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Here is the story of why I abridged the lyrics to the song "Everything Possible" Over the years, since the release of Songs For The Inner Child in 1992, I have gotten a number of letters from people in the lesbian and gay community who were upset, angry and hurt that I abridged the song “Everything Possible” when I recorded it. My abridgement edited out the lines of the song that made it specifically for the lesbian and gay communities. My reasons for doing so have often been misunderstood. I have responded to these letters, over the years, to explain my reasons for abridging the song and, hopefully, clear up the misunderstandings and ease the upset feelings that some people have had as a result of my choice. I’ve copied one of my letters here, so that anyone who is interested to know why I made the choice to sing “Everything Possible” as I did can read it and have the opportunity to learn more about how my arrangement of the song came to be. The following letter was written in response to a gay man who wrote to me to tell me how hurt and angry he was at my changes to the song. He assumed it was because I, like many people in his world, am homophobic, judgmental and rejecting of people in the gay and lesbian communities. He-- generously, in my mind-- asked me why I had changed the song in this way. Here is my response to his inquiry: “Dear -----; Thank you for writing to share your experience with me. Please know that while I fully understand how this could happen, you misunderstand my reasons for singing "Everything Possible" in the way that I did. In case it is of interest to you: I am someone for whom people's sexual orientation is a non-issue. There are a number of people who happen to be gay or lesbian who are in my intimate circle of friends, one of whom brought me “Everything Possible” when he knew I was looking for material for the inner child collection, several of whom were consulted when I made the decision to sing it the way I did. Songs For The Inner Child was created with the intention of offering universally affirming messages of support for people who, like me, had grown up in dysfunctional families and could deeply draw from the kinds of messages the songs offer. “Everything Possible”, when I first heard it, brought up deep feelings in me, tears of grief and gratitude, though I am heterosexual, myself. Knowing my own history, and that of many other people who have been judged and hurt for being different, I believed that this was a universal message of support that would be a gift to a wide variety of people, including, but not in any way limited to the gay/lesbian community for whom Fred Small originally wrote the song. I believed that by removing the lyrics that made the song exclusively for gays and lesbians, I could make it available for people who, for many different reasons, had grown up feeling it was not okay to be who they are. Please know that if Fred had written the song as a gift to, for example, the African-American community, I would have made the same choice, so that it could have been fully available for someone like you. What I didn't know in 1992 when I created “Songs For The Inner Child”, and none of my friends knew, was that “Everything Possible” was actually a well known and deeply beloved song for the gay/lesbian community, primarily on the east coast. It was new to us, as Fred's music didn't --and still doesn't--have much of a presence in the West. If I had known how much of an anthem this song was for so many people, I would have made different choices. As it is, the song has indeed gone on, over the last 12 years, to deeply touch and gift a diverse group of people, including the dying, (for whom the line "the only measure of your words and your deeds will be the love you leave behind when you're gone" has been of great comfort), disabled children and their parents, people who grew up wounded by the Catholic Church, and more. I am sorry that, for you, something that was only intended to bring loving comfort should have been a source of pain. I hope this information will be helpful in easing the hurt you felt at the way I changed the song. I thank you again for taking the time to write to me. It is a gift to me to be able to clarify when this kind of misunderstanding occurs.” I am grateful to this man (whose privacy I am respecting by not giving his name) for giving me the idea that it would be helpful to note on the back of the CD that the song has been abridged "for universality." I have just made these changes for my next printing, and so appreciate his helping me see a way to “telegraph” that the song has been abridged for anyone who might be supported in knowing this before buying my CD. It was also out of my exchange with him that I was inspired to put this information up on my website, for anyone who might read it and find the information useful. Honoring all of life, and each of us, as Divine-- --Shaina Noll |
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© Singing Heart Productions 2002 - 2008 www.ShainaNoll.com |