"Blessing" is the debut single by Brazilian artist Gabriela Gonçalves. The song was produced by Mike Shinoda as part of his #ShinodaProduceMe initiative. The artwork was created by visual artist MOON HMZ (aka mumu the stan).
Background
Gabriela was part of Mike's Twitch community and is a big fan of Linkin Park as she explained in an interview to Teoria Geek:
"Linkin Park has millions of qualities, one of them for sure is the wonderful lyrics that the guys do and that were always so well presented, incredible vocals and well differentiated instrumental for always having different influences and genres in the songs. I have a huge love for this band, mainly because I got to know it through my uncle, whenever I hear “Leave Out All The Rest” the urge to cry is huge. The lyrics, amazing instrumentals, perfect vocals and the diversity of the genres, all this made me want to continue in music and make a living from it, and now it's funny, because if in a few years this question is asked to me again, maybe I can say that one of the guys who is part of this band changed my musical career and that my first song is a composition by me and a great artist that I've always been a big fan. Anyway, saying the importance of Linkin Park's songs is an endless answer for me, there are many reasons and many wonderful things!"
Explaining how she got to work with Mike, she said:
"First of all, I'm a big fan of Linkin Park and Red Hot Chili Peppers and at the beginning of the pandemic/quarantine, Mike started with daily lives on his social networks (now he remained only on Twitch), they were called “Coronajams” and we fans with coins we got from watching the lives (shinodabucks), we could order the style of the jam, so I asked for my jam to be the style of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I thanked him for the jam with the coins and then somehow he found my Instagram and congratulated me on my videos, message and live. Now in 2021, he started this project “ShinodaProduceMe”, where composers use #Shinodaproduceme so that their videos can be seen by Mike's fans and if it generates many views these videos come to him and that way he selects or not. In my case, he remembered my videos from last year (I believe) and sent me a message encouraging me to send a demo if I had it. I made a song and posted it on Instagram. I never imagined having an experience like this, it is extremely rewarding. Mike is just amazing, plus the comments are great too, he praised the song and then asked for a guitar solo, which of course I did running and then sent it to him. I feel very honored that he saw my videos, liked it and then remembered me for this project, he is a great icon of world music and having praise from someone like that is a dream!"[1]
The song was produced live on Twitch on March 16, 2021. After playing her original recording for his audience, Mike explained, “Keep in mind, she doesn’t have any experience recording … she just recorded it without a click [track] or without a grid … so I put it on the grid … and I put a little tuning on the vocal; other than that I didn’t touch it.” The demo consisted of only vocals and an acoustic guitar. After suggestions from his Twitch chat, Mike decided to make it a lo-fi alternative pop track. He rearranged different parts and pieces of the song and removed parts he felt were unnecessary such as the post-chorus after verse two. He also created a drum track with a few different samples filled in the song with bass, shakers, dominoes, and tambourine.[2]
Versions
Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blessing | Blessing | 3:23 | 2021 | April 8, 2022 | |
| Blessing | 3:49 | 2021 | February 8, 2021 |
|
Lyrics
In the morning I wake up
And again it’s another day
And I'm not ready to be alone today
Everybody expect a lot from me
But I'm terrified when they do that
And that's why I get ready for another day
Always asking for mom and dad for the blessing
To once again begin my day with their blessing
I never care about myself
It was hard to choose my dreams
Because every time the fear show up I couldn't fight
Now they don’t expect a lot from me
I'm still terrified when they do that
And that's why I get ready for another day
Always asking for mom and dad for the blessing
To once again begin my day with their blessing
Now I know everything is too much
And I don't want to get lost again
What if I get lost in here
What if I get lost in here
And never find
What if find myself in here
What if find myself in here
I need to know how to find
Always asking for mom and dad for the blessing
To once again begin my day with their blessing
Now I know everything is too much
And I don't want to get lost again
External Links
- Blessing: YouTube
- Producing "Blessing" by Gabriela Gonçalves: Shinoda Livestreams