Rebecca St. James
I was so excited and immediately passionate about being a part of this project simply because I’ve been so personally inspired by the Narnia adventures myself! Most kids at some stage read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, and I was one of those. I’ve also read the book as an adult as well. I am really gripped by the power and the symbolism of the story. As a Christian it is awesome to recognize Biblical characters creatively worked into such a dramatic plot.I can’t even remember not knowing about The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and all of the Narnia books. They become part of your life, they just grip you. From my childhood on, I think the imaginative and creative aspects of the story have really appealed to me.
When I was thinking about what to write about in my song, the character I was drawn to the most was Aslan. I wanted to write a song from the perspective of one of the children, and so I chose to see him through Lucy’s eyes. At one point of the song I’m singing, “Wise eyes you see the core of me/ your gentleness melts me.” That’s what fascinates me about Aslan - he’s so gentle but you respect him so much. There’s a line in the book that says, “Is he safe?” and the response is “No, he’s not safe but he’s good.” The last line in the chorus of my song is ‘Feels like I’m living in the lions’ mouth, but the lion is an angel’.
I love the song that we’ve had a chance to record for this piece. When I first heard about this whole idea of doing a song for the Narnia soundtrack, I was just thrilled because, to me, the whole concept is so inspiring. I have just been really jazzed to be a part of writing a song for this.
I love how the song feels. My producer Shaun Shankel did a great job of musically portraying the lyric. The first line of the song is “mysterious that’s what I call you.” And mysterious, that’s what I call this song. It really has an almost moody, ethereal sense to it. It’s very dramatic and it just draws you in.
When we were in the studio, Shaun and I had a unique way of testing the song to see if it was fitting the atmosphere of the movie. We would mute the sound and watch the trailer while playing our song. When we were getting goose bumps while watching the two played together, we knew that we were onto something!
It’s so exciting to me to be a part of such a powerful, moving epic project that has already done so well as a book. From the technology that they are using on this piece to the acting, to the cinematography - everything has been so beautifully done. To see such a commitment to excellence and then to be asked to be a part of the music has been thrilling.
Steven Curtis Chapman
I was very excited to be a part of something that is this historic. It’s a real privilege to have any kind of connection to The Chronicles of Narnia, this film is going to be so massive and its going to have such an impact on our culture. Great stories never die. And whenever you find a story that has all the elements that make a compelling adventure like Narnia, it doesn’t matter what time period or generation it’s being told to or read to, it’s still a great story and it captures your imagination.The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe leaves me with a constant reminder... that every time I experience spring or new life or a new day, that these are a picture of redemption and of restoration. I want to remember what that means and what that represents, and that this truth is not just for things in the past, but also this hope is for the future.
I wrote the song “Remembering You” that is from the perspective of a lot of the characters in the book, it could be Lucy, it could be any of the children at the end of the story saying, “Whenever I see the first signs of spring, I’m going to be remembering you. I’m going to be remembering Aslan, remembering the story and what is to come.”
