Below is an email, slightly edited, from John Jarvis, singer and composer of the melody to We Rise with Our Dreams, which provides some background to the song. It is reprinted with his permission. Joe Henry wrote the lyrics.
Hi Ben
The song was written for a show called Mutual of Omaha's Spirit of Adventure...the episode was about a SinoAmerican attempt to navigate the Yangtze River from one end to the other (which ultimately failed)
[One of the questions I asked Mr. Jarvis was if the song went through any re-writes. That is the context for the next paragraph.]
It's hard to remember...but I believe Joe handed me something close to a finished poem..I wrote the music..he may have then fine tuned it...I ended up singing it (with a horrible cold) in the documentary.
Subsequently...it got picked up for a ski show on ESPN called Suburu Ski World...and has been used in some NASA films...it actually works amazingly well in those.
I have no idea how Marty Balin* got ahold of it. I have played piano on some of Marty's records...but I didn't give it to him. Probably Joe. I've only heard about 20 seconds of his version.
...
We wrote several other songs for Spirit of Adventure...and we wrote a song called the Flower That Shattered the Stone...which was recorded by Olivia Newton John on a lullaby record...as well as John Denver.
Hope that helps!
JJ
I was surprised to read that John had a severe cold when he recorded the song because his voice is one of the things that makes the song so powerful. When I have listened to his voice on this song I have had the word "prayerful" come to mind more than once. Or "whisper" (maybe because of his cold). It is not really a whisper, he is after all singing, but there is still that same understated quality. The way that he sings makes the lyrics, the words of the "poem," as he perfectly characterizes it, clear and distinct, unlike so many other songs. And like so much serious poetry, this poem doubles as philosophy.
John also chose the perfect melody to accompany the poem. It is a beautiful, singable tune and its pace and the rises and falls, enhance the beauty and power of the message.
I asked John if there was a copy of his original recording available somewhere. Alas, he said there was not. What a disappointment. We Rise with Our Dreams as sung by John Jarvis should be widely available.
*Marty Balin, former lead singer for Jefferson Airplane/Starship, re-recorded the song a few years ago.
