in this album also vary drastically track to track from deliberately lazy (My Blood) to outright jarring on "Opossum" (the song I like most and I think others will hate the most from this album.)
Losing Heart is a 16 minute low-budget artsy-fartsy album that is special to me personally. It was an attempt to capture certain despondent feelings many Jehovah's Witnesses experience. However, it is not an album I expect many people to enjoy and it doesn't best represent the musical spirit I want to share with the public. If you want to listen to it anyways, you can click here.
"Plants," the final song on this album, is a more accessible exception to the rest of the album. I tried to set it up as the climax in chronological and thematic context with the other songs.
One occasion after performing this song publicly in Shanghai a young woman came up to me and mentioned that while she liked the song, she wanted clarification as to what it meant. She asked if I was metaphorically alluding to the challenge a guy has when wooing a woman, or perhaps if I was literally talking about houseplants. Others asked if I was talking about the challenges of getting a Bible Student to progress--especially en lieu of the 'dragon' reference.
I think I was supposed to say something like, 'It's whatever you make it out to be,' but instead I probably replied with an ineloquent but honest 'I don't really know.'
Today, I do know what it means to me. It's a reflective poem to myself about coming to grips with trying and ultimately failing.
Sorry about the voice crack in the song (See last statement from previous paragraph).
The title of the album is based on a popular talk by former Governing Body member Dan Sydlik entitled "Don't Lose Heart."
The singing styles I used in this album also vary drastically track to track from deliberately lazy (My Blood) to outright jarring on "Opossum" (the song I like most and I think others will hate the most from this album.)
Losing Heart is a 16 minute low-budget artsy-fartsy album that is special to me personally. It was an attempt to capture certain despondent feelings many Jehovah's Witnesses experience. However, it is not an album I expect many people to enjoy and it doesn't best represent the musical spirit I want to share with the public. If you want to listen to it anyways, you can click here.
"Plants," the final song on this album, is a more accessible exception to the rest of the album. I tried to set it up as the climax in chronological and thematic context with the other songs.
One occasion after performing this song publicly in Shanghai a young woman came up to me and mentioned that while she liked the song, she wanted clarification as to what it meant. She asked if I was metaphorically alluding to the challenge a guy has when wooing a woman, or perhaps if I was literally talking about houseplants. Others asked if I was talking about the challenges of getting a Bible Student to progress--especially en lieu of the 'dragon' reference.
I think I was supposed to say something like, 'It's whatever you make it out to be,' but instead I probably replied with an ineloquent but honest 'I don't really know.'
Today, I do know what it means to me. It's a reflective poem to myself about coming to grips with trying and ultimately failing.
Sorry about the voice crack in the song (See last statement from previous paragraph).
.JPG)
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