YOUR VOICE by Denise Marsa

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I wrote a song after my London premiere of THE PASS. YOUR VOICE. I had the first line of the chorus and the title, and posted that line on Facebook. It was there almost a year. “Your voice is the loudest.”

After London I was feeling so much, hard to explain. I had finally spoken and shared who I was. It was a very very long journey for me. The song is very special to me. When the song was complete, I thought maybe another voice could record it. Something I hadn’t felt before, especially right after writing a new song.

And I thought, who do I know that could sing it?

In THE PASS at the end of the show, we feature a song from a new artist Tobe Baer. He had contacted me to manage him, to help him with his career. And he sent me a few songs. Light the Way was the 1st song of his I listened to, it hit me and I licensed it. It’s now a part of the show. People hear it as they leave the theater.

And then suddenly I thought– Tobe could sing YOUR VOICE. And he does. We have been working on the recording with his brother JR in Germany for months. It’s in a good place for now. And we have played it for a few BMG labels, since they administer my song catalog it seemed liked a good idea. There seems to be some interest brewing.

I played Leo, the founder of Live Out Loud the song, as I was on the development committee last year. I thought the recording might be a nice addition to the award ceremony, as people were coming in to sit and watch the program. He asked us to perform it live. It was a very cool moment. Here is a photo of Tobe and I, last week at the LIVE OUT LOUD 18th Annual Gala in NYC. I did some back-ups, Tobe played guitar and sang lead. He brought it home.

Me & Tobe Baer at Live Out Loud Gala, NYC

The Impact Never Dulls

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I just listened to Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach on the David Letterman Show as they performed in 1997, one of my all time favorite Costello recordings, GOD GIVE ME STRENGTH.

I stumbled upon the recording maybe around 2006, on a Costello compilation. It is a song that always brings buckets of emotions to me, tears, physical changes in my spirit and soul, as it plays and it has done so for me- for many years. The impact never dulls.

Costello is one of my all time favorites, and his singing this, for me, compares to an aria in an Opera. Here’s one:
Anna Netrebko, La Traviata Addio del passato

Back to GOD GIVE ME STRENGTH, it is for me, one of the most heart-wrenching pop songs, ever.

What I found out today is that is was from the film Grace of My Heart and it was up for an Oscar.

Not Everybody Likes Poetry

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Roses are red violets are blue Mercury has been in retrograde what does that mean to you?

Traveling east to west and not west to east, Mercury shakes things up a bit here on Earth. And this batch of backwards concludes today! Imagine if the sun rose in the west and set in the east. OMG now that would be retrograde chaos!

There is a poetic way to speak about all things. Not everyone will get it. Not everyone has the brain width to welcome in change or something different. Fear not galant word builder, carry on. You will find those that get you.

Herbes De Provence & a way with seasoning

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I love cooking.

There was one special person in my life a long time ago that actually said to me while he was enjoying the dinner I had made, “You have a way with seasoning.” The way he said it it was as if I was seducing the salt, pepper, rosemary, tarragon, and whatever I could get my hands on! And it kept me interested in cooking. I related seduction to cooking.

One item I will always have now, is Herbes De Provence. I am not sure when we first met, when I first laid my hands on the very special blend of herbs, all I know is it is an enduring relationship. And not all glassed HDP are the same, not by a long shot. My favorite these days is Citarella, and it is close to where I live in the West Village, NYC.

Spring 2019 & Herbes De Provence

Make no mistake about it, the art of cooking is alive and well in my most tiny kitchen. You have no idea…

Nice vs ridicule, mocking and violent video games.

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Late night hosts making fun of politicians, and yes politicians doing the same. Sniping.

There is a very disturbing presence of not nice out there in the media world. It puts me off and it has become second nature. If it happened once in awhile, OK maybe it would have more impact, however the barrage of constant criticizing and tormenting through words through media outlets – when will enough be enough or will it just become more and more not nice. Let’s not underestimate nice.

And all these young men going into public places, including sacred spaces for worshipping, with guns and killing for the sake of it. How many of these young men watched these violent videos games over and over and over, as they were young boys. And they played these games alone. Their brains were saturated with close up combat and violence. Flashing lights, sounds, hypnotic.

How many of the men that have brutally carried out these acts, have actually served in the military?

And the films making millions, the sci-fi Captain Marvel, well now a woman is kicking butt, big time and there will be more and more.

It seems everyone is kicking somebody and we hear about it on a moment to moment basis. And there are some cruel criminal acts as well. In real life. Crime shows all over the TV networks. Advertisers paying lots to have 30 seconds in between scenes.

Why is there such a hunger, thirst, market for violence?

We Are Our Environment.

When’s the next shuttle to Mars?

And have a nice day.

On the corner of Waverly Place or Things in Common

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“You can thank your Lucky Stars…” I spoke and then stopped. Father Graeme finished – speaking in his slightly soft Irish accent, “That we’re not as smart as we’d like to think we are.” I gasped and smiled.

Here I was for the first time ever meeting with a clergyman from the church (for a music event my PR company is organizing) and we had something in common. Lyrics to a song.

What if before every meeting, big or small, 4 people or 400 people, in an office, school, convention center, tent, court, street or in the Senate– everyone recited the lyrics of the same song before all the discussions and negotiations began.

What lyric, from which song, would you suggest?

What if…