Sometimes, we hear a song that just seems to touch a deep part of our hearts and really make us think. These tracks will linger in your thoughts for an unknown amount of time, and make you look at the world a bit differently. Brooklyn based composer Naro Kim recently released an album that was inspired by her struggles after having a brain hemorrhage that impaired her ability to walk, her memory, and caused her to lose her vision.
Learning how to re-start her life was definitely a big challenge, but nothing that Naro Kim couldn’t conquer. She slowly learned how to play the piano again and put the pieces of her life back together one by one.
Naro Kim Turns Struggles to Beautiful Music
The album The Captain was inspired by the song “Captain” by Hillsong United: “Like the wind / You’ll guide / Clear the skies before me / And I’ll glide this open sea / Like the stars / Your word / Will align my voyage / And remind me where I’ve been / And where I am going.”
The title track from this album is exquisitely beautiful, to put it in the simplest of terms. It starts out very slowly as silence builds up the first few seconds of the track and paves the way for the innocent, melodic piano number that begins shortly after. The only way that I could describe the feeling would be complete sadness. There’s something about the way that she plays that really just seemed to make me completely emotional.
As the song slowly builds up intensity, there seems to be a much more hopeful tone to it, but still there are rises and falls to the song overall that really just highlight the struggles that Naro Kim must have felt after her hemorrhage. There’s also something that seems to be so childlike within the song that brings about a strong sense of innocence and vulnerability.
Finally, as you come to the close of the piece, the piano subsides and what sounds like subtle wind chimes closes out the song as you are lulled into almost a peaceful slumber. Overall, this is an extremely peaceful track that will definitely pull at your heartstrings and bring out emotions that you may not have known you had.
The Captain is a window to your soul.
You can listen to this piece as well as some of her other music over on her website.
