Liner Notes for "Tess Alive II"
A tremendous amount of suffering and hardship is behind nearly every one of these songs.
If it's a sad story, someone in Tessa's Lair probably lived through it.
As Paulie Gualtieri of The Sopranos would lament, "How much more betrayal can I take?!"
Does God Hear The Heart?
A song that ends unresolved for our desperate prayers that go unanswered.
HIdden Treasures
This song is a celebration of an answered prayer at a time when everything seemed to fall apart.
The Burden of Life
Inspired by "The Year," written by the great Ella Wheeler Wilcox, and tinged with personal angst, this song is about the futility of joy on earth, as there is an end to every fun, a comedown to every high, and a death that follows each birth.
More Than I Could Dream
Where Tony Robbins meets Ephesians 3:20, a powerful biblical passage emphasizing God's limitless power. It highlights that God can do far beyond human limitations, prayers, or imagination, operating through the very power of the Holy Spirit at work within believers.
Shattered Heartbeats
After cancer took their child's life, she helplessly watched her husband die inside the same bottle he used to drown his pain.
Voice of the Voiceless
Inspired by "Kinship," a powerful poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, this song is Tessa's battle cry against animal abuse.
Spirit Of The Living God
Our interpretation of the mighty hymn, O Spirit Of The Living God, written by the late Henry Hallam Tweedy.
The Anchor And The Needle
This song hit home for us. It's about a mother's grief over losing her daughter to a drug overdose.
Your Gentle Word
God's gentle promises are more powerful than our greatest anxieties.
A realization that when God seemed farthest away, he was closer than he'd ever been.
Based on Jonah 2, this song is about God's gracious second chances; sometimes hundreds of chances.
Shakuhachi Showdown
An instrumental that rocks! Influenced by and dedicated to our dear friend Rudy Sarzo.
Dedicated to every teenage girl who sees herself as something other than the beautiful creation she is.
The Time Is Near
A joyful reminder that the evil suffocating the world will soon be put to death by our Savior's return.
Divitias Propriae
A beautiful song Tessa wrote to her baby for his dedication ceremony.
Gasping For Air
In memory of our friend Helene, whose life was claimed by depression and drugs.
This song is about a Philadelphia newscaster who rose to the top, only to be toppled in a day by her own pride.