Hi Friends…

The Story Behind “Face The Sun” – And The Battle Of The Slugs!

Sarah asked me to write her a summertime song about sunflowers that she could listen to on her Apple Music playlist. She wanted something bright, cheerful and summery – a song that would capture her love of sunshine and those beautiful golden flowers…So, naturally, I got right on it!

I started writing about a little sunflower seed beneath the earth, waiting patiently for its chance to grow. From there, the song developed into a story about growth, resilience, facing difficult days and always reaching towards the light. The sunflower became a metaphor for life.

There will be storms. There will be cloudy days. There will be times when you can’t see what’s ahead. But you keep growing. You keep reaching. You keep turning towards the light. It was all coming together rather nicely…And then Sarah listened to one of the early drafts, and she had one very important suggestion.

“Everyone needs to know about the slugs.”

Of course they do my love. Because if you’ve ever followed Sarah’s love of sunflowers, you’ll know that growing them isn’t simply a case of planting a seed, watering it and sitting back waiting for a magnificent yellow flower to appear. There are enemies, hundreds of them…Slugs!! 😨

Apparently, the sunflower-lovin’ community needed to know about the hundreds of slugs that regularly turn up and attempt to destroy her growing sunflowers. So, before I made the final edit to the song, I added a verse:

But your roots are holding firmly
Though the slugs come out to feed
Twenty thousand tiny teeth
Won’t keep you from your dreams

I have to admit, I rather like that verse, lol. It’s probably the first time I’ve ever written a motivational song that includes a warning about gastropods…But strangely enough, it fits. Because the slugs aren’t just there for a laugh. They become part of the message. Something is always going to try to stop you growing.

But you keep growing. You keep reaching. And you face the sun.

Originally, this was simply a song for Sarah. She wanted something summery and sunflower-themed that she could add to her Apple Music playlist, and I wanted to create something that would make her smile whenever she heard it. But then we realised it could be something more. Sarah has her Sunshine & Sunflowers blog and Facebook page, where she shares her love of sunflowers with other people. So why not give everyone else a sunflower song to listen to as well?

A little song that started with a request from my wife and grew into something we could share with the sunflower community.

Listen to “Face The Sun”… wherever you stream 🎧

If this story and song resonated with you, and you’d like to listen again, you don’t have to keep coming back to YouTube. “Face The Sun” is also available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and many other streaming services. Whether you’d like to add it to your favourite playlist or simply listen on the platform you already use, you can choose your preferred service by clicking the link below:

Listen To: “Face The Sun” Wherever you stream music!

Thank you for listening, for sharing, and for helping this little sunflower song grow beyond where it first began. ❤️

Hi Friends…

Well, this is a slightly different Story Behind The Song… I’ve already written about Sarah’s Tamil Chicken once before, but that was back when it was still just dinner. Apparently, I wasn’t satisfied with simply eating it. I had to turn it into a song. And if you’ve been following my recent musical adventures, you’ll know that this is becoming something of a problem. Give me a good story, a guitar, a few lyrics and a little help from Suno, and apparently absolutely anything can become a song. Including chicken. Especially Sarah’s chicken.

IT ALL STARTED IN THE KITCHEN…

Back in September 2025, I wrote a FitBlitz post called “Sarah’s Spiced Symphony: Tamil Black Pepper Chicken.” And honestly, I think the title gave the game away, because when Sarah gets into the kitchen, she doesn’t really cookdinner. She puts on a show. That particular evening, the headline act was chicken breasts, marinated in a fiery black pepper paste with coconut and seared until they were beautifully golden. Then came the pilau rice, cooked with that deep, wonderfully spiced Tamil-style stock. Then the supporting cast arrived: caramelised onions, fried mushrooms and lettuce. And finally, the cooling turmeric yoghurt seasoning. It wasn’t just a meal. It was an event. At the time, I described it as being like a rock concert, complete with Marshall stacks, guitar solos and enough flavour to make Wembley sit up and take notice. Which, looking back, was probably my first mistake. Because once you start describing chicken like a stadium rock performance… the next logical step is apparently to write a stadium rock song about it.

FROM DINNER TO THE STAGE

Fast-forward to 2026. I’ve been having great fun writing my own lyrics and then using Suno to turn those lyrics into actual songs. And somewhere along the way I thought: “Hang on… what about Sarah’s Tamil Chicken?” Why not? It had everything: drama, heat, rhythm, a killer chorus and, most importantly, chicken. So I started writing. And suddenly that original FitBlitz post came back to life. The chicken became the star, the black pepper and coconut marinade became the opening act, the pilau rice laid down the rhythm section, the caramelised onions became the guitar solo, the mushrooms and lettuce wandered onto the stage completely unexpectedly, and the turmeric yoghurt came in for the cooling encore. Except this time, I turned the whole thing into lyrics.

WELCOME TO THE SARAH KITCHEN ARENA

The song takes the original idea and pushes it completely over the top. Because why simply say that Sarah has made a tasty chicken dinner when you can imagine the whole kitchen transformed into Sarah Kitchen Arena? The smoke is rising, the crowd is going wild, the black pepper is hitting like a guitar riff, the chicken is sizzling, and somewhere in the background I’m probably wondering whether we should call the fire brigade. It’s completely ridiculous. And that’s exactly why I love it. The song isn’t meant to be serious. It’s meant to make you smile. It’s meant to make you want to bop along. And, ideally, it’s meant to make you slightly hungry.

BUT THERE’S A SERIOUS POINT…

Well… sort of. One of the things I’ve really enjoyed about creating these songs is discovering that a story doesn’t have to be huge to become something worth creating. It doesn’t have to be about a life-changing event. It doesn’t have to be profound. Sometimes it’s simply: Sarah cooked chicken. I thought it was brilliant. I wrote about it. And then, months later, I thought: “That would make a funny song.” So I wrote one. And that’s the beauty of creativity. You never quite know where an idea is going to take you. A walk can become a photograph. A photograph can become a story. A story can become lyrics. And apparently dinner can become a rock concert.

SARAH’S TAMIL CHICKEN

So here it is. Sarah’s Tamil Chicken. A song born from one of Sarah’s ridiculously good dinners and my inability to leave well enough alone. The original meal was real. The FitBlitz post was real. The lyrics are mine. And then Suno helped me turn those lyrics into the musical madness now known as “Sarah’s Tamil Chicken.” I think Sarah deserves the credit. After all, without her cooking, there would be no song. Although I suppose technically I deserve a little credit too… because I was the one who ate it. That’s research.

THE ORIGINAL FITBLITZ POST

If you want to see where the whole thing started, you can read my original post: Sarah’s Spiced Symphony: Tamil Black Pepper Chicken. That’s where the chicken, pilau rice, caramelised onions, mushrooms, lettuce and turmeric yoghurt all first appeared. Back then, I called it a culinary anthem. I clearly didn’t realise how prophetic I was being. Because now… it actually is one.

FROM THE KITCHEN TO THE STAGE

And that, my friends, is the story behind “Sarah’s Tamil Chicken.” One meal. One slightly overexcited food review. A handful of lyrics. A lot of imagination. And one very willing AI music generator. Who knows what’s next? At this rate, Sarah had better be careful what she cooks. Because there might be a song about it.

Thanks for stopping by, and remember… Sometimes inspiration comes from the strangest places. Sometimes it comes from a guitar. Sometimes it comes from a walk. And sometimes… it comes with black pepper, coconut and a side of pilau rice.

Listen your way…🎧

If this story and song resonated with you, and you’d like to listen again, you don’t have to keep coming back to YouTube. Sarah’s Tamil Chicken is also available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and many other streaming services. Whether you’d like to add it to your favourite playlist or simply listen on the platform you already use, you can choose your preferred service by clicking the link below:

🎧 [HyperFollow Link]

Thank you for listening, for your encouragement, and for joining me on The Blind Sightseers journey. Every share and every kind comment helps these memories continue to travel far beyond the places where they first began. 🙏😀