These are My Sons

When I read the Bible I often find myself skimming over the lists of names. I forget that these are real people with full lives, emotions, a history, and a legacy. I set out to reverse this habit in myself while writing this song. I found lists of David's sons and daughter in the Old Testament and started to imagine what his relationship might be with each of them. How did this relationship evolve as David's life changed, from being in Hebron to Jerusalem? What about when his sons got caught up in acts of lies and jealousy? I focused on three sons: Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah. I imagined the love that David had for them but also the tremendous regret and sadness he felt at their behavior. Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar, Absalom punished and murdered Amnon and ultimately died in disgrace hanging by his hair from a tree, and Adonijah was a charmer who unsuccessfully tried to seize the throne only to be killed as well. David is a noble man; his unending love and trust for God in his life and written in the Psalms is in an inspiration for us all. Still, how would he feel when looking at this same list of his sons that we see. The song begins with the David's joy of bearing children and his rise in power and ends with an imagined scene of David addressing his sons, expressing his frustration, anger and regret. At times he may even see and blame himself.