Fairfield residents collaborate on new song

A group of friends, many from Fairfield, are about to publish a new song they have recorded.

The song is called “My Spell,” with music and lyrics by Tamara Belland of Fairfield and Megan O’Brien of Iowa City. Belland sings with the Chamber Singers of Southeast Iowa, and O’Brien teaches singing and songwriting in Iowa City.

The two singer-songwriters are joined by several singers from the Fairfield area: Christiane Thompson, Madeline Starling and daughter Kai Starling, Paul Saipher, and Ian Bee. Also singing are Mitch Goudy and Hope Goudy of Nashville, Tennessee. Goudy is a Fairfield High School graduate.

Belland said she got the idea for this song from reading a poem by the Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) called “Ode to the Butterfly” translated from the Spanish “Oda a la mariposa.” In the poem, Neruda had been riding his horse with a friend in the Argentine countryside when a large swarm of butterflies flew in their direction and began to fly around them.

The butterflies were so intense that they darkened the sky. Neruda became afraid and rebuked the butterflies, shouting that they could not ruin his life and also that they could not ruin man’s legacy, which he was proud of.

Reading that, Belland thought, “Am I proud of man’s legacy?” Her answer was no, with climate change in particular, she was not. She wrote this song in response. It is aimed at women, a “spell” of sorts to encourage them out of ways that aren’t working toward being all they are born to be.

“As women are more proactive in this direction, all of humanity, and our legacy, will benefit,” Belland stated.

The song will be released on Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, Facebook and YouTube. A lyric video will be included on YouTube to illustrate the song.