Recorded live (vocal and guitar simultaneously) at Whiskey Hill Studios in Woodside, CA in 2011. Engineered by Roger Choplin. Mix-mastered by Vince Hudson in Redwood City, CA in 2012. Guitar and vocals by Paul Fifield.

I had been thinking about how we make choices all day long every day, often not even realizing we’re doing it. And then I began thinking of the choices we make that inform our views of who we are, how we wake up each day and retell ourselves the stories about who we are, and how those self-talk narratives are so strongly influenced by our upbringing and our choices that piggyback on those narratives, continuing to inform our daily choices as we move through our adult lives, creating more choices that continue to support the narratives of who we are, no matter if those narratives are self-destructive or self-affirming. And then I thought about how self-destructive narratives can be shifted, often by meeting people who see something different in us and who plant the seeds of new self-affirming narratives. That, of course, is the upside. Obviously people also can be influenced into self-destructive behavior, but this song is about finding redemption by choosing new associations. — Paul Fifield

I Choose
© Paul Fifield 2011    All Rights Reserved

When Jack was a boy he was robbed of his joy
By the lies that were placed in his head    
He retreated inside and attempted to hide
‘Til his dreams were just about dead
He was born with a song, it was there all along
So hobbled it couldn't take wing
But in stillness and quiet if he listened just right
He thought he could hear his heart sing

   I choose love, I choose joy, I choose giving my spirit a voice
   I choose singing my song to let my whole being rejoice
   I choose heart, I choose soul, I choose letting my inner light show
   I choose chasing my dreams regardless of where they may go

As time went along Jack learned how to be strong
And he buried his heart in his strength
He kept others out and existed in doubt
While he tried not to look at his pain
He met people around whose joy was profound
And joy is a powerful thing
He'd look in their eyes, feel the warmth of their smiles
And he swore he could hear their hearts sing

   I choose love, I choose joy, I choose giving my spirit a voice
   I choose singing my song to let my whole being rejoice
   I choose heart, I choose soul, I choose letting my inner light show
   I choose chasing my dreams regardless of where they may go

       By grace or maybe by chance
       Jack found himself dancing a new kind of dance
       He no longer felt wrong, new friends came along
       And they joined in his song... yeah they all sang along

   I choose love, I choose joy, I choose giving my spirit a voice
   I choose singing my song to let my whole being rejoice
   I choose heart, I choose soul, I choose letting my inner light show
   I choose chasing my dreams regardless of where they may go
   
   I choose chasing my dreams regardless of where they may go
   I am chasing my dreams regardless of where they may go