"the prodigal" is a 12 track concept album that creatively retells the story of the prodigal child from the Gospel of Luke (Chapter 15). in the story, the original character has been reimagined as a woman (simply referred to as "she" or "her") who begins her life in a church environment where God feels disconnected and boring (All is Well). the character referred to as "him" or "he" is introduced in the second song who is a reimagination of the brother from the story of Luke. in this version of the story, he has been re written as someone who has a real relationship with the Father (God) in an environment where few actually show it (Him). the main character of the story is still unconvinced by this person and decides to break away from the church (Grand Exit) and pursue a life of self indulgence (High Life). some time passes (Interlude) and she abuses her success and finds herself in the midst of a recession (Famine) and struggles to fund the addictions that she developed while living the high life (Fall). she finds herself living in the city's red light district, stuck in a cycle of abuse and poverty (Sad Street). in her lowest moment, we see the return of the brother character from the beginning of the story who finds her and shows her the unselfish love of the Father (reprise). finally connecting with the story of the Father, she returns to Grace. different now, and unimpeded by the mixed signals of her past she understand the love of the Father. the traumas she has experienced on sad street are too much for her to recover from, and she dies - revealing the tapestry of grace unfolding behind the scenes, as the Father stands from his throne and runs to meet her as she passes (Return). the final song (The Prodigal) brings closure to the story, as she lives in love and life eternally and those who remain living on earth move along in the knowledge they will see her again.
some notes from sam:
"the prodigal was written as a senior project in college. I had wanted to write a concept album for a while and knew that this would be the perfect opportunity to focus on the storytelling without much exterior impedance.