| Music Through Heartsongs: Songs Based on the Poems of Mattie J.T. Stepanek - BIlly Gilman | |
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Reviewed by Matt Bjorke
Sometimes a CD comes across my desk that just knocks my socks off. Billy Gilman's latest album, Music Through Heartsongs: Songs Based on the Poems of Mattie J.T. Stepanek is such an album. To be honest I only was curious to hear what Billy sounded like after his voice changed but upon hearing the album, I couldn't believe what came through my speakers. It wasn't Billy's voice that shocked me but the lyrics (poems as the CD title suggests) that did.
Before I talk about the lyrics, you should know who Mattie J.T. Stepanek is. Mattie is a 14 year old boy who suffers from Muscular Dystrophy. He is in a wheelchair and has a breathing apparatus but his over all outlook on life is quite uplifting. It's uplifting when you consider his health and the fact that his siblings all died from the disease while his mom suffers from it as well. Mattie is a published author, beginning when he was 11, with now five books with the word "Heartsongs" in the title.
Larry King, of CNN, was the first to pair these two talented young men together. Billy was inspired by what Mattie had to say about life and instantly became a good friend of his. Fast forward a couple of years and Billy Gilman and his record label decided to put 12 of Mattie’s poems to music. Gathering 12 songwriters to transcribe the poems into songs, Billy and company have created a splendid album that even features Mattie speaking on a couple of tracks.
The opening track "For Our World" features words about stopping to take time and notice that despite many visual differences, we are all humans. This seems to be written through Mattie's experience about the way people probably look at him as they pass him. With the current unrest throughout the world this song and its lyrics certainly resonate to my very soul.
"About Things That Matter" is sung over instrumentation that makes the song have a strong Christian music sound. The song isn't overtly country but that isn't really the point of this album. This CD, like this song, is a celebration of life and what matters while we are here on earth.
"Morning Gift" is a short poem about the wonders of morning and how life is constantly reborn. It is sung over an Irish-styled accompaniment that sees the poem get repeated twice. Short, innocent and sweet.
The best track of the album is the uplifting "I Am/Shades Of Life." This is a song that shows the beauty of a child who doesn’t look at his disability as a disability but something to help other people get better. This song is a song with a message that probably will be popular on the Christian music charts. The production of the song really doesn’t lend it to country in the truest sense of the genre but I hope somehow the song gets embraced by country radio.
The somber "It Happened Anyway" was transcribed to music by the great writer Tom Douglas ("Little Rock," "Hey Mr. President," "Love's The Only House"). Written by Mattie for his brother Jamie as he died from MD, this song is something that many children feel when they lose a sibling too soon and this is the one song on the album that Billy really belts out the song. While his voice is one octave lower, now a tenor, Billy still possesses one of the best voices in music.
Sounding a bit like Tyler from The Wilkinsons on "Possession," Billy sings the most "country sounding" track on the record. Lyrically about coming to terms with death and living in the moment, this song is a nice showcase of Billy Gilman's new voice. He now is more of a stylist than just a singer and it's good to see a new side to someone who just used to belt out his songs when he sang them.
With its funky beat, "The Gift Of Color" sounds like it could've been a hit on the pop or R&B music charts in the late 1980's. The words are about all the colors that make this world we live in a wonderful place to live in.
Anyone with a child with a disability of any kind will really appreciate "I Could... If They Would." It starts out with Mattie discussing what he'd do if he was cured of his disease and as it goes on the song turns into a story of his life, and how in the end if a cure for his disease is found after he dies, he'll be glad just to have been part of the effort.
What turned out as a curiosity became one of the more pleasing listening experiences I've heard in quite a while. Throw away any preconceived notions of Billy Gilman aside and sit down and take a listen to the words of the poet Mattie J.T. Stepanek. While both young men are only 14/15, they possess talents that belie their age and truly are special. You don't have to be a country music fan to enjoy this album for it is one for the ages and one that parents and children can listen to together.
Song List:
Album cover used with permission of Sony Nashville.
Sound clips courtesy of Barnes & Noble.
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