art
Hold Him Again
Tuesday 17 November 2015 LyricsNews
This is a song that had been “cooking” for a very long time. It’s one that I wanted to get right.
How do you deal with the death of a loved one? My father-in-law died extremely suddenly almost two years ago. I loved him dearly, but it was clear to me that there were those who loved him so much more than I did.
It caused deep unrest within my spirit. How does a wife deal with the passing of a husband?...
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How do you deal with the death of a loved one? My father-in-law died extremely suddenly almost two years ago. I loved him dearly, but it was clear to me that there were those who loved him so much more than I did.
It caused deep unrest within my spirit. How does a wife deal with the passing of a husband?...
Read More...
Are You Listening?
Sunday 08 November 2015 LyricsBlog
We have been listening to some pretty intense free jazz this week in class. Intense. Like, the kind that you can’t even really tap your foot to because you can’t find the beat. And you definitely can’t hum along... I had no idea of where the harmony was, if there was a structure, a melody even...
It’s hard work listening to music like that. It’s the same with avant garde classical music, like the concert I went to a few weeks ago by Krzysztof Penderecki. Music like that puts you on edge. You can’t relax into it, like with Bossa Nova or a nice warm waltz. It wrestles with something inside of you.
It’s hard to listen.
So after talking about the boundaries that free jazz challenged, and what we found so hard about it to appreciate, we were asked the question, “what is listening?”
At first I thought it was a silly question. What’s listening? Well, of course it’s... it’s... but I couldn’t think of a coherent, succinct answer that could really sum up what listening means.
Actually, it is one of the most passive, sometimes even involuntary acts that we can do as humans. Don’t wish that you could just turn your ears off sometimes and not have to listen?
But even though it is such an automatic part of our lives, the act of listening is a complex process. It is, in it’s most basic form, turning our attention to the sound waves that are hitting our eardrums. If I listen now, I hear the steady hum of my air conditioning unit, I hear my fingers typing on the keyboard, I hear a muted wave of traffic 20 storeys below me, and occasionally I hear the call of a bird or the beep of a horn.
Listening reminds me of where I am. It places me squarely in my surroundings.
But listening to music can have the total opposite effect. When you really listen to music, you can be transported to other universes: lost in a sea of sound or emotion or memories.
When you actively listen to music, that is; when you give it your full attention (yes that means turning off all of your other devices...) you allow yourself to fully appreciate all that the artist has layered and placed into their work. There is a difference between hearing and listening.
For example, a lot of people have heard The Police’s song “Every Breath You Take”. In fact, it’s the world’s most played song on radio. But a lot of people have never really listened to it. Most people think it’s a nice, happy love song about being committed to each other.
But when you listen to the song, you will discover that it is about something much darker, much more sinister. It’s about control, about fear and losing love. It’s a little bit creepy, when you really think about it!
When we don’t listen, we miss the point. We don’t fully comprehend.
This is true for music, but also for so many other aspects of our lives. Who are we not properly hearing in our lives? Whose voice is being drowned out? Do we ever just listen to one singular voice? Do we ever make time for silence?
Are you listening? You might just hear something that will shake you up.
It’s hard work listening to music like that. It’s the same with avant garde classical music, like the concert I went to a few weeks ago by Krzysztof Penderecki. Music like that puts you on edge. You can’t relax into it, like with Bossa Nova or a nice warm waltz. It wrestles with something inside of you.
It’s hard to listen.
So after talking about the boundaries that free jazz challenged, and what we found so hard about it to appreciate, we were asked the question, “what is listening?”
At first I thought it was a silly question. What’s listening? Well, of course it’s... it’s... but I couldn’t think of a coherent, succinct answer that could really sum up what listening means.
Actually, it is one of the most passive, sometimes even involuntary acts that we can do as humans. Don’t wish that you could just turn your ears off sometimes and not have to listen?
But even though it is such an automatic part of our lives, the act of listening is a complex process. It is, in it’s most basic form, turning our attention to the sound waves that are hitting our eardrums. If I listen now, I hear the steady hum of my air conditioning unit, I hear my fingers typing on the keyboard, I hear a muted wave of traffic 20 storeys below me, and occasionally I hear the call of a bird or the beep of a horn.
Listening reminds me of where I am. It places me squarely in my surroundings.
But listening to music can have the total opposite effect. When you really listen to music, you can be transported to other universes: lost in a sea of sound or emotion or memories.
When you actively listen to music, that is; when you give it your full attention (yes that means turning off all of your other devices...) you allow yourself to fully appreciate all that the artist has layered and placed into their work. There is a difference between hearing and listening.
For example, a lot of people have heard The Police’s song “Every Breath You Take”. In fact, it’s the world’s most played song on radio. But a lot of people have never really listened to it. Most people think it’s a nice, happy love song about being committed to each other.
But when you listen to the song, you will discover that it is about something much darker, much more sinister. It’s about control, about fear and losing love. It’s a little bit creepy, when you really think about it!
When we don’t listen, we miss the point. We don’t fully comprehend.
This is true for music, but also for so many other aspects of our lives. Who are we not properly hearing in our lives? Whose voice is being drowned out? Do we ever just listen to one singular voice? Do we ever make time for silence?
Are you listening? You might just hear something that will shake you up.
The Collaborator
Thursday 13 August 2015 LyricsBlog
On the road, as I think I have thought about in previous posts, I knew I would find it hard to write music...
But I truly had no idea, that on a trip which is about music, how little I would actually get to play! Perhaps it would be different if I was a guitar player - I could pull out my guitar wherever we happen to be, with no need for electricity or amplification. But with my electric piano, no matter how much I love it, the number of times that I have been able to get it out just to play, practice, write... well I can count them on one hand...
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Small
Sunday 12 July 2015 LyricsBlog
Standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon, coming to the realisation that I have a small but perhaps wise fear of heights, I was, like all who are privileged to stand in that spot, awed by its grandness.
The first glance of the great crack in the earth’s crust stole a beat from my heart and the air from my lungs.
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The first glance of the great crack in the earth’s crust stole a beat from my heart and the air from my lungs.
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The Words vs The Sounds
Thursday 02 July 2015 LyricsBlog
When I was younger, and I first started out writing songs, I never cared about the lyrics.
I wrote, experimenting with music and songwriting, and filled the lines with school-girl poetry. Not surprisingly, my first songs were almost laughable subject matter. I remember, at the age of 13, writing a song with my best friend that started with the lines:
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Song of the Week
Friday 26 June 2015 LyricsSong of the Week
Please Come Home - Gary Clark Jr.
The next Hendrix? Perhaps...
The solos in this live version of the slow, deep blues are intense journeys... you can’t have the volume loud enough!
But he doesn’t just play like a true master, his voice’s sumptuous vibrato and blissful falsetto rubs like silk against the grit of his raw guitar. And he keeps you hooked right until the last final, soulful, lingering lone tone.
The next Hendrix? Perhaps...
The solos in this live version of the slow, deep blues are intense journeys... you can’t have the volume loud enough!
But he doesn’t just play like a true master, his voice’s sumptuous vibrato and blissful falsetto rubs like silk against the grit of his raw guitar. And he keeps you hooked right until the last final, soulful, lingering lone tone.
Song of the Week
Saturday 13 June 2015 LyricsSong of the Week
Neverending Fountain - S. Carey
Driving through the changing landscapes of this beautiful country, my song of the week this week reflects both the subtlety with which the nature around me is changing, and the layers upon layers of matter that are pouring into me.
Neverending Fountain is rich, layers of sumptuous sounds; strings that are plucked, strummed, teased and shimmering, Carey builds bricks of sound that create a fortress of light.
Driving through the changing landscapes of this beautiful country, my song of the week this week reflects both the subtlety with which the nature around me is changing, and the layers upon layers of matter that are pouring into me.
Neverending Fountain is rich, layers of sumptuous sounds; strings that are plucked, strummed, teased and shimmering, Carey builds bricks of sound that create a fortress of light.
Lyrics - The Pioneers
Friday 29 May 2015 LyricsLyrics
As we have been driving down the East coast of the USA, I have been struck by what it must have been like to be among the explorers who first came across this land. The joy, the fear, the unknowns as they landed on her shores and started to chart out the land, started to build roads, not knowing how far or long or wide this land was. This song is about a young man on the ship.
Light comes to us, it lifts our heads.
We’re awake, we are ready, the waves are calm and steady.
But on this fair morning there’s a difference
Land ahoy, oh what inexplicable joy.
Land ahead, so they’re true - all the legends they said.
No port at which to land, our boots are wet with salty sand, there’s a newness to the pebbles.
Deserted to our eyes, but rich in all between the sea and sky.
And what lies inside?
We made it, we made it here.
There’s far to walk, but the seas are conquered.
Now mount your horse, go forth.
We set our compass, heading West.
How far could it be until we reach the Eastern edge?
I walk where no man has ever walked before.
Breathe the air, how it whispers through my hair,
Breathe it in deep, expectation in my feet.
No road for us to follow, we’re forgers blazing a hopeful trail, long and quiet and strong.
How could this land be here, waiting for us for all these years,
And what lies beneath?
We made it, we made it here.
There’s far to walk, but the seas are conquered,
Now mouth your horse, go forth.
Dare I go, dare I connect my soul with yours?
Dare I land upon the banks of your foreign shores?
For I am ill equipped, afraid, perhaps ashamed that you might not let me through your door,
And I’ll be left here in the wasteland,
But I long to cross your threshold,
Could I ever be so near, so bold?
Light comes to us, it lifts our heads.
We’re awake, we are ready, the waves are calm and steady.
But on this fair morning there’s a difference
Land ahoy, oh what inexplicable joy.
Land ahead, so they’re true - all the legends they said.
No port at which to land, our boots are wet with salty sand, there’s a newness to the pebbles.
Deserted to our eyes, but rich in all between the sea and sky.
And what lies inside?
We made it, we made it here.
There’s far to walk, but the seas are conquered.
Now mount your horse, go forth.
We set our compass, heading West.
How far could it be until we reach the Eastern edge?
I walk where no man has ever walked before.
Breathe the air, how it whispers through my hair,
Breathe it in deep, expectation in my feet.
No road for us to follow, we’re forgers blazing a hopeful trail, long and quiet and strong.
How could this land be here, waiting for us for all these years,
And what lies beneath?
We made it, we made it here.
There’s far to walk, but the seas are conquered,
Now mouth your horse, go forth.
Dare I go, dare I connect my soul with yours?
Dare I land upon the banks of your foreign shores?
For I am ill equipped, afraid, perhaps ashamed that you might not let me through your door,
And I’ll be left here in the wasteland,
But I long to cross your threshold,
Could I ever be so near, so bold?
Lyrics - Make It Right
Friday 01 May 2015 LyricsLyrics
“Make It Right” is the song from the album that I had never played to an audience before! It was a gamble as to whether I should include it on the album since it was so fresh to me and I felt like I was still getting to know it. But now I am so glad that I did.
I wrote the first part of the lyrics for this in January 2014 when we were in the mountains in Poland and were walking by the light of the moon, along the crest of a mountain between Poland and the Czech Republic. I had never known the moon to be so bright; it created the perfect light for our midnight walk and set the scene for a song that I would write months later. This song is about a couple who are fighting to save their relationship...
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I wrote the first part of the lyrics for this in January 2014 when we were in the mountains in Poland and were walking by the light of the moon, along the crest of a mountain between Poland and the Czech Republic. I had never known the moon to be so bright; it created the perfect light for our midnight walk and set the scene for a song that I would write months later. This song is about a couple who are fighting to save their relationship...
Read More...
Open Mic, Open Heart
Wednesday 22 April 2015
So I’m here: in the place where men and women from across the globe come to try and make their dreams a reality.
New York City. In some ways it feels cliché, trying to get started with music in the Big Apple. In some ways it feels like searching for a needle in a haystack... except that I’m the needle... and I don’t know who is doing the searching...