SO LOVED Track #2 – So Loved

May 10, 2018 By Stanton Lanier 4 Comments

Click above to listen to the title track So Loved as you read. You can also enjoy the CD, MP3 Album, Piano Book and Sheet Music on the So Loved Album Page. And you can stream the music on Spotify, iTunes-Apple Music, Amazon MP3, Pandora, and more.

What does “so loved” bring to mind for you with family, friends, and faith?

As we celebrate Mother’s Day in the U.S. this coming Sunday, I am dedicating this song and this week’s post to my Mom. She has been loving and encouraging me in my life and music since before I started playing piano at age six. In case you haven’t heard the story before…when I was twelve years old and wanted to give up piano lessons to focus on basketball, she wouldn’t let me quit. Mom and Dad both had a bigger, long-term perspective. They said I needed to finish the school year first before we would decide if I should stop piano lessons. By the time my 8th grade school year arrived, playing the piano had become a retreat, a sanctuary where I could relax and unwind. Then the next summer I wrote my first song…

This title track for my just released album is also based on a love story. Since God revealed the idea for So Loved to be an album of life soundtracks inspired by Bible stories, He has been deeply moving me to know how much He loves me. Just as for each of these characters, God sees our lives as priceless works of art, and our stories as epic adventure films. He is forever singing a beautiful song over our life as He does the extraordinary through broken, ordinary people, for His glory. His love never quits, and He transforms our lives when we trust in His bigger, long-term perspective.

Musically So Loved is all original, but as the music emerged I was reminded of my favorite composer J.S. Bach. His timeless melodies from the early to mid 1700s have a simplicity as they sing to our hearts and ears (this does not mean Bach is easy to play, however!). He signed all his compositions “Soli Deo Gloria” — to the Glory of God Alone, and his music is filled with refreshing beauty. The life of the disciple John and the John 3:16 verse quoted at the bottom are the inspiration behind the song and album So Loved.

In the opening and closing sections, if you listen closely, the piano notes are repeating the words “For God so loved, the world, that He gave His only Son.” The boy choir, Gregorian choir, harp, and vibes (vibraphone) join the piano to offer angelic, heavenly harmonies. These parts were not intentionally inspired by Bach, but they could be considered reminiscent of his church music composing and chorales.

How does SO LOVED and its inspiration speak into your life today?

SO LOVED | JOHN
John 3. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” We are so loved.

SO LOVED Track 1 – A Beautiful Thing

May 2, 2018 By Stanton Lanier 11 Comments

Click above to listen to A Beautiful Thing as you read. You can also enjoy the CD, MP3 Album, Piano Book and Sheet Music on the So Loved Album Page. And you can stream the music on Spotify, iTunes-Apple Music, Amazon MP3, Pandora, and more.

What comes to mind when you think of “a beautiful thing?”

When I was composing A Beautiful Thing, I was captivated by both the scene of Mary of Bethany sitting and Jesus’s feet listening, hanging on His every word, and these three words. I began to search for a melody that sang them, and after many hours the song began to take shape. As you listen you can hear the piano singing the five syllables “a beau-ti-ful thing” several times in the opening minute, and then again in the middle of the song. Sometimes this phrase is answered with the notes singing the three syllables “so beau-ti-ful.” Read on for more of the behind the scenes inspiration for A Beautiful Thing, which is the opening track on my 11th and newest album So Loved…

In our heart of hearts, we all have this sense of searching and wanting to know and be known. God created us to long for truth and beauty, to know Him, to sit at Jesus’s feet if you will. However, the enemy, and the stress, noise, hectic pace, and distractions of the world work against us. They prevent us from fully tasting and seeing what a rich, meaningful, and powerful experience it is to sit at His feet, and to really listen.

The music has some slight tension in it, representing the time and effort it takes to get there — to Jesus’s feet — and to begin listening to what He has to say to us. The opening section and its repetition in the middle of the song, represent “getting there.” Then the chorus melodies express what its like to be there, taking everything in Jesus has to share with us — words of grace (patiently and lovingly forgiving us for our sin and proneness to wander), and wisdom for guidance (what He wants us to obey). It was an amazing experience as God revealed an idea and the notes for the ending section of the song.

When we truly sit at His feet, Jesus reveals more to us than we can imagine. The piano begins to overlay melodies that all sing together, with eight hands playing at once. These piano layers represent the harmony of our lives, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit all singing together. The song is “a beautiful thing” as we worship our loving Father, sitting at His feet, hanging on His every word. One of the melodies symbolizes the perfume flowing down from Jesus’s head, over and over. Matthew and Mark speak to Mary anointing Jesus’s head, and John speaks to her anointing His feet with extremely expensive perfume. The disciples argued that the perfume could have been sold, and the money given to the poor. Jesus responds saying, “she has done a beautiful thing to me.”

How does this track and its inspiration speak into your life today?

A BEAUTIFUL THING | MARY OF BETHANY
Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 10. Jesus said, “she has done a beautiful thing to me.” When we truly sit at His feet, Jesus reveals more to us than we can imagine.

New Album SO LOVED – Intro Part 2

April 17, 2018 By Stanton Lanier 3 Comments

Click above to listen Walking on Air as you read, which is one of 15 tracks on the new album So Loved (releasing 4/24/18). After reading and listening, I encourage you to watch the Walking on Air Music Video for additional reflection and inspiration.

Has God shown you are SO LOVED by Him through another person?

I will be sharing more stories behind my 11th and newest album So Loved after it releases on April 24th. For this Intro Part 2 (if you missed it, you can also read Part 1), I want to tell you about Daniel in Zambia. Daniel was one of ten orphan boys in my Family Legacy Camp Life group in summer 2015 and 2016. Music to Light the World is Daniel’s sponsor so he can attend a Family Legacy Academy school to receive a top education, along with meals and nutrition. Before I share more about Daniel and the photos below, I encourage you to consider sponsoring a child in his Chainda community in Lusaka, Zambia (pronounced Chi-(eye)-in-dah) — Chainda Children Needing Sponsoring.

So the picture on the left is from June 2015 Camp Life and the picture on the right from January 2017 Dream Camp. You can see Daniel’s physical growth in these images. He is also growing in his faith in God as well as all his school subjects. From the first day we met in 2015, Daniel stayed really close to me, always wanting to play together, just the two of us, even when the other boys played as a group. Even though Daniel is fatherless, He has shown me God’s love in a fresh way, and how God sees me and wants me to stay close to Him, like I saw Daniel and was available to him.

Who is someone you can share God’s love with today?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

New Album SO LOVED – Intro Part 1

April 11, 2018 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

What do the words SO LOVED make you think of?

My 11th and newest album So Loved has many stories to share behind all the new music, which I am excited to share in the coming months. As an introduction before its release, ideas have been flowing about this theme. One picture I will forever have in my mind is “my boys” served by Family Legacy in Zambia, some of whom are pictured in the photo below. These boys are orphans by the world’s definition, but they are children loved and seen by their heavenly Father from His perspective. Joyfully and beautifully they saw my love and care for them as a glimpse of God, and through their love, hugs, and smiles for me, God gave me a glimpse of how He sees and loves each of us as His children. Please read on for a few more thoughts to inspire your life and faith journey…

In being loved and loving others each of our stories include the past, future, and present. If you are like me, there are happy and sad memories from the past, with many positive experiences and some regrets. It can be easy and difficult at the same time, but a word to represent the past is “faith” as we remember God’s faithfulness in loving and caring for us. A word for our future in being so loved by God and sharing His love with others, is “hope,” as we place our trust in Him. A word for the present day and moment is “love.” Our being fully present and engaged in life’s moments enables our doing of receiving and sharing God’s love.

If you have been moved by this story and blessed with resources, please consider sponsoring a child in Zambia to help them attend a Family Legacy school and receive an excellent education, as well as much needed nutrition. Click here for Sponsorship Information (you then need to click the “Search” button).

What step can you take to grow in experiencing and sharing God’s love today?