Jordan St Cyr: The Canadian songsmith speaks about his classic song "Fires"

Thursday 31st December 2020

Jonathan Bellamy spoke to the award-winning songsmith JORDAN ST CYR

Jordan St Cyr
Jordan St Cyr

The general consensus of opinion amongst the Cross Rhythms team is that the best new song added to the CR playlist in this most troubled of years is "Fires" by Jordan St Cyr. And if you hadn't heard of Jordon before you heard that wonderful song, don't be too surprised. For until the Christian International Talent Contest gave a prize to Jordan for his song the Canadian singer/songwriter had made little headway since 2015 when he recorded and released his first single. I spoke to Jordan and began by asking him what motivated him.

Jordan: Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be a singer and a songwriter and as I grew up I was finding the things that I wanted to talk about and the things I wanted to say. And that took a while to figure out. As I grew up, got married, had kids you think about leaving your mark on this earth and you want to leave it better than you came into it. Songs of hope and joy have been my staple. Those are the things I really feel I'm supposed to talk about.

Jon: Who would you say your songs are for?

Jordan: I think they're for everybody; people of faith, people who are searching for something more in life. Life can be hard; you can be dealt a raw deal sometimes. But as we're pushed we start looking at these tough questions like why are we here and where are we going. I feel my songs poke at those questions.

Jon: What is the story behind "Fires" ?


Jordan: It's a real story about a real person that really resonated with me. Nathan is a husband and father of three kids. Nathan worked very hard; he worked multiple jobs to pay the bills but fell on some hard times and was on the verge of losing his house. One of the jobs he did was as a valet, parking cars at a hotel. He didn't know that at the hotel that night there was a songwriters round and this songwriters round was filled with songwriters who were singing songs about their faith, testifying to what God has done in their life and how they've been able to walk through tough situations. So after that portion of the night was over and just before Nathan returned to his shift he wrote a short little note and left it on one of those songwriters' car windshield. It said, 'I'm on the verge of losing my house, barring a miracle. Thank you so much for your songs; they were very inspiring to a man whose faith is quite weak right now.' Little did he know, this songwriter took the note to social media and put out a call to people who wanted to support Nathan through his struggle and they were able to raise enough money to save his house and pay off some other debts that he had incurred and really just provide a miracle for Nathan. It resonated with me as a father. Should I ever go through hard times this would be the story I'd look to.

Jon: Nathan was obviously facing a really difficult challenge at that time. But you say all of us don't have easy times in our lives.

Jordan: There's a bible verse that explains that life will not be all roses and rainbows. That verse sprung to mind and I wanted the verses to be a conversation. I think we over spiritualise our relationship with God or people a lot when we really just need to say it how it is. Looking through the lens of Nathan's story I tried to state it as if I was in Nathan's shoes, saying God I remember how you told me this and I also remember that you said you'd never leave me.

Jon: I know that you've shared that you and your wife had a particularly significant challenge and circumstance when journeying with your youngest daughter Emery.

Jordan: We have four kids. The first three we had very normal births, no complications. So when Emery was born we were so excited to add a fourth child to our family. This was going to be the last for us. When she was born and we heard the news that she had a rare brain condition and the left side of her brain was dying our hearts felt so divided because we were so grateful and so joyful for this new little person to be a part of our lives and then we heard this devastating news of her condition. "Fires" was written six months before the birth of Emery and it just felt like 'I know, God, you didn't cause this but you are walking me through a fire right now.' It's hard to put into words because we were so devastated. We were at the end of ourselves because there was no amount of money, no amount of relationship - we didn't know any special doctor who could wield his magic wand and heal our daughter. We got to the end of ourselves and all that was left was God. I don't want to over-spiritualise that. That's just what we felt. We got to the end of our ego and our pride and we were 100% in need of something greater than ourselves. That was the moment she was born.

Jon: How did you walk with God through that and how are you walking now through the fire?

Jordan: We were a puddle on the floor; we felt like we were cracked into a thousand pieces and it was more God in the beginning walking with us. He was the one who held us together and pulled us up and helped us realise that this was going to be an extreme moment of growth. Our faith was going to grow exponentially through this season. I would say in the first six to nine months there were so many more unknowns. She's 19 months now. At six months she had some grand mal seizures - those are the big seizures you see on the movies and it was devastating because you watch your little girl go through this and you don't know who is going to come back. It really was a time of just leaning on God and feeling his presence in our lives. That's what carried us through.

Jon: What does that leaning look like for you? Is it like you peacefully resting on him? Is it full of tears? Is there a bit of anger tied up in it or hurt?

Jordan: It's all those things. I don't think God cares if we get angry or mad. We've got to let those feelings out. The resting on him was eventually getting to the end of those feelings and just letting go. I felt like his voice was saying to me 'there are answers for you to know and answers for me to know'. There is so much we don't know moving forward and I've kind of resolved in my heart that I'm ok with that because of who he is and realising that I can only bear so much. I can only know so much. So letting go of control of the future, control over Emery's future I've been able to live a freer life.

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