This tiny song is originally by Dan Snaith / Caribou, and can be heard in its original form here. When I first heard it, the lyrics almost lost with Danâs soft-spoken delivery over electronic tones, I felt like it had been written directly to me. I wanted to pull it out of Caribouâs beautiful ambient soup and give voice to it on the piano.
This was recorded yesterday afternoon as Kendra worked on shovelling out our chicken barn and the kids played inside â you can hear some kid noises in the background, and I lose my way with the words a couple times, but wanted to share it with you because the mix of words and musics feel so rich and animating:
Lyrics:
Sister, I promise you I'm changing
You've heard broken promises, I know
If you want to changeâ
it,â
you must breakâ
it
Rip it up and something newâ
will grow
Brother, you're the one that must make changes
No one else can do it if you don't
Surely, you'll have noticed things are changing
I can't do it all on my own
Reflecting:
What stirs in you as you hear this? As always, before offering my own interpretation to you, Iâd love it if you paused to consider what you think âitâ is that must be changed, broken, ripped up.
Who is sister? Who is brother?
What is the work?
Who are you in this?
My interpretation
I sing this to my sisters in the struggle towards a renewed world, and to my own partner, spoken from the pathway of healing. Where systems have caused hurt to women, especially the church and its various teachings, I pledge to unlearn the toxicity in me and be part of dismantling that which continues to oppress. When I think of how the effects of patriarchy have created conditions that cause suffering, I know the first work to do is to heal the âinner patriarchâ in me.
But only the first two lines are sung by what I imagine to be the male narrator: just the promise to change, and the acknowledgement of broken promises. The rest, I imagine, is best sung back by a womanâs voice: itâs a bold encouragement to not just change in a subtle way, but to do the deep work. That the systems are poisoned at the root, that the hurt continues to blossom out, and that a promise isnât enough.
âBrother, you're the one that must make changes â no one else can do it if you don't.â Changing a patriarchal society depends, in part, on men doing the work of letting go and moving towards healing. And the âI canât do it all on my ownâ â the burdens being carried today are more than can be quantified.
Shift from power. Let go. Listen. Join the work.
Project update
Iâve booked 2 days in the studio with producer Jonathan Anderson for the last week in March, coming up next month. Weâre currently working through my list of 25+ songs to determine which ones to focus on together.
In case youâve missed it, Iâve revitalized this subscription list to focus on sharing song demos / home recordings from a process of personal growth and exploration Iâve been in during the past couple years. The full story is here. Iâll always share the songs themselves for free, and have enabled âpaid subscriptionsâ to support my investment in producing and releasing these tracks as a full album.
Three song demos Iâve shared so far are:
Thanks for following along!
Kevan,
I think this is very cool and brave and amazing. It takes a lot of courage to stand back and look at things differently, and I hope your new project is filling your cup.
Wishing you all the best and following your journey:)
Christine Sullivan
A beautiful song and played beautifully Kevan. The feelings of pain and struggle are real and the hurt that seems overwhelming, but you can hear the hope and help in it too.
These are great đ