Bright Morning Star

For one video only, I’m putting down the guitar.

To understand why, I first need to explain the backstory.

Last week, my wife and I, along with our four kids, made the trip from Raleigh, North Carolina to Rupert, Idaho for the funeral of my wife’s father, Dean Hurst. It was a sobering trip. While it was great to be with all of her family again, it was impossible to miss the giant hole left by Dean.

He had been battling pneumonia and other infections off and on for over a year since undergoing chemotherapy. He went into the hospital again at the end of December to fight off the latest infection. Nobody was too concerned. He’ll fight this one off just like he did the others.

Things were looking up, and then they weren’t. And then he was gone.

It wasn’t the cancer. It was the infections. They had worn his body down. After a year of fighting them, it couldn’t take anymore. He was 68.

This past summer my Grandmother, Mary Howington, also passed away. I was driving over to see her the night she died, I started to feel a new kind of grief I hadn’t felt before. It was strange and unexpected. She was 99. We all knew this was coming. I had plenty of time to prepare myself. But this feeling was different from what I was expecting.

So I turned on the radio. It was tuned to the public radio station. The local radio show Back Porch Music was on, which features a mix of Bluegrass and old Appalachian music.

Bright Morning Star was playing.

Grief was replaced with peace. More than peace. Hope.

My heart was breaking. But so was a new day.

I knew it was playing just for me.

My sisters and I sang Bright Morning Star at Grandma’s funeral. It has been on my mind ever since Dean passed away.

After it was clear he wasn’t going to make it, he and my mother-in-law planned his funeral. He asked that I play Battle Hymn of the Republic at it. Now I’ve got a lot of funeral friendly arrangements in my back pocket. My version of Battle Hymn of the Republic has never been one of them. His request was a surprise to me. But it’s what he wanted. So I did it.

While I was singing it, it finally occurred to me why he wanted it.

He was finally free. No more hospitals. No more pain.

Just like in Bright Morning Star, he had “gone to heaven shouting.”

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!

As for the arrangement:

Bright Morning Star is an Appalachian hymn/folk song that is typically done acapela. Even though it wouldn’t translate that well onto the guitar, I still felt like I should do it. So I decided to use a vocoder. It’s basically taking my voice, applying a bunch of autotune to it, and shaping each note I’m playing on the keyboard with the words I’m singing. The end effect gives me full control over the dynamics and blends my voice into the others to make me sound like a choir. A choir of robots.

I’m happy with how it came out – How it builds from beginning to end, with the last verse feeling like the sun is rising and a new day is breaking.

Recording this has been very cathartic for me.

I hope you enjoy it.

Bright morning star’s a rising
Bright morning star’s a rising
Bright morning star’s a rising
Day is a breaking in my soul!

Oh where are our dear mothers?
Oh where are our dear mothers?
Oh where are our dear mothers?
Day is a breaking in my soul!

They are down in the valley praying
They are down in the valley praying
They are down in the valley praying
Day is a breaking in my soul!

Oh where are our dear fathers?
Oh where are our dear fathers?
Oh where are our dear fathers?
Day is a breaking in my soul!

They have gone to heaven shouting
They have gone to heaven shouting
They have gone to heaven shouting
Day is a breaking in my soul!

Bright morning star’s a rising
Bright morning star’s a rising
Bright morning star’s a rising
Day is a breaking in my soul!