[Cover photo credit to Lindsey Patkos]
Björk’s “All Is Full Of Love” has been covered by Rosie Thomas and a virtual choir of guest stars including Sufjan Stevens, The Shins, Iron & Wine, Alexi Murdoch, Charity Theilen (The Head & The Heart), Kanene Pipkin (The Lone Bellow), William Fitzsimmons, Dawn Landes, Audrey Assad, Leigh Nash, Denison Witmer, Josh Ottum, Beau Jennings, Kyshona Armstrong, Kevin Brace, Alvie Shoop and Buster Shoop.
The song is part of Rosie Thomas’ latest endeavor, Lullabies for Parents. The new project is a labor of love and “an attempt to reach out to parents and help them self-sooth”.
Rosie describes how this song came together with Producer/husband Jeff Shoop:
“Originally, the plan was to do a quiet lullaby kind of version of the song, and really highlight the tender, encouraging lyrics, whether to children, to parents, to everyone really. Though we can understandably look past it these days, there is, in fact, love all around. Keep your head up. Stay hopeful. Look for it. Show it. Give it away. Love abounds. Love prevails. It’s within reach. So, as Shoop kept working on the song, adding bits, and shaping the arrangement, he had the overwhelming, but inspired idea to get vocals of a few lines from a bunch of different friends and variety of distinct voices (even our kids for a younger generation) to bring in and out, and eventually amass a choir of sorts.
Some folks would come by the house when they were in Nashville, and others we sent instructions and requests, and they’d kindly send back vocals. This was largely pre-pandemic too, but proved to be a fairly seamless method once it began and we continued. Shoop then built this crazy arrangement out of it, and it was really beautiful, but I told him, “sorry, you gotta keep going.” I said, “I’ll know it’s done when my arm hairs stand up.” So with that super helpful direction, he kept going;) He had his best friend, James McAlister play drums, sorting out parts over the phone; sent out more singing assignments for new vocal parts, and kept plugging away at it himself, having long since jettisoned the minimal approach.*
Finally one day I was out back checking out the newest version, and it happened! I cried when it finished, ran inside, and said, “look at my arms!” “You did it!” I listen now, and pretend we’re all in the same room singing side by side. It’s really special to me to get all these friends singing together on the same song. It feels like our own little We Are The World… We Are The Small World Afterall maybe?*The song eventually rose to what mixing engineer, Yuuki Matthews, said “won the award for the most tracks I’ve seen in a session,” including everything from celeste and nylon guitar to synth track names like “NBA Jam” and “Fletch chase scene.””
Lullabies For Parents is a multimedia series of resources, entertainment, and encouragement for parents of all ages featuring music, podcast, videos, essays, assorted content and community that promotes finding common ground, connection, and comfort.
The music portion will be a series of singles with a slew of guest vocalists. There will also be a podcast, videos, essays, books, and a merch line for both parents and kids alike.
Most of all, the project will be a “community of support”.
