“Waltz for Life” by Marsha Swanson keeps pulling me back. When I first heard that Marsha Swanson wrote this piece at just 14 years old, it made perfect sense. There’s an innocence in it, but also this unexpected depth that feels way beyond those years.
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The track runs barely over a minute, which seems almost too brief at first. But honestly, that’s part of what makes it work. Swanson chose to open her album “Near Life Experience” with this waltz, and now she’s closing the album’s two year run by releasing it as the final single. That decision feels intentional in a way that makes you think about cycles and how things come full circle.
What really gets me is how the strings move through this piece. They’re delicate without being fragile, and there’s a forward momentum that feels like watching someone take their first confident steps into something new. The rhythm has this natural ebb and flow that doesn’t feel forced or overly structured. It just breathes.
Knowing that the rest of the album deals with heavier themes like mortality and memory, “Waltz for Life” stands out as this moment of pure possibility. It’s the part before all the complicated stuff sets in. Just life, moving and swaying and being present.
The fact that it’s a semifinalist in the UK Songwriting Contest’s classical category says something too. This wasn’t meant to be a standalone single, but here we are. Sometimes the pieces we create just take on their own life, which feels fitting given the title.
You can listen here.
