The Birth (Chapter 2)
As we celebrated the birth of Christ on Christmas a few weeks ago, memories of wrapping paper torn and crumpled around the twinkly Christmas tree and carols of Jingle Bells may still be playing in our heads. I am often caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season, with gentle reminders to remember the true reason for celebration. But when I wrote the song of the birth of Christ, I deeply reflected on the act from the perspective of God, the life that Jesus lived, as well as what it meant for us, and was awestruck more than ever before. The humble birth of Christ was truly MAGNIFICENT.
Unable to eloquently capture all the reasons for my reverence for the birth, can I ask that you pause in the moment to reflect and MARVEL on how this one act embodied so much of God’s character and of His steadfast love for us? This was God’s fulfillment of His promise to send a Messiah (one made in the early Old Testament!), IN SPITE of people’s wavering faith and fickle love for Him. And, God not only sent a Messiah, but the Messiah was God’s one and only beloved son, Jesus. A son who lived a life without blame, yet experienced immense suffering for our sins, that would forever alter how we were seen by our holy God.
In its simplicity, the song was written as a sweet Christmas-reminscent lullaby to represent the beautiful moment of the humble birth of Jesus. But, I wanted to capture God’s plan for the life of Jesus from his birth; Jesus needed to be crucified to suffer the wrath of human sins from the holy God and undergo the resurrection, in order for us to saved. Thus with intentionality, I incorporated elements from my crucifixion song and resurrection song into The Birth. My hope is that you will circle back after those two songs are released, to discover the moments of the crucifixion and resurrection weaved into the song. If you have an interest, please read below about the writing process in more detail.
Hope you enjoy the song!
Glimpses into the writing perspective for the Birth:
When creating the song, I wrote it from the perspective of God, in seeing the birth of His precious son into the world. The 3 things I had hoped for the song was that it would sound like a sweet baby lullaby, have a reminiscent sound of Christmas, and would incorporate the idea that Jesus’ life had a purpose from birth to undergo the crucifixion and resurrection.
The pizzicato, a gentle pluck of the violin and cello string, that I used throughout the base of the song felt like the perfect sound for a lullaby. The ascent and descent of the rolling pizzicato notes laid the foundation for a dancing, lilt-like quality to the song. Although there is a sweetness to the pizzicato that represents the joy of his birth to the world, if you tune your ear to the cellos, you will hear intermittent notes of dissonance, as this represents the dissension that would also occur because of his birth.
A simple single melody line from the violin runs throughout the song, as I felt like this evoked a sense of purity and simplicity, just as his birth was a quiet, humble entry into the world. Admittedly, I had to exercise some restraint in not adding more lines into this song!
To bring the reminiscent sound of Christmas, you will hear one of my most favorite Christmas songs, O Holy Night integrated into the melody. Oh what a Holy Night it was as the son of God, the Messiah, was born! This fulfilled a promise that God had made. As joyous as it was, the father, was also filled with a sadness that I imagined, since He already knew the plan of the life of His son. Jesus would live a blameless life, yet ultimately be sacrificed by suffering a painful death on the cross that he did not deserve, to be able fulfill his Father’s will to save His beloved. 3 days later, the miraculous resurrection would occur, where Jesus would joyfully rejoin His father. Thus, as the sweet beginnings of the song transitions to the minor notes, I intentionally weaved in the melody of the crucifixion song with Oh Holy Night, followed by a transition to the ultimate joyous moments from my resurrection song..
My hope is that once the entire EP is released, you will return to this song to hear how this song ties the entire EP together, as Jesus’ life was destined from birth.
Violin Solo: StoryLight Strings All music composed and played by: StoryLight Strings Engineer: Chris Bethea
Artwork by: Oana Seman
The Birth, by Rob Beaudreault
God’s son is born
A savior. Messiah.
Sweet baby, Jesus
Rabbi. Pariah.
A gift to the world
A promise kept
Prophecy manifest
Yet, Jesus wept
A plan set in motion
Man is restored
A sacrifice coming
Jesus. Adored.
As mother holds child
And Joseph looks on
As cattle are lowing
In Bethlehem’s barn
God’s perfect promise
In linens. In stone.
Emmanuel with us.
Never alone.
A birth in a stable.
A mother. A son.
A Heavenly Father.
Jesus. The One.
King of All Kings.
Savior. Messiah.
Sweet baby Jesus.
Rabbi. Pariah.