The Cycle of Redemption in OpporTUNEity Lyrics

A Deep-Dive into the 2019 Songwriting Fundamentals Class at the Worcester County House of Corrections

By Maggie Frederick, OpporTUNEity Research and Communications Coordinator

“We wished we had more time to do it. It’s funny to say that because we’re incarcerated but we wish we had more time to do it … It put it all in perspective and it has just made my whole horizon a lot bigger,” said John Wayne Cormier Jr. of the OpporTUNEity Songwriting Course in 2019 (Semon, 2019). This sentiment was also shared by the Teaching Artists, 15 inmate participants, college interns, and correctional staff at the Worcester County House of Corrections during the program’s inception in 2019. The 13-week course marked the beginning of OpporTUNEity’s partnership with the Worcester County House of Corrections (WCHoC). This course was developed and implemented by Dr. Melissa Martiros, OpporTUNEity Founder and CEO. Dan Thomas and Tom Wilson served as Teaching Artists for the course and were assisted by four college student interns: Paul Boisvert, Christopher McClure, Jayden Hornburg, Nick Roth.

For OpporTUNEity’s first blog post, I want to reflect upon on our beginnings at WCHoC. To do so, I will explore the lyrics and themes within the nine original songs written as part of the 2019 Songwriting Fundamentals course. Here is a complete list of the nine songs in order of appearance within the blog post:

1. “Freedom from These Walls”

2. “Mountain High”

3. “Tears of a Clown”

4. “Response-ABLE”

5. “Childhood”

6. “Demon Hunter”

7. “Baby I’m Sorry”

8. “Carry a Cross”

9. “Wish I May”

I will organize the themes into three overarching categories: ‘grappling with past and present emotions,’ ‘remorse and forgiveness,’ and ‘hope and change.’ While each of the songs written through the 2019 OpporTUNEity course contend with complex and wide-ranging topics, these three categories help to organize the discussion of the songs. The songs from the 2019 class were all written through a collaborative process between the students, Teaching Artists, and college interns. For clarity within this blog post, I will refer to the artist or writer of each song as a singular artist or writer. However, it is important to note the centrality of the relationships between inmates and instructors to the songwriting process at OpporTUNEity. The lyrics within original OpporTUNEity songs are a window into the social, emotional, and psychological effects of the work that OpporTUNEity does.

OpporTUNEity’s mission builds upon scholarship on music education within prisons. WCHoC is a jail; however, I will put OpporTUNEity and the Songwriting Fundamentals course within the context of the criminal justice system at large. Given this, I will refer to “prison-contexts” or “life in prison” with regards to the inmates enrolled in the 2019 course as way to connect their experiences to incarcerated individuals in both jails and prisons. OpporTUNEity’s work, alongside the programs and partnerships that bring music into prisons across the U.S., is based upon the power of music to transform peoples’ lives and decrease recidivism. Music serves as a tool for inmates to express themselves within a context that reduces them to their crimes (Abrahams et al., p. 68). Mary L. Cohen and Meade Palidofsky (2013) studied the impact of a music program on a group of incarcerated female youth in Warrenville, Illinois. Through the partnership between Storycatchers, a program that empowers incarcerated youth to tell their stories, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the girls learned how to create meaningful art and process their pasts. The girls in the program discovered a healthy way to express themselves and felt empowered through the relationships they built with instructors (Cohen & Palidofsky, 2013). In another study on the impact of music education in prisons, Cohen (2009) found that participation in a choral singing performance had a positive effect on inmate well-being. Maurice Chammah, a writer at The Marshall Project and a criminal justice journalist, has reported on the transformative nature of prison music. Chammah argues that the ability of music to change both the performer and the audience holds incredible potential for reforming the U.S. criminal justice system (Chammah, 2023). Chammah shared the story of one inmate-turned-musician, whose performance of his original music allowed prison staff to “[see] his soul for the first time” (Mosley, 2023). This experience of self-transformation through writing, making, or performing music is something OpporTUNEity aims to create through its classes at WCHoC.

The common language of music creates opportunities for connection, emotional exploration, and self-transformation. Building upon the premise of the power of music, I will explore the lessons and themes within OpporTUNEity’s inaugural Songwriting Course at WCHoC. The three themes I track across nine songs – ‘grappling with past and present emotions,’ ‘remorse and forgiveness,’ and ‘change and hope’ – mirror the process of redemption that OpporTUNEity fosters. Through music education, OpporTUNEity aims to disrupt recidivism and create a positive cycle of redemption. OpporTUNEity students express remorse, forgiveness, and healing in their songs, which points to emotional development that will aid them in their return to society. Inmates externalize their experiences, emotions, and thoughts within their lyrics, as seen through the ‘grappling with past and present emotions’ theme. OpporTUNEity students can heal in a healthy manner by writing about their guilt and asking for forgiveness. Both in their music and in their lives, inmates convey a sense of hope and a desire to change. Music and the collaborative process of songwriting are tools for inmates to communicate the process of redemption that they are carrying out in real life. I hope to show how OpporTUNEity lyrics mirror life across the three main themes of the 2019 songwriting course.

Grappling with Past and Present Emotions

OpporTUNEity seeks to create a safe, judgement-free environment in which inmates can explore their thoughts and feelings. Over the course of the Songwriting Fundamentals class, Teaching Artists lead students through lessons covering songwriting techniques, core components of a song, and the building blocks of melody. Inmates explore songwriting and music-creation by collaborating with their instructors and fellow classmates. During the last unit of the course, inmates break into small groups to brainstorm ideas for new songs. The course is designed to create a space in which students can be vulnerable and delve into complex topics and experiences. The ability to work through past and present emotions results in meaningful songs. At the OpporTUNEity Songwriting Concert, Teaching Artist Dan Thomas shared that

…one thing that we asked them to do in this program and in a lot of these songs is that we’ve asked them to face difficult topics, and it wasn’t easy for everyone to really face those things. When you’re here, what do you have to do but really think and reflect, and everybody really took that to heart and put those feelings and thoughts into the music (OpporTUNEity Music Connections, 2019).

Thomas spoke to an essential element of the OpporTUNEity course – giving inmates resources to work through difficult topics. The first theme I discuss here, ‘grappling with past and present emotions,’ exemplifies how inmates reckon with their experiences through song. The lyrics in the OpporTUNEity original songs reflect the healthy processing of emotions, which will ultimately serve the students upon their release.

“Freedom from These Walls” grapples with life in jail and what it means to be incarcerated. The song follows an inner dialogue that shifts between despair and hope. The writer grieves losing the change of the seasons and describes the heaviness in his head and heart. He imagines what life outside of jail might be like:

As I dream that I was free, walking through the streets

The game that I play is for real, I should stay off the streets

The devil plays for keeps, this [never-ending] game

I must be turning up insane, I’m burning up in flames

Freedom from these walls. Freedom from these walls

Family pictures on my wall, love and miss them all

The artist is clearly processing his current reality through these lyrics. He expresses true angst and distress, emotions that can be difficult to share. Citing Sykes (1958) and Kupers (1996), Cohen (2009) writes that incarcerated individuals do not only lose their physical freedoms but also the freedom of self-expression, which results in declining mental health and self-worth. In “Freedom from These Walls,” the inmate raps about his struggles within the prison system, working through his own mental health and emotional struggles.

By grappling with the complicated emotions of incarceration, the writer of “Freedom from These Walls” moves towards acceptance. One of the refrains towards the end of the song goes,

As I’m sitting in my cell, talking to myself

Lonely by myself as I survive this mental hell

And I did it to myself, blaming no one but myself

At night I pray to Jesus Christ don’t leave me by myself

Many of the songs written in the 2019 Songwriting Fundamentals class contain more than one of the three themes we analyze in this blog post. “Freedom from These Walls” serves as a clear example of how the exploration of emotions can lead to acceptance of one’s current state. The inability to name one’s emotions and to connect to outside society during incarceration makes it difficult for individuals to return to society upon release. In “Freedom from These Walls,” we see a healthy articulation of an experience that is challenging to talk about.

While “Freedom from These Walls” explicitly deals with the emotions of incarceration, other songs reflect upon inmates’ past relationships and senses of sense. “Mountain High” is a song about coming to terms with the ups and downs of a former relationship. The artist says goodbye to a past love, which he compares to a towering mountain. The artist even states that he is using music to process his tumultuous relationship and past:

My loved ones was a small circle

But the ones you love the hardest will hurt you

I’ll curse you, I’ll pretend I don’t miss you, I can just lose it

And now I’m working out my issues through the music

Move on, I’m singing a new song

Looking back on the pain of his previous relationship, the artist writes that he is “working out [his] issues” by songwriting. Given the opportunity through our Songwriting Fundamentals class, inmates grapple with the complexities of their pasts in positive ways. OpporTUNEity aims to disrupt recidivism by giving inmates the tools to process their emotions through song. Music becomes a healthy pastime, strategy, or career, as opposed to repeating unhealthy behaviors or returning to substance abuse or crime. Talking on NPR’s Fresh Air about the power of music education in prison, Chammah notes that the inability to access the “full spectrum of the human experience” makes it difficult for inmates to return to society upon release (Mosley, 2023). Writing and playing music that allows for sadness, joy, and reflection during incarceration is a healthy way for inmates to grapple with their experiences. For the writer of “Mountain High,” “working out [his] issues through the music” points to personal strides that have a real impact on reducing recidivism.

“Tears of a Clown” also explores negative self-thoughts and feelings of despair. The writer begins the song by listing the things going poorly in his life: family troubles, difficulties that seem to follow him, a wife that’s angry with him. He admits that he feels “miserable.” In the chorus, he wonders how long his life will continue like this:

How long am I gon’ be down

Will somebody please come around

I’m off to isolate

These tears of a clown

The chorus repeats twice, serving as a vulnerable admission of his unhappiness. The artist also expresses a feeling of shame, which he alludes to through the clown comparison. The song finishes by asking “Can someone show me what’s right?” This final question points to a desire to choose a better path but the need for support to do so. Like “Freedom from These Walls,” the processing of emotions through songwriting leads to a lyrical development over the course of the song. The “Tears of a Clown” artist pleads to be shown the correct path, and the “Freedom from These Walls” artist starts to come to terms with his incarceration.

The first three songs discussed work through negative emotions and contentious pasts. “Response-ABLE” does not directly contend with regret and past wrongs; however, it does reflect upon the role of the artist’s mother in his life. The song narrates the story of the artist’s and the artist’s mother’s lives, including all the highs and lows. The verses – which one of the inmates rapped during the December 2019 showcase – act as an ode to motherhood. The artist thanks his mother for her love and hard work:

I may look like my dad, but my strengths are all from you

I’m strong cuz you’re strong, the way you got us through

All those tough times being a mother and a father

To five kids all on your own which made it harder

But you stood tall, rose to the challenge, did that with honor

And if you died in pursuit of that you’d be a martyr

This artist reveres his mother and the challenges she overcame. At the same time, however, “Response-ABLE” contains a deeper grappling with the artist’s upbringing. While he admires his mother, he also acknowledges the hardships he and his family went through. Underneath the beauty of his mother’s love is the death of his father and brother, the need for his mom to work multiple jobs, and the reality of his own incarceration. Within the chorus, the writer seems to question his ability to live up to his mother’s example: “I’ll respond if I’m able / Mature to say the least.” Through this bittersweet song, the artist reflects upon the love and the hardships of his upbringing. By recognizing the complexities of his past, the artist makes sense of where he came from and externalizes the mixed feelings he holds from his childhood.

While many of the songs written in the 2019 songwriting course deal with heavier themes, “Childhood” is one example of how grappling with the past can also lead to an upbeat, nostalgic song. “Childhood” recounts a summer day from when the writer was young, including fishing at the lake, playing a baseball game, and getting a kiss from a crush. The lyrics contain multiple references to the simplicity and purity of this time in life. Lines like “when the days grew short and the summertime long / Outside all right no wrong,” “springing outta bed, not a fear in my head,” and “I ain’t worried ‘bout a thing no way no how” all create a care-free, nostalgic feeling. The other songs discussed in this section dealt with despair, sadness, and shame, which allowed artists to work through difficult experiences and emotions. “Childhood,” however, reflects upon happier days, which can also be a positive expression of emotions during incarceration. The theme of ‘grappling with past and present emotions’ mirrors the initial steps of the redemption process. Songwriting and music give inmates the tools to think, reflect, and write about their lives, which in turn opens the door to remorse, forgiveness, change, and hope.

Remorse and Asking for Forgiveness

The first theme – ‘grappling with past and present emotions’ – encapsulated a wide array of ideas and experiences. For the next two sections, we will dive into more specific emotions. In this section, I will discuss three songs in the 2019 songwriting class that fall under the ‘remorse and forgiveness’ theme. Within the prison context, inmates often do not have the resources to process the shame or remorse they may feel. Barrett and Emmanuel (2022) write in the Stanford Social Innovation Review that music offers a way to ask for forgiveness, which promotes social and emotional development. The therapeutic nature of writing and performing music is central to OpporTUNEity’s mission of reducing recidivism.

Writing for The Marshall Project, Naradzay (2018) shared his experience learning violin during his incarceration at Sing Sing. Naradzay taught himself violin and composed a song dedicated to his recently deceased father. When he heard opera singer Joyce DiDonato perform his “Ode To My Father John,” “…all [his] angst was carried away into the atmosphere. [He] realized that [he] was mourning [his] father’s death in a healthy way” (Naradzay 2018). He described how music offered him a space to communicate feelings that were difficult to talk about. The songs that fall within the ‘remorse and forgiveness’ theme also deal with topics that can be hard to speak about. Through these songs, the OpporTUNEity students at the WCHoC ask for forgiveness, come to terms with their past, and work towards healing. All of which are critical elements to disrupting recidivism.

“Demon Hunter” exemplifies the theme of ‘remorse and forgiveness’: the title itself suggests the desire to root out wrongdoing from one’s life. The artist opens the song by stating that he is no longer the “demon” he was. He pleads for the opportunity to show the good within him. The chorus includes an admission of fault and an understanding of the ramifications for past mistakes:

It’s always been said before, this I know

We will reap everything we sow…

everything we sow…

everything we sow…

The artist takes ownership of his actions and acknowledges his wrongdoings. He sees a clear difference between who he is now and his past “demon.” Further, the artist also recognizes his own sadness in the final verse: singing that he has a “pain in [his] heart” and “thoughts [in] his head” he wants to get rid of. Through faith in God and remorse for his actions, he can accept his past and move forward in life. “Demon Hunter” exhibits a healthy acknowledgment of sadness and remorse, pointing to the foundations of redemption post-incarceration.

“Baby I’m Sorry” deals with remorse and forgiveness through the lens of heartbreak. The song opens with an attempt to reconcile with a lover, who keeps “[drawing] the shades.” He knows his partner is ashamed of him. In the chorus, he repeats “Baby, I’m sorry” and “I’m so sorry.” Continuing the narrative of asking for forgiveness, he goes to his partner’s house to try and prove himself one more time:

When I knock at your door I’m in the rain

If you only knew how brave I am and how far I came

Standing outside his partner’s door in the rain, the writer creates a sense of vulnerability: he is exposing himself to both the weather and the shame his partner feels towards him. He expresses the courage he needed to ask for forgiveness. Within the framework of a love song, the artist goes through the steps of healing by asking for forgiveness from someone important to him. By acting out forgiveness in his lyrics, this artist mirrors his real-life experience of using music as a vehicle for reconciliation during and after his incarceration.

“Carry a Cross” combines elements of ‘remorse and forgiveness’ and of ‘hope and change.’ Powered by his religion, this artist admits to his past wrongs and asks for forgiveness from God. In the chorus, he talks directly to God:

Dear Father in Heaven hallowed be your name

We just ask forgiveness for the things we did today

Give us our daily bread and don’t forget about us

Repent us for all the sins and I hope that’s enough

The artist clearly holds a deep appreciation for his faith and its ability to transform his outlook on life. While many songs from the 2019 Songwriting Fundamentals class allude to or reference religion, “Carry a Cross” directly explores the role God may play in the healing process. This artist communicates his own relationship with God within his songwriting, which has helped him process his past wrongs. Part of the chorus is written in Spanish, adding an additional personal element to the song. The exploration of repentance, forgiveness, and prayer in “Carry a Cross” serves as another example of how OpporTUNEity students heal through songwriting and music.

The theme of ‘remorse and forgiveness’ is a powerful step in the cycle of redemption for inmates. Finding the capacity to forgive oneself and receive forgiveness from others is difficult for most people. Within a prison context, this becomes even harder. However, within the three songs discussed under this theme, OpporTUNEity students voiced real vulnerability, contrition, and shame. The ability to express these emotions is both extremely difficult and necessary for healing from past wrongs. In their lyrics, inmates play out scenarios where they ask loved ones or God for forgiveness. OpporTUNEity hopes that the exercise of musical forgiveness gives students the tools to do the same in real life.

Hope and Change for the Future

Through researching the history of music in prisons, Maurice Chammah found that the power of music lies in its ability to humanize people. For inmates who are often denied self-expression, the humanizing effects of music are especially powerful (Mosley, 2023). Performing original music allows current and former inmates to be seen for more than their crimes. The songs written by OpporTUNEity students at the WCHoC contain this transformative property, in that the artists write about new possibilities for themselves within their lyrics. Through developing relationships with inmates, our Teaching Artists help them channel their thoughts, emotions, and experiences into fully formed songs. The human aspect of the Songwriting Fundamentals course undergirds the self-expression found within each song. The theme of ‘hope and change’ is central to OpporTUNEity’s mission and manifests itself in the lyrics of multiple original songs written through the 2019 Songwriting Fundamentals class.

“Carry a Cross,” as previously discussed, is steeped in spiritual forgiveness. Even further, however, the artist recognizes his own ability to change by developing his relationship with God:

All my todays and my tomorrows better than my yesterdays

I've been to Hell and back just trying to get away

Always I stand up check my resume

I wanna right my wrongs, I plan on both sides

I'm glorified, reported wise, and educated

I learned how to elevate my body and spirit

In stating that the present and the future will be better than the past, the writer exudes a sense of hope often difficult to find within a prison setting. Chammah (2023) writes how inmates use music as a tool to foster hope in a bleak environment. Inmates lose their connection to society and their personal rights; considering this, finding hope for a future beyond incarceration is powerful and humanizing (Abrahams et al., 2012). In “Carry a Cross,” the artist is proud of how far he has come and remains hopeful for the future.

“Wish I May” is a song dedicated to change. The writer of the song pictures new possibilities for himself within the lyrics of the song:

I’ve been feeling darker

I’ve been blind to sight

I hope to change the way my life is

I can’t get through the night

A new day upon me

Awaking to the light

I’m not afraid to change my life and

Wish I may I might

The writer plays with imagery to develop the sense of hope within the song: the sunrise and the light symbolize new beginnings. He believes strongly in the possibility for positive change. While the “Wish I May” artist dares to change his life and exhibits a strong motivation to do so, he also questions whether he can truly change:

I got some change in my pocket

But is it in my heart?

Got the key to my own locket

Tearing me apart

Through this play on words, the writer wonders if his willingness to change is enough – if the capacity to change is deep enough within him. It is in these last few lines of the song that the artist is at his most vulnerable. He bravely admits that he is unsure of himself despite his hope for the future. The artist articulates the complexities of feeling hopeful in the face of self-doubt. The ability to find hope and to sing about change inside of a jail speaks to the power of music to aid incarcerated individuals through their recovery.

“Wish I May” exemplifies hope lyrically, but the OpporTUNEity students’ live performance of the song also personified the ‘hope and change’ theme. The energy in the room during the performance of “Wish I May” – as seen through footage of the 2019 OpporTUNEity Songwriting Concert – is palpable. “Wish I May” was the final song performed, and the inmates, Teaching Artists, college interns, and audience members were visibly connected through the music (OpporTUNEity Music Connections, 2019). Multiple inmates sang and rapped with their arms around each other’s shoulders. One inmate motioned for the room to clap to the beat, and everyone joined in. It is moving to watch the three-month program culminate in the performance of a song centered around change. The inmates repeatedly sang “wish I may I might just change” as a direct testament to the transformative qualities of music.

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“Wish I May” encapsulates how inmates’ lyrics materialize in reality: writing and singing about change creates a real hope for the future. It is OpporTUNEity’s mission to use music as a pathway towards rehabilitation for incarcerated individuals. The emotional maturity and self-expression developed through song help inmates regain their own humanity and see themselves beyond their crimes. This positive cycle of redemption is reflected within the three major themes of the 2019 Songwriting Fundamentals class: ‘grappling with past and present emotions,’ ‘remorse and forgiveness,’ and ‘hope and change.’ The lyrics of the nine songs analyzed here are a manifestation of OpporTUNEity’s mission to disrupt recidivism and lay the foundations of redemption.

Works Cited

Abrahams, F., Rowland, M. M., Kohler, K. C. (2012) Music Education behind Bars: Giving

Voice to the Inmates and the Students Who Teach Them. Music Educators Journal, 98(4), 67-73.

Barrett, J., Emmanuel, K. (2022, November 16) A Voice in Prison. Stanford Social Innovation Review. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/a_voice_in_prison

Chammah, M. (2023, August 3) Listening to This Might Change You. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/03/opinion/prison-music-redemption.html?searchResultPosition=1

Cohen, M. L. (2009) Choral Singing and Prison Inmates: Influences of Performing in a Prison

Choir. Journal of Correctional Education, 60(1), 52-65.

Cohen, M. L., Palidofsky, M. (2013) Changing Lives: Incarcerated Female Youth Create and Perform with the Storycatchers Theatre and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. American Music, 31(2), 163-182).

Kupers, T. A. (1996) Trauma and its sequelae in male prisoners: Effects of confinement, overcrowding, and diminished services. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 66(2), 189-196.

Mosley, T. (2023, August 17) The rich history of music in prisons shows how damaged souls can be worth redemption. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/08/17/1194360804/the-rich-history-of-music-in-prisons-shows-how-damaged-souls-can-be-worth-redemp

Naradzay, J. (2018, July 5) Learning Violin Helped Me Survive Prison. The Marshall Project. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/07/05/learning-violin-helped-me-survive-prison

OpporTUNEity Music Connections (2019, December 30) OpporTUNEity Songwriting Concert at the Worcester House of Corrections: December 2019 [Video]. YouTube.

Semon, C. S. (2019, October 19) Worcester County Jail inmates change tune in music program. Worcester Telegram & Gazette. https://www.telegram.com/story/news/2019/10/19/worcester-county-jail-inmates-change-tune-in-music-program/2493476007/

Sykes, G. (1958) The society of captives. Princeton University Press.

All songs are owned by OpporTUNEity.