Features : Songwriter Pamela Edwards McClafferty considers fight for freedom & children in “Reflections”

Pamela Edwards McClafferty, songwriter and producer, and singer Lain Roy ask the question “How are our children?” in the single “Reflections” from the Now album.

The genesis of “Reflections” began when Pamela read Warsan Shire’s poem, “Where Does it Hurt?”

“I held an atlas in my lap,” Shire writes, “ran my fingers across the whole world and whispered, ‘Where does it hurt? It answered everywhere, everywhere, everywhere.’”

“There are many types of wars,” Pamela said. “Trade, economic, technology, geopolitical, capital, military. In simpler terms wars based on their nature and objective are absolute war, instrumental war and agonistic fighting. In all these wars, individual freedoms are violated.”

She continued, “In our world today, many of these wars are in play and children are the most affected.”

These thoughts led Pamela to seek the thoughts of others on the fight for freedom everywhere. President Barak Obama’s quote came to Pamela’s mind: “We, the people, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what’s in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense.”

Looking further, she found Abraham Lincoln’s words: “Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and under a God, cannot long retain it.”

When she read that UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said, “Children don’t start wars and they have no power to end wars, but they are the ones who suffer the most,” children became the focus of Pamela’s song “Reflections.”

The dominant theme of the song was “How are our children?”

People of the world
Do you hear the children?
Do you see your reflection
The reflection of our world
Hearts of the world
Join together
We must unite
Protect and care
For the future of our world

Pamela and her partner, producer and writer, Mark McClafferty chose multitalented singer Lain Roy to sing “Reflections.” She said his voice and interpretation of the lyrics were a perfect blend with Tzuriel Tong on violins, viola and cello strings, Michael Parnell on piano and Cooper Hyde on guitar.

“Tzuriel’s strings are a beautifully crafted reflection on Lain’s vocals,” she said.

Lain is a musician, songwriter and actor. Raised in the small town of Larkspur, Colorado, he shares a love for music with his mother, a former touring musician. Lain attended Berkley College of Music and later Belmont in Nashville.

He appeared as a contestant on “American Idol” and later was picked by Gwen Stefani’s team on “The Voice.”

“Lain’s singing,” Mark said, “perfected the placed imagery which Pamela wished to express.”

Lain now lives in Nashville with his fiancée, Savanah.

“‘Reflections’ poses no answers, only questions,” Pamela said, “questions only each of us can individually answer. Our children’s stories reflect in their eyes, and the reflections of who we are show there too.”

Searching for peace
Accept we all are one
Will our fellow man
Accept all the children
Look into their eyes
Can you see their thoughts
Do they speak to your heart
How are your children
Look into the eyes of your children
Do you see your reflection in their eyes
Can you read their thoughts
Do you see
The reflection of our world In Their eyes.

Pamela is a writer, a bestselling author, a songwriter and an award-winning producer with a lifetime of being exposed to, involved with and influenced by the arts and artists of the world.

The career of her “partner and best friend,” award-winning producer/writer Mark McClafferty, spans from Paramount to Fox, from Glen Larson Productions to president of Eddie Murphy Productions.

When Pamela partnered with Mark, they founded Spellbound Pictures and created an international consortium to produce films, including The Climb, winner of the UNICEF and five other international film festival awards. The pair have an eclectic resume from film to comedy and music.

Mark is producer of the musical Artland, a collaboration between Pamela and the world-famous jazz bassist/composer Stanley Clarke, who is a recent recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship.

Mark also produced the first single “Shades of Black and White,” which is included in Pamela’s “Now” album with “Reflections.”

As the questions of “Reflections” linger, Pamela takes to heart the words of John Adams, the second president of the United States, serving from 1797 to 1801.

"Posterity!” he said, addressing generations from his to ours. “You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make good use of it.”

What does Pamela wish for the children today?

She says John Lennon said it best: “When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”

So, she asks, “How are our children?”