One Light
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Lyrics:
…one light…one light…one light…one light… one light… one light… one light… one light… All around you all these doubts are calling out your name All around you all these thoughts won’t let you have your peace All around you feels like vultures all are circling Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh You can give in to your fear, cash out and walk away Or you can stand firm and say what you wanna say Someone’s always gonna try to make your beacon fade But you’ve got it in you, keep it lit and keep on being brave Oh oh oh oh oh And I stopped conforming to the crowds Oh oh, and I’m shining bright Yeah, look at me now Yeah, when we hide our goodness Blending in ‘cause we fear the backlash The light of truth blinks out in the process We all end up getting lost in the darkness People scared to speak their minds but you can lead the way Oooh, by standing up for what you know’s right Ooh, baby you can be that one light, one light, one light All around you all these vipers ganging up on you Frightened by the light you put off when you claim your views Tryna suffocate your match before it hits the fuse Oh oh, oh oh oh oh You can give in to their hatred and accusing eyes Or you can stand tall, a fortress against all the lies Someone’s always gonna claim you’re on the losing side But truth doesn’t change so stand your ground and let your beacon shine Oh, oh oh oh oh And I ditched my fear, I’m speaking loud Oh oh, and I’m shining bright Yeah, look at me now Yeah, when we hide our goodness Blending in ‘cause we fear the backlash The light of truth blinks out in the process We all end up getting lost in the darkness People scared to speak their minds but you can lead the way Oooh, by standing up for what you know’s right Ooh, baby you can be that one light, one light, one light We can’t fix the problems if we never try We can’t hope to make a change if we don’t speak our minds When we give in No one listens ‘Cause people secretly admire the different And I’d been hiding it, fitting in, chickening, flickering, holding back my light Not challenging, glimmering, glistening, rippling, piercing through the night Thought agreeing was the key to being liked But it’s the courage to stand out that will inspire them to find their might Yeah, when we hide our goodness Blending in ‘cause we fear the backlash The light of truth blinks out in the process We all end up getting lost in the darkness People scared to speak their minds but you can lead the way Oooh, by standing up for what you know’s right Ooh, baby you can be that one light, one light, one light Break, breaking free of your fear takes, takes the blindfold off their eyes And it’s the courage to stand out that will inspire them to shine their light |
Copyright 2024
Lyrics and Melody by Kelsey Gallant (2020-2021) Lyrical contributions: Cam Gallant Mixed by Cam Gallant, Trey Vittetoe, Joe Gautrey, and Kelsey Gallant Lyric video by Naeem Aslam The Story Behind The Song:
This song originated with Cam Gallant and me playing around with musicloops. I was singing along to the musicloop, making something up off the top of my head: "All around you all these thoughts are calling out your name / All around you all these doubts won't let you have your peace. All around you (humming, humming)... oh oh. Oh oh oh oh." I then went into some more humming, and later on in the song I sang the words "in the darkness." The song didn't stand out to us at first, and we put it away for a few months before finding it again. Cam added some autotune and other effects to my vocals and we loved the way it sounded! The song "Darkness" was now on our list of songs we wanted to produce. Of course, I had to write lyrics for it first. Cam had come up with the third line and suggested giving it political vibes, maybe something about both sides fighting against each other and getting lost in the darkness. I tried writing lyrics along those lines a little bit, but I didn't love it. I had noticed that in the opening music, there was a barely-perceptible voice in the background that sounded sort of like it was saying "one light." I decided to draw that out and make it so that it was saying that. This was during the time when "cancel culture" was really big--people getting kicked off of social media platforms for sharing their opinions, being mistreated and discredited for saying things that didn't align with the mainstream view. I did not agree with this--I thought that people should be able to speak up for what they believe in even if their beliefs are unpopular. And I thought that we, as individuals, should not be afraid to speak the truth and stand up for what's right even if it makes people turn against us. People often follow what they see the masses doing, because it seems easier than standing alone. But I think that people also secretly admire those who aren't afraid to go against the grain and stand apart from the majority. When people who could be leaders shrink away and hide for fear of what people will think of them, they just contribute to society being pulled further into the darkness. I wanted to incorporate all of these ideas into the song, which I renamed "One Light." It took me a while to write the lyrics, but when I was done I was very happy with what I'd come up with! I think the last part I wrote was the bridge. I had recently discovered Christina Grimmie, and really liked the unique style of somewhat rappish singing she does in her songs "Without Him" and "Snow White." I tried to emulate that style in the bridge of my song. A funny thing about this song is that we originally intended it to have a very strong intentional "autotune-y" sound, because we liked the sound of our initial sketch. But when we sent it to Trey Vittetoe for tuning, he did such a great job that we decided we'd just go with the natural sound! 
album cover photo credit: Vickie Statler
album cover design: Cam Gallant & Kelsey Gallant |
