The Story Behind the Song
"Pray"
Christy Bruneau
I wrote the song "Pray" right after my father passed away. It was one of the quickest songs I have written. It came to me in about 10 minutes. Being in a place of grief & loss I went through a time of deep contemplation about what life and our connection to it. I began to question my existence, our existence at a deeper level "Is there more to life than just our physical presence?" I wasn't raised religious and I am not religious now, but losing my father at just 59 years old brought me closer to these questions and the feeling of being guided and led by something bigger than myself. So the song "Pray" literally emerged.
A bit after I finished the song and became open enough to play it, I was in a songwriter's circle. I had not played for a while in front of a crowd, but I strongly felt I needed to play "Pray." After we were finished a fellow songwriter in the group came up to me. He told me that he had stage 4 cancer and my song had really touched him, gave him peace with this part of the end of his life. Isn't that what most of us songwriter's want? Just to touch someone else through our songs. I never saw him again. But I am grateful that my song gave him some peace at the time in his life.
I feel lucky to have a few versions of this song live as well as a produced version which really made the song come alive. Recording a song and watching it take on a life of it's own is one of my greatest joys. I have included a link to a live version from a Songs from Space show I played Pray Live. The produced version is also available for you from when I recorded the song at Berkley Sound here in San Diego. I hope this song touches you, too.