Songbooks

Songs & pieces of music that have made me cry

2011-08-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

Many of these songs below are piano songs (not all) - just piano, and powerful, direct, clear vocals that are deeply moving. I play piano myself so maybe that's why piano gets me. Minor keys make us feel sad – oddly sad songs make us feel better because we know we are not alone.

Let It Be – written and sung by Paul McCartney (one of the best songs ever written, simple yet so emotional, about his mother who died when he was 13)

A Heart Needs Home - written and sung by Richard Thompson

This Cruel Country – written and sung by Richard Thompson (most moving lyrics)

Who Knows Where the Time Goes – written by Sandy Denny and sung by Fairport Convention

Persuasion - written and sung by Richard Thompson

Blue - written and sung by Joni Mitchell

River – written and sung by Joni Mitchell (can't praise Joni enough she's my musical hero)

Both Sides Now – written and sung by Joni Mitchell (my favourite all time song)

Always on My Mind – old song sung by Willie Nelson ( amazing emotions)

Clarinet Concerto In A, K 622 – Mozart (whenever I feel down the best therapy)

Nocturne In E Minor, Op.72, 1 – Chopin

Sonata Pathetique - Beethoven

Visions of Johanna – written sung by Bob Dylan ( immersing love song)

Bridge Over Troubled Water – written and sung by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkle

Tears in Heaven – written and sung by Eric Clapton (about his young son who fell to his death)

No More Words - written and sung by David Sneddon ( the most heartbreaking melody and words – 'when you are drawn up to the sun let your fears fade away')

One Old Soul – written and sung by David Sneddon (simply piano and moving vocals)

Fix You – Coldplay (wonderful mood the way it builds momentum)

Sometimes You Can't Make it on your own – written and sung by Bono and U2 (about Bono's father)

Probably more…..!!

Past Art – add yourself to the tradition

2010-11-23T17:48:00.000-08:00

Newness as such in art, is never a value.'' The past is pervasive it seeps into everything; it is the very air that artists and their public breath'
'the truly radical work of art is the one that offers you something to hold onto in the midst of the flux of possibility.' 'It was only then that I realised how deep the roots of euphemisms and evasion were sunk in modern life.'

I visited Florence a few years back and was struck by its surreal beauty. The flowing low light that cast long shadows over the arched bridges across the Arno river and the city's narrow cobbled streets that were full of past art and stories. Florence was once the capital of Italy and for hundreds of years the Medici family ruled the city. As Art lovers they encouraged the building of the famous Duomo cathedral with it's high rounded dome and some of their Art collection can be seen in the Uffizi Galleries. Very spookily in the old round turret gallery there hung a painting of a young girl who looked exactly like my daughter.

We took the city tour which takes you south to the city's tree-lined streets and the historic panoramic views of it's skyline. Many artists arrived here looking for inspiration and few cities hold so many ancient secrets, where the voices of the past seem to grip your attention. There is the enormous white Michelangelo statue, the David, the symbol of the city's hope for the future. In one Art gallery there were some of the oldest paintings I've ever seen – 'Byzantine' art with stylised golden images of Christ - ancient yet telling of a simpler time.

I read about BBC reporter Robert Hughes who visited Florence in 1966 when it suffered a devastating flood as the Arno river had engulfed the city and had reached heights of over 6m.

When he arrived everything was pitch black and no one was about and very oddly a pile of naked mannequins had been washed in front of the Cathedrals doors in the Piazza del Duomo. The film he took was limited but it encouraged students to come and help with the clean-up. The people of Florence called these mud angels - the 'angeli del fungo'. As Hugh stood and watched pieces of priceless art float by in the deep muds he saw the value of Art's past slip quietly by.

Robert returned later to Italy and he experienced two life changing experiences there. The first was a visit to the small town of Colmar, where he saw an gripping piece of art - the 'Isentheen Altarpiece'- commissioned in 1522 by the Antonian monks who ran the hospital and were treating a new disease called 'syphilis'. In this frightening painting the terrors of the disease are shown on Christ's body, which is mutilated by wounds and vile sores. Robert could never imagine in his native Australia such a painting (where art never speaks of real pain) and where would art like this hang in today's clinical world.

The second thing he discovered was that he was never again able to view old art as repressive or that new art had to shake it off. Of course culture changes, but the idea in the 60s that it reinvents itself, as if shedding a new skin, is a gross over misrepresentation. 'The past is pervasive it seeps into everything; it is the very air that artists and their public breath'

Great producers

2010-07-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

I’d love to work in music – if I did I’d be a producer. Not the techie guy, but to know what sounds right, to hear what works and what doesn’t work. Great producers can make or break an artist. I lived in the US ten years and there are many country music radio stations there, and it is very popular with many big name artists such as Lorretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and more. We drove through Nashville one time with some American friends and it is full of those tiny small dark wooden bars.. I used to feel though that the country songs were over-processed with far too many fiddly-guitars and overblown-strings which only distracted from the songs themselves and from the voice. After all it is the voice that is the main thing in the country songs.

Along came Rick Rubin and he stripped Johnny Cash for his later albums (and later Neil Diamond too) - so that his large booming voice held centre stage. Rubin wanted Cash's voice to sing off the notes. Rubin is one of the worlds top producers and views himself as the editor or coach. He doesn’t spend months in the studio and he simply leaves notes on the work. ‘Great songs need little enhancing.’ says Rubin. He is also co-Chairman Columbia Records.

Rubin's Zen approach has led to some career best work and records that sound like they were made by ‘flesh and blood human beings.’ ‘I think the fact that I’m coming at it from this pure place… it’s not a commercial goal, it’s in the service of the artist.’ ‘If you’re always aiming at commercial success you miss some of the good ones. Ninety percent of my success has been with things I didn’t know would be successful.’

He works to bring out the character of the artist. Rubin noted that Cash was ‘soulful, deep serious, very charismatic.’ Rubin instructed Cash to come sit in his living room with a guitar and two microphones and to just sing. ‘My fondest memories are hanging out and hearing his stories, If you drew him out he seemed to know everything. He was shy and quiet, but a wise, wise man.'

I heard Keith Richards talk about recording in the 60s, 'These technicians in blue coats would tell the Stones that recorded music must be recorded in a certain way. He said, no – we don’t want no rules.’ They had been listening to the black blues singers whose music is about challenging improvising dynamic rhythms, and more about the moods and heart - than about rules.

Some other Great Labels. Another great producer was Sam Phillips at 'Sun Records' (Elvis), and John Hammond who discovered Bob Dylan before he had even started to write. 'Rounder Records' who signed Allison Krauss when she was fairly young, and who produce music they love in the first instance. Rounder is one of the biggest American independent record labels. Scottish band Biffy Clyro noted, 'Record Labels? I think we do still need them - there still needs to be an element of quality control.There are still certain labels you can trust - XL, 4AD, Sub Pop. You can trust music on those labels to be good.'

The Vocal: With the folk song the vocal should sit centre stage with space around it and with the backing surrounding it in a subtle way. For me the vocals needs minimal backing that compliments rather than overpowers. I prefer when the voice soars freely. The vocal is the key element and it is what we latch on to in the song, as compared to say an orchestral piece, or brass band where we latch on to the flutes or violins. On the recorded song I want to hear the vocal flying in free space, with the bass or rhythm supporting in a subtle complementing way similar to the faded or out-of-focus backdrop to a portrait painting where the subject (or voice) is the strongly defined focus. I don't want a melodic song, where the focus is the words, voice and tune to be lost by the thumping bass or crashing drums - that then becomes like a war painting where there are thousands of figures and they are all in strong highlights colours competing with one and other. This makes me think of Mozart's Sonatas - they are in 3 sections normally - Intro; softer; louder and finish. There is usually a thread or melody running through the entire work with the bass rhythms providing a quiet backing - except of course when Mozart takes us crashing up from those moving depths of his!

Quote Rubins - 'Take off your marketing hat and include the songs that you are passionate about. '

Music, Art and Words: MUSIC NOTES

2010-05-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

I Music Colours and Imagery

For me music, art and words go hand in hand. Whether

Music inspires my art and words

OR words and art inspire music.

I notice at my recent gigs that the stage lighting has changed considerably, and also that artistic efforts are put in to match the stage effects to the music. This was very noticeable at the recent Mumford and Fanfarlo gig here. For Mumford there was a rich historic and red atmosphere - while for Fanfarlo subtle pink and blue pastel colours. Giving a strong contrast between the two. It gives the whole experience more focus and atmosphere - are gigs turning into theatre too.

*Imagery and Music – Sound and Colours

Images ( colours, forms, materials, juxtapositions, contrast etc. – Sounds ( tones, melodies, rhythms, orchestral colours, harmonies and counterpoints) function the same way in different media.

Older classical music often had no separate section of rhythm/drums, but rather played rhythm within the melody using strings and wind instruments. This created a spherical or spiritual mood – quite contrary to African drums, which have a really strong body. The darker and rounder the bass notes, the more reality and physical power the music gets. The higher, brighter and lighter the sounds are, both in rhythm and the music in general, the more spherical and spiritual it becomes.

Basically natural instruments have more presence in tone body than electronic ones. They sound nearer to the spectator/listener and more personal. Electronic voices do have more space; how wide and cosmic they seem varies with panorama and stereo effects. Using these aspects, you can again define space with sound.

If classical music contains a human voice, it gets more body again, even if there are no drums.

Colour and sound follow the same laws - while the vibration of colour is faster than the vibration of sound. An Austrian writer in the 70s recorded birds and played their calls at different speeds. She found out that the music of many classical composers can be assigned to different kinds of birds.

…dreamlike in their manipulation of light and shadow…

II Photographer extraordinary - Please check out my good friend and inspiring photographic artist Douglas McBride on his blog - http://www.douglasmcbride.blogspot.com/ He draws inspiration from the wild, sparse and deep countryside around Killin where the snow topped mountains loom large and many sheep roam freely! But more than this too from poetry and the past - and his images tell imaginative stories. He is well known in Scotland also for his theatre work.

Voice of a Generation

2009-09-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

The late 60s, early 70s were a time of great changes, volatile and tumultuous, of Woodstock, Dylan the Beatles, hippy power, flower power…with hopes for a better future. After the war, a new generation flexed their muscles and wanted a new voice. With the introduction of recorded music it was now possible for anyone to have a voice, and many did. In 1960 four young African-Americans held a sit-in movement at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Within weeks the movement spread to Nashville and other cities, and the SNCC was born committed to change through non-violent direct action. They had little media support but they redrew the boundaries, and showed the power of mass action.
'Everything that happened subsequently in America in the sixties emanates from their movement. Dylan, the folk revival and the youth culture in general were all transformed by it's emergence.' Wicked Messenger, M. Marqusee
And the song became tied in with this movement too. Before that songs were little more than accompaniments, but now the song became a clear and vivid expression of the voices of change. Songs such as 'We Shall not be moved' and 'We Shall Overcome' (originally Tindley's ' I Shall Overcome'). Dylan is one of the first song writers, drawing on Folk music traditions, with songs like 'the answers are blowing in the wind' and 'Masters of War'. Did the new political movements use the popular young folk singers, or did the singers use the politics of the time to publicise their music? Dylan saw the song more as a ' challenge' than an expression of protest. 'Too many of these hip people are telling me where the answer is, but oh, I don't believe that. I still say it's in the wind and just like a restless piece of paper, it's got to come down some time....But the only trouble is that no one picks up the answer when it comes down, so not too many people get to see and know it..... and then it flies away again..... I still say that some of the biggest criminals are those who turn their heads away when they see wrong and know it's wrong.' notes on Broadside 1962
Then came the rock bands – drawing from the black blues, challenging the accepted norms and where any rules go - while making it their own and voicing new attitudes, ideas and rebelling against the accepted. During a war its necessary that feelings are repressed and rules are rigid, but suddenly there was a feeling that perhaps war is not the answer.
Times they are a changin'
In the 60s the beatniks in Greenwich Village NY latched on to this revolutionary thinking about how things might be different. They were glad to think differently to the government and the establishment. In a society that values consumerism and shopping above those things inside us we loose sight of who we are and what's important in life. It becomes all about the gloss and shine on the outside. The beatniks didn't care what they wore, how long their hair was or how much money they had. They cared about being real and authentic, culture, art, beauty and being free to express yourself.
Dylan got caught up in this movement. But you could live in Greenwich village then if you were a poor busker, except he did crash at many peoples houses and lived at venues where he sang. 'Dylan belonged to a different school. He was never the kind of folksinger who sought to disappear from the song and present it as an artefact. His approach, from the beginning, was with the blues singers for whom adding yourself to the tradition was what the tradition was all about.' Wicked Messenger, Musqusee. Dylan's understanding of authenticity was enhanced by Robert Johnson's collection of recordings 'King of the Delta Blues Singers' John Hammond stumbled upon Johnson's recordings in the Columbia storeroom and was startled by their power, and he introduced Dylan to this album. ' Johnson's words made me quiver big-ass truths wrapped in the hard shell of nonsensical abstraction' - an anguished complexity.

The Noughties
From Iceland comes a very indie band Sigor Ros, who make up their own language, and perform with so much upbeat energy that they make you feel like youve just won the World Cup kind of euphoria. With a striking video about old people recapturing that love of life that sense lifes worth living.
Now 2009 we have a fragmented media with so many channels and online news etc. Where is there for the free thinkers, the bohemians that they can afford to be!.... Glasgow? Can young people rebel against parents who rebelled themsleves against puritan rigid ideals! The Artic Monkeys write directly as young kids and about their everyday experiences. Franz Ferdinand do dance rock for girls to dance to, and Coldplay a fairly relaxed coffee shop sound. But what are the new sounds really telling me?
QUOTE: ".. These are fragile times. Fragile times call for eccentric music. Music that makes you understand yourself. Music that makes you understand other people. Music that rips skulls out of skulls. My friends, it's party time. Music that is "about stuff" is lame. What the world needs now is music that has no message other than "Just be your eccentric self and freak out if you want to. It's cool. We won't judge you."
Music today has no specific agenda. In the 60s, the Black Civil Rights movement struggled against overwhelming obstacles, for equal rights. This struggle informed and inspired Dylans work. Todays world appears in chaos with an overwhelming array of choices and the developing world fighting each other for oil supplies. Bush has played right into their hands, rather than closing down the hatches and working towards renewable energy. There are many possibilities and many problems. We live in interesting times I hope, were joy springs from odd places and despair hits us at every turn.

John Peel - extract Mojo 22/2/05

2009-09-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

Now aside from the fact that Peel was irreplaceable, it would have been impossible to listen to more music than he did. Other guests at his Peel Acres retreat report that Peelie would vanish on a Saturday into his room where he’d spend all day trawling through sacks of post.

During the week,…you’d find him at his desk at Radio 1, headphones on, ripping open mailers with the appetite of a young boy on Christmas day. If he wasn’t there, you’d probably bump into him in a record shop acquiring even more music. His appetite was as voracious as ever.

And that’s what came through on his radio shows. In an industry which more than ever, is overrun with record promotions men and labels desperate for airtime, one of Peels biggest accolades was that he was ‘unpluggable’. It’s not as if he liked unknown or obscure bands just because they were unknown or obscure (although djs are a little elitist at times) John wanted to give everyone a chance, whether your record turned up by courier or wrapped in bog paper. In fact. He’d undoubtedly open the one in bog paper first. One of the many thousands of e-mails that arrived at Radio 1 in the wake of his death, described him as ‘the people’s A&R man’ I think that’s why we trusted him. He was incredibly conscientious, but had an instinctive feel for music that money couldn’t buy. We genuinely will never see the like of him again.

The Roots of Music

2009-08-10T17:04:00.000-07:00

On Saturday my 18 year old ( and his best mate) looked very smart in suits and ties – my son in a dark jacket and white shirt, his hair all nicely gelled. Where were they off to – a Bach recital at the City Halls. The shiny grand piano had been transported up specially.

I am pleased that they appreciate and enjoy all the diversities of music. While I encouraged my son with years of music lessons, he has gone way ahead of my studies and he tells me everyone who knows music studies Bach - as he laid the foundations of music. Which made me think of Procol Harem's huge hit in the 60s 'Whiter Shade of Pale' – the piano mirrors Bach so exactly.

The music I enjoy best is not that which draws on the only the past decade, but music that is timeless and draws on the history of past masters - from the genius of Cole Porter, the Beatles, Chopin, and yes Ah Bach. My musical heroes knew this – Joni drew from Debussy, Richard Thompson from jazz and Celtic roots. Dylan from the folk masters – and also from Art , theatre and from famous blues singer Robert Johnson.

Dylan felt while rock was full of catchy rhythms, it was the folk songs that had depth and permanence and something new to tell him that resonated. In a world of constant change we had reminders of permanence. Dylan didn't simply emulate the traditional tunes, he wanted to be inspired by them and to add something of himself. As with the Art he admired, he wanted to paint vivid, moving and meaningful music.

As a home needs strong foundations so the artistic voice that wants to soar with something unique and meaningful needs to grow from strong roots.

I was struck by Dylan's story of the powerful image of Johnson when I read his wonderful autobiography 'Chronicles' – and the way one artist can inspire another.'I stared at the illustration of Johnson.. Whoever the singer was in the picture, he already had me possessed….. The painter with the eye stares down from the ceiling into the room and sees this fiercely intense singer and guitar player, looks no more than medium height but with shoulders like an acrobat. What an electrifying cover.' Johnson is serious, like The scorched earth. I wanted to be like that too.'

My son has a new band called Viking Galaxy with some local best mates. I haven't seen him this excited about his music for nearly a year. It is wonderful to see. He comes home occasionally to get new clothes! Firstly they are best mates, secondly they are on the same music wavelength – and mostly having fun with it. I enjoy my Music Photography and I hope it expresses and captures magic moments and the essence of the artist.

One of my favourite piano pieces is a very simple cascading Bach movement and this was the piece played at the start of the City Halls concert. The handcrafted piano had been shipped from Italy, its touch soothingly sensitive as this concerto is played very quietly (piano). Before the pianoforte, the harpsichord offered only one volume. The piano could not be used with an orchestra for composers such as Rachmaninov with it's being too quiet, and therefore it is only suitable for music as stately as Bach. Some of the most memorable songs were written on piano – Imagine, Let it Be, Candle in the Wind, more.

The Songwriter

2009-07-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

The songwriter –
Creating songs, being a songwriting is the life blood of the music industry – it’s creative core. An honorable profession, perhaps not easily taught. Not simply about the technical, but about ideas, art and poetry in words and music. Perhaps a riff will develop a mood – or a bass line – or melody.
A songwriter someone who writes the lyrics as well the musical composition or melody to songs. Songwriters may perform the songs they write themselves, or they may write for somebody else to perform. People who sing their own songs are nowadays typically called singer songwriters also serve as their own music publishers, while others have outside publishers. Songs in pop music are often written by staff writers; songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Songwriting and publishing royalties can be a substantial source of income, particularly if a song becomes a hit record.
McCartney talked about writing with Lennon on the radio and more –“Songwriting is my hobby. I might strum the guitar see where I go with it, follow the road. I don’t like it to be work.. melody, words, middle eight, get to the end all in one go. We’d have ideas, bounce off each other. Write a song in 2 or 3 hours – John on one side of the piano me on the other – or twin beds and 2 guitars in the hotel room. Back then we’d be given a whole week off to write new songs, and we thought that was great. Nearly all our songs start with a line from books or newspapers.”

To write poems and travel to sing them is to return to the tradition of the ‘troubadour minstrels of the middle ages.’

Great Art - a great photograph/song/ poem/ should – ‘delight the eye/ear and kindle the imagination’.
I read about new artists who’ve been songwriters since they were six. Nothing wrong with starting young but not sure what they have to tell me at such a young age?! The hard part about being an artist is having something new to say and that takes years and years.

What is The Song?

Song have keys, harmonies, rhythms, scales and structure. Many popular song follow a clear format - verse/ chorus/ bridge ( builds with a new harmonic pattern/ connection, or pre-chorus). Chorus often contrasts melodically. Songs have chord progressions/ changes called cadences - they can follow familiar or unfamiliar patterns and developments. . Harmony adds depth and emotional dimensions.

‘The Folk Ballads’ were passed on orally and often expressed national or cultural identities. They were stories that were passed down the generations through singing .

In the 17^th century the poem and song fell away from each other and by the end the century most poems were to be printed and read silently. Sir Walter Scott was a pioneer collector of folk ballads. Francis Child (1880) collected over 300 authentic ballads and many are still sung today.

DYLAN interview

2009-06-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

I thought to include a Dylan blog – I could nearly do an entire site on him! It’s wonderful to be alive in the time of such a genius poet and artist.

He wrote about riding boxcars, and fishing boats outside of Delacroix – I’m sure loads made up – yet it was real in the sense that moving to New York was a huge huge deal for a young guy from the great cultural wildness of the northwest. In many senses this is the real Dylan the one forever on the road artistically and in reality too - and not wanting to be pinned down. He also rode them becasue Woodie Guthrie had.

Yet he was also saying in the interview the wonderful things about the northwest – Hibbing or Deluth. ‘You’ll never see another town like Deluth. It’s not a tourist attraction, but it probably should be. There are only two seasons: damp and cold. I like the way the hills tumble to the waterfront and the way the wind blows around the grain elevators. The train yards go on forever too, It’s old-age industrial, that’s what it is. You’ll see it from the top of the hill for miles and miles before you get there. You wont’ believe your eyes. I’ll give you a medal if you get out alive.'

Quote Dylan – ‘Later on I started reading over and over again Plutarch and his Roman Lives. And the writers Cicero, Tacitus and Marcus Aurelius; I like the morality thing… In Roman thought, morality is broken down into basically four things: wisdom, justice, moderation and courage.’

‘The air is so pure there,’ he says. ‘And the brooks and rivers are still running. The forests are thick, and the landscape is brutal. And the sky is still blue up there. It is pretty untarnished, It’s still of the beaten path. But I hardly ever go back.’

Apparently Dylan walked off the Ed Sullivan show – as they wanted him to do a Clancy Brothers cover. While he’d rehearsed ‘Talkin John Birch Paranoid Blues’.

‘Dylan belongs to no city or state. There is Dylan the family man who spends time in California with his children and grandchildren in Malibu. Sometimes Dylan lingers in the Bay Area for weeks at a time, sketching fishmongers and longshoremen. As a New York Yankees fan, he can be found sitting behind first base in the Bronx on random autumnal nights. But it’s Minnesota’s north country, which seems to always lie just over the frozen brow of a long-remembered field, where the road still reaches into the void on below-zero blue winter days, that remains Dylan’s touchstone place. That’s the American landscape that has influenced him most. ‘ © Douglas Brinkley Rolling Stone 2009.

Singers Voices

2009-05-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

‘Great art is about character.’

When a person sings, their body, their mouth, their eyes, their words, their voice says all these unspeakable things that you really can’t explain. People are completely transformed when they sing.’ Buckley

Listen to some of the greatest recorded singers – singers that use the magnetism, the tones, and the soft and harder edged subtleties of voice...Billie Holliday, Sinatra, Otis Redding, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Dylan, Buckley, Lennon – and one thing is clear, great art is about character.

I grew up with music and started piano when I was 7. I was fortunate to have an inspiring and artistic teacher. He taught me to listen and good technique and gave me musicals to play so I could sing with my piano playing – Rogers and Hammerstein, Gilbert and Sullivan, Scottish and Irish songs. My dad sang, and music was the most positive thing in my life, apart from art when I started to draw all the time.

I’ve been a music fan for years and not many voices catch my attention. I enjoy an excellent voice simply backed with either guitar or piano, and the way the two can interweave. Producer Rick Rubin stripped away all the unnecessary extras when he recorded Cash’s later albums to make his voice centre stage.
‘In the live performance the voice and guitar were always heavily entwined, reciprocal, responding - to create a rich, full textured sound’ (Grace by D Brooks)

The voice is one of the best instruments when used well, while beautiful songs matter too….
Mostly I love the voices of singer songwriters and the passion and edge in singers like Otis Redding or Dylan. It is not simply about perfect technique of voice. Some use inspired phrasing and subtle tones and interpretations of the song. A hypnotic voice means you can be lost in the moment. Some voices simply grab our attention with a magnetism of voice – check out Irish singer Cara Dillon, soul singer Otis Redding and gentle moving tenor of David Sneddon. They make it all seem effortless yet full of passions, moving edge and depth.

QUOTES Jeff Buckley -
‘Music comes from a primal place…

I’ve always felt that the quality of the voice is where the real content of a song lies. Words only suggest an experience, but the voice is that experience.’

Poetry and Song

2009-05-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

..a song is like a piece of stardust, we hold gently in the palm of our hand before blowing it to the wind….

‘It maintains a connection with the lyrical beat at the heart of the tribe.’ AA Gill. I asked an editor what poetry was. She said, ‘It’s that which can’t be edited.’

At times of celebration, or of great sadness, it is poetry that connects us all – enables reflection, sorrow, joy or hopes. ‘Poems reflect up our shared past, let us know who we were and where we came from, and they still do.’

My father could recite Shakespeare ( Hamlet, Merchant of Venice) or Gilbert and Sullivan ( Pirates of Penzance, Mikado) Gilberts lyrics are so memorable, full of alliteration and fun by comparison to the dramatic depth of Shakespeare. These poems seemed to bring him pleasure in the remembering of them, along with the poetry of songs. In my twenties I first heard Richard Thompson and was struck with his drawing of characters in words. More recently I can't hear enough of one of our greatest living poets Bob Dylan and I never tire of his words - they move from anger to questioning to joy of the human spirit. When my grandfather died, I was around 8 and I wrote my first poem that I recall, and I can still remember it.

Poets often put their words to music, and this is what this blog is about. Why is the song so powerful? There are songs that when I hear them take me time travelling through space and time and I’m back dancing to Massachusetts by the BeeGees with my first love, in a circle dancing in long skirts to American Pie or at my best friends house listening to the Beatles. More than narrative or a Van Gogh painting – music and songs trigger all our senses so powerfully. Perhaps there is a scientific explanation… I simply know that it is. We have had a rich periods of poets; Auden, Graves, Masefield, Larkin, Thomas, Day-Lewis, Spender, Betjeman, Heaney, Hughes, Logue, Adrian Mitchell. Who’ve written about our hopes, dreams, and fears.

LYRICS by Bob Dylan

Forever Young – Bob Dylan

May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

Chorale Music

2009-05-10T09:23:00.000-07:00

Music brings us closest to our spirituality. A conductor was asked, ‘Do you believe in God? ‘Only when I’m performing Bach.’ he replied. How does music impact on our sense…music goes beyond words. Examples – Handles’ Messiah; Mozart’s Sonata in C; Beethoven’s Sonata Pathetique; Bach’s Preludes for piano.

Oliver Sachs studied the relationship between music and the brain – why do harmonic progression or melodic contours leave us choked with emotion? Or make us believe in the power of love and that love can transcend all hatred, through musical methods and expressive devices and confront our questions about existence.

Religion and Music - I’m not religious in the traditional sense. Yet with live music….

Chorale Music
Many classical composers brought spiritual insights.
Handel took arias from Italian operas, choruses from English restoration anthems. Italian Palestrina’ choral harmonies move with heavenly assurances from one magisterial cadence to another with ethereal beauty – both mystical and affirmative.

QUOTE: Looking for lost souls
Peter Phillips : Director of Music at Merton College Oxford.
‘From the light eternal that will shine on us after death, to the day of wrath when the earth will dissolve into ashes, to the trumpet that will raise the dead from their tombs, to being led into Paradise by angels.’

Joyful music is harder and I’ve heard many composers say this. Palestrina and Bach had unusual depths and wrote movingly of the joy – but many simply sound like they are written for a party political broadcast. It is easier for composers to write of the tragedies.

The Passion Story of Christ’s suffering and rising again from the dead covers the full range of emotions from tragedy to joy; from the dramatic to contemplation and joyfulness. We need the dark to enjoy the light.

(There is a BBC series, the birth of British Music, which explores the earliest best know composers here - last week Purcell and this week Handel. They mostly learnt about music and composed in the church, and later for royalty. Handel, who came over from Germany when we had the new German King George I, brought the sophistication of Italian opera to the UK. (check BBC 2 Saturday 20.20)

My new ‘Songbook Blog’

2009-03-15T19:08:00.001-07:00

I started my blog here with poetry. For me poetry and words are the essence, that indefinable thing; the concepts and themes behind the art. Yet I know for many musicians it’s the music and the riff that comes to them firstly.

I’ve played, listened to and written about music many years – ever since loving Joni Mitchell, Mozart and the Beatles in my teens. Later Richard Thompson, John Martyn, and more recently Dylan. Mind you people said Mozart played too many notes; Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone got poor reviews… Richard refused to play the media game… as he says… too much business and not enough music…

For many years, sadly, the music I heard on the radio (unless late at night) left me brain dead. Then I went online, found iTunes, myspace, youtube and rediscovered my passion of 'good, real' music were I could actually hear the instruments, the voices and the song again. So thanks mr computer!

My new ‘Songbook Blog’

I’ve thought about doing a music site the past years, so here it is. I hope to include a few of my Images, interesting Music items I’ve found; Reviews of gig/ festivals; basically anything music related that has caught my attention over the past years. My main focus is the song, the Glasgow music scene, Scottish festivals, plus some London gigs.

Music photography means for me that I combine my love of music, art and words. Please check back – post me a comment, send an email…..best Pauline x

'Poetry'

2009-03-14T22:43:00.000-07:00

'Poetry'

Ballads are traditionally a song that tells a story. The ballad was originally an oral verse form that were sung or recited and transmitted from performer to performer without being written down. Ballads are characteristically compressed, dramatic, and objective in their narrative style. There are many variations to The ballad form, most consisting of quatrains (made up of lines of three or four metrical feet) in a simple rhyme scheme.

Ballad stanza

The most common pattern of ballad makers consists of four lines rhymed abcb, in which the first and third lines have four metrical feet and the second and fourth lines have three feet(4,3,4,3).

Broadside ballads - Poems printed on a single sheet of paper, often set to traditional tunes. Most broadside ballads (which originated in the sixteenth century) were an early form of verse journalism, cheap to print, and widely circulated, often they were humorous or pathetic accounts of sensational news event.

Satiric poetry - Poetry that blends criticism with humour to convey a message. Satire characteristically uses irony to make its point and usually, its tone is one of detached amusement, withering contempt and implied superiority. * /Rhythm - The pattern of stresses and pauses in a poem - a fixed and recurring rhythm in a poem is called a meter.

Tone - The attitude towards a subject conveyed in a literary work. No single stylist device creates tone; it is the net result of the various elements an author brings to creating the works, feeling and manner. Tone may be playful, sarcastic, ironic, sad, solemn, or any other possible attitude. A writer’s tone plays an important role in establishing the reader’s relationship to the characters or ideas presented in a literary work.

Poetic Magic - The act of composition occurs in a sort of trance, distinguishable from dream only because the critical faculties are not dormant, but on the contrary, are more acute than normal.

'Poets compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not the sequence of the metronome.' E Pounds

'a deep seated belief in miracle poem is something that penetrates for an instant in o the unconscious.' R Bly 'reduced to its simplest and most essential form the poem is a song. Song is neither discourse nor explanation.' O Paz

'Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings' Wordsworth

'musical thought' T Carlye

'a way of remembering tat it would impoverish us to forget' G Hopkins

' the clear expression of mixed feeling' W Auden

'hundreds of things coming together at the right moment' E Bishop

Yeats on Writing -

'The poet of essences and pure ideas must seek in the half-lights that glimmer form symbol to symbol as if to the ends of the earth, all that the epic and dramatic poet finds of mystery and shadow in the accidental circumstances of life.Anyone who has any experiences of any mystic state of the soul knows how there float up in the mind profound symbols. Our little memories are but a part of some great Memory that renews the world and men’s thoughts age after age and that our thoughts are not as we suppose, the deep, but a little foam upon the deep.’