Filmmaker THE ARCTIC noticed the chord TO CRY FOR YOU was striking and decided to conduct a video experiment. He invited several folks into a studio and asked them to simply listen to the song, allowing him to record their reactions. The resulting music video—a moving study in the connections between music, grief, hope, and vulnerability—has just been released.

View the TO CRY FOR YOU Reaction Video Experiment.

TO CRY FOR YOU can be heard wherever you listen to music online. It comes from the new full-length project, RECOGNITION. While singles from RECOGNITION are being released one at a time to streaming platforms, the full project is available at www.carolynarends.com.

MORE ABOUT THE SONG

Two recordings have made me stop the car because I was too affected to drive... and now there’s a third: TO CRY FOR YOU  -- Leonard Gladden

TO CRY FOR YOU came out of Carolyn's own grief journey. "I knew I would be heartbroken when my mom passed away," she explains. "But I was still not prepared for the intensity of the grief when the time actually came.

"For the first six months after she died, I spent most of my time fighting back my tears, exhausting myself in the process. Then, I was asked to sing at the funeral of another mother. At the service, her young adult son Jordan stood to speak. 'If you’re wondering if Jordy is going to cry,' he began, 'you can stop wondering. It is my honour to cry for her.'

"That was the day I began to realize that I didn’t have to resist my tears all the time—that they are symbols of profound love and a way of honouring the one lost. TO CRY FOR YOU was written out of the journey of learning to let myself be as sad as I actually am, but also discovering that, as Jesus told us, it is when we allow ourselves to mourn that we can be comforted."

At first Carolyn thought TO CRY FOR YOU might be too vulnerable to record, but after those who heard it told her it brought healing and comfort, she pressed ahead and included the song on her new RECOGNITION album. The final version features Carolyn on piano and vocals, her daughter Bethany on harmonies, and a beautiful string quartet arrangement from Nashville's Love Sponge Strings. It was mixed by Richie Biggs (Civil Wars, Joy Williams, The Lone Bellow.)

"Thank you for this heart touching , heart wrenching song. You have expressed loss and grief simply and perfectly! You have blessed all of 'us who mourn' with the words to express the pain," wrote a listener on Facebook.

Said another: "Thank you for singing from the heart a deeply moving song of mourning the loss of a loved one that helps us release the grief and experience God’s presence in the midst with us through it.”

More info: www.carolynarends.com

ABOUT CAROLYN ARENDS

“One of the most affecting communicators in any genre.” – Billboard Magazine

Carolyn Arends has released 14 albums and is the author of 3 critically-acclaimed books. 15 of Arends’ songs have become top 10 radio singles on the Canadian pop and US Christian charts. Arends has earned 2 Dove Awards, 3 Juno Nominations, and was recognized as the West Coast Music Awards’ Songwriter of the Year. Her prose has been recognized by The Word Guild, The Evangelical Press Association and The Canadian Church Press Awards.

Carolyn is celebrating the release of RECOGNITION (an album of twelve new rootsy and melodic originals) and IN THE MORNING (an acoustic worship EP).

In addition to her busy touring and speaking schedule, Carolyn serves as the director of education for Renovaré, a far-reaching organization that encourages and nurtures personal and spiritual renewal. She has also been a regular columnist for Christianity Today and Faith Today, and has served as an adjunct professor at a number of universities. She lives in Surrey, BC with her husband, Mark, and their young adult children Benjamin and Bethany.

www.carolynarends.com

For more info on Carolyn Arends, visit the JFH Artists Database.

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