She made one album in 1974. Now her song is playing in a new A24 movie

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At the beginning of the movie “The Drama,” Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Robert Pattinson) are happily in love and just a week away from their wedding. They’ve fallen quickly for each other, and the film opens with them playfully rehearsing their first dance, giggling and bumping into each other as they learn the steps.

The most memorable part of the scene is the background music – a light, delicate, and uncomplicated song. It begins with simple guitar chords, then a woman’s voice enters, sounding raw yet lovely, singing: “I want to lay with you/ In an open field/ Where yellow flowers are suns of Earth.”

Many listeners will be discovering Shira Small’s beautiful 1970s love song, “I Want to Lay With You,” for the first time. Few will likely recognize the artist behind it. Small recorded a remarkable album, “The Line of Time and the Plane of Now,” at just 17 years old in 1974, but never released another one—until now, perhaps. Now approaching her 70s, Small may finally be receiving the recognition she deserves.

“It’s hilarious,” Small said over Zoom from her home in Cooperstown, New York. “I hadn’t heard anything about that movie until my sister told me about it through you!” With a smile and long gray hair, Small admits she doesn’t know much about the new A24 film, “The Drama,” which is known for keeping its plot a secret.

It’s happening more and more often that Small finds out her music is being used in movies or TV shows after the fact. She explains that her record company handles the licensing and then sends her royalty statements. Recently, HBO used one of her songs on ‘Pause With Sam Jay,’ and she only found out through a somewhat impersonal email – an internal memo, actually – that mentioned its air date at the very bottom.

Jemma Burns, who selected the music for the show “The Drama,” already liked Small’s album. She felt the song “I Want to Lay With You” would be a great fit for a sweet scene just before things go wrong for Emma and Charlie – a shocking secret is about to ruin their wedding plans.

According to Burns, the film’s writer and director, Kristoffer Borgli, aimed for a classic romantic comedy feel. He wanted this to stand out against the film’s modern setting and overall storyline. He envisioned a charming, old-fashioned vibe, especially considering the lead characters are sophisticated, trendy, and into the arts – something you’d expect to find in their music collection.

I’ve always been captivated by Ella Small. Being the baby of five, she just naturally had a gift for singing, but what really struck me was how wise beyond her years she seemed, even as a young girl growing up in Harlem. She thought about things on a much deeper level than most kids her age.

She explains that she deliberately chose to focus on peace and compassion, actively working against negativity like war, hatred, and prejudice. Her main goal was to promote love and connection in every way she could.

Growing up during the Vietnam War and the rise of the Black Power movement, Small was increasingly drawn to the hippie lifestyle. This shift was strengthened when she received a full scholarship to attend George School, a private Quaker boarding school in Newtown, Pennsylvania. She remembers arriving at the school and noticing it was predominantly wealthy and white, but she adds with a laugh that she’s always been able to adapt to new situations and blend in, even when she feels out of place.

While at George School, Small expressed herself through music and theater, and was known for her Afro and occasional marijuana use. She caught the attention of music teacher Lars Clutterham, a talented pianist, who recognized her potential. They began collaborating, with Small writing the lyrics and melodies for their songs. As part of her graduation requirements, Small proposed creating an album as her senior project. Soon after, she and Clutterham spent a day recording at a studio in Philadelphia.

“The Line of Time and the Plane of Now” features 10 songs, each recorded live in a single take, blending folk, soul, and jazz with a pure, unpolished feel. The music has a warm, vintage sound, built around simple arrangements of guitar or piano and drums. This leaves room for the singer, Small, whose voice is both hopeful and, even at a young age, hints at a touch of sadness.

While attending George School, she experienced the loss of her mother, which deeply inspired her song “My Life’s All Right,” a moving ballad about overcoming hardship. This song later featured on the Sam Jay show. The song “Eternal Life” came to her suddenly, a celebration of love’s ability to endure even the most difficult circumstances. And the song “I Want to Lay With You,” used in a movie, was written about a boy she once had a crush on, though she’s forgotten who he was.

She remembers feeling a strong connection with this person – someone she considered both a friend and a potential romantic partner. She genuinely believed they could have built a life together.

She chuckles when she thinks about her younger self. “I had no idea what a real life with someone would be like – waking up next to them, sharing a great day, and consistently making them happy.”

Small remembers that the students and parents at George School pooled their resources to fund the album, resulting in 300 copies being made. She describes it as a happy and exciting time, feeling like it was the start of something great. After graduating, she faced some uncertainty before ultimately earning a theater degree with highest honors from the City University of New York. Surprisingly, she then decided to pursue a career in medicine and became a physician assistant.

When I started preparing for medical school, I became completely focused on my studies and had to give up music,” Small explains. “It demanded all of my energy and attention, leaving me with no room to think about anything else.

She stopped making music for another reason too: she struggled with severe stage fright from a young age. She remembers it causing intense anxiety, even physically twisting her stomach. She pushed through it to perform in plays at George School and later to record an album, but eventually, it became overwhelming.

But didn’t she miss singing? “Absolutely,” Small says. She retired from medicine around five years ago, and explains, “I found myself singing all the time, even without realizing it. My patients noticed—they’d often comment that I was singing whenever I came into the room.”

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Even though Small stopped making music, his song “The Line of Time and the Plane of Now” remained known. In 2006, the Numero Group, a record label specializing in archival releases, created a compilation called “Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies From the Canyon,” which featured lesser-known female singers from the 1970s. Ken Shipley, a co-founder of Numero Group, ensured that “Eternal Life” was included on the compilation.

He recalls being the first to contact Shira. Shipley discovered her song “Eternal Life” on a demo CD featuring up-and-coming female folk artists around the year 2000, while he was selecting artists for his “Wayfaring Strangers” project. He says Shira was a high priority for him.

The Numero Group first added “Eternal Life” to Spotify back in 2013. However, when the label released the complete album online in 2022, Shipley admits it didn’t generate much excitement. He wasn’t discouraged, though, and released it on vinyl the next year, believing people might just need some time to discover it.

According to Shipley, music always reaches people. He compares it to water – it will naturally flow downhill, eventually finding its way to a larger body of water, just like music will always find its listeners.

As it turned out, Small began experiencing some incredible coincidences. Someone whose ex was in a band included one of her songs on a playlist without realizing who the artist was. And after starting a part-time job at a local opera house, she discovered one of the singers was a big fan of her song “Eternal Life,” completely unaware that she worked there.

Small still finds it amazing that she receives royalty payments when her songs are used in films, like “The Drama.” She never intended her album to be a commercial success, so it’s incredible to her that it continues to generate income. “I can’t believe I’m earning royalties from that music, and that it just keeps happening,” she says.

After her husband passed away in 2019, following 34 years together, Shira Small went through a difficult time. But then, she experienced a creative breakthrough. She says music started flowing out of her so quickly she could barely keep up, and she had to record ideas as voice memos. She hadn’t spoken to her friend, Lars, in over ten years, but she sent him the recordings. His reply was simple and encouraging: ‘Shira, you still got it.’

After a 50-year break, she returned to music in 2024 with her song “Why,” which shares her concerns about the future. Her voice has changed, becoming richer and more expressive with the wisdom of a life fully lived. Now, she’s planning a new album and has concerts scheduled, and she’s even overcome her fear of performing on stage.

She’ll eventually sing her classic songs, but she’s working on regaining the high notes she used to hit. With a touch of humor, she explains that years of life – including hormonal changes and smoking – have changed her voice, but she wouldn’t trade the experiences.

She says she’s always loved yellow flowers, especially when they’re growing in wide-open fields. There are large sunflower fields nearby, and she explains that the feeling of being surrounded by such bright, cheerful blooms on a sunny day was the inspiration behind a particular lyric she wrote.

I asked her what she thought about the young woman featured on today’s episode of “The Line of Time and the Plane of Now.”

“I feel like I truly understand her,” Small explains. “And I think it’s because she’s still present in my life. Right now, I feel like I’m the sum of all my past experiences, everything that’s led me to this very moment.”

She explains that her fundamental perspectives haven’t changed much over time. While she acknowledges feeling even more passionate – and sometimes angrier – than she did as a child, she still tries to see the larger context of things to stay grounded. She feels the music from her earlier albums, like ‘Eternal Life’ and ‘My Life’s All Right,’ came from a deep, essential part of herself, a part that isn’t limited by age.

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2026-04-03 22:02