During the summer, I get a chance to write quite a bit. Aside from that magical month of November, the summer becomes my most productive season. This year, with no softball, I’m getting even more time to work on my projects, from The Wandering Kind to poetry. And, as you might have learned by now, I usually need some good music to do my best work. So, I thought I’d share some of my favorite summer tunes that I’ve been using to get some work done… as well as a poem! (:
Album: Songs For Searchers
Artist: Andrew James O’Brien
Favorite Track: Through My Days
This album is an emotional journey, and each track takes you somewhere a bit different. The whole album is great from start to finish, and it leaves you satisfied in every way. I’ve done some sad scenes to some tracks, and done a quirky vignette to another. I love Andrew’s voice, and the array of instruments used leaves me seeing the emotion as well as hearing it.
Couldn’t find my favorite track, but here’s a good one off the album.
Artist: Peter Bradley Adams
Favorite Track: The Longer I Run
He’s got a few albums out, and nI’m playing around with them, and there are some really great tracks. This song in particular fits well with TWK, so I’ve used it a few times to write some duller scenes. I love his casual sound, and the instrumentals are great. I mean, come on- anyone who uses an accordion wins brownie points in my book. Great listen.
Album: Bear Creek
Artist: Brandi Carlile
Favorite Track(s): That Wasn’t Me, Hard Way Home, Keep Your Heart Young
If you haven’t ever listened to Brandi Carlile, you are seriously missing out. I love her voice, everything about it. She’s raw, heartfelt, and simply ripe with emotion. It’s very hard for me to find female artists I can really dig, but Brandi (along with Adele), is always able to make it work. This is her newly released album, and to be honest, it’s the best thing I have set ears on in a long time! Great pick, as well as anything else she’s done. Her version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah (which is one of my favorite songs ever), is by far one of my favorite versions, and inspired me not only to write the poem below, but also set me up for a paint interpretation of the song, which won 1st place in mixed media at a local art show. Brandi is an excellent summer listen!
Here’s the poem ‘Hallelujah’, inspired by the song.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Can you hear the angel singing?
The one with the broken wings
And pierced breast.
A battered guitar in his lap he strums.
The swoop of his nose a precipice
From which saltwater notes fall,
Downward, downward into his silk-robed lap.
A broken cry escapes his lips,
A song heard in every tongue of fire.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Do you hear the young lovers sighing?
There in the dark in the heat
And the fervor of their youth.
A wondrous game they play tonight.
The curve of her neck a sounding board
For his hot breath and cries,
Echoing, echoing into the heavens.
A holy moan from their mouths,
A word known in all speech.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Do you see the old man laughing?
There on his park bench
In tweed jacket in autumn.
A pen and paper in wrinkled hands.
The crows feet that decorate his smiling eyes,
A template for his greatest works,
Joyfully, joyfully he creates.
A baffled exclamation springs from his smile,
A pleasantry known in every land.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Can you hear the world give word?
There from all mouths
each creed and race decree.
A boundless chorus we give each day.
The thousands of tongues in all corners,
Breathing life into the reaches of existence,
Together, together we say.
A simple song comes from our mouths,
A unique truth for each passing voice.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
just a bit of silliness, really... 