This song is about truly knowing the whole person that you love. We are all multidimensional people. We have different aspects that we share with others and different aspects that we keep private. Everyone has a personal and unique comfort level with sharing, and unfolding can take time. To really love someone in their entirety is to know the whole person, not just their public persona, but their quiet dreamer, their wild untamed disorganized free self, their playful relaxed self, their seeker, their unsure vulnerable side, as well as their polished presentation. This song is about sharing. It is reciprocal, "share with me... I'll show you..."
There are many songs about infatuation. There are many songs about getting to the threshold of "happily ever after." There are fewer songs about what it takes to achieve a long-lasting fulfilling happy partnership.
In October 2023, my husband and I will share our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. The way that we have achieved such a long, healthy, and happy marriage, while both being fulfilled human beings, is through self-knowledge, partner knowledge, continuous reflection, love, and respect for the living-shifting-growing dynamic that is always present. Life is change. We are committed to growing together, and as partners, we help each other, knowing the wholeness of each other. To truly know how to support, we must truly know what support means to the other person.
There are many songs about infatuation. There are many songs about getting to the threshold of "happily ever after." There are fewer songs about what it takes to achieve a long-lasting fulfilling happy partnership. It is possible. Many people have their own version of this story. "Let Me Love, The Whole Of You" is my song about getting to, and ultimately beyond the threshold of "Happily Ever After." If both people know the whole person and commit to each other from that place, there is a greater chance of achieving a long and happy relationship. I write songs. I also listen to a lot of songs and teach my vocal students a lot of songs. I think about lyrics every day for hours. It's my job. It's my life. I think about how messages delivered through music become part of us, sitting in our subconscious influencing us, and changing the way we see the world. So when I write, I try to represent the best of what I know, the healthiest food for the subconscious that I am capable of offering at any given moment. I try to provide healthy nourishment through my own perspective. The late great Arnie Lawrence, who I was lucky enough to study with back at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in the 1990s, used to say, "Sing about what you know." I know about loving the wholeness of a person and being loved in my own wholeness, and so I share what I know in this song with the world. As with all art, as an artist, my hope is that this song nourishes in the way that is best for whoever is listening. Be it surface-level fun, support for a deeper personal narrative, or something else entirely.
Listen to "Let Me Love the Whole of You" on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, or where ever you like to stream.
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