Annie's Song

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One of my very favorite songs. . . My cover of John Denver's beautiful, heartfelt love song and prayer, Annie's Song. I've composed a new choral arrangement for the Instrumental Bridge. This song has a spiritual significance for me, and I sing it in the manner of a prayer.

Annie's Song as prayer. John Denver wrote Annie's Song for Annie Martel, who said this about it: "Initially it was a love song and it was given to me through him, and yet for him it became a bit like a prayer." John Denver put it this way: "Annie's Song is my most popular song around the world. . . Noel Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary said sometimes he didn’t feel so much like the writer, but rather the instrument of that which wants to be written. That’s what this felt like to me. Annie's Song is a song for all lovers and, in its deepest sense, a prayer to the love in us all." Many others experience the song that way too. Kristi Gonsalves-McCabe, director of University Ministry at Regis University in Denver, writes: ”It’s a love song to God — almost a 'finding God in all things' anthem."

And so that is how I sing this song: as a prayer to the Divine, as an invocation of the Divine, and as an expression of viraha, the heart's yearning for perfect oneness with the Divine.

It's a waltz! I love waltzes — and it has been humorous to discover (repeatedly), when I go to cover a favorite song, that it is in 3/4 ("waltz") time, but I had never consciously realized that before. Annie's Song is just such a waltz. Moon River is another example. A couple of my own compositions also have "waltz" sections in them: Claudia and The Crayon Rainbow In My Heart.

A song to fill up your senses. I thought it would be enjoyable — and appropriate for the song — for the listener to have the actual experience of having their senses "filled" by steadily increasing the volume at the beginning of the song. . . just to the point of pleasurable fullness (not pain), though!

Singing style. When I sing, I generally use a lot of vibrato. For me, it is a very natural way to express feeling through music, and it comes effortlessly, without my thinking about it.

So when I began rehearsing to sing this song, I was surprised to discover that vibrato absolutely does not suit this song! John Denver's natural singing style has very little vibrato, and he crafts songs that sound good with that kind of voice. This song has a special kind of purity, and that purity requires singing with no vibrato.

So, though you, the listener, may not notice it, I had to completely change my singing style for this song! At first it was quite difficult to not sing vibrato, because I was so used to it. But it soon became easy, as I got used to the singing style. I had wondered if removing the vibrato would also remove the feeling expression in my voice. But I needn't have worried! It turns out that feeling always finds a way to express itself, and the feeling is evident — just expressed differently, without the vibrato.

New choral section. Most of the songs I cover are songs I have known and loved for years. They have resided in my memory for a long time. And sometimes, when I actually start rehearsing a song, I'm surprised at the difference between the original recording and my memory of the song! Often it represents me combining myself — and my own songwriting craft — with the song, and "remembering" (actually, creating) something which is a mixture of the song and me.

And so, my "memory" of Annie's Song was that it had an elaborate chroal arrangement in the Instrumental Bridge, along the lines of Denver's song, Calypso (though not as rousing, since Annie's Song is more prayer than sea chantey!). So I was surprised, when I played the original recording, to hear something much simpler than I had imagined.

But I really liked that "remembered", more elaborate choral arrangement! So I set about creating it, and was happy with what I came up with, and the feeling it adds to the song, when listened to as a whole.

All is well right now in the Deep of the world. At the very end of the choral section, I add a melody with an esoteric, spiritual meaning. I sing it in a deep bass background voice, that is sung in the background as the lead voice sings, "Come let me love you. Come love me again." In this audio clip, I've removed the lead voice, so you can hear that deep background voice clearly:

That deep voice and reassuring melody is meant to be the Voice of the Divine, whose Presence can be felt (and Voice can be heard) in the "Deep of the world". That Divine Depth is like the calm in the ocean's depths, ever-present, regardless of all the turmoil that is occurring on the surface. And the beauty of nature can serve as a bridge to God, a way to locate, and be filled and dissolved by that Happiness that is always present in the Deep of the world, because it is our actual Native State.

This is the key to my version of this song, and the understanding and feeling that allows me to sing it as a prayer to and invocation of the Divine.

Many quotes come to mind as I write this, that touch upon what I'm saying in various ways. Here are a few.

From poet, Robert Browning (his poem, Pippa's World):

From 14th century Christian mystic, Julian of Norwich (in her book, The Revelations of Divine Love):

From spiritual teacher, Adi Da Samraj: