"The Marriage Dream/For My Bride"
Written by Rev. James Martin & Edward Jerlin
© 2008 Everlasting Arms Records & Publishing - All Rights Reserved
Sorry for the "hot pink" font color.
Just had to go for the Valentine's motif for February again. :-)
This month's offering is actually two songs merged together:
"The Marriage Dream", written by Pastor Jim,
and "For My Bride" written by EJ.
These songs form the basis of & will anchor our
future "concept" CD release "Strands Of Life Suite",
which I hope you can take the time to read about here,
if you haven't already, because if you're reading this,
that CD will be dedicated to you. :-)
"The Marriage Dream", sung by Pastor Jim with his wife Meredith on background vocals is in my (EJ) opinion one of the most beautiful, eloquent, & poignant songs written on the topic of marriage. The lyrics succinctly yet completely capture the essence of what the biblical concept of marriage really is, with the two taking each others' hands, the exchanging of the rings & becoming one in God's eyes, with the Lord at the true center of their marriage, & the sharing of the faith with others via the marital bond.
Jim's rendering here is heartfelt, without being sappy, simple without coming across as trite...
I could imagine it being sung either about or by a couple at a wedding, and of course, Pastor Jim has indeed sung this at more than a few weddings over the years, usually accompanied by Meredith on guitar. (Though EJ is playing the instruments on this recording, & had the honor of accompanying the Martins at a wedding once.)
Jim & Meredith's Wedding 1975
. . . . .
Around 5-6 years after the wedding, I wrote a second verse to it, which expressed how I felt about where we were at after a few years of marriage & going through a few surprises & trials along the way. Some of the words are repeated from the first verse because... well... those feelings hadn't & haven't changed & still apply. :-) As of this writing, I feel we're still living the 2nd verse.
The piano solo & the orchestral instrumental section in the middle was & remains my way of expressing my love & range of emotions for Kirsten through my fingers, which seem to work much better than my voice. ;-) That's just how God made me, I guess -- I've usually expressed my emotions better through music... and words just seem to get in the way sometimes...
The 3rd & final verse at the end has yet to be written & remains in instrumental form. Perhaps someday, God willing, we'll be grandparents & looking back at our lives together (while still hopefully very much looking forward) & I'll have something to say for the third verse, thanking Kirsten for all the years, & the Lord for allowing us to have them. I'm just not there yet. I imagine it might be along the lines of Kenny Rogers' beautiful song "Through The Years".
This has been an extremely difficult recording to get "right". Work on this rendition of the track began last April. I've postponed the monthly release of this 4 times now since last August (which is our anniversary month.) I can't explain why, but it took an exceedingly long time to get just "right". I confess that even now, after years of fussing over this, it's still not exactly what I hear in my head (though it's very close now), & I haven't a clue as to what to do to "fix" it.
Perhaps, because we're still living our lives forward, this is just meant to remain a "work in progress".
I need to thank by buddy/drummer from G-FORCE Bryan Celano. Referring to the rendition on the wedding video provided a number of tasty "just right" drumming ideas & he also provided a few very helpful creative suggestions during the recording & mixing phases of the process.
Caveat:
I had a few other singers in mind to sing the melody which has an insanely-wide two-and-a-half octave range, but Kirsten insisted that I had to be the one singing it, & I uncompromisingly refuse to change even one note of the melody. My voice isn't always pretty, but it is what it is & it is a sincere offering to my wife, to you reading & hearing this, & ultimately to the Lord, as all of my music is.
I hope you enjoy it!
Edward & Kirsten's Wedding 1993
Pastor Jim married us! How cool is that?!
Thanks & God Bless,
To download the music, RIGHT CLICK:
"The Marriage Dream/For My Bride" MUSIC 10:31
and choose "Save Target As".
To download the lyrics, RIGHT CLICK:
"The Marriage Dream/For My Bride" LYRICS
and choose "Save Target As".
