To a Wildflower
Not many songs can mean as much to me as this one. Losing my mother to cancer in May 2023 has changed our lives forever – as my sister and I have put it many times, we’ve never lived in this new world, a world without a mother.
In collaboration with my sister, we wrote this so I could perform it at the Celebration of Life ceremony held on the property she last stayed at during her long year-and-a-half battle with cancer.
“To a Wildflower” was performed several times on the Atlas Ocean Voyages trips around Svalbard, Norway, and Iceland. This particular recording was made on my mother’s property after over 70 takes and attempts. My sister wrote the lyrics, while the music was written by myself with her input along the way. It was one of the most challenging labors of love I’ve put myself through, but I know, that if she had a chance to hear this song, it would bring her immense joy to catch a glimpse at how much we appreciate her.
This song is not meant to be necessarily sad, although it is nearly impossible to avoid. But it is meant to be a bittersweet hopefulness for the future with her memory kept in our hearts with purpose, respect, and love. She never asked to be recognized, but I felt so inclined to do so in this song, highlighting the fact she cared so much for others and absolutely loved her animals. She deserves one of my best creations to be dedicated to her and I hoped, this song, could be one of my most moving songs. After writing it, I decided to perform this song on the cruise ship I was working on at the time, so I could improve it and allow it to evolve before recording it and sharing it with the world. So after 2 months of performing this song to a live audience at least once every week, it became what it is today. And to help bring this song even more to life, I produced a music video to accompany it.
It was recorded on Dec. 1, 2023, on the first day of snow, in the place where her ashes were spread. It was one of her favorite spots and now it will forever be a part of me, since I poured much of myself into this project and felt closure at this location.
I provide this track for free to anyone who would like to download it via Bandcamp:
https://chasechandlermusic.bandcamp.com/track/to-a-wildflower
As I slowly find myself coming to terms with our new normal, I’m excited to finally post this song on my website and share it with all of you. You are welcome to listen to this track on any music streaming platform of your preference including, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon, etc.
Thank you all for the support and I hope this song brings solace to those in search of peace.