THE GENESIS
You never know what you are capable of doing, or becoming.
- Swapna Abraham -
THE EVENT
APRIL 8, 2017 THE EVENT BEGAN
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The first of 1000 songs to be composed, produced and published every day for 1000 days was recorded in HSI Studios, Dubai, UAE.
JANUARY 2, 2017 THE EVENT ENDED
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The last of the 1000 songs on this special challenge was recorded at the Burj Al Arab, Dubai, UAE.
1000 SONGS IN 1000 DAYS
BECAME
2321 SONGS IN 1000 DAYS
Demo sent to World Record Organization
HOW IT STARTED
On 28th March 2016, Swapna was overwhelmed by a sudden sense of wanting to give up and retire from music having been at it for 24 years. She had performed the globe over, published 21 albums, impressed upon thousands of people with the ‘gift’ of music; but at that point felt that it was all futile having left her unfulfilled. In that state, she did the strangest of things—she wrote another song “Be Strong”. The following day, she woke up with the idea of writing 1000 songs in 1000 days, in real terms, a song a day.
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She later remembered the story of Scheherazade, the lady of 1001 Arabian Nights fame, who changed the heart of the angry king with 1001 tales told over as many nights. That evening, after Swapna got home from work, she sat down again and wrote “Crossing Over.” The following evening she wrote “Blest & Broken” in a similar fashion. By then she was convinced that she could do this for 1000 days, and resolved to do so. And thus was conceived the extremely ambitious, but very possible, challenge to record 1000 Songs in 1000 Days!
THE SONG THAT SET IT OFF
A rough cut of the song Crossing Over recorded in one take on a USB stick attached to the keyboard immediately after composing it. The entire exercise from composition to recording took less than an hour. Tracks in the 1000 Songs in 1000 Days project, are aspired to be more professional in production.
HOW IT EVOLVED
What conceptually started with a song a day for 1000 days was changed in principle three days before launch seeing as the envisioned challenge was already being done by a forerunner and for well over 1000 days. It was decided therefore to do two songs a day for 1000 days with the second song being for children.
The force of habit makes anything imagined to be difficult relatively easy over time. Thus the subsequent decision to do three songs a day for 100 days, seven songs a day for forty days, and twenty one songs in a single day.
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Here is the Bibliography on the entire challenge from 8th April, 2017 to 2nd January, 2020:-
2 Songs A Day for 1000 Days, with the second song being for children (Day 1-1000) 2001 songs [2 songs were made on 1000 in 1000 on Day 849 owing to a glitch on Facebook 'live' and for the evidence to remain intact]
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Daily Live Composition on:-
https://www.facebook.com/swapnaabraham1000songsin1000days/
https://www.facebook.com/achildrenssongaday
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Daily Upload of Posts on:-
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW_kXmtiofwGSA8Xy0cq78A
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjOcB3bgn39hD8NmCCBcp0Q
https://soundcloud.com/swapn-a (only for the song on 1000 in 1000 and not the children’s song)
3 Songs A Day for 100 Days (Day 700-799) 100 songs
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Daily Live Composition (of additional third song) on:-
https://www.facebook.com/100-Songs-In-100-Days-In-The-Anointing-1820241008232883/
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Daily Upload of Post (of additional third song) on:-
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJmvVcEQ9SX_9eVFCMeSTpA
7 Songs A Day for 40 Days (Day 950-989) with lyrics collated from the Book of Psalms 200 songs
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Daily Live Composition (of additional five songs) on:-
https://www.facebook.com/7-Songs-A-Day-For-40-Days-215882779357488/
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Daily Upload of Posts (of additional five songs) on:-
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCT_RgmqLbIA9VtTGInInWg
21 Songs In One Day (Day 999) 20 songs
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Daily Live Composition (of additional twenty songs) on:-
https://www.facebook.com/21-Songs-In-One-Day-1201682846657174/
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Daily Upload of Posts (of additional twenty songs) on:-
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb9Z4qkwcNuY7jwLLeBpEUw
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THE GOLDEN BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS
With respect to the above, the following record attempts have been certified as successful by the Golden Book of World Records that clearly understood the output and methodology associated with this challenge and were able to identify and establish a standard for what is called a song, and song production (fundamentally necessary for world record attempts).
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•Longest quotidian feat of composing, producing and publishing song incessantly (April 08, 2017 - January 02, 2020)
•Quotidian feat of composing, producing and publishing multiple songs incessantly for 100 days (March 08, 2019 - June 15, 2019)
•Most songs composed, produced and published by an individual in one day (January 01, 2020)
•Longest quotidian feat of composing, producing and publishing children's song incessantly [they do not consider the children's song as a regular song, but certainly call it children's song] (April 08, 2017 - January 02, 2020)
THE CANDIDATE
Swapna Abraham is an internationally renowned singer/songwriter who hails from Kerala, India, and has composed thousands of songs and recorded over a hundred in a career that took wings in 1992. She has performed before live audiences in several countries including USA, UK, Canada, Germany, Kenya, Tanzania, Bahrain, UAE, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and India. Reputed to be a gospel singer she is also known for her soulful songs covering different walks and vagaries of life. Her style of music stretches across the entire gamut from pop, rock and country to folk and soul. Her albums released before the thousand-day challenge, Live the Dream and SwanSong are available on this site, along with her recent singles Cheating On You, Loved, Sweet & Dangerous, Save, Faces From The Past, No Love Lost, Unforgiven, Love Can't Say Goodbye, Shout, Love Yourself A Little While and Choices.
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In 2010 she was the recipient of the NeedStar Women's Day citation 'role model for her progress and success in the field of mainstream career, art and entrepreneurship'. This was followed by the Maestro Award – LAMP-ICONGO Karmaveer Chakra in 2012 for her contribution to gospel music. In 2019 she received the Aspire World Award for her 'passion for excellence' at the 31st Global Women's Empowerment Summit and in 2022, Exceptional Women of Excellence Award at Women Economic Forum.
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Her other awards include (in 2023) Silver - Global Music Awards - LOVED (album) - Pop, Silver - Global Music Awards - LOVED (album) - Female Vocalist, Silver - One Earth Awards - No Love Lost (feat Devan Ekambaram) - Best American Roots Song, Silver Medal - Outstanding Achievement - Global Music Awards - No Love Lost (feat Devan Ekambaram) - Country, Female Vocalist, Finalist - Spring 2023 - World Songwriting Awards - No Love Lost (feat Devan Ekambaram) - Best Modern Country Song , Official 2023 Finalist - InterContinental Music Awards - No Love Lost (feat Devan Ekambaram) and Official Nomination - Hollywood Independent Music Awards - No Love Lost (feat Devan Ekambaram) - Country (Crossover).
This formidable goal of creating one of the biggest world records ever in singing-songwriting was without doubt a prodigious feat, but achieved seamlessly and with four to her credit, by this extraordinarily blessed person. An interior designer, actor, corporate professional and author with her book She Played In The Dark (2022, AABS Publishing) on the lessons and journey of the thousand days, Swapna was awarded a doctorate (honoris causa) in music from Vinayaka Mission's Research Foundation (Deemed To Be University) in 2022 and Maryland State University in 2024. In 2024 she went on to publish the 1000 children’s songs from the world record challenge in illustrated children’s books – A Children’s Song A Day (Notion Press Publishing) – 5 volumes and 20 sub-volumes, with the songs and karaokes, studio-produced and inset as QR codes.
Swapna is a proud mother of two and grandmother of three.
