Behind The Song - Part 2 - Quiet My Soul

The second in a short series of stories behind the songs. 

This one is from Noel & Tricia Richards

The music for this song was birthed during a soundcheck for a concert in Berlin, Germany in November 2015. Tricia was playing her guitar and she began to improvise a simple melody. We captured it on a smartphone and filed it away for future use. 

In early 2017, when we were looking through our file of ideas, this tune resonated with us. We sat down with our guitars and as we played together, the lyric – 'Still my beating anxious heart' – dropped into our minds. It seemed like a good starting place for the first verse of the song. 

We developed the music further by adding a refrain and then began working on the ideas and lyrics that would build on this opening line. We talked about fear, stress and anxiety that can cause the heart and mind to race and thought that a song tackling this subject might be worth exploring. 

When writing in any form, be it a song or a story, it is best to write from what you know and experience. 

Tricia has experienced panic attacks for most of her adult life and anyone who has suffered these, knows how debilitating and restricting these can be. So we wrote this song drawing from what Tricia has been through over these many years. The lines of the song speak about the feelings of anxiety, panic, fear and uncontrolled thoughts. There is a need to find a place of peace and calm in all of this, hence the line repeated over and over again in this song – 'Quiet my soul'. 

We sensed that the refrain should focus on what we need to do in those times when we feel overwhelmed by everything and are unable to cope. We hold on to what we know. We hold on to the one who is the saviour of our souls. We hold onto his words that speak peace to our souls in the midst of the storms. 

Almost every time that we have performed this song in the last few years, we have people talk to us about their own struggles with panic attacks, stress and irrational fears. They have been encouraged to know that people like us, who when performing on stage can look so together, are going through a similar experience to their own. 

For that reason, we believe that this song has a great role to play in these days. Life seems to move and change at such an overwhelmingly fast pace. There is an increasing need for mindfulness and taking the time to simply quiet our souls. 

This is a scripture that we share when we perform this song in concert. 

Psalm 131 v 2 from The Message says: 

I’ve kept my feet on the ground, 
    I’ve cultivated a quiet heart. 
Like a baby content in its mother’s arms, 
    my soul is a baby content. 

We hope that as you listen to 'Quiet My Soul', you will find a place of peace in whatever storms you might be facing right now. 

Download the MP3 of  'Quiet My Soul' complete with lyrics and chord chart by clicking on the image above or HERE

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