Story Behind The Song

"Better Angels".....The Story Behind the Song Our inspiration was Abraham Lincoln's heartfelt quote from his first inaugural address. 1861 "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the Better Angels of our Nature." JD and I started writing the music with the same soulful 6/8 rhythm as our song "Already Home" because we have always loved that drum feel. I put in my request to the song angels for lyrical ideas, and spent a couple of relatively sleepless nights listening to phrases that came through in that magical space between dreams and waking reality: "Seeing the world through the eyes of a higher vision." Images flooded in. Hope and Heart showed up: "The essential invisible heart of all creation, living inside of us now and singing us home." JD got out his guitar and tuned the strings to DADGAD, which knocked us out of our ordinary way of looking at chord structures. Soon we had a compelling rhythmic foundation, and the melody took shape easily on top of that. JD switched from guitar to piano, and we recorded the basic outline of the song in our studio, with our vocals taking the lead. Christian Teele added the perfect drum track, and we traveled to Steamboat Springs so that Brent Rowan could lay down his brilliant guitar parts. Once we got our dear friend and country music singer Kellie Coffey to sing high harmony we were almost there. But we felt like the song needed a high plaintive Irish voice, so we added Nashville session player Jim Hoke on penny whistle. And now this track feels to us like an exhilarating and uplifting ride, from start to finish.

Song Description

"Better Angels" comes from Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, in 1861: "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the Better Angels of our Nature."

Lyrics

Better Angels
Words and Music by Jan Garrett & JD Martin

Seeing the world through the eyes of a higher vision
Freely feeling the love that's breathing us all
Openly singing the song that holds us together
Willingly lending a hand to tear down the walls
Calling our Better Angels together
Calling our Better Angels as we go
Better angels....Better angels....Better angels
Calling on our better angels

Who brings the breeze at dawn to the mountain meadows
How do the wild grasses know how to grow
The essential invisible heart of all creation
Living inside of us now, and singing us home
Calling our Better Angels together
Calling our Better Angels as we go
Better angels....Better angels....Better angels
Calling on our better angels
The better angels of our nature
The companions of our soul
The ones we can count on to guide us wherever we go
Though the dangers may be daunting
We know that we're not alone
We're lifted up....taking the high road home

Better angels....Better angels....Better angels
Calling on our better angels
Better angels....Better angels....Better angels
Calling on our better angels

© 2018 Foolchild Music & Gill 'n' Goldie Music (ASCAP)