Aurora Wonder
Seeking miraculous light in deep darkness
‘Seeking miraculous light in deepest darkness’, this has been our adventure in Lapland to record this album, and our search in the roller coaster of life. It’s been 4 challenging years of great sadness and loss since we released our last album Northland.
So much has happened in that time, as Liz’s lymphoma spiked again and she needed a much more invasive 6 rounds of chemo and major surgery. she is doing better again now, though there have been some major effects to her hearing and energy. We thank God and all our friends and family for their incredible support
In these last few years we have lost 10 very close friends and family, which has been a devastating yet rich experience, where we have been involved in terminal illness care, funerals, and after loss care. These new songs speak to so much of what we have been learning through this process, and previously recorded songs such as Stolen Years (Devotion), I Am Yours, Wonder Why and Bluebird (Northland) have been sung at the various farewells. These stories are incredibly precious…
After all we’ve been through, and realising life can be so short, we have followed a 17-year long dream and made the move to Waiheke Island (Auckland Harbour, NZ) this year, where Liz has taken a 4 day a week job at the high school as a counsellor. We have found there the fresh dawning of a new sunrise over the eastern headlands.
On top of this challenging journey with Liz, I have cared for my parents in elderly care, and then our precious five widows, Pam, Sheila, Lorraine, Celia and Tati, who have walked with such courage and grace and taught us so much about faith and recovery. Our precious angel Carmen, for whom we wrote Bluebird, has returned to Canada gravely ill, but having sown so much faith into our ‘journey of healing’ as she calls it. Ever thankful. We’ll meet again…
We’re left with faith, family and friends, and we are very grateful to Jesus. This album is dedicated to our Lord, and these many precious people who enriched our lives.
Family
Dad John Morris, Margaret his sister, and baby Felix
Friends
Marty Lovatt, Marty Crowe, Jason Hotere, Peter Guptill, Greg Goodwin, Sir John Graham, and Alps Myllarinen in Finland.
Our sincere thanks to:
Liz and our boys Euan and Finlay for their amazing belief and support. the Taiga Music team and band in Finland for this awesome collaboration. Jarmo, Anders and Manku especially, it’s such a privilege to be friends, write together and share your amazing talents. All our wonderful friends and supporters in Finland, UK, NZ, Fiji and around the world. Saariselka support team in Lapland, who made our visit there so magical. Restore Trust, who continue to support our work in NZ, and provide invaluable scholarships for inspiring young Nesian leader from Papakura High School, south Auckland, NZ. The Upper Room church whanau in Auckland for generously and openly sharing life with us.
Aroha,
David
As I listened to the latest offering by New Zealand singer/songwriter David Lyle Morris something profound suddenly dawned on me; there seems to be three types of music which we listen to, two of which we are familiar with.
One is music that we listen to, and maybe even hum along with. This is music that we have in the background and that we may or may not know but it forms the soundtrack of our lives.
Then there is music that we hear. It’s music that is sung for us or for someone else, this is music that is a bit more personal it engages you and draws you in at a personal level.
This leaves us with the third type of music. I think at a deep level I have always known this type of music was part of my life, but often it’s so fleeting that I sometimes miss it. It wasn’t until I heard an album of it with ‘Aurora Wonder’ that it dawned on me… there is music that is sung OVER us. It’s the music that we listen to that fills all the spaces in between the mundane parts of life that we are part of every day, like work, study, cleaning and mowing the lawns. It’s music that you can rest in and let heaven quietly invade your busyness.
You get a sense of something greater when listening to ‘Aurora Wonder’ – there is a peacefulness that quietly whispers through the clamor of life. It slowly unwinds us from the soul out.
Aurora Wonder is a nostalgic walk through life in all its ups and downs and all its utter wonder. David has crafted this album in his James Taylor-esque way to take us through the images of ‘River Wild (Ivalo)’, painting a picture of an untamed torrent that is life giving and unconstrained, and then meanders us through to the final song ‘Grace Sufficient (Walk in Faith)’ which is very similar in it’s theme to ‘River Wild’ and bookends the album quite well.
This is a wise and empathetic album (if an album can indeed be wise and empathetic), but this is a wisdom of someone who has walked beside hardship and pain. This is an album by someone who has had to learn to lean into God because life is not always easy and life is often filled with heartbreaking moments that leave a mark on us. However instead of wallowing in the pain of heartbreak or the pain of the journey David has been able to offer a hope in what he has discovered from actually walking in it.
Let this album wash over you as David sings about loss, loss of family, loss of friends, loss of focus when life is just busy, and hard and unrelenting.
Let this album wash over you as David sings about love; A love of his wife, a love of life a love of a God that is a backbone and a strength even in the hardest moment of life.
Let this album wash over you as David offers hope in something that is so much bigger and grander and wilder that we have ever experienced in our lives and that flows to give life, a life filled with wide eyed wonder and amazement. A hope that we can have faith in when life weighs so heavy.
Some albums we listen to, some we hear and some albums we let wash over us at a much deeper level.
This is an album to bathe in.
Chris Geldard
Digital Preview & Purchase
Thank you,
“Church Lord” Tuomo Huusko for letting us enjoy the amazing acoustics and view of Saariselka Chapel. Janne Lappalainen for his generous help with sound gear. Tapani Kauppinen for the gangster Mercedes Benz!
Band
David Lyle Morris, lead and background vocals
Teemu Vinikainen, acoustic and electric guitars
Anders Liljeström, acoustic guitars
Matti Rantala, acoustic bass
Markus Vainiamäki, drums and percussion
Arrangements by David Lyle Morris Band
Producer: Markus Vainiamäki
Recorded in Saariselka Chapel, January 15-17 2018
Recording & mixing engineer: Markus Vainiamäki
Mastering: Jakko Virtalähde/Virtalähde Mastering
Covers: Samuel Raikkonen
Photos: Markus Vainiamäki
River Wild (Invalo
Bible inspiration from Revelation 22 & Psalm 46
There’s a river, a river wide
Flowing town to town, never dry
It can carry tears, hear your cries
Oh the river, river wild
Can you hear its rapids fall?
Sweeping over stones, passing walls
When you’re
Meet your maker, river wild
There are trees of life, on both sides
Bearing luscious fruit, time after time
and their precious
Our creator, river wild
There’s a river brings such joy
To the city of our Great God
It’s a holy place, where the Most High
In his river, water swells
Aurora Wonder (Inari)
Dedicated to our wonderful band who headed up to the northern lights to make this recording, near the mystical northern lake of Inari
The sky is a deep shade of indigo
Skiing our way through the high fells of snow
Reindeer retreat in the forest and hills
Bracing with chill in the thrill
Heading up to the northern lights
Inari
Staring up at an arctic sky
Inari
Sledding up to the northern lights
With awe and wonder
Aurora wonder
I made some friends who could take me there
Journeyed a lifetime, I traversed the sphere
Magnificent colours we could only dream
Streaming with heavenly beams
Multi-facet mystery
Aurora
Shimmering elctricity
Aurora
Wild and unpredictably
We are matches, struck into the dark
Faded Blue
Dedicated to the other precious close loved ones lost over the last few years: (those already mentioned in other songs) including my Dad John Morris, his sister our beloved aunty Marge, Peter Guptill, Greg Goodwin, Sir John Graham, baby Felix, Jason Hotere
It’s been a long year since January
It’s been a tough track to get me here
It’s been a bitter cup, t drink it up
It’s been a downfall from mountain top
But now I’m still standing here, your love knows no fear
And in all by faded blue, I turn to you
It’s been a long day since yesterday
It’s been a long night of jet lag pain
And I’ve been trying to erase a memory
Sometimes it needs space, to clear your mind
Mourning loved ones gone, releasing others home
And with all my jaded hues, I turn to you
A New Waltz
Original version in Finnish by Anders, English version of lyrics by David.
Dedicated to the late great Martin Crowe and Lorraine Downes
Dance when you find yourself all alone
Dance when you’re finally together
Dance when you’re helplessly far from home
Dance through the fiercest of weather
Dancing and singing, lift up your hands to the sky
Keeping on moving, shaping your own life
Sing when the chaos is all around
Sing to show you are still breathing
Sing when there’s nothing to laugh about
Sing when you’re full of great fearing
Sing through the tears with a broken voice
Sing when a song is so needed
Dance when you’re feeling the sacrifice
Dance through whatever you’re feeling
Let’s Live
For our beautiful wives Liz and Virve who lovingly support our songs
These days roll along at truly break-neck speed
Weeks and months race
I’d like to make some room, and push the rushing away
Free so time for changing the gears
Baby let’s live now, darling let’s live yeah
This could be the last time, that we’d ever
Baby let’s live now, c’mon let’s live right?
Turn our hearts of dust, hidden in
Back into light
If this was the last act in our play of life
How do you want the story to end?
Characters rush head-long to a fiery grave
Or time to let the wounds heal and mend?
Secret springs flow under snow and ice
Fount if faith stream beneath our lives
Island Life
To celebrate our
What if we could leave this city?
What if we could sail away?
What if dreams could come together?
Could we live another way?
There’s a world all out there calling
Many stones unturned await
So we ride out on the morning tide
Glistening waters at our bow
And we breathe
We
Your people from the Isle of Barra
We’re driven off their island sway
To feed the ruthless revolution
Losing many ancient ways
There are treasures rediscovered
As we breathe deep and we pray
Waiheke’s calling, from the Isle of Barra
It’s Gods Call
Dedicated to my Mum Pam Morris and her journey in old age with my Dad, loyal to their 3 sons, grandkids and many great grandkids so far…
Life’s too short to dwell on might have beens
Laurels we can’t rest on. lose their sheen
Bitterness is not the way we choose
Forgive and forget, what have we to lose?
It’s Gods call, he holds the keys
To hell and heaven, so we’re down here in our knees
The end has come, our minds are numb
We don’t recognise the shell that we’ve become
But through is all, we choose to thrall
In the gift of life we’ve been given – It’s Gods call
We can hardly walk these flights of stairs
Silliest traps catch us unawares
Great grand kids now are the coolest thing
Generations carry songs to sing
But for today, we choose to live
The best we can, and all remains for us to give
The end is nigh, fly to the sky
We can’t reconcile should we live, should we die?
Is this the life, that we should lead
Or be led by hand, and leave our hearts to bleed?
It’s God’s call, our days ordained
To live with pleasure, so much to live with pain
It’s Gods call, written in his book,
One day when it is opened we will take a look
Called to account for all we’ve done
Glad that on our day of judgement, you’re the One
God’s purpose wins, your perfect will
In all our restlessness, so let us now be still
We won’t fade away, we won’t fade away
Our spirit’s strong enough to thrive another day
The Things You Do
Never known such a love, such as this
Never known anybody
Now we hear birds singing our song
We can’t help ourselves, we sing along
The sky is so blue, when I think of you
And days you’re so far, just tear me apart
Know it sounds so soon, but fell over the moon
Just can’t get around, or get enough of the things you do
Never known such an ache, such as this
Never missed anybody like we’ve missed
Now we see dolphins swim beside
In the wake of our love, they take a ride
You don’t know how much I burn for you
To go somewhere we have dreamed to
You don’t know how much I yearn for you
It’s too good to be true
In Your Arms
Dedicated to the late and greatly loved Martin Lovatt and family, you showed us the Jesus way to humbly and graciously handle cancer, inspiring our family journey of healing and then supporting others
Your love is unchanging, patiently waiting
Your love is a fire, burns deep within
Your
Your love, magnified on the cross, you took our place
Everything that AI need is, right here, right here
Everything that I pray for, right here in your arms
In your arms, everlasting arms
Your love is amazing, constant, unending
Your love is desire, heavenward bound
Your love, saving me from the dark, you shine your light
Your love, rolls away every stone, we rise to life
Breathe Again
Inspired by Anders journey with sarcoidosis, and Liz Morris challenge with chemo for lymphoma, so grateful to God you’ve both been spared
Poem credit
Verse 2 and Chorus inspired
Found in the inspiring book ‘when breath becomes air’ by Paul Kalanithi
A new face, a new life
I never thought I’d fall so far
From where I was, to where I am
A journey I would not have planned
Let me breathe in the air that you give
Let me drink in the sweetness of grace
Let me breathe, breathe again
You seek what life is in death
Now find it air that once was breath
New names unknown, old names
Till time end bodies, but souls none
Then make time, while you be, and you breathe
For these steps to your eternity
Let us breathe, breathe again
Grace Sufficient (Walk In Faith)
Dedicated to Chris Hight, The Donnell’s and all our friends at the Rhythms of Grace service, at The Upper Room church in Newmarket, Auckland, NZ, led by the truly encouraging Pastor Mark Pierson
Walk in faith, through your illness and pain
Walk in faith, when the answer is wait
Walk in faith, don’t look back or hesitate
There’s grace sufficient for us all
Walk in faith, holding on through despair
Walk in faith, as you trust in his care
Walk in faith, til your future is clear
There’s grace sufficient for us all
There are days when we pray, days when we bleed
There are times we are down, times we are healed
Don’t give up, there’s a way
Through the night, through the day
There’s grace sufficient for us all