This is not usually the kind of post I publish on this website so if this doesn't interest you, feel free to just skip this one. :)
I saw the musical, Godspell, a handful of months ago and loved it! Many of the songs are just fabulous. One song in particular really stuck with me and I couldn't get it off my mind. It brought me to tears on more than one occasion. And I knew I had to record a cover of it.
I went into the studio and recorded three takes and even though they weren't perfect, I decided to just use the best one of those three, imperfections and all. The raw and unpolished feeling was ok with me as I just had to get the message of this song off my heart and recorded in that moment of my life. My talented friend, Ezra, mixed and produced it for me since that's beyond my realm of expertise. So here it is, Beautiful City from Godspell, warts and all, if you care to check it out. :)
Credits:
Vocals recorded by J.D. in the Porchlight Family Media studio.
Piano track by Instrumental Tracks. Used with permission.
Produced and mixed by Ezra of Serenity Sounds.
Songwriters: Stephen Schwartz
Beautiful City lyrics © S.I.A.E. Direzione Generale, NEW CADENZA MUSIC CORP
More detail for those who care to read further:
If you're unfamiliar with Godspell, the play is a modern retelling of the life of Jesus, as if He came to earth in the modern-day and in one scene the character of Jesus sings this song to his disciples. I'm sure there are many ways to interpret the lyrics, as is the case with much poetry, but I interpret them to be talking about Heaven, or more accurately, the New Jerusalem, where Christ has built a city of man (a place for his bride) not a city of angels. But it could also be interpreted more abstractly, as the church on earth is a haven for the weary pilgrim and that it is a sanctuary from all the trouble in this world. And frankly, the message about rebuilding out of the rubble really spoke to me personally. The past few years have held some very rough and dark days for me and these ideas of renewal and rebirth spoke to exactly where I was in life when I saw the play so the hopeful message resonated with me.
I saw the musical, Godspell, a handful of months ago and loved it! Many of the songs are just fabulous. One song in particular really stuck with me and I couldn't get it off my mind. It brought me to tears on more than one occasion. And I knew I had to record a cover of it.
I went into the studio and recorded three takes and even though they weren't perfect, I decided to just use the best one of those three, imperfections and all. The raw and unpolished feeling was ok with me as I just had to get the message of this song off my heart and recorded in that moment of my life. My talented friend, Ezra, mixed and produced it for me since that's beyond my realm of expertise. So here it is, Beautiful City from Godspell, warts and all, if you care to check it out. :)
Credits:
Vocals recorded by J.D. in the Porchlight Family Media studio.
Piano track by Instrumental Tracks. Used with permission.
Produced and mixed by Ezra of Serenity Sounds.
Songwriters: Stephen Schwartz
Beautiful City lyrics © S.I.A.E. Direzione Generale, NEW CADENZA MUSIC CORP
More detail for those who care to read further:
If you're unfamiliar with Godspell, the play is a modern retelling of the life of Jesus, as if He came to earth in the modern-day and in one scene the character of Jesus sings this song to his disciples. I'm sure there are many ways to interpret the lyrics, as is the case with much poetry, but I interpret them to be talking about Heaven, or more accurately, the New Jerusalem, where Christ has built a city of man (a place for his bride) not a city of angels. But it could also be interpreted more abstractly, as the church on earth is a haven for the weary pilgrim and that it is a sanctuary from all the trouble in this world. And frankly, the message about rebuilding out of the rubble really spoke to me personally. The past few years have held some very rough and dark days for me and these ideas of renewal and rebirth spoke to exactly where I was in life when I saw the play so the hopeful message resonated with me.