Thunder and Tenderness

From my upcoming book"Breakfast with Jung: Chapter 3 - The Father Archetype"

What happens when corporate power meets tenderness? When the boardroom executive still remembers how to fold paper planes from tax forms?
This song explores Carl Jung's Father Archetype through the dual nature of paternal energy—the thunder of authority and the whisper of vulnerability. Watch a father move through his day: ironing prophecies into dress shirts, signing permission slips with ink mixed from sweat and sacrifice, then coming home to practice wonder at the window.
The Great Father stands at civilization's threshold, his shoulders broad as history itself. But hidden in his desk drawer? A secret diary where he's taking night classes in how to be a child again.
"His adam's apple, a planet swallowing pride" From Excel sheets to infinite tenderness, from briefcase to cartwheeling dreams—this track asks: Which father-voice guides you home? The one who carries thunder, or the one learning to play hopscotch with his fears?

An uplifting anthem that merges folk-rock energy with psychological depth, celebrating how authentic fatherhood embraces both strength and softness, authority and innocence.
🎵 Part of the "Breakfast with Jung" collection - transforming Jungian psychology into music
📖 A 40-year theatre educator's journey from poetry to song

THUNDER and TENDERNESS   ( Lyrics )

The Great Father stands in the kitchen of civilizations 
His vertebrae stacked like ancient stories 
Shoulders broad as history's threshold
His hands, mapped with work's geography 
Still remember how to fold paper planes from tax forms 
How to turn a bandage into a blessing
Watch how he transforms (How he transforms!)
Thunder and tenderness (Thunder and tenderness!)
Which father-voice guides you home? (Guides you home!)
The Great Father smiles through office doors, 
His wisdom spiraling through everything—thunder and tenderness, 
Learning to play again
Each morning he irons prophecies into his shirts, 
Straightens that silk tie that binds generations
At the office, fluorescent lights crown his head 
Like corporate thorns
He signs humanity's permission slips with ink mixed from sweat and sacrifice
Watch how he transforms—boardroom thunder to bedtime whispers, 
His adam's apple, a planet swallowing pride
Watch how he transforms (How he transforms!)
Thunder and tenderness (Thunder and tenderness!)
Briefcase and burning bush (Burning bush!)
Which father-voice guides you home? (Guides you home!)
The Great Father smiles through office doors
His wisdom spiraling through everything
thunder and tenderness, learning to play again
Until one day, cleaning his desk, you find his secret diary
He's been taking night classes in how to be a child again
Each evening, after Excel sheets, he practices wonder 
At the window, learns to rebuild his own innocence
Watch how he transforms (How he transforms!)
Thunder and tenderness (Thunder and tenderness!)
Briefcase and burning bush (Burning bush!)
Which father-voice guides you home? (Guides you home!)
The Great Father smiles through office doors, his wisdom spiraling 
Through everything—from timesheet to infinite tenderness 
From briefcase to these cartwheeling dreams
The one who carries thunder (Carries thunder!)
Or the one who's learning (Who's learning!)
To play hopscotch with his fears? (With his fears!)
Thunder and tenderness (Tender, tender)
Learning to play again
Cartwheel through corporate karma (Corporate karma)
Which father-voice guides you home? (Guides you home)
Thunder and tenderness

#BreakfastWithJung #FatherArchetype #JungianPsychology #FolkRock #PoetryMusic #CarlJung #Fatherhood #SFHmusic

Thunder and Tenderness

THUNDER AND TENDERNESS

S F H music Auckland, New Zealand

Poet • Performer • Lyricist • Composer

Stephen Hollins is a New Zealand-born Renaissance artist whose four-decade career spans genres of theatre, opera, improvisation, performance, poetry, writing and music. He transforms his poetry into songs blending psychology, performance, innovation and technology to create emotionally resonant and meaningful music.

His latest project, "Breakfast with Jung," is a groundbreaking multimedia collection exploring Carl Jung's psychological concepts through poetry and music—transforming a 400-page manuscript of 135 poems into a nine-album/chapter series that makes depth psychology accessible through an intimate musical and poetical journey toward the authentic Self that mirrors Jung's work.
"Support my music: https://sfhmusic.bandcamp.com"