Nancy: I love these lyrics and jumped at the chance to set them. As Stephen noted in his original post, the lyric has an unusual structure. The lyric is also full of surprises, and that was a challenge that led to some coompositional moments that really pleased me. Late-night whispery video recording for now, and I hope to do a produced audio recording when time permits.
t's the truth that you never saw coming
The naked behind the facade
The beacon of red bleeding in from the veil
Of night-time so brilliantly starred
It guides you down soft from your platform
And speaks of what you never knew
To take your mind's black and white borders
And fill all the grey with its hue
Like the words of a trespassing notice
Bleeding ultramarine
In the rain
Like the gash in the hide of a Zebra
Who escaped the lion's maw
Once again
Like the stroke of a pen on a crossword
Spilling all the wrong answers
With joy
Like the greenstone tucked under the collar
Of the uniform blouse
Of a boy
Like the last dying light in the new year
Of the bonfire's magnificent
Flame
Like the blush that remains in the cheekbones
Of your grandmother's face
In the frame
Like the fifty cent bead on the footpath
Taking up its new home
In a bracelet
Like the patches of lawn on a football
From each boot that attacked
Or embraced it
It's the truth that you never saw coming
The naked behind the facade
The beacon of red bleeding in from the veil
Of night-time so brilliantly starred
It guides you down soft from your platform
And speaks of what you never knew
To take your mind's black and white borders
And fill all the grey with its hue
@sarahk Feb 2022
Proving why I consider you a masterful musician, @nancyrost , and you aptly titled, @stephenwordsmith , this piece is complex and delicate and lovely and unusual and striking. Perfect to set me to rest for a Friday night. Well done, and thank you.
@sapient Feb 2022
Goodness me. This is so differnet to how I heard and recorded it. Yet it's still clearly the same song, with the same striking images and emotions in the words. You bring wonderful layers of what feels like hope in the way you weave your voice round those gently picked chords. Proper lovely.
@hoppiern Feb 2022
Oh I love this! The emotive, thought- provoking, drawn-out-simile lyric, the beautiful melody and excellent/unusual chord choices, Nancy’s vocal performance- this is really wonderful on so many levels! I could listen to this all day.
@stephenwordsmith Feb 2022
I try not to say things I don't mean, but this is quite possibly my favourite of our collabs so far. You've worked a structure which is unusual (and very repetitive in the middle there) into something with a gorgeous flow. The melody is sublime and soothing. It's as soft as a kitten. The words come just quickly enough to let us linger on the images and ponder them - these single pops of colour on something formerly black and white.
But the most telling thing is that I keep coming back and playing it because it's so lovely to listen to.
@srcoops Feb 2022
The lyric is most interesting and Nancy's handling of them expert. Fun to listen to
@mikeskliar Feb 2022
This is really wonderful - what a strange but evocative-as-anything lyric, and the music and setting for it has illuminated it so well. I particularly love the melody for the long middle section (like the x of the y in the z.....)
great work!