To Be Given A Body

Album: Three Futures (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Torres closes her Three Futures album with this celebration of childhood and family. "This one started hymn-like, but evolved into something more like a southern gothic Gregorian chant for the apocalypse," she told NPR. "I wrote this song last, as it was the one I was avoiding writing the most, and recorded it in one take."
  • There an awareness, as Torres recounts the stories from her childhood, that those moments have gone and will never come back again. "Life itself is impermanent. I think that's one thing I didn't know as a kid," the singer told American Songwriter. "Getting older doesn't mean that you get to keep the people and the experiences you love. You don't get to keep anything. That's the gist of it. We don't get to keep anything. We don't even get to keep our own bodies in the end."
  • The song features an original melody that Torres' mother Cindy sang to her as a child.

    "When I was a kid, she would sing me this lullaby that I always thought belonged to somebody else or was something she'd learned somewhere," she said. "I didn't find out until pretty recently - when I recorded the album - that she had actually come up with that melody. So, I asked her if I gave her a writing credit if I could hum it on my new album. She gave me her blessing, so that's really dear to me."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Mark Arm of Mudhoney

Mark Arm of MudhoneySongwriter Interviews

When he was asked to write a song for the Singles soundtrack, Mark thought the Seattle grunge scene was already overblown, so that's what he wrote about.

Al Jourgensen of Ministry

Al Jourgensen of MinistrySongwriter Interviews

In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple PilotsSongwriter Interviews

Stone Temple Pilots bass player Robert DeLeo names the songs that have most connected with fans and tells the stories behind tracks from their Tiny Music album.

Carol Kaye

Carol KayeSongwriter Interviews

A top session musician, Carol played on hundreds of hits by The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra and many others.

David Sancious

David SanciousSongwriter Interviews

Keyboard great David Sancious talks about his work with Sting, Seal, Springsteen, Clapton and Aretha, and explains what quantum physics has to do with making music.

Mike Campbell

Mike CampbellSongwriter Interviews

Mike is lead guitarist with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and co-writer of classic songs like "Boys Of Summer," "Refugee" and "The Heart Of The Matter."