Songwriting is the act of baring one's soul to another in the form of words and music.
Hello! “Israel, Israel, God Is Calling” is one of the suggested hymns this week to go along with the Come Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson. This arrangement is a modern, dynamic and unique version of the song and the sheet music for it can be found on my website: http://marileekaymusic.com/sheet-music/ It’s a fun one to sing and play!
“I wrote the poem [originally titled ‘The Shared Loaf’] after a long and serious illness. I was convalescing (Convalescence is the gradual recovery of health and strength after illness or injury), and in a sudden, glad up-rush of gratitude for my release from pain, recalling the many mercies and blessings that had been mine those long hard days, and through all my past life, remembering the love that had been around and about me ever, I wrote the words of this hymn. Surely I have been given much; surely love has been showered upon me. God grant I may never forget to ‘divide my gifts with every brother that I see who has the need of help from me,’ and I trust I shall not hoard the love that has been so abundantly showered upon me.”
Hello! “High on the Mountain Top” is a suggested hymn to go along with the Book of Mormon lesson “His Name Shall Be Called … The Prince of Peace” studying 2 Nephi 11–19. This is a piano solo arrangement of an upbeat hymn centered around the blessings of the covenants God makes with his children through modern day temples. The song conveys the idea that God invites all to come unto him and receive the promises of old, today, in our day.
Hello! “How Great Thou Art” is the suggested hymn for the Book of Mormon lesson “O How Great the Plan of Our God” studying 2 Nephi 6–10. This is one of the most well-loved and popular hymns among the Christian world. It is based on an original Swedish poem titled “O Store Gud” written in 1885 by Carl Boberg. The English version of the hymn is a loose translation by the English missionary Stuart K. Hine.
This arrangement is a vocal duet with an added “chorus” to the original hymn. Melinda Spence recorded and filmed this song with me and did such an amazing job at learning the part I sent her and recording it with me! We had a lot of fun doing it. The text comes from an anonymous older poem set to music in 1937 by Roger L. Miller. This hymn might be less familiar to some people in The Church of Jesus Christ because it isn’t sung as often as some of the others, but the song has a beautiful melody and an important message. The sheet music for this arrangement can be found here: http://marileekaymusic.com/sheet-music/
Hello! As I Search the Holy Scriptures is a suggested hymn for the Book of Mormon lesson “I Will Go and Do” studying the 1 Nephi 1–5. This is a revamped version of a previous arrangement of this hymn I posted as the first video in this series back in July 2022.
Light of the World, is the song I chose for the New Testament lesson “He That Overcometh Shall Inherit All Things” studying Revelation 15–22. “Light of the World is a contemporary Christian song and was written by Lauren Daigle, Paul Duncan and Paul Mabury and performed by Lauren Daigle. You may have heard it on the Christian gospel radio stations. I was asked to sing this for our ward Christmas party at Church and decided that since I was already working on it, I could record it here as well. The suggested song for this lesson was “When He Comes Again” which I have already posted twice, so I felt this was the perfect week to publish “Light of the World” instead, especially since it is Christmas Eve!
What Child is This, is the hymn I chose for the New Testament lesson “Good Tidings of Great Joy” studying Christmas! “What Child is This” was written in 1865 with the text by William Chatterton Dix and set to the tune of “Greensleeves”, which is a traditional English Folk Song. The context of the carol centers around the Adoration of the Shepherds who visit during the Nativity of Jesus. The questions posed in the lyrics reflect what the shepherds were possibly pondering to themselves when they encountered Jesus, with the rest of the carol providing a response to their questions. This arrangement is a vocal duet with piano and violin. I have three lovely ladies who recorded this arrangement with me, Emily Clark on the Violin, Audrey Nelson on the piano and Tiffany Tolman singing vocals with me. We had a lot of fun with this song!
Where Love Is, is the suggested song for the New Testament lesson God is Love studying the books 1st–3rd John; Jude. This is a vocal arrangement of a song from the Children’s Songbook and was also published back in August 2022, for a lesson on “A soft answer turneth away wrath” studying Proverbs.
Have I Done Any Good?, is the suggested song for the New Testament lesson “Be Ye Doers of the Word, and Not Hearers Only” studying the book of James. This song was a really fun one to do! Kevin Forbush is our guest guitar player and vocalist for this vocal duet arrangement that we did together. He is an amazing guitar player, songwriter and singer. When we moved to our new area here in Layton, (he lives a few houses down the street) we discovered that he was my Aunt’s brother (my aunt by marriage) and had also been neighbors with my husband’s uncle. Just so many connections! ha ha. He and his family all love music and it was really great to be able to do this song with him. The sheet music for this arrangement can be found here: http://marileekaymusic.com/sheet-music/