Photo taken the morning of the Sunrise Festival
I wanted to share with you the process that happened around the writing of my newest song, "Return of the Sun". It was written using Facebook to invite people into the writing process. What ended up happening was inspirational!
As the town of Inuvik was celebrating the Sunrise Festival, and having this gig lined up, I wanted to write a song about the sunrise. The theme was chosen for me. As I saw it, it was begging for a song to be written about it. Chatting with my wife about wanting to write this song, she suggested that I put it out on Facebook and have people provide their ideas on the theme. The theme was universal enough that it could work...yet, inviting people into it, into my songwriting process, collaborating like that, the pressure created to write a song, the expectation from folks that it would happen, were all causing me to procrastinate...until two days before, I thought if this is gonna happen, I better do it now.
So I jumped in and asked for HELP! I created a post on Facebook telling everyone about the show and explained what I wanted to do. I invited people to offer their thoughts and feelings, to think of their senses when they think of the sun rising....words, phrases etc. I wanted raw, impulsive ideas, hoping to invite people into their intuitive reaction to the rising of the sun. Probably within 5 minutes in the comments, I received my first line from an old public school friend in Ontario..."Like a rose kissed by the morning dew that feeling you get when the sun shines on you." What a great line eh!! I was like wow, this is going to be easier than I thought!!
It was such a great line, I didn't want others to feel intimidated that they had to come up with a rhyme, so I posted that it didn't have to rhyme, just words are good too, then I said, "Don’t hold back!" I recieved what I was looking for! As people commented their thoughts, I would copy and paste them into a word document in the order they came in. Within half an hour, I had a full page of beautiful thoughts and ideas, some phrases, some words from people all across Canada! What an inspiration!! I tried to save all of the ideas. I think this is most of what people offered:
The night turns white, earth embrace so bright
The soothing sun returns
A cold night, her warm light
A night burning bright
The sun peeks on through
Walking out in the cold, baby snuggled in close
Like a rose kissed by the morning dew
That feeling you get when the sun shines on you
Majestic beauty, new beginnings as the sun returns once more
Here comes the sun, cabin fever be gone
Cold night, warm heart, hearth
People of tent town built this town alongside government workers
Welcome back the sun
Winter's solstice solace...
A night burning bright...
We find our place...
In Earth's loving embrace...
Warm light
Peekaboo sunrise
Winter solstice has come and gone bring on the sun big bright and strong.
Like a rose kissed by the morning dew that feeling you get when the sun shines on you.
Rising Sun
Rising spirit of the people
The soothing sun...
Seeking solace for our souls...
Night turns white...
In the Earth's bright embrace... Earths embrace so bright….
It then became a process of organizing the ideas into phrases, then in some way taking the phrases and prioritizing them into what were the most powerful ones to use...it was a case of manipulating the ideas into a cohesive story. The chorus was written very quickly...I used generalized phrases about the sunrsie that worked really nice together. It became this:
Chorus:
Winter solstice has come and gone
Bring on the sun big bright and strong.
Rising to the top of the world
Bringing the spirit of the people along
We embrace your return
As the chorus came together, a respected Elder in Town, made a quick comment about the people of Tent Town building Inuvik alongside government workers…this intrigued me and I messaged him for more info. He told me the whole story about his family moving from the land of the Delta region into what the people called, "Tent Town" back in the 1950's. A sea of tents along boot lake creek and beyond, nestled in along the river. The government was building Inuvik at that time and people moved there for different reasons. Some for work, some to be with their families. He talked about the transition that people felt from land and traplines to tents, stickbuilt homes and matchbox houses and utilidors (Inuvik’s above ground sewage system). It was a wonderful story and it lent itself to being the backbone of the song. But it needed a beginning...
A friend from Ontario, wrote, “Walking in the cold, baby snuggled in close.” This line and the Elders story was the inspiration to write the song about a young Inuvialuit women walking back to her tent with her baby, feeling the cold and yearning for the warmth of the sun. It became an opportunity to tell a tidbit of the Tent Town story and the beginning of Inuvik. Here are the next two verses:
Verse 1: It was 1956, a young mother walked out in the cold
Her baby snuggled against her in a moosehide fold
She found their tent nestled in along boot lake creek
She lights the lantern waiting for the sun she seeks
Verse 2: The people of tent town worked hard out in the cold
Building this town under a dark blanket I’m told
Alongside government workers they toiled as one
Inuvik was born with the return of the sun
By this time I was totally inspired by all the ideas that the last verse just poured out. The word “solace” was provided and I really wanted to use it. This is what it became;
Verse 3: With my eyes closed I feel your warm embrace
Washing over me like a warm blanket’s grace
I’m seeking solace as the dark, biting wind blows
Opening my eyes as the red dawn grows
The song was recorded by CBC this way but I realize now that the last verse needs to come back to the young mother waiting for the sun....SHE is the one who is experiencing the warmth, not me. So I've decided to change it to this:
With her eyes closed she feels the warm embrace
Washing over her like a warm blanket’s grace
She's seeking solace as the dark, biting wind blows
Opening her eyes as the red dawn grows
The whole process took two days. Trying to incorporate as many ideas as I could was tricky but it was energizing and brought people together to reflect on something we all experience. It was collaborative, yet as a songwriter, it was dreamy. I had the freedom to choose the direction, respecting and incorporating people’s thoughts to create the best song possible….the creative process at work. As I write this blog, I’m thinking about how I felt during the process…alive and creating. Thank you all for reading and providing the inspiration!! Grateful. Here it is recorded on my Macbook in garageband…enjoy!
I think we all can say that last nights concert by the Tragically Hip was full of iconic moments with our band. Thank you to CBC for airing such a show. I cried along with everyone else and could'nt hold back the emotion as I was flooded with memories and sadness. Inspired by the courage on the stage. Reflecting on what those songs meant to me as a youngster growing up in small town Ontario. "Up to Here" accompanied me on a bicycle trip across Canada in my early twenties. I wore out that tape in the walkman on my hip. Many of us will remember where we were when we saw The Hip play on August 20, 2016. I was sitting in a rental car at West Edmonton mall parking lot, streaming on my phone, alternating between phone and radio, between tears, awe inspired. With all that happened last night in Kingston and the 30 years before, here's poem evolving into song called, for now,
The aftermath of the Alex Cuba show is complete with some new shots from James Mackenzie photography. Huge thanks to James for taking and providing them to me. Check out more from my website at 
