Genre: Opinion/Argumentation

If you have to be... 20/09/2012 This week, we introduce you to the song "Firstborn", the second transit on this special journey called Vague Souvenir. Performed live on the set of the Bla Bla Bla: The Live Show on June 3rd, as the journey was only beginning, this song had yet to make us travel to various other places. This blog doesn't aim at giving you any explanation of what "Firstborn" should be, but simply to provide you with some different personal perspectives about the song... A song can never be fully defined... You may examine and analyze the words, the notes, the melodies, but emotions are not bent to any logical explanation... In this blog, I present you how life changing the song has been for me... - Stephanie -- -- -- If you have to be... This has always impressed me... How 6 band members, each having a different understanding of the song, can come together and when they play, every note just comes together as if they were the same. They have different instruments... Different ways of playing... Different ways of expressing themselves... Different ways of being... They are different as we are all. Being different, I have learned, is nothing to be ashamed of. We are all different. We all have different beliefs. Different languages. Different tastes. We experience different things that touch us differently and we also express them in different ways... But somehow we are also all the same; we all want to be loved, we all want to belong, we all want to feel at peace, we all want to be proud of ourselves... And this is what I like about this song... When you take the time to read the lyrics, you can feel an honest wish, a wish to live according to these words, to find that peace we are all looking for. We all need to make choices. Some fundamental. Some trivial. No matter what they're for, we cannot avoid them. They come right back at us. We are fated to make choices. And this is what this song is about for me. Making choices and knowing why. Once you know, the perspective you have when making these choices takes a whole different turn... The choices aren't more or less difficult, only, you know why you make them. Though we may never understand the outcome of them to their full extent, those choices need to be made full heartedly. You need to be ready to give all you have. No compromise. But to make a choice, to give all that you have, takes some guts. To only look forward... without the fear of losing anything you may believe you have. This is when the true freedom can truly be found... When you can fly with your wings wide spread without the fear of never coming back "home"... Home is wherever your heart is as long as you are true to this heart. And this, the people I have around me have showed it to me countless times, in more ways that I could ever have imagined. Freedom is simply in being who you are... Choose your way because you believe in it. Make the best out of it and do it full-heartedly. Even if you stumble, you will always find that little light at your feet, guiding you where you need to go. Even if you fall, you will always find that hand reaching out to you, to help you get back up on your feet. If you have to be... Be whoever you truly want to be... full-heartedly. This is what the song "Firstborn" makes me think of... At least, for now... How wonderful it is to be whoever we want to be, to simply "be"... I will always remember that time when Alex came back on the set of the Bla Bla Bla: The Live Show, right after the live performance of this song... It was a very special, emotional moment... Although the performance had touched me deeply and moved me in more ways than I am aware right now, but to see Alex burst into tears as he spoke about what that song means to him caught me completely off guard... A moment that was true, real, in which Alex simply allowed himself to live things as they were... to "be"... You will be able to read all about it soon.... - Stephanie Comments (15) Anna I remember this performance so clearly... remember how the melody just struck me and I couldn't stop myself from crying... Must admit that it wasn't the lyrics that got to me... it was to see Alex perform it, to see him be set free... I've seen him perform before but that time ...that specific song... there was something different.  The song for me is all about being free and about the choices we have to face in our every day.  That "If you have to speak, tell it like a condemn man", because there is no sense in hiding.  No reason to keep ourselves captive in our own illusions... must admit I am still learning... but seeing Alex open up about that song after the Bla Bla Bla has really touched and inspired me... to just 'be'... like you say so well Stephanie " If you have to be... Be whoever you truly want to be... full-heartedly" ... Because in the end, it's your life and you deserve to live your life and when you really think about it... what do you have to lose.... Moose "This is a song I would loved my father to sing for me when I was a child..." When Alex spoke those words to introduce the song, it touched me very deeply as we had never discussed about the song in that way before and obviously we were live in front of you guys... so those words came straight to my heart. "Stay focused dude...", I said to myself! It was so unexpected... knowing the lyrics of the song I simply kept them in the corner of my mind, locked up, trying to deny them but that just brought them straight to the surface. Yes I would have liked to be close enough to my father to have that type of relationship with him, those type of talks that just stay engraved in your heart, discussions you can rely on as pillars, seeds that are blooming as you become a man. Back to the Bla Bla Bla... Those famous words... "The show must go on" applied, as what prevailed was the moment we were sharing, it was this gathering that turned out to be part of Vague Souvenir. It was true, honest and powerful. How many times could I have used some wise advice just like Joshua Tillman brings through this song. Where am I towards my loved ones? 'Cause yeah, it's not about the past, it's about now, it's about if I can be that voice or that presence for those around me today... It's about reinventing myself by... "If you have to die, Kill the desires that you have". Choosing not to wade in the past and even worst reproduce it. I'm blessed beyond measure to be surrounded by people who sing those lyrics to me in their own words and their personal way every day. Thanks Alex for walking with open hands. I love you my brother. Ben Firstborn has always been a mysterious song to me, on a musical level and also in its meaning. First time I heard it I felt a huge sense of calm and surrender... especially when I watched the official video of birds flying almost in circle near some buildings. It was very touching even if I didn't quite understand the meaning back then....But the more I played the song and the more we started to live it, the song became more and more pure to me, a way of letting go of what you believe you are or want, and having the opportunity to re-invent yourself leaving behind your preconceptions of what "everything" is. The lyrics came to me as an invitation to live with integrity what you truly believe in your heart and not a pale reflection of your fears or things that keep you captive. When it says " If you have to speak, tell it like a condemn man", it spoke to my heart so much... it's like you have nothing to lose anymore and your heart is free to just "be". Elizabeth amen, dear ben....every line of this song is like the one you quoted (If you have to speak, tell it like a condemned man")...each one carries the seeds of release and flight and freedom...thank you again for being part of bringing the miracle of this album to life -- It was worth every tear -- everything you gave...thank you!!! Thanks for sharing with us what the song Firstborn is to you... Just as Alex said in his previous blog "My Prologue To The Embodiment", " an "album" reveals itself in little sparks of life". I truly believe it is the same for a song, that it takes time before we can fully comprehend them... And probably, the understanding you have of it now will change along the way... As you will be changing as well. Mary This is so true about choices that we need to make all through our lives.. I think that for us to make a choice that we'll truly hold on to, we need to recognize where we are now, and accept that there can be more for us and move forward... "If you have to rule. Use an open hand If you have to die, Kill the desires that you have " For me, this song is an invitation to be free... free from all the patterns that we often have in our lives that are keeping us from growing and discovering more, keeping us captive, away from the real freedom, keeping us from truly blooming and experiencing the world. It's an invitation to change our perspectives and to adopt new ones for us to touch peace and joy instead of trying to imitate it trough illusions and narrow thinking. Yes! Definitely! I think so, too... And this is why those "choices" have been so meaningful and present through this song... To change our perspectives, to let go, to be free, we all need to make choices. And as you said, acknowledging not only where we are but also who we are at the moment is one very important step to this... You still need to choose to see reality for what it truly is, and this can be brutal... but in the end... it's real! Elizabeth and the truly WONDERFUL thing is that we CAN change!! No one is "stuck" where they are and sometimes all it takes is a powerful catalyst like this song to help us shake loose from chains that hold us, veils that keep us blinded...and open our eyes to new life...thank you again, Stephanie, for bringing the idea of these blogs and discussion forums to life! thank you YFE, crew and family for the holy magic of Vague Souvenir (it really is all of us together) Marjo Thanks Steph for sharing this personal insight of yours through this blog!! You mentioned right from the start that "A song can never be fully defined"...I agree with you on this...and I have to say that I find this aspect of music so inspiring!! Because as you grow and change, music evolves with you...And to me, the song "Firstborn" is actually the trigger for an inner growth, or should I say that it guides me in that quest for wisdom and peace I am looking to find...in some areas of my life...And although its way of pushing you towards making a decision in life is kind of raw...this song is still encouraging me, through its simple and honest meaning...Sometimes, only a few words can express so much, mean so much and inspire the greatest to happen in life! That's what Firstborn is to me...for now! Totally agree with you! Though maybe it's not the music that evolves with us, but only the comprehension we have of it... But one thing is for sure, the same song will always make you feel different things... And that is why there are some songs that are specifically associated with certain periods of our lives... There are some songs that are so meaningful, they bring back vivid memories, as if we were watching a movie... I don't know where "Firstborn" will lead you, nor if it will help you get what you wish to get... But one thing is for sure, as long as you are open and in action, you will be able to find maybe not what you think you need, but what is really there for you to grasp...! I went back to read the lyrics of Firstborn and I noticed that the song had a lot to say about "home" as Stephanie shares in this blog. I love how he repeats the lyrics "Pass over me" many times... Everything can be defeated in our generation, everything can be overcome, settled, closed, taken care of... No matter what the one before did or not... And then you can find yourself "at home" in your own life...through the choices you make and with the people you live with... I haven't seen this perspective of belonging until I read this blog. It's inspiring to hear how words and music touch others!! Because it's so different from one person to another... and so interesting to learn and allow our perspectives to be stretched..."Home" can be found as we free ourselves from what needs to "pass over us"... There's a lot to think about!! Thanks for this sharing... without it I wouldn't have seen this song the same way!! Thank you so much, Chris!!! I am glad you liked the blog... Glad it made you discover a new perspective about the song!!!! That's what I like about music... it talks to each and every one of us in a very different way... A way that is personal to each and every one of us. Finding a place to call home is something that I cherish... as it also means to me that I have found myself, and allowed my true heart to shine through the darkness that still surrounds it, but that does not overflow it anymore... Elizabeth I am always very moved by the "pass over me" segment of the song as well, and something that has always bloomed as hope in my heart is that the grace moves "backwards" as well as forwards. Being from the previous generation myself (in relation to most of you), i can actively live that myself -- experiencing life flowing and grace flowing "backwards" from you as well as within your own generation and the next one to come. Knowing and loving all of you in this YFE family has changed me in ways beyond my comprehension and even flowed "backward" to my own parents as well as filling my relationship with my husband, sisters and friends (my generation)) and flowing forward to my daughter and her friends. Life is a circle certainly, and as grace flows the boundaries melt away..beautiful.. And home? I think we truly carry it with us -- the whole universe, right there in our hearts.. I still have so much growing to do, but every day brings a new awakening in some area -- great or small..each a step into freedom..