"I felt an incredible urge to do something." ... how it came to be
I started writing music last summer (2001) for a group of women called The Worship Weavers. They are a group of about 30 women clergy here in Houston who do a service every month in a different church. I compose usually 2 or 3 original songs and a mantra. Sometime in August, I was working on new songs for Worship Weavers and also on other music with Robbie (my husband, drummer and producer). We often just sit down and play, and put on a tape recorder in case we do something that we can use. The chorus melody came out in one of those sessions. Robbie thought I had something that I could use for Worship Weavers. That was as far as it went. September 11 happened, and I was pretty much in shock and glued to CNN for about 2 weeks. I cried every night after that. Usually more tears came when a song or piece of music was playing with scenes from that horrible day or when there were interviews with families and co-workers. I remember thinking that it seemed like there would be a lot of new songs out inspired by what was going on in the world, but I hadn't heard many. Being a songwriter, I remember thinking, "maybe everyone's in shock, like myself, and hasn't been able to write yet." Then, in October, Robbie said, "Anita, you need to find that tape we made with that chorus and do something with it. So I found it and sat down to play. The song just flowed. Originally, I thought the chorus would be a kind of love song and the first line was I'll Fly You Over the Moon. Then I wrote If We Can Fly to the Moon and everything fell into place. Robbie heard the underlying beat in sync with the news coverage of the World Trade Centers and firefighters. The chorus always felt hopeful, but I knew I didn't really have any answers. So it seemed that the song needed to ask a lot of questions. And, if there were going to be answers, they would have to somehow transcend the war that would inevitably permeate our lives. For me, the answers became those eternal things that never die, love and light. I played it for some friends who said I had to do something with it. I've pretty much always thought of my songs as gifts. Most of them have been gifts to people in my life, so this one just felt like a gift for more people. Even though I didn't have friends who died that day, I have friends who knew people in the Towers, and being the daughter of an Air Force pilot, I had a connection with the military who died in the Pentagon. And, like most Americans and many people all over the world, I felt an incredible urge to do something. Writing songs has also always been a way to express those things that I feel most deeply about. Grief is definitely one of those emotions that music can move to a new place. I have also believed for a long time that human beings move to a new place when they grieve. Personally, I can see things much more clearly after a good cry. And, it seemed that we all experienced a collective cry that would lead us to a new way of seeing. Of experiencing each other. Of seeing the world and ourselves. I teach a lot of children, and they were so aware of what was going on. They are such great models of living in the moment. Full of hope for the future. So, I knew I wanted children's voices. 12 of my students sang. Tom Jaber, the choir conductor at Rice University, put together a youth choir of 20 of his students, rehearsed all of the singers, and we began the process of laying down 48 tracks. Everyone I talked to wanted to be a part of it. All of the musicians donated their talents. The graphic art was donated, and I got donations from businesses and friends to cover the recording and pressing costs. I wanted to be able to sell them and give all of the proceeds to a charity connected to Sept. 11. So, that’s how it came to be.
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