CD aims to lift and inspire youths

Like any other mother, Lynne Perry Christofferson worries about all the bad stuff in the world and what it can do to her kids. Four of her five children are now teens, "and I know that on the Internet, for example, they can be one click away from something deplorable."

Christofferson also knows that no matter how hard she tries, she can't shield them from everything. "What I wanted to give them was a catch phrase, something they could use in their minds when they see something they are not comfortable with."

She was struck by the phrase, "lift your mind higher." That, she says, is what she would like them to do — to know that in their minds they can rise above all the bad stuff out there.

As the daughter of Janice Kapp Perry and the sister of Steven Kapp Perry, songwriting is in Christofferson's genes. So, it is not surprising that she turned to music as a way to get her message across.

About that same time, her mother called. "Mom had been thinking that she wanted to do a new album, but she said, 'I'm old and tired, so let's split it.' The idea was for her to do six songs and I would do six songs. Then she called a while later and said, 'You need to do it yourself.' My dad had just had knee surgery, and she was busy taking care of him."

Most of the songs Christofferson had been writing were "youth-oriented. Several were on that same idea of purity of mind." Then she found out that the LDS Young Women's theme for 2007 will be "let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly," and "we thought this might make a good tie-in."

"Lift Your Mind Higher" became the title song for the CD she has just released. The other 11 songs are "loosely based around that concept. I also wanted kids to think about what messages they are sending to others."

In working with youths, she says she has discovered that "there's sometimes a world of difference between what people say and what they do. Sometimes, the way they dress, the way they talk about friends behind their backs, doesn't fit with what they say they believe. Others don't say much but show by their actions that they are true to their values."

Although she hopes that anyone might benefit from the messages in her songs, they are slanted toward the youths — both in words and music. While she wouldn't really call the style "pop," "there is a definite beat and syncopation. That seems to grab their attention more."