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LyricsEnglish Refrain
Artist ReflectionWe are honored to feature a guest reflection by Bro. Rufino Zaragoza, a co-composer and translator of this world-renowned song. Back in the spring of 2002, OCP put together, Light of the World, the featured CD collection for the coming World Youth Day in Toronto. That is how I first heard the song "Jesus Christ, You Are My Life" (JCYAML). It became one of my favorite tunes on the collection, and I loved singing it during the gathering in Canada, which was my first WYD ever. Later, I learned that the composer, Marco Frisina, was an Italian from Rome and he did not write the English refrain. He wrote the Italian refrain, and a verse for Spanish, Italian, and French soloists. Marco's brother wrote the English refrain. Much of my ministry is working with different ethnic groups and cultures, who come together for liturgy. What I loved about JCYAML was a short simple refrain, easy for people who speak English as a second language. Another part of my life is spending a few months each year in Vietnam. As a Franciscan brother, I tutor young religious in conversational English. In Asia, the students are great at English grammar and vocabulary, but they rarely have an opportunity to speak with and listen to a native speaker. That's where I come in. As one way for these seminarians and young sisters to learn English, I teach them spiritandsong tunes. What are the top hits in Saigon? "Here I Am" by Tom Booth, "Open My Eyes" by Jesse Manibusan, and "JCYAML" by Marco Frisina. With this great reception from young adults in Vietnam, there was inspiration to get JCYAML accessible for more folks and make it more useful in the United States, expanding beyond only three European languages. I asked Jaime Cortez in Phoenix to write a full set of Spanish verses. I got a friend in Los Angeles to write a Vietnamese refrain and some verses. I wrote a couple of English verses, and the piece started circulating. It was used at the first National Vietnamese Youth/Young Adult Conference back in the summer of 2003, when over 3,000 Vietnamese-American youth from all across the country clapped and swayed to the tune in the arena liturgies. Working with some Vietnamese-American friends on the song list for the new Chon Ngai collection, JCYAML was, of course, included. I completed the set of English verses and the Vietnamese verses were also brought to a full six choices. Doing the recording in Long Beach, California was a blast. Eight singers were brought in: four Vietnamese, three Hispanic, and one Anglo. In the studio they were told that they would be one choir that would have to sing the refrain in all three languages. You should have seen the reaction on their faces! So the young adult choir directors tutored each other in the languages they did not know: Hispanic teaching Vietnamese who to pronounce the words, Vietnamese teaching the Anglo, etc. So Chon Ngai the new bilingual (and four trilingual tunes!) collection for Vietnamese youth/young adults has a new recording of JCYAML, with different languages and a whole different feel than the spiritandsong Light of the Word recording. Check it out! We got Matt Maher to sing the English verses, but he was not in Long Beach at the time to sing the Spanish or Vietnamese. But we will get him someday to join the direction of young adults of different ethnicities coming as one through music, like JCYAML. Jesse is already singing songs from Chon Ngai. Are you ready to join the Asian/Hispanic/American fusion? - Bro. Rufino Zaragoza, OFM |
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