The Serenity Song Story

I initially wrote The Serenity Song without the rap track for the play, Recovery, that my friend, Anne Lucas, wrote.   It is the story of a Reverend and three sets of mothers and daughters.  All three young women are in the Reverend’s recovery program—one daughter struggles with alcohol, the second with sex, and the third with drugs. 

The character that I find the most fascinating is the demon. He tempts the Reverend, the daughters and the mothers to succumb to their struggles and is an interesting reflection of the demons we find within ourselves. 

Anne wanted a song based on The Serenity Prayer to close out the play.  I composed the music (prayer-like), adapted the words in the prayer and added a bridge about the personal hell that the characters are going through. The vocalist is Renese King, from the Berklee School of Music.  She’s got an amazing and very soulful voice.  Renese has performed with the Boston Pops at Mayor Marty Walsh’s inauguration in Boston and most recently with Conductor Keith Lockhart in 2020 at the Boston Pops July 4th Salute to Our Heroes.

The Honorable Paula Carey, the Chief Justice of the Trial Courts in Massachusetts, heard my song and asked permission to use it in the Commonwealth’s Drug Courts.  This gave me the idea to start a program whereby those struggling with substance use disorder could write their own lyrics to share their stories and record them on a separate track as an overlay to The Serenity Song.  Ethan Grove, who recently completed a treatment program, was the first one to participate.  Ava Grieco, a student at Berklee and in recovery, was the next person to write her story.  Ethan and I attended a graduation program in the Chelsea Drug Court, where we played a rap version for the graduates and their families that combined both Ava’s and Ethan’s tracks.  

After a segment about the project was aired on Boston’s NPR station WBUR, St. Francis House reached out to us to have us perform The Serenity Song live at their annual gala and to explore partnership opportunities.  I was honored to introduce a live performance by Renese King and Ethan Grove to the guests at the Gala, which included Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, who then spoke about the song and the power of its message in his address to the audience.

I am honored to be a part of the Let’s Give It Up Foundation and to work with such an amazing and dedicated team of musicians, songwriters, playwrights, producers, and most importantly, those in recovery, to create a community of creativity, support, acceptance, and love.

~ Patricia Saint James: Founder

Massachusetts Drug Courts

In an effort to address the rise in criminal offenses, fatalities, and substance abuse related issues among probationers and to reduce the pernicious effect of drug distribution in the community, Drug Court sessions in the Massachusetts Trial Courts were established, providing intensive substance abuse treatment with judicial supervision. The first such session in Massachusetts occurred more than twenty years ago in the Chelsea District Court. Since its inception, it has served hundreds of people with the invaluable help of a host of treatment providers.  Today, there are thirty-two Drug Court sessions throughout the Commonwealth.

Ethan Grove was one of the first participants in The Let’s Give It Up Foundation’s Program. With assistance from Patricia Saint James, the composer of The Serenity Song, and from Bob Patten, a professor at the Berklee College of Music, Ethan wrote and recorded his own rap over The Serenity Song, telling his story of addiction and recovery. In April 2019 Ethan was the Keynote Speaker at the Chelsea Drug Court Graduation. He played his version of the song at the graduation at the outset of his address for the graduates, their families, and the current Drug Court program participants in the audience and went on to deliver an inspiring message of hope and survival that brought the audience, including the presiding judge, to tears. 

The Let’s Give It Up Foundation uses music, community and storytelling to help people of all ages on their own personal road to recovery.