This is an 80s-themed, energetic pop song about hope amidst chaos. Complete with an odd, 14/4 time signature. But despite its bright sound, the song is actually inspired by something much darker — the insurrection at the Capitol building in Washington D.C. on January 6th, 2021. This was the only way I could process the events of that day.

The Story Behind the Song

I woke up on 12/31/2020 with the melody for the verse in my head, including the time signature. In fact, even within the dream, I knew I would have a problem remembering the tune. So for the last few minutes before opening my eyes, my subconscious was rehearsing the melody and the time signature while clapping the beat.

I woke up, wrote the words and melody down and recorded what I could recall on my phone using the built-in voice recorder. It’s the only way to make sure you don’t lose an idea.

I was on vacation with my family over New Year’s eve, so I couldn’t work on the song until I got back to my workstation on January 3rd. I built a basic structure for the melody, but didn’t have the rest of the words.

And then the insurrection happened on 01/06/2021. And I forced myself to sit down and write the lyrics before recording the vocals on January 7th.

I needed to process the chaos in our land. And music was the only way I knew how.

I posted it online just in time for the @MusicWeeklies challenge of that week, whose theme was #Energise.

The Lyrics

Find Our Way
Words and music by Lionel Zivan Valdellon
01.08.2021

Everything around this house is on fire;
All the people in the land raise their voice.
Every single memory on the wire,
Waking up from broken dreams to the noise.

CHORUS
How will we ever find our way
And learn to live and grow;
If we hold to the foes we’ve made,
Deaf to all other woes?

Walls will soon be crashing down all around.
Hate and fear will never be the right choice.
Everything that we have lost will be found,
If we face uncertainty with one voice.

CHORUS

CODA
You’re the sum of every choice you’ve made.
Every path will lead you home.
You’re the sum of every plan you’ve laid.
Every path will lead you home.