Feb 2022 jazz-piano male-vocal
i was watching peter greenaways film, drowning by numbers, which begins with a child counting stars as she jumps rope.when she finishes, a man who has been watching her asks why she stopped upon reachng 100, her answer is that after the first hundred, the subsequent hundreds were the same. this resonated with me because the inconceivable number of covid casualties had me wondering if getting used to such extreme figures might desensitize us to even higher casualties in future disasters....all out nuclear war for example. so i started with the childs lines from greenaways picture and elaborated on my own numbers theories from there.
counting the stars
giving them names
once you count to 100
the other hundreds are the same
we are drowning in numbers
1000 a day
once you count to 1000
the other thousands are the same
6 million died in death camps
anonymous skin and bones
6 died in an earthquake
each epitaph is known
covid killed 6 million
1000 every day
once you count 1000
the other thousands are the same
complacency in numbers
when the numbers get too high
if billions die in total war
will the numbers nullify
the weight of human suffering
that suffocates the heart
will we stop counting at 100
as we count the falling stars.
@wylddandelyon Mar 2022
I think I disagree with the words but not the point. The only way to understand the tragedies you mention is to focus on one person at a time, knowing no one person can hear all those stories, but collectively, we can honor all of them. But the details matter so very much.
Cool background music. I really liked this song, it made me think about how we measure tragedy--both how we can try to measure it scientifically, and what kind of measure actually makes an impact on our human hearts--and that the tools needed for those things are not the same.
#tit4tat
@sherrylynnlee Mar 2022
great song concept, definitely something I think about a lot these days
@williamjames Mar 2022
Well, this isn't what I would describe easy listening by any means. Considering the topic it probably should not be! you force the listener to really concentrate on the words which is great. Thought provoking stuff.
@odilongreen Mar 2022
I like the contrast between the jazzy, almost cheerful music and the raw, unvarnished truth set forth in the excellent lyrics. I also like the way the song progresses from relatively controlled, both musically and in terms of vocal style, to increasingly frantic as the real impact of the numbers really sinks in. And then, at the end, the striving for solace again, the hope for grace. Pretty powerful stuff.
@elesimo Mar 2022
Love the concept behind the song, and the performance is amazing, Bill. Really amazing song.
@guitarpatz83 Mar 2022
The piano sound and the way you play with the part is spot on, a great accompaniment to the hard hitting lyrics. I love how that soft vocal on the verse that starts harmlessly about counting stars has become an exasperated wail by the verse about Covid deaths. Poignant, stark and cleverly done.
@ttg105 Feb 2022
I really like your experimental piano stuff - such a cool sound. The lyrics make a good point about the power of small vs huge numbers. I like the way you roar out the COVID verse!
@coolparadiso Feb 2022
yeah reminds me when my brother was living on a very very small island! They said an island isn't small unless you can see all around it in one go - so to the people on the island never felt it was small! same here once the number is out of your concept it means nothing~ its a sad but true observation you make
@berni1954 Feb 2022
Hard hitting lyrics and so true.
I was reminded of a quote from Stalin. "The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of a thousand is a statistic"
@crutherford Feb 2022
wow bill. profound and confusing and delightful and sad. these are all the things i felt when listening to this piece. so i thank you very much. it's great to hear you again.
@cindyrella Feb 2022
This has a great feel to it! I love how it meanders here, then there. You have so many talents!
@acousticmaddie Feb 2022
Oh what a playfull little piece. I like the messyness and the ending is gorgeous