Immortal (EP)

Immortal (EP) - More Information

The idea for this song was given to me in the late 1980s by my friend Christine Abbott, who challenged me to write a song containing the word "vulnerable". I duly wrote a song called "I am Vulnerable" but failed to finish the lyrics as I couldn't think of enough to say on the theme of vulnerability. Little did I know then that my quest for the right words would last almost 30 years! Over that time I did refine the song structure, melody and harmonies and I eventually changed the title to "I am immortal". However, after several more months of struggle, it proved impossible for me to conjure up enough lyrics on the theme of immortality, and so I reverted back to "I am vulnerable".

Fortunately, over the years, I had been able to add the odd word or phrase here and there and, by July 2016, the lyrics were about 80% complete. However, I had once again hit a brick wall. Then one night, I began to think (I don't know why) about Jules Bianchi, the French racing driver who died in 2015 after a grand prix accident the year before. Within no more than 5 minutes of reading his wikipedia entry, I had finished my song. The missing lines came so quickly to me that I could hardly believe it. After all those years, the lyrics finally made complete sense. I read it over and over. It was perfect! No song of mine other than "Bluer than you" has ever had such a long gestation period as this one. Sometimes they take hours, sometimes weeks, sometimes months, sometimes years but rarely more than a quarter of a century. However, it was worth the wait! It always is.

Cynics might consider it disingenuous or even callous of me to use Jules Bianchi's tragic demise as the vehicle for finishing a silly pop song. They are, of course, entitled to their opinion, but that really isn't how it is. This is not my song. It is Jules's song and I was just the conduit through which it had to emerge. I worked exceptionally hard to finish it and then to record it. It was NOT easy, I can assure you. I began recording in July 2016 and didn't finish it until March 2017. In the words of Lennon and McCartney, "I got by with a little help from my friends" - Martyn Gilbert (electric guitar), Tony Potter (drums) and Wayne Wilson (keyboards). I hope "I am immortal", "Je suis immortel" will be played, sung and enjoyed for many, many, many years to come and that the memory of the late, great Jules Bianchi will be stirred each time it is heard.

Having co-produced all 4 of The Vow's albums with Andrea Wright, I felt it was time for a change. This time I enlisted the expertise of 7 times Grammy nominated producer Ken Lewis. Ken has a long list of number 1 hits to his name. He's worked with some true greats - Eminem, Jay Z, Bruno Mars, Drake, Alicia Keys, Usher and Kanye West - to name but a few. I figured that, if you want to improve your chances of having a hit record, you have to go to someone who has a good track record of producing hit records. In my opinion Ken has sprinkled my song with magic dust and given it the best possible start in life. All income from the sale of I am immortal / Je suis immortel" will be donated to the Jules Bianchi Association

Graham Trust