Collaboration with Cshude: tribute song

CanuckTodd · #1 July 11th, 2007

Hey folks,
Thought I'd post this tune here before the members forum because this is where many collaborations start. Sometimes collaborations don't go anywhere, which is cool, but this one had a happy ending. This was a collaboration with Chris Shude we've been working on it for a while. I wrote the song for a friend of mine whose daughter Meghan Rush died in May of a rare blood disease at age 17. Chris wrote the music, played the instruments and sang. I think he did a really nice job and I can't thank him enough. This girl was such a trooper, and the outpouring of love and grief in her community was incredible, including a vigil of 100 teens who held candles on her front yard after she died, hundreds more who came to her funeral, and her passing deeply affected her community. Details of her ordeal and struggles were covered extensively in the local media, as she seemed to overcome one battle after another. Finally, after having defeated the blood disease, then cancer, after taking steroids, her body finally just gave out. Anyway, a sad story to be sure. But her mother Angela has heard the tune and is thrilled. With her permission I'm going to post it here and in the member's forum. She's going to put together a CD with a few songs about her daughter and intends to make donations from the proceeds to the Children's Make a Wish Foundation, a group that granted one of Meghan's wishes before she died. A friend of mine is going to sing the vocals and she'll harmonize with Chris in the chorus.
Here's a touching tribute of a poem read by her mom against a backdrop of slides of Meghan and her family and friends.
MEGHAN'S DAY

Anyway, enough said, here's the tune. Hope you enjoy it!

CanuckTodd · #2 July 11th, 2007

Oops.. Here's the lyrics...

Sitting Tall

Lyrics by Todd Phillips & Music by Chris Shude

One hundred teens met outside,
With candles held in hand.
Brave Meghan had just died
They came to make a stand.

“It’s not how long you live,” she said.
“But how you live your life.”
The 17 years that she led,
Were love amidst the strife.

Chorus:
She cried, she smiled,
Through setbacks and trials,
But through it all,
She sat so tall,
She battled like a champion
She battled like a champion.

I cannot hear, but I can see
She wrote to her lost friend
With beads to prove her bravery,
Her broken body tried to mend.

With borrowed blood, on borrowed time,
She showed amazing grace.
But God took Meghan in her prime.
She lives in His embrace.

Chorus

Her white casket wrapped in love
Slid ‘neath the earth today.
But her spirit soars above,
Free from pain, and free to play.

Chorus

SlickCat · #3 July 11th, 2007

Awsome...and heart felt!

allthumbs · #4 July 11th, 2007

Beautiful tune and sentiment. Well done guys.

X4StringDrive · #5 July 12th, 2007

Soul-touching...sincerely well done.

mattz196 · #6 July 12th, 2007

A credit to both of you .

knight46 · #7 July 12th, 2007

Thank you for sharing the story and your wonderful tribute. Just beautiful, thanks.

Hilch · #8 July 12th, 2007

What a truely beautiful song

The music guys is just so wonderful

The singing awesome

Well done guys

Beautifully done

Trev

CanuckTodd · #9 July 12th, 2007

Thanks for the kind words guys. I know Chris was moved by the story and you can feel it come through in his singing and the music he put together. I forgot to mention that Meghan also went deaf, lost her hair, had blood transfusions, surgeries, and was forced into a wheelchair before she finally passed on. Hence the title, Sitting Tall, as she could no longer stand.

tomg123 · #10 July 12th, 2007

Nice job guys, great lyrics really and nicely played. Wish i had more time spend on the forums and on these collab forums

eddiez152 · #11 July 12th, 2007

You gentlemen did a great job on this tune. Lyric,sound, and all.
Congrats to you, hopefully,happiness for her and the family.

Aunt Doty · #12 July 12th, 2007

A beautiful tribute you can both be proud of.

cshude · #13 July 12th, 2007

Thanks for the feedback, folks. This was one of those songs that just came together- Todd mentioned that he had written these lyrics and after he shot them over I had the music end of it written in about 10 minutes. Unfortunately, it was nearly 2 months between the original quick and dirty recording and getting the time to do the recording you hear here. As Todd mentioned previously, he has some vocal recording to do on his end before we can have a truly finished product. I'm more than happy to have someone else sing it as some parts are just a hair out of my natural range.

Thanks again for the feedback- looking forward to getting the final product done and posted for your listening pleasure...

coldethyl · #14 July 13th, 2007

Beautifully done guys!