Rediscovering Sarah

It all started with me listening to Sarah McLachlan's Christmas album, "Wintersong"...cos I was in the festive mood (and she's got one of the best Christmas albums around). And Muffin was telling me how much he's getting into Sarah's music....and today I saw her newly released album, "Closer-the best of Sarah McLachlan." I nearly bought it...but it was quite pricey at That CD Shop, and I have half of the songs in that album so I stopped myself.

But I was listening to the 2 new tracks in this album on her website ...and I just started falling in love with her voice and her music all over again. If you're talking about the best female vocalists out there, I would have to say, Sarah is queen. Yeah...way before Brooke Fraser even came into the scene. :) This all feels quite nostaglic....I had a little Sarah McLachlan obsession when I was in JC and NUS (quite like Felicity)! haha! I would play her cds until they got all scratched, and I had to buy 2nd copies.

So I think I'm gonna buy her album when I get a chance to. I was quite moved by her two new songs, "U Want Me 2" and "Don't Give Up On Us". They are based on the recent breakdown of her marriage to her drummer, Ashwin Sood, with whom she has two daughters. I guess I was impressed because her lyrics and voice reveal so much honesty and vulnerability about that difficult journey.

Sometimes I still get shocked by how starkly honest some of my fav artistes are in their music...but I'm learning that it's a journey I have to take in my writing/music too. To bare one's heart to the world is not an easy thing. In fact, during a conversation about songwriting, I once told Dawnie that some songs are better left unwritten....because the pain is just so raw. But something a dear brother once said encourages me, "your life experiences are meant to be shared..."

My heart trembled when I heard him say that. Perhaps because I knew he was right, and that I cannot run away for long. After all, the songs that are most powerful and memorable, are those that are true. That word intrigues me. It reverberates through one's soul.

[Listen to the songs on her "Closer" album here]

[Muffin: I hope you are happy with my new posts. haha! Muffin checks my blog daily, he says its like his "Daily Bread". Oh man.]