Right after a band’s name, how a group comes together and not only grows, but sustains—and in the case of folk trio The Wailin’ Jennys, sustains for nearly 20 years— is the next most notable aspect of a band’s story. Though what might surprise some, is the fact that there was never a grand plan or slowly developed strategy for the Manitoba, Winnipeg trio to become an ongoing endeavor back in 2002. To that end, it feels fitting that the first track on The Wailin’ Jennys debut album 40 Days—a song titled “One Voice,” written by founding “Jennys” member and vocalist Ruth Moody—would also go on to become bigger than the sum of its musical origins.
A three-part, vocally cumulative, acoustic song that builds on a partially repeated lyrical premise of this is the sound of one voice… voices two… voices three… all of us, the hymn-like piece seems not to leave much mystery within itself. However, its simplicity bears more surprises than its surface character gives away.
“You know, sometimes songwriters describe that experience of almost like, receiving a song. And ‘One Voice’ is maybe as close as I’ve ever come to that experience where it just sort of starts, it just kind of arrives, and you just are lucky enough to be there with a pencil and you write it down,” Moody says. “Conversely, I think the seriousness of the song maybe comes from the fact that it was my way of processing, a very, very serious and emotional moment.”
Indeed, Moody was quite fortunate to have pencil and paper within easy reach, as the fated stage for igniting the idea behind “One Voice” was none other than a room full of emotive musicians, all running on the perpetual energy of an open jam session.
“The music and lyrics came very easily and spontaneously,” she explains. “The Wailin’ Jennys toured folk festivals across the country and we were at this one camping festival. There was one night where all the musicians were gathered backstage, around the kitchen, and the jamming went late.
“People just kept starting songs, everyone would join in,” she continues. “It went from sort of rowdy jams, to really moving, intimate, sharing from individuals. I don’t know that I thought about it consciously in this way but, I think the thought just really hit me: If only the world could be more like this—that just the power of music could bring people together. And so, I was so moved by this at around two in the morning, I went up to my tent with my flashlight and just wrote down the words to the song.”
This duality of internal and external experience isn’t the only interesting set of opposites sewn into the song’s foundation. Given “One Voice” became rather iconic for not just Moody, but The Wailin’ Jennys as a whole, it’s interesting to note how despite being one of the earliest projects the band undertook after coming together, “One Voice’s” solitary compositional approach ended up enduring as the primary songwriting method for the band.
“The band has sort of talked about maybe sharing some ideas but it’s just worked really well for us to stick to that formula of writing our own songs, and we arrange them together,” Moody explains. “I think, the fact that we’ve been in a band for 19 years now—let’s put it this way: It hasn’t hurt us to to always respect the fact that that we’re all solo artists as well because I think that balance is important.”
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of “One Voice’s” finished iteration, comes from how others’ feelings of resonance have manifested through so many altered arrangements of countless cover performances. The sheer creativity and degree of deviation from the piece’s original three part, acoustic folk structure that The Wailin’ Jennys ended up embracing, speaks to the song’s fundamental flexibility. “I think by nature “One Voice” is a folk song but I’ve heard some arrangements that definitely sort of went in different directions from the Wailin’ Jennys and they have also been emotionally effective.” says Moody. From: https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-song-uniting-behind-the-meaning-of-the-wailin-jennys-one-voice/
