The Story of Us All: A Theme Song for 2023
As we begin the new year, our hearts are filled with hope, in anticipation of all the possibilities and opportunities ahead in 2023. This is also the time we feel the most fear and trepidation about what unknown dangers may come. At the start of our collective heroes’ journey, this is the Call to Adventure.
The Call to Adventure is one of the initial stages of the Hero’s Journey, disrupting the comfort of our ordinary world, while presenting us with new challenges or quests to be undertaken.
But will We Heed the Call?
At Folktellers, we created a theme song addresses the beckoning for all of us to face our fears and break out of our old ways to enter the new year with a renewed energy and fresh perspective.
We are all on a journey of some kind. As Folktellers, we are on a quest to uncover the stories, myths, and legends that connect us all across the globe. We wanted to find a way to help bring people together through music. As a transmedia entertainment company, we also knew we needed a song to capture the spirit and message of the storytelling universe we created.
The themes we were trying to capture in our theme song were wrapped around the idea that we all have an important story tell, and all of our narratives are intertwined and woven together, creating the beautiful tapestry that makes up our shared, human existence. We believed in the modern hero’s journey, where we are not the heroes, but the guides, calling others forward and lifting them up until we all rise together.
Our belief was that the right song, with proper lyrics, sound, and scoring could encapsulate the storytelling universe we had spent over a decade in creating. If people could connect with a single song, then the rest of the Folktellers Universe would open up to them.
Before we ever went into the studio, we decided to focus on the images that would drive our theme forward into the music. We chose the concept of a patchwork quilt, where each block of the blanket represented a story from world mythology. Stitched together, this quilt would become the image of togetherness and global storytelling that we hoped to convey in our song.
Many hours were spent in the studio, discussing this approach of how we could tap into multiple cultures, sounds and songs to give voice and power to a song drawn up from myriad places around the world. Before a single note was struck, we wrote the following lyrics:
My story’s yours, your story’s mine (your story’s mine)
It may take some time but together we’ll be alright
The time has finally come
(And) we must learn to rise
Awaken from your slumber
And begin to fly
We have a story in our fight for what’s right, what’s wrong
They’ll tell our glory if we rise and we all stand strong
Don’t fear the night, in the shadow, we’re the light
You have a story, we have a story
We will fight
My story’s yours, your story’s mine (your story’s mine)
It may take some time, but together we’ll be alright
The time has finally come
(and) we must learn to rise
Awaken from your slumber
Wield the Sword of Light
We have a story, in our fight for what’s right, what’s wrong
They’ll tell our glory, if we rise and we all stand strong
Don’t fear the night, in the shadow, we’re the light
You have a story, we have a story
We will fight
There’s a power in the air, It’s the story we all share
Together we’ll be fine.
The Folktellers partnered with III Worlds Music (Allen and Randy Lynch) and Death By Lipstick Productions (Jaunty Meek and Lexi Jones) to take on this international, musical challenge.
Once the lyrics were finalized, the team arrived for production at the famous Disc Studio in Detroit and set about creating the sounds and music that might capture the quilted tapestry we all envisioned. Our artists and musicians began tapping into sounds and traditions from around the world including the mysterious Kulning call from Sweden, and the soulful wails of Irish Keening, echoing the storytelling song of the Sirens and Muses of mythology.
As African Americans with French and Native American blood (Choctaw/Sioux), our producers, Randy and Allen Lynch reached back into their own personal heritage, bringing in ethnic drums and melodies from the Native American North Country. They also incorporated African rhythms and percussion in the backing track, providing a primal rhythm that reverberates deep in the soul. They even mixed in the sounds of an automobile factory to give it that real Detroit vibe.
Allen Lynch noted,
“We knew was a lofty goal to mix in all these cultural pieces, it seemed an almost insurmountable task. Then we all just looked at each other and agreed that the story of the song had to start from within each one of us. Once we started working from the inside out, bringing a part of each of us to it, all the pieces just came together organically — like magic.”
Over the course of the next few weeks, the production gurus built the song into a thing of beauty. Lexi Jones brought such an incredible, ethereal power with her soaring voice that the entire studio vibrated with an energy unlike any ever experienced. Chills and tears all around.
Ultimately, after many weeks of collaboration and hard work, here is what we took away from this incredible experience:
We all have a story to tell. We are writing our own narratives every day, with every encounter and every interaction, whether we want to or not.
It doesn’t matter where we are in life or where we live in this world. It’s never too late to acknowledge the fact that we are all storytellers.
Our stories are important, our stories have meaning, and are meant to be shared with each other.
Now more than ever, we need to come together, share, and listen to our collective voices rise in song.
As the tide lifts all boats, so does the Story of Us All…
Here is hoping that 2023 is the best year for you. And here is our theme song, “The Story of Us All,” to help you along your journey:
https://youtu.be/Y2JengEpew8
