Be Brave video & Prefuse73 remixxxxx
September 20, 2011 · Print This Article
The year 2010 was not the most joyous one for me to get a smart phone and start reading the news. Maybe I was sheltered before, or maybe I was recovering from my own tragedies, so that I couldn’t take in what was happening on a larger scale. But I broke down & traded in my old phone for a screen slider and started to look around. Environmental disasters were in the headlines everyday- a tsunami in Chile, an oil spill in the Gulf, a flood in Pakistan, an image of Adelie penguins hovering over their eggs which were submerged by snowmelt caused by global warming. Human injustices also seemed to increase. The numbers of child sex slavery were astounding. Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo was held under house arrest and not allowed to take the prize awarded for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China. In November, the great composer Gorecki died and I remember that weekend clearly, listening to the work and reading the lyrics in his beautiful Symphony No. 3, the lament of a mother who has lost her son in war. In listening to his music, I began weeping over human injustice. This was the context in which I started writing.
At first the song “Be Brave” began with a chant “I do dear Dodo I do dance for you”. Yes, a terrible lyric, but that was the sentiment I was reaching for. I wanted to make my own rain dance, a way of calling upon the gods to bring change. I started researching (and by “research” I mean, watching YouTube) the traditions of prayer dances, watching wise old Cherokee chiefs talk about nature, about our relationship to the earth and to one another. Finally, the lyrics started to come for the song- a lament, a lecture to myself for behavioral change, a demand for bravery and for hard work.
I am a bird in water, a whale on sand, I am the flood, the fire, the oil spill…
Just beautiful…love it.
oh my wowness! Be Brave is fantastic. i cannot stop listening to the EP. all 3 versions over and over. It’s phenomenal! You are one of my greatest inspirations! Thank you for this music! And for working with Son Lux again! Brilliant collab!
I just want to thank you for the amazing show in Carlsbad. Can’t wait for the new album and I’m pretty sure you melted my face with that performance of Golden Star and Inside a Boy! I hope to catch you again for the Seattle show so, until then, happy performances!
Shara, I’m so bummed out, I will be in Denton a couple of days after your show. Your new Album is amazing and my girlfriend and I really wanted to see you. we are traveling 1200 miles to go to a music festival in Austin and was stopping in Denton to pick up friends. Please come back and play some shows in the Denver area, that’s where we are now. Good luck on your tour! PS is there any way to get a signed record from you, that would be amazing!
Hi Shara,
Thanks again for coming to Houston. It was an amazing show and I am looking forward to seeing you again in the near future. i spoke to you for a second after the show and mentioned to you a band that I would like for you to hear. The name of the band is Pterodactyl Plains from Montana. give them a listen. I think they would be a great fit to open for you someday. Here is a link to a few of their videos. When you have a minute listen. Kier and Jessica are great, and they love chocolate:-)
Have a great day!
Greg
Stunned by the music, your present-ness, lovely lyrics, wild visuals and compassion, you have 253 new fans in Newfoundland… and climbing. keep up fantastic work, check out the sound symposium… great fun here every 2 years…you’d be welcome. heh.
best,
M