I was NOT intending to write this song. I really wasn't. But when your baby has a baby, and your baby says, 'I'm expecting you to write a song about my baby', well, there's only one answer you can give...
But how do you write a song about a baby that doesn't sound like every other song written about a baby?
The answer to this question might just be the lesson I needed in creativity and gender-based identity -- yes, at the same time.
First, I started thinking about how I felt about this baby. Then I thought about how her parents must feel about their baby.
It wasn't hard to recall the joy and privilege of holding this new little being in my arms, feeling totally responsible for them, and envisioning a bright future for them.
But that's not very creative, is it? I mean, that's a song that anyone could and would write about any baby. I wanted to write a song that is as individual as the baby it's about.
So I started thinking...
My baby and her partner live in Squamish, BC -- adventure capital of the country, where everyone climbs, rides, paddles, runs, rides, hikes and more, sometimes all before work.
And...
How can we as parents (and grandparents) support our children to achieve everything they want, without forcing our own blueprint on them?
And...
Well, duh, what rhymes with 'Raine'?
So there you have it. Baby Raine.
And after it was recorded, someone pointed out to me that nowhere in the song does it indicate whether they are a boy or girl, and the references in the lyrics don't provide any clues based on traditional, gender-based stereotypes.
Truthfully, I never even thought about that. It didn't even cross my mind as I was writing it.
So maybe this global conversation about gender-based activity is actually working... because, as my friend Emily Nichols says in her TEDx Talk, 'words shape our world'.
Yes they do, and sometimes, songs shape our words.
Curiously enough, I would not have had this insight if our webmaster hadn't pushed me to write this blog. Nor would I have written "Baby Raine' if I hadn't been pushed to write it in the first place.
Which brings me back to the lesson in creativity -- you never really know what you're creating until you've created it.
