[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaX_x7Nzlfw&feature=youtu.be]

One of the things I love to do most in life is create music. And eat burgers. But if I had to choose one over the other (heaven forbid!), I’d probably choose creating music. And the icing on the cake is when I get to collaborate with other people, and make good things even better!

I wrote this song for a friend who is going through a really hard time right now. It’s for him, even though he doesn’t know it. I’ll tell him someday. In the meantime, I want to share it with you, with the hope that it encourages you and reminds you of the harsh goodness of storms and the peace (and dare I say rest?) that is found in the middle of them.

(If you read my last post “Things to do in a Day”, then you’ll understand the song even more. Go ahead! Read it!)

A huge THANK YOU to my dear friend Bre McDaniel, who helped me with the arrangement, and also sang all the harmonies (and a small piece of the melody) and played ukulele on this recording. Although we’ve sung together in the past, this was our first time recording together, and we had a blast doing it. More to come, I hope!

If you’re interested in hearing Bre’s own music, check out her latest EP: http://bremcdaniel.bandcamp.com/album/hello-starlight

Back to me – I really hope someday I can record this for realz, with a piano and cello and drums and bass and… but for now, here’s my homemade garageband version, recorded in an apartment on 12 Avenue in Vancouver, with traffic driving by and creaks in the floorboards. Hey, at least you know it’s real. 🙂

Enjoy!

midwestern heart

this is love in the middle
of a hurricane
i called to the eye of the storm
when i called your name

i know you and your born-strong
midwestern heart
the ground shakes when we’re pulled apart
and pulls us in

i want to hold you and keep you here
i want to burn my fear

(chorus)
so let’s wait for a minute
let’s take a step
we don’t have to know the way
let’s slow down the hands
let’s give it breath
it’s things we get to do in a day
(these streaks of light
whisper life
and show the way)

we’ll make it through but it won’t be us
in the end
we’ll be better men by then
storms do that

i know you and your born-strong
midwestern heart
the rain’ll wash light from the dark
and wash us free

________________

© Stephanie Ratcliff and stephanieratcliff.com, 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Stephanie Ratcliff and stephanieratcliff.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.