Artyness columnist Liza Mulholland finds song powers contrasting events

There are times when I am taken aback at just how powerful song can be, in all kinds of settings, for all kinds of reasons. I’m a musician working with music and song all the time, so perhaps I shouldn’t need reminding, but this week has profoundly underlined it for me.

Song of course is part of life’s soundtrack and it’s often the artform we turn to, to encapsulate or express thoughts, feelings and emotions, when words alone seem more challenging or insufficient.

I was attending the funeral of a lovely friend – one of life’s real gems – whom I’d known for 27 years, and although it was an extremely sad occasion, the selection of music played and sang brought back so many warm and happy memories.

Among the songs, in what was a beautiful and very moving celebration of his life, was Flower Of Scotland. Straight away I was transported back 20 years to post-barbecue parties and gatherings in our living-room, where our friend would dig out our Corries LP, pop it on the turntable and leap to his feet to belt it out with infectious gusto.

Our home was at once filled with passionate voices, along with the Corries’ warm and stirring tones. Singing it again in Crown Church brought me right back to those unforgettable moments of sheer joy in the company of good friends. With a lump in my throat, I gave it my best.

Celebrating the other end of life’s journey, I’ve had the sheer pleasure this week of working with mums on Fèis Rois’s Lullaby Project, in recording heir self-penned songs for their babies and toddlers.

I’ve written about this wonderful initiative here previously and, if I do so again,

it’s because it is simply one of the loveliest projects I’ve had the privilege to work on. Over 10 or so weeks, myself and other musicians have facilitated and guided several cohorts of mums in composing their own lullaby and we are now at the stage of recording those unique songs.

Each lullaby is different, individual to the mums and their family life and home environment, each tells a special story, and all convey the love and care of the women for their little ‘uns. They are capturing those fun, cute, quirky, funny, joyful moments in their babies’ lives, and singing those lullabies to their tots will strengthen that loving bond.

A recording, sung by the mums themselves, will be music their children will love to hear (at any time of day!) but will also, when those tots are not so wee, be something the parents can look back on, listen to with affection and will carry them right back to those special moments. It’s been incredibly heart-warming to help enable and nurture the mums’ creativity, and such are the deep emotions in their lullabies, I, again, have had a lump in my throat when accompanying them.

Such is the power of song.

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