[Music] Believe In Yourself – Sarantos
Songwriter extraordinaire Sarantos is back with his seemingly monthly single release. This time we are treated with a jazzy, spiritual, inspirational track; Believe In Yourself.
This clearly religious-themed track utilizes the spiritual element to appeal to a diverse audience, by incorporating many uplifting and challenging metaphors to pull at the feelings of self-doubt and uncertainty that hinders so many people on a daily basis, “You won’t always know the answers, You won’t always know the path, But even when it seems crazy, You’ve got to, Believe in yourself”. Now normally, Sarantos likes to write poetry and place the prose to music, which he does very well, but this time it feels more like a song with lyrics made for the melody instead of the other way around.
This approach opens new opportunities for Sarantos as a songwriter lending from poetry, as Believe In Yourself is now a Pop song with clear market potential. Sarantos also borrows a female vocalist to open the track, beautifully singing the main chorus of “I believe in you”.
This epigraph is surrounded by an exquisite piano line that incorporates legato and outlines the main chords of the track before the main melody takes over with the chord shapes. This piano is revisited very briefly in the bridge section as a reminder of the majesty of the subject matter. In this reviewer’s opinion, both this brilliant piano passage and the female vocalist are underutilized as the jazz element they provide can really bring out the brilliance of the subject matter. Perhaps Sarantos, if he reads this review, can humor a remix
version of this track capturing these two elements in a more impactful way.
Believe In Yourself, as stated is more of a pop song, infused with jazz elements and Americana Indie vibes. The main subject matter is meant for inspiration and encouragement. Is Sarantos preaching to an audience, or is this track of self-reflection? The lyrical prose presented does not answer this question completely which is the major appealing condition that makes this track so enjoyable. The ostinato of repeated phrases at the outset of the track help to drive the central theme home leaving the listener with content and insight into the many possibilities of self -perseverance. Believe In Yourself would fit comfortably in any Christian radio format,
Believe In Yourself – Sarantos
however with the pop elements at play, Adult Contemporary, and Middle-Of-The-Road, Soft Rock stations would be keen to add this track to their rotations. “We all have those ghosts, feels like they’re watching you, And if the walls could talk I think they’d cry.” It is this challenging and thought-provoking type of writing that makes Sarantos so accessible to vast audiences, giving the potential for market success within his grasp.
