6: Firefly – The Story Behind the Song
Note: Play Therapy Across the Lifespan is created to be heard. If you are able, we strongly encourage you to listen to the audio so that you are able to appreciate the emotion and emphasis that cannot be captured by text alone. Transcripts may contain errors and differ slightly from the audio. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting it in print.
Resources and Links
https://open.spotify.com/album/78UEtbT6N6l4YuU0MtUJjO
Prologue
One of my favorites parts of this podcast is the music and the lyrics that are woven throughout. In this special “between-a-sode,” I wanted to interview the songwriter, Sara Beth Geoghegan, to learn more about what she captured in the song Firefly. Sara Beth was born and raised in New Orleans and came to Nashville in 2000 to attend college and pursue a career in music. She spent nearly 20 years in the music industry, writing and recording songs before deciding to make a career shift into mental health counseling. She is currently interning at a university counseling center as she completes a master’s degree. After her first play therapy course, she wrote this song, submitted it to American Songwriter, and her lyrics won Honorable Mention. I think it’s pretty special, too. She lives in Nashville with her boyfriend, Nathan Claygus, who added the instrumental and recorded the song, a talented duo indeed. You can find her work under her easier to pronounce her name, Sara Beth Go. Now, here’s the interview with Sara Beth Geoghegan…
Interview
[The interview portion of this episode was not transcribed. To listen to the interview click the episode link at the top of the page.]
Credits
Today we have a special treat. We are going to leave you with the whole song and all of the beautiful lyrics and music that Sara Beth has written. When I first heard Episode One, my response at the end was that I wanted to hear the entire song, and I wanted you, our listeners, to hear it, too. So, our audio engineer, Sheldon, suggested that we add the interview. This is why you should surround yourself with brilliant and talented people. I thought that idea was genius, and I’m so glad we were able to make it work.
I hope you enjoyed this Between-A-Sode and that you have subscribed so you get Season 2 automatically delivered. Thanks to Sheldon Clark for working audio magic to make this a great listening experience, to Sara Beth for graciously sharing her time and talents, and to Cara Allison for hours of behind the scenes work launching the podcast, updating the website, checking the email, and getting me on Instagram.
Play Therapy Across the Lifespan is made possible through the Lipscomb University Center for Play Therapy and Expressive Arts.
If you have comments or questions, let us know at playtherapypodcast@gmail.com. We have links to Sara Beth’s music in the show notes for you and at the website playtherapypodcast.org. You can now find me on Instagram at play therapy with dr. denis, that’s D-R period, and my name is spelled without an e on the end. D-E-N-I-S (play.therapy.with.dr.denis).
I hope you’ll join us next season as we talk about play therapy and expressive arts. Now, here is the song Firefly. I’m your host, Dr. Denis’ Thomas. Go play, create, and heal.
Firefly Lyrics
Firefly with a broken light
And a lot of big things on your little mind
You wonder when you’re gonna’ shine again
And make happy the night with your little light
You’ve got so much to say
And not a lot of words
I’ll come along and believe
That your light isn’t broken
Soon you’re going to see
That you’ve got what you need
To shine
Little bird with a broken song
And a lotta’ good things that just went wrong
you wonder when you’ll get your song again
And make happy the tree with the song you sing
I’ll come along and believe
That your life isn’t broken
Soon you’re going to see
That you’ve got what you need
