I wrote this song with two services in mind. Well, three, actually. But the third one was a ceremony. It all started when… Rabbi Daniel Roberts hired me to teach and lead music for the confirmation service at Temple Emanu El in Cleveland, Ohio. The service included a song to be sung at the time [...]
Archive > January 2006
Hallelujah Land
This was the song that started it all! It has rather inauspicious and humble beginnings. I wrote it in about three hours one late night, and what you hear on the CD is pretty much the way it came out that night. One evening, after the kids (and my wife) went to bed, I sat [...]
Jerusalem In My Heart
Here’s another example of writing out of need. The middle schoolers where I taught were having what would amount to be a Shabbaton, an overnight at the school, but it started at Havdalah (Saturday night) and went through Sunday. The theme was “Jerusalem.” I was asked to come for the evening and lead Havdalah, and [...]
Standing At The Bottom of Ararat
I’ve always loved the Noah story. And I always thought it had much more to offer than what we usually read on the surface. As a songwriter, I’m always looking for that interesting and vivid image, or unusual turn of phrase. “Standing at the bottom of Ararat” provided that and became the “hook.” The first [...]
Sukkat Shalom
This is one of the rare instances in which I incorporated liturgy or text into a song. This text spoke to me. “A shelter of peace spreading out over all of us. A shelter of compassion, of life, of peace.” (Roughly translated.) Again, the image is vivid and multi-layered. Though this text is not usually [...]
One Life
This song is about second chances. If you’re lucky enough to get one, run with it. Musically, I was paying homage to the first really successful group I was in in Chicago, Illinois. It was an a capella music and comedy group called Four Guys Standing Around Singing. That’s all me you hear on the [...]
Early In The Morning (Late At Night)
I wrote this one in the car while driving home to Cleveland, Ohio from a Children’s Music Network conference in New York State. As these kinds of conferences tend to do, I was energized musically and spiritually. Though I don’t recommend this, I literally jotted down they words as the came to me while zipping [...]
With These Hands
Generally, I am an impatient songwriter. Song ideas usually don’t sit very long with me. I don’t mind the process of writing, but I really enjoy having written. That being said, this song took me over a year to complete. I had this idea about hands. I liked the image. Think of all the things [...]
Joshua’s Band
I think of this song as having three distinct sections. There’s the chorus, the verse, and each verse has a little tag (or maybe each chorus has a little intro). I’ll start with the tag. One time at a conference, I heard a wonderful d’var Torah (commentary) on the parting of the Red Sea. The [...]
Wisdom of the Heart
I wrote this one for the same middle school graduation I referenced earlier. There wasn’t, as they say, a dry eye in the house. Thanks to Julie Silver for spending a day in the studio with me do the backing vocals. She’s a mensch.
