Album Diaries | Found Me
Rachel Adell, an American mother of three, living in London is releasing an album after enduring cancer and other challenges. Rachel's hope is that Saturday Sunrise will wrap its arms around you, and help you get through that next dark night, as it has for her.
Song: “Found Me”
Album: Saturday Sunrise 2023
Written: Los Angeles & South Dakota 2021
Cowrite with Nancy Gonseth
Topic: When a friend finds you
I cowrote this with a dear friend, Nancy Gonseth, whom I met within my music tribe, Catch the Moom, 6FS. The biggest takeaway has been the community and the cowrites, and the inevitable connections after that. She and I wanted to write a song that explained how special it was to have the mentor we did. Michael Averill was incredibly present and sensitive to our needs, and the needs of our songs as well.
Walls soft
Come in
Door wide open
Where we like to be
Right here
You and me
It’s weird
Shy normally
Do I know I’m safe
Giving love away
Pulled to where you are
Pouring light on my scars
You found me
Hidden in my heart
There are special poeple in this world who have the gift of allowing you to be seen. You feel safe in their warmth and light. In all your shortcomings and insecurities, they appreciate you for you. When you try and fail, they are there. They don’t judge, they don’t make you feel less than, they let you be wherever you are. And in many cases when these wonderful people have entered my life I was at my lowest, weakest, and most vulnerable. Now that I have these kinds of people in my life, it’s pretty easy for me to throw up boundaries for the kind of people who would not appreciate my tenderness and heart. I hope you do that as well. There are people in this world who will see more of your light than you will, those are the people you need to be with. Don’t keep trying to convince or fit in with people unplug the drain every time their around.
A road from low to high
Good laughs and good cries
Soul open and so bare
Rushed to me
You were right there
It’s weird
I’m usually scared
Do I know I’m safe
Giving love away
Pulled to where you are
Pouring light on my scars
You found me
Hidden in my heart
Oh the gems
How you made ‘em glow
Remind me of what I know
New chamber in my heart
Evolving work of art
Written by Rachel Adell and Nancy Gonseth
Produced by Craig Sayer
Album Diaries | Who Loves You
Rachel Adell, an American mother of three, living in London is releasing an album after enduring cancer and other challenges. Rachel's hope is that Saturday Sunrise will wrap its arms around you, and help you get through that next dark night, as it has for her.
Song: “Who Loves You”
Album: Saturday Sunrise 2023
Written: Los Angeles 2019
Topic: Reminding a childhood friend you will always love them
When we were young and chewing gum
Try to blow bubbles with bubble yum
Didn’t know we’d grow up and be terrified
Of all the ways we failed and tried
As we get older, the weight we carry gets real. Less able to hold as much as we thought we once could. Every day, seems like one traumatic even after another. Our poor hearts. Those heavy, excruciating and isolating things come for us all.
How do you manage the pain, keep doing life, find the words and make time for them, AND find the right person to talk to? Who has the mental capacity to handle their own drama, let alone mine. Sound familiar? Most of us default to recluse mode, rather than create burden for others. But we are not burdens, we give a gift when we offer our trust and vulnerability. We create connection that cannot be created in any other way.
There is a loneliness pandemic. It’s easy to forget how to connect in an authentic way. An entire generation being raised without the freedom and normalcy of eye contact. Casual hang outs can feel arduous, and at times frivolous. Sometimes it’s hard to calculate the benefit of in person activities. That is, until you bite the bullet and just give it a fighting chance. It’s usually always, always, always worth it.
Life can be a dull knife in the heart
A stab right into the ground
It’ll crush and shake you silently
Screaming inside without a sound
Whenever an old friend is on my mind, I try to reach out to them at that moment. Every single time I do, they have been going through something real, and needed an ear or a lift. So, this song is on the album and was written to remind us all to call our friends. Remind that we are theirs forever. No matter what happens in their life, there is no judgement, no competition, no need for lonliness. This life is tough, and letting your friends know that you are still there and you still care is everything.
If nobody loves you
You know that’s not true
In the cold heart of winter
It’s me, who loves you
Written and Performed by Rachel Adell
Produced by Craig Sayer
Album Diaries | Everything
Rachel Adell, an American mother of three, living in London is releasing an album after enduring cancer and other challenges. Rachel's hope is that Saturday Sunrise will wrap its arms around you, and help you get through that next dark night, as it has for her.
Song: “Everything”
Album: Saturday Sunrise 2023
Written: Los Angeles 2011 , orginal title “You Had to Go”
Topic: Grieving a loved one, namely a parent
This song was inspired by the death of mother in law’s mother. Their relationship was so tender and sweet, and touched me deeply. It was originally titled “You Had to Go” but I wanted to focus more on the love and admiration, not only the loss. The loss is the inspiration for the song, and hopefully creates a space to do some of your own grieiving if you have also lost someone close to you. There is a sweetness is allowing ourselves to truly feel the pain, so we can find some reverance and quiet on the other side.
Only a couple years before Ruthie passed away she told me that she held her daughter and hugged her the whole night during a particularly rough chapter. That image holds space in my heart every time I play or sing this song. Thank goodness for the people who are willing to sit with us and rock us when we need it most.
Always had you before
I don’t have you anymore
All my memories are perfect and right
You held me and rocked me throughout the night
I still remember
Your smile and frown
I’m sorry for the times I let you down
I’ll always love you
You’ll always love me
But I’ll be good for you, wait and see
Recently my mother went through cancer, and then was given the news that the chemo and radiation would not be able to get rid of it all, and she would need to get transfusions for the rest of her life. The other part is that we don’t know how long she has to live as it is such a rare cancer. Losing my mom seems unfathomable, I hope we have lots more time with her. Our mothers become this symbol and figure that is impossible to replace. For those of you who have already lost your mothers, my heart goes out to you. It has got to be the most challenging loss, most especially if you were young, oh my gosh. All the blessings to your wonderful heart, I hope this song finds a safe home with you.
You had to go
Yes I know
You were everything, everything, everything
You were everything, everything, everything
You were everything
Gotta be strong
Time to move on
Don’t want to go home
Without you there
I know you’re not gone
That feeling is wrong
I’m gonna hang on
Till I see you again
You were everything to me
Written and performed by Rachel Adell
Produced by Craig Sayer
Album Diaries | Where We Go
Rachel Adell, an American mother of three, living in London is releasing an album after enduring cancer and other challenges. Rachel's hope is that Saturday Sunrise will wrap its arms around you, and help you get through that next dark night, as it has for her.
Song: “Where We Go”
Album: Saturday Sunrise 2023
Written: Spanish Fork 2011 originally titled “Wind and a Cloud”
Topic: The balance, flow, and adventure within a relationship
You are the wind outside my window
Wanna be close to you
Look at me now, I am a cloud
Open up and let me out
Some of you who have been following my music over the years will know this song as “Wind and a Cloud” as it is a love song about the ever dynamic relationship between (surprise) the wind and a cloud. It dawned on me years after writing it that the inspiration was three fold. I got the idea when we lived in a particularly windy canyon which had 70mph winds on a pretty frequent basis. The clouds seemed to love it, and always looked so playful to me. Then it occurred to me that Stephen and I were a lot like these elements. We have a lot of fun taking turns and switching back and forth between being the wind and the cloud.
All you have is what I don’t
All you lack is what I know
Driving the balance and the flow
We ride the high and lows
“Driving the balance and the flow”
When you lean into partnership this way, you can paint a rather beautiful tapestry of memories.
The second part of the inspiration I never realized until later is from a Russian song we sang in choir that is etched so deeply on my heart. Quite possibly the most powerful song we ever sang back then. And it was about a cliff and a cloud, and it moved me to tears every time. So powerful. Notcha vola touchka. Some things just stay in there and rearrange within you as you grow and experience life and come out in different, but similar ways.
The third thing that dawned on me as I put an old St Pepper’s record, the hole in the attic??? Like hello, “fixing a hole where the rain gets in and stops my mind from wandering” is a similar concept to me floating out the window and turning into a cloud to go have some fun with the wind. Pretty cool. I am happy to be influenced by these pieces, even if unknowingly.
We go where we go
Songs may seem like they come from one place, but often times it’s a life time of experiences that make up one concept or musical statement. I love leaning into the exhilaration of growth and change. To keep on living being moved by art and music and experience is a beautiful blessing, one I hope I never take for granted.
Things are hard, higher we climb
Sun creates a silver line
Spinning and twisting into change
Travel between night and day
Written and Performed by Rachel Adell
Strings by Justina McHale
Produced by Craig Sayer