SA Teen Blaise Draper Sings Heartbreaking Staircase to Heaven
A heartbreaking song is making waves on the internet. Written and performed by South African teenager Blaise Draper, it touches the hearts of all those who’ve ever lost someone incredibly close to them. What makes Blaise’s song even more special is that it is not written for a boyfriend or conventional family member. It’s written […]
A heartbreaking song is making waves on the internet. Written and performed by South African teenager Blaise Draper, it touches the hearts of all those who’ve ever lost someone incredibly close to them.
The song is called ‘Staircase to Heaven’ and is “definitely one of the hardest songs” the 18-year-old has ever written.
“Usually I take a few minutes to write a song,” says the Westville teen, “because if I leave a song half-done I usually don’t get into that exact frame of mind again. But this song took me seven months to write…mainly because I sobbed every time I started to write more.
“I wrote it for Thembi, our domestic worker, who was really close to our family. She lived with us for 23 years. People who have never lived in South Africa don’t really understand how special that relationship can be.
“As I got older, Thembi became my best friend. I shared everything with her, and she had taken on the role of a second mom to me.
“When she passed away I was so overwhelmed with emotions, I wanted to communicate with her. On her birthday, I started writing a song for her, in the hope that it would give me some sort of closure…and it did. I just wish she was here to hear it.”
Blaise has been writing music since she was in Grade 4 and a guy she fancied mentioned how cool he thought girls were who could play the guitar!
Her crush on the guy didn’t last, but her love for music did. After learning the guitar, Blaise then turned her attention to the piano in Grade 9 “and discovered a new emotion to my music.” She claims to not be that fantastic at piano or guitar…but she does pour her soul, and personal experiences, into each song, making it intimidating to play in front of an audience when so much of her own raw emotion is on show.
“It took me a really long time before I was comfortable to play music in front of anyone,” says Blaise. “In fact, the first time I played a song that I personally wrote, in front of an audience, was at my sister’s 21st last year.”
Blaise is one of those talented souls who dreamt of keeping a daily diary…but who found that when she gave it a go, her words turned into songs…and the journal became her first official song book.
“Each song I have written draws from something that has touched me at some point of my life…so each one is very personal to me,” she says.
And by exposing her true feelings, Blaise’s songs are touching those who feel the honesty in the lyrics and the melody, and respond in their own way, interpreting her words to suit their experiences. With one of her first songs – ‘Just Breathe’ – Blaise had written it about anger…but was amazed to discover how those who heard it “took something different from the song. It honestly fascinated me to hear everyone’s different interpretations! It was awesome!”
With the overwhelming response to ‘Staircase to Heaven’, Blaise is still “battling to grasp that people are actually interested in the music that I’m writing!”
She hopes to soon have all her songs up on iTunes and is really excited to see what the future holds. In the meantime her friends and family remain the most important things in her life, particularly her parents who have “believed in my music for longer than I have!”
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE: STAIRCASE TO HEAVEN – BY BLAISE DRAPER
Follow Blaise Draper on Facebook.
