My Father's Daughter - a meaningful song by Jewel

This song took a couple of listen to grow on me, then it took root completely. I think Jewel's latest album "Picking up the Pieces" is amazing. It is intimate and beautiful, and it's the combination of story telling and music. There are a lot of great songs in that album, but this song makes my voice catch when I try to sing it, because it reminds me of my roots.

Here's the link to the song on her youtube channel:

Jewel's My Father's Daughter

The chorus goes like that,

"I am my father's daughter

He has his mother's eyes

I am the product of her sacrifice

I am the accumulation of the dreams of generations

And their stories live in me like holy water

I am my father's daughter"

The first verse talked about her grandma stepping on American land for the first time, to be married the man she had met for the first time. The first sacrifice. Can you imagine how that must have been like? It must have been scary as hell, especially with the harsh Alaskan climate.

Yet so many of our ancestors did the same thing. This song reminded me of my maternal grandparents, who migrated to Malaysia when China was undergoing the revolution. Grandma traveled with only one change of clothes, that's all she had, to join a population that did not speak her language.

There in Malaysia, they survived the horrifying World War II and build a business of their own, while raising a son and 7 beautiful daughters. They had a rubber plantation and the daughters worked hard to keep the plantation going.

One day, one of the hardworking daughters met a man from a neighboring country, who was on his own journey seeking opportunities. They got married, and the daughter went away to Singapore to live with her husband, away from everyone she knows. 

Mom worked hard here. Dad was having a rough patch, so she had to bring up the kids with little help from him while doing embroidery work. Thankfully, she is very resourceful and made a decent living outsourcing extra work to her friends. I know she had a rough time though, being away from family with little support from her husband. Although Dad eventually picked himself up and life became easier, she still nagged about this 30 years later. 

That's how I ended up in Singapore. I would probably be more resourceful had I grown up in Malaysia, as my cousins are, but the economy is better here and the education system here uses English as the main language. This allowed me to be effectively bilingual, and I'll forever be thankful for it. So thanks mom for taking the leap. 

These events had mostly become a distant memory lying in a little drawer at the back of my mind, but the song brought them back again - the stories of my grandparents and parents. 

It was also the song that made me realize what my grandparents and parents went through are sacrifices. They worked hard to build the foundation so we can have a better start, I am more grateful and appreciative of this than ever before. I remember now that I have strong and deep roots, and the stories do indeed live in me. It's our duty to live our lives fully, so we become worthy stars in the family's constellation.

So, thank you Jewel, for your wonderful story told in a lovely melody. I never thought a song can make me a better person, but this one did.