Teen songwriter’s pandemic ballad plucks at heartstrings

FINDLAY, Ohio (WTVG) - Saying goodbye is never easy, but neither is writing a song. Findlay High School junior Emma Parsell is doing both at once. Emma crafted an original composition -- titled “Saying Goodbye” -- about living the last year in a pandemic and the song so moved her choir director he turned it into a big production that won a national title.

“The chorus says, don’t blink your eyes a moment in time could go bye without saying goodbye, and I think that just says everything right now,” says Emma. “I sort of expected I knew everything that was going to happen throughout high school. I thought I had it all figured out, and then life throws you a curveball and you don’t really expect it.”

Feeling isolated and unable to be around the people she loved most, Emma turned to music. She decided to write and record her song, and then send it to her choir director Kevin Manely.

“There I sat at my chair at home just weeping and my wife walked in the room and I was like you’ve got to hear this song… it just blew me away,” says Kevin Manley, who turned the song into a piece for his show choir ensemble, First Edition.

“I think I cried, hearing all the melodies and everything coming together… it was unreal, I couldn’t even fathom it, I never thought it would get here,” says Parsell.

Not only did First Edition members sing Emma’s song, they won with it. The group took home Grand Champions at a nationwide competition.

“Saying Goodbye” includes the lyrics, “There are moments that I wish I savored and there are moments I wish I made last.”

For Emma, she says every moment she gets to be back on stage surely won’t be lost.

“I think the biggest message is just to live in the moment and really appreciate everything you’re going through while it’s happening,” says Parsell. “You never know how short of a time that’s going to be or if it might get taken away from you, so really just live and appreciate everything.”

You can listen to all of “Saying Goodbye” below.

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