Light from dichotomies
Romeo and Juliet, Alice in Wonderland...these are just
some of the references used by the American poet and singer Merry Ellen Kirk to
write her songs plus her personal experience, her own perceptions, feelings and
wishes which honestly come out in songs full of sensitivity and precious
melodies. As she said, she writes about light and dark expecting to connect as
many people as possible trying to make the world a better place. Growing up a
missionaries’ daughter in Mongolia, the different landscapes and cultures she
has experienced have had a big influence in her perception of life and her songs.
The future will bring us a lot of beautiful and deeply evocative music from
this young poet. Listen to her and open your mind to the world’s beauty.
What’s poetry?
I think of poetry as
capturing beauty (perhaps in unexpected places) and expressing that to others
in a way they haven't thought of before.
What could you tell us about your Invisible war?
Invisible War is
an analogy of the tension between the light & the dark in each of us, an
ongoing battle of good against evil which we all struggle with. For me that
tension looks like striving to live in a way that's honest & true to who I
am, rather than conforming to the definition of what others would tell me is
right or wrong.
The opening track of that album was All your life in which you sang Follow me into this wonderland. How is
this wonderland right now? Or where is?
The wonderland is your own
mind – the land of self-discovery, in a very Alice in Wonderland-esque way. It's interesting, because in my
time in Alaska this past year, I did way less touring & way less writing
than I've ever done since I put out my first record, which sort of allowed me
to find myself again apart from music...to focus on my physical & personal
well-being, to explore and have adventures, & to write music only when I
was inspired, not because I had an appointment. It was very revitalizing for me
as an artist, & I'm coming back to my music with a new passion for what I
do. In that sense the theoretical wonderland was a very physical place for me –
Alaska.
Another song from that album is Victory. You sing Victory, will you sing a song for me? Cause I've been waiting far too long to be with you. Are you still waiting for it?
Well, there are always new
victories to be had, always new goals to be achieved and battles to be won. But
that song was written in a very dark time in my life, which I'm definitely on
the other side of now – so that particular victory was won.
Two years after you released Firefly Garden (2011). One of the songs is called Masquerade. Dreamers lie asleep at night and
dream of things in truth, I wish I may I wish I might but these don't all come
true. Reality is so false?
“Masquerade” is actually
based on the ballroom scene of Romeo & Juliet. That line is from a bit
earlier, Romeo & Mercutio are having a conversation – where Mercutio says
he had a dream that dreamers often lie – to which Romeo replies, that they they
do “lie” asleep and dream things in truth. It's not reality that's false, but
our conception of it – imagining that dreams will happen because we wish them
to be so, is certainly dangerous. But this song sort of flirts with that danger
a bit, lost in the trance & the allure of all our dreams magically coming
true.
Four years since that debut album and now you release Feather & a Leaf. What have you
learned in all this time?
You are the Feather or the Leaf?
Either/neither. The idea is
that they are such a very unexpected combination, yet so very similar, that the
two immediately latch onto each other & find magic and freedom flying
together.
Complete the sentence: you never...
I never saw it coming. After
I wrote these songs, love sort of came and swept me off my feet, not at all in
the way I expected, or in any sort of reasonable timing. Ideas have a funny way
of taking on a life of their own and evolving in a completely different way
than you intended.
...dreamers fall and lovers
leave you sing in Maybe someday. How do you feel with the
ephemeral condition of life?
Sometimes a lifetime can
seem so long, we forget how finite our lives are. Our time just sort of slips
past without us noticing, and things go unsaid that we meant to say, things go
undone that we meant to do. Studies show that people on their deathbeds (a)
wish they'd spent more time on relationships & less time on work, and (b)
wish they'd been truer to themselves rather than doing what others expected.
It's so easy to get caught up in little things, sometimes we forget to really experience
every moment.
Could you tell me a dream?
My dream is simple – I want
to connect with and impact as many people as possible with my music, in a way
that's meaningful and makes the world a little better place.
Listen to the Merry Ellen Kirk 's EP Feather & a Leaf here
An interview by Juan Carlos Romero
Merry Ellen Kirk website www.merryellenkirk.com
Photos, music and video courtesy of Merry Ellen Kirk
All rights reserved
An interview by Juan Carlos Romero
Merry Ellen Kirk website www.merryellenkirk.com
Photos, music and video courtesy of Merry Ellen Kirk
All rights reserved