Mark Michael
America Will Rise
© 2002 Mark Michael (634479285226)
CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.
The new patriotic anthem for a post-9/11 America; adult contemporary.
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America Will Rise is an uplifting new anthem for America that is making its way across the country via grassroots efforts and the support of people like you. The song was written primarily for the people of America - to provide resolve to all of us who have to forge a new tomorrow in the realities of today. Additionally, it was written as a means to an end: raising money for the Todd M. Beamer Foundation. All profits are being directly donated.
I originally wrote this song as a song of hope for my wife. In November 2000, she contracted a potentially terminal and extremely rare blood disease. For the next 12 months, excruciating pain, dangerously elevated blood counts, and intensive chemotherapy debilitated her. She came very close to dying. It was one of the most trying experiences of our lives. She would occasionally get to the point where she didn't want to go on, couldn't take it anymore. I wrote the song "Rise Again" as a reminder of hope. The chorus is the same in that version as it is in the new one.
The weekend after Christmas, she came home from an errand extremely excited. She had been listening to a CD of the original version of Rise Again when she was struck with a compelling idea. As much as the song had been powerful and uplifting for her, she believed it could be reworked to provide the same inspiration to a nation in mourning and uncertainty after the 9/11 attacks.
We immediately began working on the idea and by 3:30am the next morning, we had rewritten and re-recorded the song - it was now "America Will Rise". Within 96 hours of conceiving the idea, we designed and burned the CD, began working on a website, and had begun talking to Phoenix-area media outlets. In less than 30 days, we had gone into the studio and produced an amazing radio-friendly version of the song using some of Phoenix's best studio musicians. The rest of the story is still being written every day - and by expressing your interest and support, you are now a part of it. Thank you!
America Will Rise
Music & Lyrics by Mark Michael
We had to wake up - we'd been asleep for much too long
But now our innocence is gone and life will never be the same
We had to wake up - to the sirens and the screams
Of a million broken dreams and a world torn apart
Maybe we wish the world was like it was before
But maybe God wants something more
So we will rise again - out of the ashes, up from the ruins
Rise again - take my hand and we will rise
America will rise
Got to wake up - because I see the sun is rising
From beyond a dark horizon I can see a better place
Got to wake up - 'cause there's a storm that we must weather
We will put it back together, we'll rebuild a better place
Though we will not forget the way it used to be
God will shed his grace on thee
So we will rise again - out of the ashes, up from the ruins
Rise again - we are nowhere close to over
Rise again - higher than we ever imagined
Rise again - take my hand and we will rise
America will rise
So this is my prayer - I hope somehow through it all
We'll be standing proud and tall, we will find a better way
No matter how far - no matter how hard or how long
We are brave and we are strong in the home of the free
Rise......Rise Again......Rise.......Rise Again........America Will Rise
Mark Michael Zembal studied piano at Interlochen Academy for the Arts and Berklee College of Music. An avid songwriter since he was 12, Mark began recording and performing with a pop rock group, Boys Next Door, at 17. By the age of 20, the band had released three albums - "Beware of Dogs", "Younger Days" and "What Will The Neighbors Think", toured the U.S., and was honored as one of the top unsigned bands in America in 1988 by Yamaha International. The Boys opened for bands like Bon Jovi, Cheap Trick, Trip Shakespeare (SuperSonic), Limited Warranty, The Rainmakers, Melvin James, and Humble Pie.
Mark left the band and his music career in 1989, and returned to college at University of Texas - Austin. Now a marketing professional working for a leading Scottsdale, AZ-based eCommerce technology company, Mark Michael continues to write and record (in the little free time he has). He is working on a solo project to be released late in 2002. Be on the lookout for "Songs From The Long, Slow Burn".
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A Song of Courage, Strength and Hope
author: Max G. Bunyan, Singer/Songwriter/Recording Artist (BMI)I admire anyone who can see the light through the darkness, see the hope through life's storm, and find the courage to go on when both light and hope are in short supply!