Requiem

Gilkyson wrote it, and it is on Paradise Hotel (Red House, August 9, 2005). It was written in grief after the December 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, and later became a song of prayer and comfort after Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. In an NPR story by Melissa Block, broadcast on September 13 and 14, 2005, Gilkyson explains how it became a vehicle for grieving. PopMatters notes a high counterpoint harmony vocal by her daughter; a search summary of the NPR piece names her as Delia Castillo, which we could not confirm directly. A blog reads the song as a prayer addressed to Mother Mary asking mercy, comfort and guidance. A live version is on Your Town Tonight (2007).

Its main afterlife is choral. Conspirare, led by Craig Hella Johnson, recorded it on the Harmonia Mundi album Requiem (with Howells, Whitacre and Pizzetti) in 2009, reported as Grammy-nominated, and Johnson's SATB arrangement is published by G. Schirmer. The St. Paul Inspirit Ensemble performed an arrangement in December 2020. Setlist.fm has no setlists with the song, and we found nothing on WhoSampled or SecondHandSongs. Nothing indicates our upload is other than the album version.