Gen Verde’s new single for the 80th anniversary of the Focolare Movement.
Gen Verde has launched a new single, this time in Italian. “Nelle Mani Tue“ (“In Your Hands”) is inspired by the Gospel passage from Matthew (Mt 14, 22-33). The song also has its own lyric video available on Gen Verde’s official YouTube channel.
The inspiration behind the song
This song, inspired by a passage from Matthew’s Gospel (Mt 14:22-33), is meant to express the experience of continuing to trust in God’s love in every step of life. The Gospel passage on which the song is based says that when the storm comes, the disciples, frightened by the fury of the waves, call out to Jesus, who appears walking on the water.
Gen Verde wrote this song for the 80th anniversary of the Focolare Movement, which it is part of, as one of its artistic expressions. So, why were they inspired by this passage from the Gospel? ‘In a world that is going through a difficult historical moment, full of uncertainties, wars, violence, natural disasters, polarisation… it seemed to me that this ‘boat’ could somehow symbolise our journey today too. I imagine that when the disciples set sail, they were filled with awe and wonder because of the miracles that Jesus had just worked. But then difficulties arose, and Jesusasks them to continue to believe in his love and to recognise his presence even in the midst of the storm. Reflecting on this passage, it really struck me that, Jesus could very well have calmed the storm immediately. Instead, he walks on the stormy waters. He says ‘Courage, it is I!’. So, perhaps He wants us to take on every difficulty, trusting in His love while He walks among us’, explains Nancy Uelmen (composer and singer, USA).
The musical genre of “Nelle Mani Tue”
This song is difficult to categorise. It’s ‘orchestral acoustic‘, but with World, Irish and Afro influences. ‘A bit mixed as everyone’s story is too. An important feature is certainly the choral nature of the song. We felt that the vocals had to be collective, because we are all travelling together. In fact, it is a Gen Verde song but there are also male voices… we asked some of our friends to sing with us because we felt that in this ‘boat’ we had to represent everyone‘, explains Beatrice An (singer, Korea).
A leap into the unknown
The inspiration to write the song came while Gen Verde was in the middle of several major tours in Portugal and then in the U.S. So, it was a daring idea to take on the production of a new song with so little time. “However, we decided to give it a try and it was incredible to see how God seemed to pave the way for us to complete every phase of the work in record time. For us, this was already an experience in itself of taking a ‘leap in the dark’ and trusting Him… to ‘walk on waters’, too‘, Beatrice An concludes.
“Nelle Mani Tue” lyric video (subtitles in English): https://youtu.be/qJh6HCNo79o
Click to listen to the song on all digital platforms.
