“Prayer” by Lizzie West

Named Breakout Artist of the Year by AOL and Entertainment Weekly in 2003, Lizzie West is largely unknown today. Yet she created some beautiful music, including “Prayer,” an ode to those who’ve died, and a reminder to their loved ones left behind.

The song begins with these lines, in West’s scratchy voice:

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that flow
I am the sunlight on my own grave

After three haunting verses, West transitions into a form of spoken word, poetically describing a human being’s transition out of this world. Her voice is soft and her words are poignant, reminiscent of a prayer.

It is the sign of heaven
It is the sign of the cobra
It’s the sign of a man who knows himself royally
Crowned with the sun
His feet gripping the earth as he goes

From Major Label Artist to Touring Homesteader

Credit: cassidyamaze.com

West was a character created by Elizabeth Westergaard more than three decades ago. According to The Berkshire Edge, she played to L train subway commuters in Manhattan before going on to produce six albums with her trademark blend of rock, pop, blues and folk. “Prayer” appears on West’s 2003 album, “Holy Road: Freedom Songs,” produced by Warner Brothers. It’s one of several of West’s songs that have appeared in film or on television, and was featured on NBC’s Third Watch and ABC’s Alias.

After recording executives tried to turn her into a pop icon, West reinvented herself as Cassidy A. Maze, and now runs a homestead and artists’ development initiatives in the Catskills while making music and touring locally.

Yet to any who might mourn West’s disappearance, her own words remind us: “Do not stand at my grave and cry / I am not there, I did not die.”

You can listen to West sing “Prayer” in the video below.