CR 041: Christina Perri on the Continuing Evolution of 'A Thousand Years'
The singer-songwriter discusses her new children’s book based on the hit song.
In 2010, Christina Perri’s career took off when her debut single, “Jar of Hearts,” had its premiere on an episode of So You Think You Can Dance. But it’s her 2011 release, “A Thousand Years,” that became her signature song. Written for the film The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 1, “A Thousand Years” took on new meaning for Perri when she became a mom. In 2019, she released a stripped-down version of the tune on Songs for Carmella, a collection of lullabies she recorded for her daughter. And now, she’s the proud author of A Thousand Years, a picture book that combines Perri’s lyrics with gorgeous illustrations, many of which were based on Perri’s own life.
“The illustrator [Joy Hwang Ruiz] took my real life and turned it into this beautiful story of a parent’s forever love,” Perri says. “It’s capturing that [time] between birth and going off to school, letting your child know how much you love them and walking through all their little milestones.”
Though she will undoubtedly always make music for listeners of all ages, Perri says that right now, the kid space is exactly where she wants to be. “I love this space. I want to stay here. Right now I’m working on music and lyrics for a new kids’ show that’s going to come out soon. I want to stay in this space for a while, because I have kids, and as they grow up, I want to do all these cool things that honor who I am. I used to be the girl singing angsty songs about all these terrible guys that I was dating and now I’m happily married with kids. I can’t pretend. This is the season of life that I’m in, and I feel really grateful that I get to continue to create art and to do things that mean a lot to me.”
I recently talked to Perri about her influences, how her relationship to “A Thousand Years” has evolved, and what advice she’d give to her younger self.
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SANDRA EBEJER: Congratulations on your new book! Can you talk a bit about the inception of “A Thousand Years” the song and how your relationship to it has changed over time?
CHRISTINA PERRI: It’s funny how many lives this song and this story has taken on. Originally it was a song that I had written for the wedding scene in Twilight. It’s why the song is a waltz, why it feels like a procession song. I’m singing from the perspective of Edward and then from Bella. I wrote it so specifically for that scene. And then what actually happened is it wasn’t chosen for the wedding; it was put into the credits because it became a single for the soundtrack. What’s so cool is that fans of that movie decided that was their song. You never know what’s going to connect with people, but the fans of Twilight decided that song was the song of the franchise, and they decided to start getting married to it. And then, because it became such a big wedding song, all of a sudden it moved completely away from Twilight and a lot of people who had never even seen Twilight are falling in love with this song. For about 10 years, I’d say, it was in the top five wedding songs every year. It was like me, Ed Sheeran, and John Legend. We joke around. I’ve talked to them all, like, “Should we all go on tour when we’re old and be the wedding band?” [Laughs]
So it became trendy, and everyone starts getting married to it. But what happens is everyone then starts building their family. So you have all the people that got married to this song and have this emotional connection to this song. Then they give birth, and they have these little children, and they want to share the song with them. That’s when I came up with the lullabies, because I had just become a mom.
What I love about this story is that it’s very organic. The timeline of my life kept unfolding, so I kept evolving with the song. Here I am. I become a mom. I’m singing these songs to my kids, so I make a lullaby album, and I include “A Thousand Years.” And now here I am reading picture books to my girls. Who knows what’s next? I don’t even know. I feel like this song is just this gift that keeps on giving. I have no idea what could be next, but I just keep chasing it. The song keeps going, and I keep chasing it.
How involved were you in the visual aspect of the book? Did you have any say in the illustrations?
I was super involved. I actually found out later that our relationship is not common. I feel like they keep the author and the illustrator less in communication for whatever reason, but me and Joy immediately loved each other. She was a fan of my music, so she had already followed me on Instagram, and she knew my daughter, Carmella. She knew what our vibe was. She knew how I would speak about her, which I think is so cool when you are trying to put onto paper visually the way someone is or the way someone sings.
What I love about this book is the colors are so special and the fairy tale element to it is so appropriate for the way I am with my girls. She nailed it. We picked her because we liked her drawings, but then every time she would send stuff, I was like, “Yes, yes, yes, yes!” It never didn’t feel right. It was only, “More of that! More of that! More of that!” And so I feel really lucky that I have an illustrator that I connected with so deeply so fast and literally loved everything she did. Joy nailed the essence of this book from day one.
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The unboxing video for this book is really cute. What does it mean for you to have this book out in the world?
It feels so special because I hold motherhood that special. You know, the first 10 years of my career, I was on tour living this rock star life, playing shows in every country, and it was really cool. But I always really wanted to have a family. I’m Italian. I come from this big family, and so my goal was always to have children. When I think about success, I think the most successful thing I’ve done is my children. Yes, I love that I have this amazing career and I’m so grateful that everyone got married to my song and that I have a Diamond Award in my living room. All that is so cool. But I personally think having my daughters and going on trips with them and them loving each other are bigger, more valuable things. And so I really, really love this book because it’s how much I love motherhood.
You have been very open about the personal challenges you’ve faced, including the loss of your daughter, Rosie. How has your art, your music, and this book helped you to navigate these hardships?
It’s hard to explain. I feel like that’s why these things feel so important for me to do. [They’re] part of my healing. And I feel a sense of purpose to show other people that the more you talk about things, the better ability you have to integrate them into your life. When Rosie passed away, I knew immediately I was going to make an album for her to honor her life. And so many people that I speak to feel the same way. We all experience grief and lose people that we love, and we all want to talk about them, which is so interesting, because people don’t want to bring them up because they don’t want to upset you. There’s a misconnection there, because the truth is, we want to talk about them. So I absolutely wanted to make a lullaby record for Rosie, because I had made one for Carmella. I had hoped that I would continue to grow my family and continue to make lullabies for everyone who came around and that included Rosie. It felt like absolutely an important thing for me to do personally, because I could focus. With grief, you want to focus on things. I didn’t want to lose myself and my art; I wanted to find a way to make it all fit and make it all work. And I think by being really honest, I was able to do that, and I do think it helped me navigate those first couple years.
It’s been four years since it happened. It’s still very painful, but it feels like I’ve given her life such purpose and that experience that I went through such purpose, and for that I really am grateful. It’s a giant club that nobody wants to be a part of, but the people in it are all very lovely, and I feel a sense of gratitude to this community for helping me get through it, and then I also feel a sense of purpose to continue to help others get through it, too.
Who are some of your influences? Are there any artists you turn to for inspiration?
Great question. My favorite artists of all time are the Beatles. I also love the Counting Crows. This is going to age me. I also love Jason Mraz. He was the first singer-songwriter that I was absolutely obsessed with at like, 15, 16, 17, which is funny because I ended up meeting him, going on tour with him, having a duet with him. All my dreams have come true.
I always loved Disney but love it in such a deeper level now that I have children. I’m studying all these Disney movies because I can’t help but sit there and analyze the songs. They’re the best songs of all time, in my opinion.
I will say, also, as a woman in music, the last five years has been so good. Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo, all the young girls that are coming out, Gracie Abrams—I’m loving all of it. I feel like there was a moment in the 2010s where I wasn’t sure where we were going with music. I wasn’t connecting. And now I feel like I am again, because it’s this resurgence of singer songwriters, really honest and poppy, which is amazing. Truthfully, my influences are everywhere. I’m also inspired by my family, my mom, my grandma, and now my girls. I know every word to every single Zombies song, and I know every word to every Descendants song. And holy crap, these are bangers! They are so good! I would never have gotten into the Descendants if it weren’t for my seven-year-old. So I’m late to that party, but again, this is just my real life. I’m just telling you straight up that there’s a lot of Disney going on in our house and I’m grateful for it.
You talked earlier about the joy that you got from making this book, but what do you want readers to get from your book?
A lot of people I know have a bedtime routine where they read two or three books to their kids. For me, that’s the moment my daughter tells me what happened that day. I could ask her 100 times, “What did you do at school?” She doesn’t remember until it’s bedtime and then she tells me something important. That’s the moment you’re snuggling and getting this physical love and attention. That’s such a special moment in my motherhood and in my life. So I would love to be included in that moment. Again, I’ve been part of your wedding, I’ve maybe been part of all your videos and part of your TikToks, and now I’d love to be a part of that moment where you sit and you read this story.
I will also say, my daughter, Carmella, her lovey is a bunny, and he is actually in all the pages of the book. So you can A, just read it to your kid and put them to sleep; B, sing the book, because it’s a lot of the lyrics from the song; or C, find the bunny and have a little interactive thing, which I think is really cute. So that’s what I hope people do and enjoy, that little moment at the end of every day.
Most artists can’t pinpoint a date when their career officially began, but you’ve said that yours started on June 30, 2010, when So You Think You Can Dance played your song “Jar of Hearts.” If you could go back to that time, knowing what you know now, what would you say to your younger self?
Oh, my goodness. Well, what’s funny is, no matter what I say, she’s not going to listen to me. I was so hardheaded. I still am, but in a different way. I remember 23-year-old me wearing combat boots with my blonde streak in my hair. I didn’t want to do anything that anybody told me to do. I didn’t want to change anything. I remember my record label wanted me to put drums on “Jar of Hearts” and I had the guts to say no. I can’t even think about that now. Like, what? Who was I?
I honestly don’t think there’s anything I could say that would change the course of my life, except I would probably tell myself to just be nicer to me. I was so hard on myself at 23, 24, 25. I wasn’t mean or rude to anyone else except me. I would never talk to my children the way I [talked] to myself at that time. So that would probably be [what I’d say]. “You’re doing a great job just as you are. Keep going, because all your dreams are going to come true, even though you could never imagine writing a children’s book in 15 years and singing songs to kids. But keep going. Just please be nicer. Be nicer to you.” Maybe I’d listen, but I probably wouldn’t.
To learn more about Christina Perri, find her on Instagram.
To purchase A Thousand Years, click here.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
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I sent this song to an old flame 🔥😍
Thank you, Sandra, for a great interview! Thanks, Christina - 'Jar of Hearts' and 'A Thousand Years,' have been woven into many of my playlists and poignant moments over several years. My heartfelt condolences for your loss. Congratulations on the book. I love the little videos that go with the songs on Spotify!