I saw a leaky roof in my residence hall and two hours later ended up with this song written down: a recitative inspired by the minimalist music of Philip Glass, John Adams, and the like. Two lone voices moving in contrary motion, nervous in their tone, shape, and dialogue, with a backdrop of arpeggiated piano and delicate strings. Text uses present participles and second-person ("you") to demand the listener's attention. The central trifecta (roof, village, nation) used as a framing device to illustrate the varying gravitas of situations experienced in our current world, drew direct inspiration from recent events in Pittsburgh (bridge collapse) and Florida (bill proposal to ban discussion of LGBT topics in schools).
Seeing that the roof is leaking in your building
Seeing how it’s raining and it’s snowing in the morning
Calling for assistance, no one notices or bothers
Seeing how the measly little bucket’s overflowing
Worrying that water may erode your own apartment
Knowing there’s a problem in the building that you live in.
Seeing that the local bridge is falling in your village
Creaky steps and trodden planks are giving way to weather
Soon collapse is imminent, and lives are sure to suffer
Cars will crash and dogs will howl and people may be injured
Speaking to the board and seeing not one person listening
Hearing that the money’s tight and some things just aren’t worthy
Being told to let it go and ask no further questions
Knowing there’s a problem in the village that you live in.
Seeing that the schools are under pressure in your nation
Pressure from the higher-ups and blind corrupt false prophets
Banning books and never thinking twice about the consequences
Burning books and never thinking twice about the complications
Banning talk of safety and acceptance and inclusion
Burning minds with hateful propaganda and with dogma
Teachers forced to stuff it down and let the issues fester
Dialogue suppressed in classrooms, silence growing louder
Soon our children won’t know right or wrong or good or evil
All they’ll know is how to please a bureaucrat or leader
Fearing for our future as it sinks into the ether
Knowing there’s a problem in the nation that you live in.
@mikeskliar Feb 2022
This is really wonderful, Sondheim meets current events and never more timely then right now- I love the whole sonic landscape you've created here, and the lyric is devastating and powerful. Going from 'building' to 'village' to 'nation' is so damn effective and really a great idea.
@kenficara Feb 2022
Like reading the newspaper in song form. The first verse makes me think of what’s been happening with NYC public housing; the second verse about bridges is painfully current, and the last verse tops it off — “Fearing for our future” indeed.
@erikleppen Feb 2022
I like how "loose" it seems (to me) with respect to tonality. It's very nonstandard and I like it. Even though the melody is sort-of the same, it's at the same time not. I like how the regular phrasing creates a rhythm. It grows and then dies out every 5 seconds. It's like it breathes. The duet vocals are also very well done and the voices work really nice together. Also, funny ending.
@k8mcauliffe Feb 2022
Such cool text painting imagery, and the recitative style is v effective
@corinnelucy Feb 2022
This reminded me of really early Joni Mitchell - The Pirate of Penance. I adore the lyrics, and the way you've phrased them is perfect. There's a question so implicit in each statement, I felt so much tension hearing it unstated. A masterpiece of disquieting minimalism.
@dock Feb 2022
The wobbly vocals and music are perfect for the topic.
Captures the double-think of modern times.
@smileymn Feb 2022
Really cool! I never hear 20th/21st century sounding minimalism in FAWM, very fresh and very cool!