…Story Behind The Song
Listen:
This is one of the 2 ‘blood’ songs on the ‘Declarations’ CD – the other being ‘The Blood Of Grace.’ And they were written only a few weeks apart.
This song was actually inspired in part by Sarah Palin – so much so, that before the release of our CD, I actually lobbied the band to take the name “Palin.” But because it was a bit narrowing and tied to a personality rather than a mission, we chose A.W.E.band – which really stood for the entirety of what we’re doing.
Sarah’s son Trig, born with Down's Syndrome, and the birth of her daughter’s baby under less than ideal circumstances COULD have resulted in a double-abortion scenario (according to the world’s justifications for killing the unborn). But the Palin family stood strong upon the sanctity of life. The Palin’s story resonates with me very personally, because my nephew, Nicholas Reagan Madeira (named for Ronald Reagan because Nicky was born on the day Pres. Reagan died), was also born with Down's Syndrome. I have since learned that about 90% of children diagnosed with Down’s prenatally are aborted. Only 10% are ever given the chance of life. Only 10%!!!
And now, a confession. Most who know me now would never have suspected this, but from my teens through early 20’s, I was pronouncedly pro-abortion – and this despite encountering God and being filled with His Spirit when I was 18. In fact, in my junior year of high school, I gave a fiery speech advocating population control and mandatory abortions – for Americans!!!
You see, I was a liberal’s liberal. I really understand why many of those who either advocate or accept abortion do so. It’s not so much what they do believe as it is what they DON’T believe. There is a foundation missing from one’s moral base – a value set that is foreign to their world view. And even bringing people to forgiveness of sins through Christ will not, alone, change one’s opinion.
This is why churches cannot dispense the concept of discipleship. Nor can they be silent about the issue. Stand up and spell out that it is sin, and why… even Christians will not embrace pro-life unless they are taught. The bible describes it as a ‘renewing of the mind’ or having ‘the mind of Christ.’ As we are taught eternal truths from God’s Word, it causes us to reexamine our value base. As truth agrees with God’s Spirit inside of us, we embrace it as foundational to what we now know to be true.
Sarah and Todd will probably never hear this song. But if even one person decides to spare their child, it will have served its purpose.
All of my songs begin music first, then lyrics to fit the emotional message of the music. The first musical manifestation was the opening strum sequence of the acoustic guitar, which ended up final cut, unaltered from its original rhythm or key. It just seemed so sullen that I knew it could be a believable vehicle for a most serious issue.
When I got the opening lyric ‘Silent, they cry,’ I think I began crying immediately. I knew what this was supposed to be about. I knew it was to be our second ‘blood song.’ But I was concerned that most people would find it so distasteful, it might actually alienate the people I wanted to reach. (memory moment…I believe I was driving around in
But we forged on, intending to make this the most powerful anti-abortion anthem that music could possibly become. It was weeks, and hours-long drives (some of which would yield only ONE pivotal word) before the lyric was completed. I was determined that it had to be the most powerful piece of English language I had ever written. Too much would hang in the balance.
The lyrics of the verses tell 3 stories – the first verse is the voice of the unborn baby; the second the voice of the mother; the third the voice of the nation – a prophetic verse of sorts. Cathryn, who is only 16, sang the voice of the baby. Natasha, whose voice is a little older, sang the young mother. And Denise, whose voice is the most declarative of the 3, sang the latter.
Musically, this song was starting to become everything ‘out in the air’ that I heard initially in my head – which, as a writer, is extremely gratifying. However, the choruses were musically perplexing. They just didn’t seem to be developing right. Jason and I had a late night session kicking this around. We may have even had a sequenced drum track down just to help us experiment??? But at the end of our wits, I turned off the drum track – and that was IT! The subtlety of ghostly voices weeping amidst a solemn piano seemed perfect to grab the emotion of the lyric.
We were showing the idea to Dan the following night, and he said ‘what about a heartbeat behind it?’ So he laid down a kick drum, which we echoed and mixed as a thumping. Then, as I was playing with the timing of the echo, I hear Dan banging around on a little kid’s xylophone… unexpectedly, he stumbled into a part which seemed to accentuate the innocence of the child that was taken, and it stuck.
The bridge section was really just a time of contemplation and wailing, with the subtext of God’s Word “If my people turn (called by My name)… I will heal their land,” which was condensed from 2Chr. 7:14.
After the gentle refrain, the brokenness and wrath bursts forth – the cumulative blood of nearly 50,000,000 dead children cries out from the ground, in the agony of its reality. The final ‘My God, what did we do?” is the only place where I resolved this line on the major chord. To me, this line HAD to be like coming down hard on this emotional trampoline, only to be propelled even harder than you thought you would. This is the emotional crescendo of the entire song. If we couldn’t portray God’s brokenness over His nation having rejected Him right HERE, this song wouldn’t work.
My poor mixdown engineer (Marc Frigo - of Frigo Recording, Boalsburg, PA www.frigorecording.com) worked hours upon hours with me, until we felt we had the power and bigness of the end music just right, to carry convincingly the emotional intensity of this subject.
The higher guitar solo at the end is somewhat optional, in that we’ve mixed a radio version which cuts it out entirely. This way, the song comes well into contention for radio airplay.
Our prayer is that somehow lives could be spared because this song and its witness exist. It is also our prayer that, as we approach 40 years of Roe v. Wade, our efforts can help contribute to legislation which outlaws this holocaust permanently from American soil, and that we may preside over a national return to Jesus Christ as Lord of us all.
Michael Warner, songwriter & A.W.E.band producer