‘Curse of Blood’ Story
Background & Inspiration
This is one of the 2 ‘blood’ songs on the ‘Declarations’ project – the other being ‘The Blood Of Grace.’ And they were written only a few weeks apart.
This song was actually inspired in part by Sarah Palin. Sarah’s son Trig, born with Down’s Syndrome, and the birth of her daughter Bristol’s baby in a premarital situation, COULD have resulted in a double-abortion scenario (according to the world’s justifications for killing the unborn). But the Palin family stood strong upon the sanctity of life. The Palin’s story resonates with me very personally, because my nephew, Nicholas Reagan Madeira (named for Ronald Reagan because Nicky was born on the day Pres. Reagan died), was also born with Down’s Syndrome. Horrifically, more than 70% of children diagnosed with Down’s prenatally will be aborted. In some nations, 100% are eliminated before the are born.
And now, a confession. Most who know me now would never have suspected this, but from my teens through early 20’s, I was ardently pro-abortion – and this, despite encountering God and being filled with His Spirit when I was 18. In fact, in my junior year of high school, I gave a fiery speech advocating population control and mandatory abortions – for all America!!!
You see, I was a liberal’s liberal. I really understand why many of those who either advocate or accept abortion do so. It’s not so much what they do believe as it is what they DON’T believe. There is a foundation missing from one’s moral base – a value set that is foreign to their world view. And even bringing people to forgiveness of sins through Christ will not, alone, change one’s opinion.
This is why churches cannot remain indifferent or silent about the issue. The truth is that even Christians will not embrace the Pro-Life message unless they are proactively taught. The Bible describes it as a ‘renewing of the mind’ or having ‘the mind of Christ.’ As we are taught eternal truths from God’s Word, it causes us to reexamine our value base. As truth agrees with God’s Spirit residing in us, we embrace it as foundational to what we now know to be true.
Sarah and Todd Palin may never hear this song. But if even ONE person decides to spare their child as a result, it will have served its purpose.
Writing
All of my songs begin music first, then lyrics to fit the emotional message of the music. The first musical manifestation was the opening strum sequence of the acoustic guitar, which ended up final cut, unaltered from its original rhythm or key. It just seemed so sullen that I knew it could be a believable vehicle for a most serious issue.
When I got the opening lyric “Silent, they cry,” I began weeping immediately… I knew what this song was supposed to be about. It was to become the band’s 2nd ‘blood song’ of our project – and not of God’s grace, but of His warning to this nation. I was, however, concerned that most people would find this topic so distasteful, it would risk alienating the very people I wanted to reach. (memory moment… I was driving through Selins Grove, PA at the time I got the opening lyric – my first time there, by the way.)
But we forged on, with the full intent of making this the most powerful anti-abortion anthem that music & lyrics could possibly become. It was weeks, and hours-long drives (some of which would yield only ONE pivotal word) before the lyric was completed. Too much would hang in the balance.
The lyrics of the verses tell 3 stories – the first verse is the voice of the unborn baby; the second the voice of the abortive mother; the third the voice of prophet over our nation.
Production
Musically, this song was starting to become everything ‘out in the air’ that I heard initially in my head – which, as a writer, is extremely gratifying. However, the choruses were musically perplexing. They just didn’t seem to be developing right. Jason and I had a late night session kicking this around. We may have even had a sequenced drum track down just to help us experiment??? But at the end of our wits, I turned off the drum track – and that was IT! The subtlety of ghostly voices weeping amidst a solemn piano seemed perfect to grab the emotion of the lyric.
We were showing the idea to Dan the following night, and he said ‘what about a heartbeat behind it?’ So he laid down a kick drum, which we echoed and mixed as a thumping. Then, as I was playing with the timing of the echo, I hear Dan banging around on a little kid’s xylophone… unexpectedly, he stumbled into a part which seemed to accentuate the innocence of the child that was taken, and it stuck.
The bridge section was really just a time of contemplation and wailing, with the subtext of God’s Word “If my people turn (called by My name)… I will heal their land,” which was condensed from 2Chr. 7:14.
After the gentle refrain, the brokenness and wrath bursts forth – the cumulative blood of nearly 60,000,000 dead children cries out from the ground, in the agony of its reality. The final ‘My God, what did we do?” is the only place where I landed this line on the major chord. To me, this line HAD to be like coming down hard on this emotional trampoline, only to be propelled even harder than you thought you would. This is the emotional crescendo of the entire song. If we couldn’t portray God’s brokenness over His nation having rejected Him right HERE, this song wouldn’t work.
The closing guitar work had to also embody a ‘musical weeping’ over the lost unborn children of this nation.
Our prayer is that somehow lives could be spared because this song and its testimony exist. It is also our prayer that, as we approach 50 years under Roe v. Wade, our efforts might help contribute to legislation which outlaws this holocaust permanently from American soil – that we may preside over a national turning to Jesus Christ as the Lord of all.
Michael Warner, songwriter & producer