Steve Parsons: The singer songwriter celebrates 20 years of ministry

Wednesday 10th April 2013

To acknowledge 20 years of music ministry and to raise funds for orphans in Mozambique songsmith STEVE PARSONS has released the download album 'Retrospective 20'



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13. "Moving On"
Confession time. I think I might have plagiarised the lyric from a Dan Wheeler song called "Scratches In The Glass". His chorus talks about moving on, and maybe I nicked the idea by accident. Hmmm, not sure, but if I did it's a compliment, right? Being the gentleman he is, he said nothing, and actually helped me finish the verse lyrics because I was stuck. What a guy.

14. "I'm OK"
I was told off by a woman once because she asked me how I was, and I answered "I'm OK." Apparently such a normal answer isn't good enough for some Christians who think the answer should always be "I'm amazing." Anyway, her disapproval of my averageness served to inspire this song.

15. "Sink To The Bottom"
2010 came along, and with it the release of the 'Beautiful Broken World' CD. It coincided with the toughest season of my life, as my health took a nose-dive with the sudden on-set of a heart condition. I loved making this record though. We recorded a lot of it at Dan's place and the sun seemed to shine a lot; literally and metaphorically. Nicki Rogers, Cathy Burton, Dan and Cyl sang backing vocals, Lucy Payne jumped in on cello. I should also mention that apart from my first album, Mark Prentice (who is possibly the nicest guy in the entire world) has played bass on all my albums. He's brilliant. Dan insists we co-produced this record, but I think all the good ideas came from him. "Sink To The Bottom" , as with so many, came about because I'm involved in leading a local church and pastoring real people.

16. "Gonna Be There"
One of the most personal songs I've written. My health problems were very troubling at this time. I was the one whose "heart had found its limit", who was "walking through the fire", who needed to "hold on tight in the middle of the storm". It's my anthem.

17. "Dirt"
She's a girl who lives somewhere in Belfast. Dirt was the nickname the kids gave her at school. A teacher told my friend Derek about her and he suggested I wrote this song. I did, two years later. I think about her and pray for her sometimes.

18. "Prodigal"
My take on the story that Jesus told. Everyone knows a prodigal.

19. "One Life"
One of the themes of my ministry has been calling people to make their life count for eternity.

Steve Parsons: The singer songwriter celebrates 20 years of
ministry

<20. "Beautiful Broken World"
I tried to write this song for months. It just wouldn't come out of me. The key that unlocked it was when I realised that this world is beautiful and broken - and that Jesus on the cross is the ultimate expression of both those things. I was still struggling to make the lyrics work though and in frustration I prayed. I know we joke about God giving people songs, but having struggled for months, within 20 minutes of having prayed I had a finished song. All the jigsaw pieces suddenly fit.

I'm grateful for the past 20 years and for everyone who has helped me along the way. The great thing about starting out as a 20 year old is that I still feel young enough to be excited about the future. It's been a challenging couple of decades, and I've not had the "success" that I perhaps hoped I would have. But as someone reminded me yesterday, it's about the journey and I'm a privileged guy to have come this far. I hope I can carry on making music for many more years. I hope there will be people who want to buy it. Thank you for your encouragement down this road. If you've ever bought a CD, come to a concert, booked me at your church, let me sleep on your couch, sent me money, told me you loved me, Thank You. As we say in Cornwall, I'll see you again, if not before. CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.
 
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Reader Comments

Posted by Simon Gale in Devon, Near Bush @ 21:15 on Dec 22 2014

Hi Steve, saw you at Bush this year & I was truly inspired! I played in a few bands b4 wife & kids and I loved live playing. My favourite was Heavy / rock / blues(Ozzy, Zakk Wylde, Eric Clapton unplugged, and the like). Basically not suitable at my local chapel. Never really like the 'normal' chapel stuff but love your music & style, bought a couple of your albums from your wife at bush. Truly inspirational. I've looked on the net for the chords for your music but can't find anything. Do you allow access to your stuff? If so any chance I could have access? My favourite is 'I'm OK' followed by 'Man needs God' I could go on. I could probably work it out but i noticed you were cappo'd by a note or so at Bush so I wanted to get it right.



Posted by Steve Parsons in Cheshire @ 09:48 on Apr 10 2013

Thanks Tony and Cross Rhythms for printing this. If anyone's interested in getting the free album download they can get it at my website. www.steveparsons.net



The opinions expressed in the Reader Comments are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms.

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