150 CDS AND 150 DIGITAL DOWNLOADS

hey my little cherry pies---

I realized I never told you- in my post about the mechanical licenses- how many CDs and Digital downloads I ordered mechanical licenses FOR.

This blog budget for $1000 allows for 150 CDs to be reproduced with a beautiful 6 panel book in color designed by the brilliant Robbie Rozelle. This means that I can afford mechanical licenses for 150 CDs to be made and 150 digital files to be downloaded.

So that's how it breaks down my darlin's.

150 CDs.

150 digital downloads.

that's all this budget can take along with the other expenses.

*Honestly, I would have been thrilled to just get 25 CDs made and give them out as Christmas Presents. I never dreamed I'd actually NEED 150 CDs just to fulfill my pre-orders but...

life sometimes is kinda fucking wicked awesome like that.

whee!

Now I could have afforded more CDs if I'd gone with cheaper packaging-

less panels, black and white instead of color, etc-

but Robbie did such beautiful work it would be an absolute shame to not allow it to be enjoyed to the fullest.

So as a result-

for the extra panels and color-

i had to go with less actual CDs.

the price you pay for quality art, dolls.

and gladly.

more soon---

xo

dl

*full disclosure: I have used most of the Donation PR fund to order more than 150 actual CDs (which of course jacks up the prices of.....everything, basically). But I also really wanted to show that indeed, it was possible to do all of this for $1000, hence my 'Blog Budget'. The extra CDs are for 'promotional purpose' (to send for free to critics, radio stations, etc)- so it fits within the guidelines of PR.

MECHANICAL LICENSES- DONE AND DONE!

Today was mechanical license day, my petit chou chous.

And, yes- it was about as interesting and artistically satisfying as it sounds.

But.

It needs to be done.

People need to be credited and paid for their work so, momma spent the day working the VISA over at the Harry Fox website and writing personal checks for the rest.

The deal at Harry Fox is pretty self-explanatory.

You register, sign in, and find the songs you want to license.

You fill out the forms, pay,  they send you a receipt and then later the actual licenses are put into your HARRY FOX account.

The only drag again, with HARRY FOX is if you want to pay for CDs and digital downloads, you have to go through the whole process twice, and pay an additional $15 for each one (both CD and digital per song). While dealing with the Harry Fox site is on the one hand, very civilized and easy...on the other hand that $15 per license is an obvious racket and totally stinks. For 5 licenses, times two (for CD and digital) I was out an extra $150 just in 'Harry Fox Processing Fees'. On a $1000 budget that really puts my balls in a vice.

But....

what can ya do.

For the songs I needed licenses for that weren't at Harry Fox, I got in touch with all the composers personally the past few days, settled up the amount due, got their addresses, etc and mocked up my own Mechanical License just so I've got some sort of receipt.

FYI-

my personal Mechanical License looks like this:

PARTING GLASS PRODUCTIONS

dlc@donnalynnechamplin.com

MECHANICAL LICENSE AGREEMENT

LICENSE INFORMATION:

License request date:

Song title:

Artist:

Album Title:

Label Name:

Song play-time (length of track):    ____minutes and ___seconds

Number of recordings in this pressing:

Release Date:

Configuration (CD, DVD, Digital, etc)

LICENSEE CONTACT INFORMATION:

Contact Name:

Contact Address:

Contact Phone number:

Fax Number:

Email address:

COMPOSER CONTACT INFORMATION:

Composer’s Name:

Composer’s Manager, agent, lawyer, ect:

Contact Phone Number:

Fax Number:

Email Address:

 

AMOUNT DUE: ___$_________________

AGREE AND ACCEPTED:

By: _____________  By: ______________

                      Date                   Licensee                 Date

 *******************************************

I then enclosed two copies of this mechanical license all filled out and signed, with a check for the proper amount, and a self addressed stamped envelope so they could sign both copies and then send one back to me for my records.

And that's pretty much it babies.

I'm sending out the personal check/non Harry Fox stuff out tomorrow and then...with the exception of one composer who's in the middle of changing representation, I will be officially paid up license-wise. As soon as the remaining composer gets me information of her new representation, I'll send her stuff out and be 100% done with all that.

Actually, while book keeping for me is by far the least 'fun' part of this whole thing- there is a certain satisfaction in knowing that all the composers and lyricists have been properly compensated for their awesome music. 

Ok darlins'

Will get back to a nice musical post next. But...figured I needed to give you a nuts n' bolts update as well- since the nuts n' bolts is really the stuff that us artists kinda know nothing about and should.

More soon!!!

xoxo

dl

 

THE CIVIL WAR SONG

So.

The main reason I chose this song is because I love civil war songs. 

Love them. 

They're so pure, and unfussy and innocent.

They're a really great 'sorbet' for your ear when you're just cracked out on too much contemporary musical theatre, etc.

I fell in love and really gained an appreciation for Civil War tunes when I did a musical years ago called Reunion. Not only was it my first experience really diving into this genre and it was also my very first (of many) experiences at the glorious GOODSPEED OPERA HOUSE and with the brilliant resident musical director, Michael O'Flaherty.

Michael, to this day is hands down-

one of my favorite musical directors of all time. Not only does he have impeccable musical taste, but the way he encourages sometimes firmly, sometimes gently an entire company to get on board is really akin to a religious experience.

The bonus to doing Reunion with Michael was not only getting chance to sing some absolutely glorious music, but to also sing the shit kicking arrangements done by Michael himself. 

Now, the thing about Civil War music is that every Civil War song is pretty much the same chord pattern over and over. Just like every negro spiritual is based on the pentatonic scale (all the black keys on the piano), Civil War music has a similarly distinct pattern. Ergo, most Civil War songs sound exactly the same when played straight.

The kicker is...that this score had almost 30 songs in it.

THIR-TY songs.

AND they were all pretty much from the same ten year period since our show plot-wise revolved around Abraham Lincoln and his presidency.

So just imagine for a second, the overwhelming job that Michael O'Flaherty had to do to make all THIRTY of these songs sound DIFFERENT from each other. And not only different but theatrically and dramatically appropriate to wherever they were in the show and the storytelling.

Right.

Chew on that for a second...

ps, his work was genius.

We were a cast of 6-

2 women, 4 men.

funny side story-

So I was one of two women and I was 'the white woman'. Right? So, one night after the show there was some sort of reception in the lobby for subscribers or something and I'm walking around chatting and these two lovely old ladies come up to me and said,

"Oh my God! The show! I LOVED the show! LOVED it! Now...which one were you?"

aaandddddd scene.

There were so many songs from this show that I absolutely loved singing and listening to...

as a matter of fact, if you dig Lincoln and Civil War tunes you should check out the website for the show at http://www.civilwarmusical.com/. I think you can also still buy the CD we made of it...not sure. 

Anyway-

There was one song that absolutely just killed me every night.

It was so beautifully laid out not only by Michael but by our book writer Jack Kyrieleison that the dialogue seamlessly wove in and out of the music and vice versa, it was like....

weaving a tapestry every night.

No joke- it was audible sewing.

You singers out there know what I'm talking about, right?

Everything's gotta be perfectly timed so that the dialogue can go right into the vocal-

but you can't let on that it's pre-planned, it's got to be organic so...

you have to just trust and just sew one stitch at a time...

can' t keep ahead of it, and you can't drag it...

that's what keeps it alive, eh?

And there was the most delicious acapella section.

Oh God, just DELICIOUS.

And when you're in a nice tight ensemble with some kick ass singers...

there is nothing we love more than a sweet acapella section.

It's like...a Vulcan mind meld kind of thing.

You have to raise those antennae in the back of your head so you can be in everyone else's minds at the same time.

it's definitely a team sport, acapella singing.

Love it.

sorry, music geek moment.

So...

the main reason i chose this song is because it's fucking awesome-

and Michael did such a beautiful arrangement, i wanted to see if it was possible to make my own version of it.

and the second reason, i'm not gonna lie-

is because it's free.

It's obviously written before 1929 or whatever the public domain cut off date is...

so...

i don't have to pay a mechanical license on it.

sweet, right?

Obviously now....my quandary is this:

How do i pull off an arrangement written for 4 men and 2 women?

Vocally?

I mean, how the fuck am i going to do that.

And then.....

since this piece had so much underscoring and dialogue all the way through-

the actual arrangement is in reality, not complete lyrically.

There's a piece of this verse, and then dialogue and then a piece of this chorus, etc.

how can i make this song lyrically complete-

and yet maintain the integrity of the arrangement's 'tapestry feel' that i fell in love with.

But.

whatever.

It's gorgeous.

So fuck the challenge.

Let's do this thing.

First, I email Michael to see if he's cool with me using his arrangement as a foundation to build my own and he, being awesome, said 'sure' . So I pull it out my Reunion score, and look for what I remember was....an...arrangement?

Oof.

Wow.

I don't remember it looking like this.

Yeesh.

I'm totally dating myself but this was a while ago and...

kinda way before printing charts out in Finale was as easy as fracturing your ankle in Billy Elliot......wwhhaaattttt? 

Maddeningly, the chart I have is practically unreadable.

it's chicken scratch.

it's actually chicken puke that a chicken then scratched right before he took a little chicken crap on it. 

balls.

and I know there's no 'clean copy' anywhere so i don't even bother to ask O'Flaherty for it.

donkey balls.

ok.

Well....the vocals are kinda legible, so I'll start there.

Oh Jesus.

The bass goes way below my range...

I didn't think it would go that far below my range (an octave up, of course).

that will be some finagling.

oh no.

if i change too much because i have a uterus, will it just ruin the whole thing?

great.

thanks uterus.

thanks a lot.

stupid uterus.

I decide, since the acapalla part is by far my favorite-

to start there-

I cut it down to 4 parts and lay down some dummy tracks experimenting with harmonies.

If it sounds like total ass, then I'll chuck the whole piece.

There's no point in my doing this, unless i can share with you all my favorite part which is the acapella section.

I lay down 4 tracks (soprano, alto, tenor, bass).

oohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I'm already falling in love again with Michael's work.

it's like finding an old book covered in dust and with that first swipe, you see the title in the gold lettering underneath....

i sound like total shit but...

the arrangement....

ohhhhhhhhhhh hello dear friend.

hello!!!!

I tweak the tenor and bass because the alto and sop i can easily sing...

since them's the girlie parts.

yay uterus. 

yay.

good uterus.

i listen back.

not bad...

not bad....

tweak some more...

oooh.

i think..

this may actually be working...?

please oh please oh please....

tweak some more....

oh wow.

holy shit.

there it is.

the Vulcan mind meld sound.

or as Andy the bf calls it, 'The O Brother Where Art Tho' sound.

oh yay!

yay!

yay!

ok.

i'm TOTALLY doing this arrangement if it kills me.

and.

it.

may.

death by arrangement...not the worst way to go, i guess.

I work backwards in the vocals-

i figure...

if i can figure out how to sew the vocals up into some sort of....

continuous way....

oh wow.

i don't even have more than one solid verse so...

and i don't know the rest of the lyrics.

i dig into my music and pull out a civil war music book- 

(yes, i already had one...shut up) and find the rest of them.

within about 2 hours I've gotten all the vocals sewn up tight.

i've even added an entirely new lyrical verse that wasn't even in the original arrangement because it's just so....pretty.

so pretty, the poetry.

Now it's time to think about the instruments.

All acoustic obviously.

It's a period piece.

I lay down a dummy piano track to go with the vocals and....

when i play it all down the first time-

even tho my vocals are just atrocious really...

i get chills from the music.

from the harmonies and the notes.

i feel like....I've found money in my pocket or something.

you know?

ok.

this is obviously going to take me days tho.

this is going to be a slight 'beast'.

I need to orchestrate for violin, cello at least.

maybe more.

maybe not.

we'll see.

Regardless, this piece deserves a fresher brain so I need to sleep.

ok my loves.

more soon.....

be well....

sleep tight.

xoxo

dl

WHY ROBBIE ROZELLE IS AWESOME

Ok.

Listen up my sweet little halloween cupcakes.

I got somethin' REAL important to tell ya.

ROBBIE ROZELLE IS SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPEALI-AWESOME.

See...

Robbie is my graphic designer on this project but he's also an encyclopedia of pretty much anything you'd ever need to know about recording, music, graphics, artists, 'the biz', etc.

First of all, you can find him here: www.robbierozelle.com

Secondly, you can find him here: www.robbierozelle.com

so....

lemme tell ya why he's so awesome.

He has done ALL of my graphics for me, and B-E-A-U-tifully.

Not just the cover which you've seen, but I can't even explain how gorgeously EXPENSIVE he's making this CD look. And not in any way but utterly appropriate for the CD itself.

I so want to post every single graphic he's ever sent to me here but then that would of course, ruin the surprise of the actual CD itself so i shall resist that temptation...

but rest assured....

GOR-geous.

ok....

just one.

this is the graphics he made for me for my 'publishing company'- 

PARTING GLASS PRODUCTIONS:

this took him, literally fifteen minutes.

i sent him a picture I thought was cool...

told him I wanted to name the 'company' after one of my favorite songs (The Parting Glass)...

and voila.

unreal.

Thirdly, the man is FAST.

like road runner fast.

like, I'm REALLY really fast and he's always 5 steps ahead of me.

I don't think I've experienced that in quite a long time.

He'll send you three different amazing versions of something and you might say,

"I love it, especially #2....is there a way for the text to be a little more celtic/feminine/like a banana boat?"

and withing TEN minutes you've got five new options in your email box.

Fourthly, he is beyond generous.

He is doing all of this work for me PRO BONO.

yes.

that's right.

you heard me.

PRO.

BONO.

AND not only that...

but when it looked like a couple days ago-

due to an incorrect price quote we had received by accident-

we were gonna be short some $$$ (which was the difference between the book being in color or black and white), he actually offered to pay the difference. 

Yeah.

That's right.

You heard me.

He OFFERED  to PAY the difference.

AFTER doing all this shit for me for free.

And then, my brain exploded.

Obviously, that was not even remotely a possibility but luckily that day we got donations totalling exactly what we needed. Bless, baby, bless.

Whatever I did in a former life to deserve such fabulousness, I have no idea but I am beyond grateful for it. I finally had the chance to meet him in person a couple days ago when he was in NYC on some PS Classics business and after I promised him my first born-

i just had to ask how much all the work he was doing for me would actually cost someone who...

wasn't pulling up the sofa cushions to pay the mechanical licenses....

and...

while it's gauche to talk about other people's fees....

rest assured....

it's my ENTIRE budget many times over.

and FIFTHLY...

the man is HILARIOUS.

That might actually be my favorite part about working with him.

He has a marvelous sense of humor and his emails always make me laugh out loud-

which is an uncommon occurrence actually.

i think...

my favorite comment thus far was an email he sent- helping me try to figure out my "Thank you" section- he wrote something like,

"and here's where you can say something like- 'this person makes me feel like Jesus came down and bought me a sandwich."

ok?

THAT'S funny.

Anyway....

He is a jack of so many trades I'm sure i'm not hitting them all but...

if ANY OF YOU need a website, CD art work, record producer, musical theatre archivist extraordinaire....

you MUST get in touch with him immediately.

He is the SHIT, people.

And i'm not just saying this because he's doing me like EIGHT solids right now....

he is the SHEEEE-IZZLETS.

Not that he needs any shout outs from me-

as his clientele is pretty fiercy fancy pants and pays him well enough that he can afford charity cases like mine... 

And not that I'm advertising him as someone who should and will work for free.

The man is worth his rates, believe me.

Honestly, i can only hope to someday be in a position to pay him what he deserves because Lord knows if I have any other CDs/websites/whatever down the pike- I'll be devastated if he's not my graphics guy.

Yes.

He's ruined me for any other graphic designer.

damn you, robbie.

damn.

you.

but.

yeah.

at the top of my lungs, i'm sayin'...

He's THAT good.

And with that....

I am finishing up another musical post for ya'll, cause it's been too long.

i know.

i know.

i'm sorry.

less business-

more music comin' UP!!!

xo

dl

LAST DAY FOR 'CREDITED' DONATIONS!

Hello my little snickers bars....

Just a reminder that today is the last day to make a donation AND get credited in the CD Booklet. I need to finalize and turn in the text for the graphics tomorrow so....

today's the last chance to donate and be mentioned in the CD liner notes.

Of course, donations are always and will always be welcome for the PR stuff we have to do over here to get 'the word out' about the CD...

but as of tomorrow, I will only be able to credit you on the blog and not in the CD liner notes.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU so much to everyone for all your love and support...

we're getting close to handing it over to the CDR peep at Play-It Direct (fingers crossed, toi toi, etc) by Tuesday.

I will of course, go back and post about the rest of the tracks....

and a friendly reminder to those who have pre-ordered but not had a chance to get to my website yet to pay via paypal (or see directions if you'd rather pay via check)- we're hoping to have the CDs ready to send out the week before Thanksgiving so you'll want to have paid by then so I can send it to ya!!!

http://www.donnalynnechamplin.com/buycd.html

ok dolls.

back to mixing for me.

will catch up on song blogs soon.

whee!!!

music is FUN!!!

xo

dl

DROP DATE and DEADLINES

Hello my squishy pickles!

So...

I think we've settled on an official 'drop' date for the CD.

Barring some sort of unseen disaster (fingers crossed, knock wood, toi toi, etc)-

'Old Friends' will officially be released ON DECEMBER 1ST!

I'm also putting together (and learning about) a CD Release Party at The Beechman Theatre in midtown...

the date isn't set yet but we are hoping obviously, for a date close to 12/1/09.

I will keep you posted as that develops.

Ok lovies...

some reminders....

DONATIONS:

The deadline for getting your name listed in the actual CD booklet as an 'Angel Donator' is this sunday. Of course, you can make donations past Sunday if you like, but the Cd Booklet is going to press Monday so...I won't be able to include your name past the 25th of October.

To make a donation please go to:

http://www.donnalynnechamplin.com/buycd.html

press the yellow 'Donate' button which will take you directly to my account on PAYPAL.

PRE-ORDERED CDS:

If you have already pre-ordered your CD, you should have received an email from me today describing touching base with you. If you haven't already pre-ordered your CD, but still want to get it before it's officially available to the 'public' on December 1, 2009, you don't have to send me an email anymore ordering one...

you can just go to this page on my website:

http://www.donnalynnechamplin.com/buycd.html

press the yellow 'Buy Now' button which will also take you directly to PAYPAL.

I am hoping to have the CDs ready to mail to the pre-order peeps by the second or third week in November. My goal is to get them to you before Thanksgiving, basically.

Alright.

It's back to mixing for me.

Did some vocal fixes today.

There were just three passages in three different songs that were totally chapping my ass.

So.

Now that that's done, i have to mix all the new vocals in there and hopefully not have it sound like a fucked up version of the 1940's Radio Hour.

Then I'm going back and doing a couple instrumental fixes and then it's just all mixing all the time from here on in.

whee.

More soon with more musical adventures and not this 'dry business-y crap'.

blerg.

xo

dl

THE CMU SONG

Ok so.

I’m burning out on arranging.

I need to ‘sorbet’ myself and just do a tune that’s straight piano and vocal.

I need something easy.

Something in my round house.

Something that I can begin, and end in one sitting and feel like I’ve actually completed something on this project.

Ah yes…

THE CMU SONG!

Perfect.

This song….is what I like to refer to as a ‘jewel tune’. In fact, I was going to call this CD ‘Jewel Tunes’ if not name the CD the ‘real’ title of this song, which I’m calling for the moment THE CMU SONG.

CMU stands for my Alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University, and CMU is where I heard this song for the first (and only) time.

I was a freshman and so obviously, everything any upper classman did was pure genius.

I had already witnessed absolute mind-blowing brilliance in the ‘black box studio’ theatre on campus in the form of a Junior class Randy Newman Review that just about made my uterus hit the floor with a clang- I was SO fucking excited about it.

So imagine my girly parts when I saw my very first ‘main stage musical’ in the historic Kresge Theatre with the *gasp* Senior Class! It was a musical called “I Hear America Singing” (which now I realize -having just done the recent WORKING revival at the Old Globe- was pretty much a rip off of that entire score. Which is to say, it was fucking awesome and I have the bootlegs of Billy Porter literally- wailing for Jesus to prove it). 

Now in every CMU class, it seems that there’s one ‘non singer, straight dramat’ girl who’s -for whatever reason- allowed to take all the musical theatre classes and take part in the musicals. While I never understood the reason for this, I always found myself looking forward to whatever they did the most. And not in a this will be a fabulous car crash kinda way at all. I found that, because these girls were not ‘officially’ singers, but really actresses who…kinda, sorta sang a little…their numbers were always tremendously more interesting to me. 

It was really from these ‘miscast’ young women that I learned that it was not really technical proficiency that ever really reached anyone when singing a song with lyrics. Clearly, music has power, as does technique and even vocal purity and the occasional pyrotechnics, but….when there are lyrics- attention and respect must be paid to the story telling. Once you add lyrics, you must must MUST tell the story. And since all these gals had to hold onto was the text, I always found myself profoundly more engaged in what their numbers had to say, above all others.

So, here was this lone non-singer chick in the senior class who apparently was ‘such a bad singer’ that they hardly even let her sing in the chorus. And because this was a ‘review type’ of a show, with really hardly any scenes or monologues- she was totally fucked out of some serious stage time. I mean, you never saw her onstage. And i know this because I volunteered to be an usher for the rest of run so I could watch her do her number about 25 more times.

In fact  the only moment they gave her was this CMU SONG. And it was really kind of like….they were ’throwing her a bone’ with one easy song. 

That’s really all she had to do.

Sing this one song

All by herself. 

And stay out of everyone else's way.

Now it would seem, that having a beautiful solo song was a reward, but for some reason- there was a distinct aroma of  ‘if we just keep her AWAY from the rest of us….we’ll be fine’. As if her absence of singing and dancing ability was some sort of plague to be quarantined.

I tell you what.

She was amazing.

Not only because she was a master of simplicity, but because- she knew how everyone felt about her. She knew that everyone looked on her as musically lame. And she went out there every night and kicked the absolute SHIT out of this song by NOT kicking the shit out of it. She remains, to this day- one of my personal heroes. And I can't even remember her name.

And this isn't to day that the rest of that class wasn't impressive. They were miraculous. We're talking about a Senior class that had Michael McElroy in it for fuck's sake...so, come on. We're talking about that level of talent. And of course, when I saw the whole show and just freaked out at the talent of everyone. I was WOWED by their technique, I was AMAZED by their natural musical prowess, but not once...was I actually ‘moved’.

Until. 

This girl stepped onstage into a blue-ish spotlight... wearing a tattered, flowing white dress while a fan blowing from stage right eerily made her look like a ghost.

Or an angel.

I could never figure out which.

It changed for me, every time i saw her do it. 

From the moment she ‘appeared’ I was riveted. Yes, everything was working for her—the dress, the fan, the light, the smoke….but what STRUCK me was her presence.

She.

Just.

Stood.

There.

It was so powerful.

She just stood there.

I had only seen Bernadette Peters (a friggin guru of the parking and barking) do this on TV maybe once, but I'd never seen it live.

But there she was.

A vision.

Dress blowing, in the mist…and with this….music....these AMAZING chords underneath her.

From the chords….

You sense a purity but also…a slight sophistication?

Somethings...not quite right?

Intrigued.

Intrigued.

INTRIGUED!

And then she began to sing.

Well, not even really sing.

But to speak on pitch.

 

It was….

The first time I’d seen this, ever.

 

She spoke on pitch and NEVER MOVED.

She didn’t have to.

And if she had, the spell would have been broken. 

Because the MUSIC, and the LYRICS were so perfect, so pure that…

She stayed out of its way.

It was the only way.

Funny side story- i was working Sir Alan Ayckbourn as a director on a musical he had written called BY JEEVES and he once said to me,

"Darling. I wrote the lines. I don't need you to make them funny. They're already funny. I know this, because i wrote them. When you make them funny, they just become remarkably UN-funny. So if you could just SAY the words, and get out of the way of my brilliance, I would greatly appreciate it."

Btw, he's totally tongue-in-cheek and incredibly modest so...he wasn't being a jackass but he was getting the point across. 

You see, as actors we are so used to making shitty, and i mean SHITTY material work- in readings, workshops, even Broadway shows- that we just automatically go into scotch tape and shellac mode. We walk into something not trusting the material, because...usually we can't.

But when the rare occasion affords us perfect material, we sometimes forget that in an ideal situation like this- we are merely vessels. When we are working with brilliant material- there is nothing more that's asked of us than to be a receptacle in which something wonderful can be transmitted. 

Like copper wire. 

That's why working on Sondheim shows are so shockingly and surprisingly much 'easier' than you'd imagine. It's because you just don't have to work that hard. You can just ride on top of the genius that is the material. It's so much less exhausting than other shows can be.

Now, let’s talk about the fucking lyrics for a second.

Holy Christ on a CROSS are they genius.

TECHNICALLY…

This song's about nuclear war.

Well, really...the aftermath of nuclear war.

I know I know I know….

a beautiful, mind blowing song about Armageddon?

yes.

It's true.

But really- in the big picture- what it’s really about is what happens when the ‘end’ comes.

Of whatever. 

Of a relationship.

Of someone’s life.

In this case, the world.

So anyone who's ever experienced any sort of 'death' can relate to this song.

And the lyrics are absolute poetry.

And this amazing actress---skillfully….allowed each word to ‘shimmer’ in a way. I'd learned about this in Voice and Speech class regarding monologues but I had never really seen it applied to singing before.

It’s so hard to describe because it’s SUCH a fine line between Mandy Patinkin singing (who I love, btw- but he does have a tendency to over-do the poetry sometimes) and just allowing each word to breathe. This personally, is my greatest struggle with this song. Because i love the lyrics so much i want to chew them UP and roll them around in my mouth and spit them out.

But.

obviously.

That ruins it.

No one wants to watch someone really really really enjoy their dinner. Because then of course it becomes about that person enjoying their dinner then- and not about the dinner itself. That everyone is trying to enjoy. At the same time.

But God, there are words like…‘burst’ and ‘beams’ and ‘bloom’ and ‘flash’, 'backlash',  ‘strange’ and ‘perfume’…and the music is designed to allow those words to pop. And shine.

They’re not hidden-

They’re supported.

The music and the lyrics don’t compete with each other for your attention-

They work…symbiotically…in –no pun intended- perfect harmony.

Anyway.

 

I was enraptured by these simple jazz chords.

Hypnotized by this poetry.

And by the time she got to the last note….

I was BAWLING.

BAW-

LING!

Like, uncontrollable and embarrassing heaving.

And I couldn’t even begin to know why.

 

It was the first time, I had ever really been almost possessed by a performance.

I will never, ever forget it.

It's burned onto my retinas forever.

 

Immediately, I got my hands on that song.

Jerry Dantry, the resident Music Director extraordinaire in Pittsburgh was my partner in crime and he found it in the bowels of the library.

I still have the dogged manuscript from almost twenty years ago handwritten by Deborah-Henson Conant.

 

I have sung this song now for decades.

It’s in my blood.

And it’s one of those songs that everyone comes up to you after and says ‘WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET SONG??!!!!’

 

So.

This one, is easy.

I record the piano while singing- one pass.

I record the vocal- one pass.

I go back and re-accompany myself on piano- one pass.

And it’s done.

 

While I’m at it, I record the vocals for THE MONUMENT SONG.

I now have two entire songs officially in the can. 

And honestly...

am finding myself a bit wistful for my college days.

And with that, 'go tartans'.

xoxo

dl