Sometimes when two songwriters get together to collaborate, the result is more than anyone expected. That was the case recently when Melody Walker and Molly Tuttle, both recent Nashville transplants from California and both award-winning writers and artists, sat down together.
The result is Bigger Than This, an elegant but powerful anthem about setting aside political differences and finding common ground.
“It was our very first co-write,” Walker said,” and we were both surprised by the outcome—an earnest harmony duet about political fence-mending.”
The video, recorded at Carter’s Vintage Guitars in Nashville, features just two voices and two guitars, all blending seamlessly. To my ear, it’s how this song should always be performed. There’s something vulnerable and hopeful and achingly beautiful about the performance, especially when Melody and Molly harmonize:
I’m bigger than you think I am
I bet you’re bigger too
Together we can take a stand
And show them that it’s true
I know our minds are both made up
But enough is enough
Our hearts aren’t made of stone
No one should ever have to suffer alone
‘Cause it’s a small world
And we’re bigger than this
According to Tuttle, “Melody and I wrote this song about coming together and finding a common cause with others. We both cross paths with people of all different backgrounds and points of view and hope that through music we can heal some divides even when it seems hard.”
Added Walker, “There is a lot of anger and resentment going around, and I think we all know that can’t be the answer. When it comes to the American people, we actually agree on so much more than we disagree on. When we decide to empathize with one another and both be the bigger person and see the bigger person in front of us, we can begin moving forward.”
With America closer to untied than united, and the political chasm seemingly unbridgeable, maybe this joint effort by two burgeoning talents – they’ve both won IBMA Momentum Awards and the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at Merlefest – can help bring people together under the large and magnificent umbrella of music.
The song can be a reminder that politics aside, we’re all in this together. The country has worked through bitter divisions before. And we will work through this one, too. We just have to remember one thing: We’re bigger than this.
