It’s the Journey Not the Destination - Winning a GRAMMY
We’ve all heard the phrase - it’s the journey not the destination. We have an idea what it means, but have we actually experienced it?!
I co-wrote Dreams of Fire with AR Rahman - it’s on the Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack which won a GRAMMY. The winning of an award lasts about a minute, maybe 3 when you include the acceptance speech, and I’m so proud of it, of course I am. It opened some doors, but my absolute favorite part of the “win” was the entire experience, the night of writing the song at 2:30 a.m. in Mumbai, India.
It was a completely unplanned session—I ran into AR Rahman in the recording studio at 10 o’clock at night, and we were both surprised to see each other. I was thinking, "Oh, I’m so lucky!” And, it was a year later that I found out when I AR told his version of that night, that when I opened the studio door and he saw me, he thought, “How did you know I needed you?!”
We hung out that night in the studio. I listened to music he was making for another film and we had dinner with Amir Khan, an actor and director I admire, another director and a small crew. The dinner was delicious, the conversation was fantastic and a 2:30 in the morning AR pulled up a track and said, I need lyrics to this song, handing me a yellow legal pad. He said the film is already completed and they’re waiting for the soundtrack. I asked him about the theme of the film, the story he wanted told in this song, and about the two main characters this song is about. He gave me a general direction and asked me to write in stanzas and if I could keep the title Dreams On Fire.
AR left the room and went to the other studio to work on another Soundtrack while I wrote three pages of stanzas. I showed him all my lyrics and he pointed to a stanza on page 2 and said “Start with that line”. He picked a couple other stanzas and said you choose the rest. The beautifully soulful singer Suzanne D’Mello was in the booth, I vocal produced the session, and we were done at 5:30 AM.
Every detail of that experience, the emotional ride of that night, the joy and surprise of the experience. THAT’S WHAT I FEEL AND REMEMBER. THAT’S WHAT HAD AN IMPACT ON MY LIFE AND SOUL.
Two weeks later I got a call from AR telling me Danny Boyle loves the song and it’s going on the soundtrack. Danny Boyle?! I love Danny Boyle. I didn’t know this was a Danny Boyle film! hahaa
Two months later, sitting in a dark movie theater in Santa Monica after I got off the plane in Los Angeles to watch the film I wrote a song for - that was joy, a triumph.
Seeing the song performed on ARR’s tour, not knowing it was even in the show, with Simon Long next to me waiting for the surprise to hit me - that was joy, a triumph.
When somebody wins an award, they’re ecstatic, they thank everyone they know - usually starting with their parents! They know the entire road and all the grit and passion it took them to get there. Though the award moment is a fleeting moment - the song, album, or film that took a year or years to create and the legacy it can create is the triumph.
A project can be stalled or stopped in so many different ways, at so many points along the road from idea to distribution. Every hurdle we overcome along the way, every pivot, every adjustment, those are the wins!
So when you find yourself challenged, your timeline bumped back, or a surprise opportunity shows up - take it all in and recognize the win you’re having right then and there.
Listen to Dreams of Fire
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