As August was becoming September, I looked out the back of my house. The hillside was in full summer bloom. I thought about all the times I’d been at this window. And I wondered about tomorrow. I made some notes on a yellow pad, and then it was time to find the music.

“I Have to Dream” was originally conceived around a piano in a Baptist church in Glendale, California. I am sure that has a lot to do with its feel and the sound of it. Rick Solem understood immediately what the song needed and worked with me on the music. Ross Vannelli provided a perfect arrangement and weaved the theme through the score of Children On Their Birthdays.

It almost didn’t happen. The scene in Children On Their Birthdays where this song appears was not in the original script. After seeing early edits of the film, director Mark Medoff got the cast and crew back together to shoot a new scene. He called me in because he needed a song for this new moment in the film. I will always thank him for that.

While watching an early edit on video of the movie, I made some notes about the characters. I found in their story what I felt like we’re all after… Someone to Believe. The moment my fingers touched the piano I played the first six notes of the song.

On lots of songs I use co-writers in order to take my original ideas in directions that I can’t predict. In this song, my music and words came together at the same time and very quickly. I couldn’t write fast enough.

“Someone to Believe” gave me a chance to work with Kathrin Shorr for the first time. It’s her performance you will hear if you see the movie.

She’s a tremendous singer who came to Scotland to sing with me at the Edinburgh Festival last August.

The other great collaboration and friendship that began because of this song was with Ross Vannelli. Ross composed the score for Touched by a Killer. It was his work with this film that gave me the idea that we should collaborate on the movie Children On Their Birthdays.