Well, I finished this lyric dedicated to Roy this morning, up until 5:30 am, then finishing it around 9.30-11am. A few lyrics were written months ago to go with an acoustic guitar piece I've been working on even longer, the rest fell together quickly. Arranging -- and especially recording this 7-10+minute song -- will probably take months. I'm not jinxing myself, just trying to commit. It may still change (and if I'm truly inspired by Roy it will probably grow even longer), but after years of trying to write some sort of musical homage to Roy, I finally have something I really like and can see bringing me a lot of satisfaction to work on. I hope you will ALL leave me your comments and encouragement. I have two VERY positive local responses already, and I don't care to keep it a secret from anyone, even ROY. He deserves far more praise than he's gotten! (BTW, podmaster Paul, I'm still thinking about possible Stormcock designs, have downloaded several photos, and begun sketching studies based upon photos and ideas. I need to do several more sketches before I can begin to sketch this strictly un-American bird freehand. Any ideas for poses, anyone?) What Is ODE To Roy? written by Jack W. Cramer © 2014 Listen with your ears! What do you see? Coincidence, or Conspiracy! The Best things in life are Free... But not children or Marriage or Security. What do you think, Mr. Harper? How do we be We? Preserving Truth Life and Liberty Working together The Humanities Seven Billion More and More (and even More?) Individualities You are the Muse of Truth and Inspiration In Politics you don't belong Please take out your frustration Mighty Orpheus, sing your song What happens to Earth When we are Gone? Or worse, What happens If we stay too long? Roil the Waters Roil the Seas Roil the Oceans If you please Roy'll bring you to your knees For all of your Hypocrisies Roy's voice is mightier Than your discord Seeing the world as it is Is its own reward Spreading Dissent and Joy From Tashkent to Illinois Heaven sent, Hell bent Angels and Demons, Dear Boy They've got NOTHING on Roy! Roil the Waters Roil the Seas Roil the Oceans of Hypocrisies Roy'll bring us all to our knees If we can't -- alone or together -- learn to live in Peace Democratically Deficient Socially Inept Republican Humiliation If only we looked before we leapt Commune Incommunicado National Pride before the Fall The Winter of our Discontent We don't take Dictation at all! Tyrannies, On your knees! Government and Religion Different edges of the same sword It may not be Politician But Almighty Profit is our Lord Divide and Conquer 'Til the end of Time Wars and rumors and Horrors Buried under Lime Congress is the Opposite of Progress Striking every sour chord Parliament can't make a dent And the Kremlin's getting Bored Mullah's with their Mandates are Misguided and Outdated It's not just Women but, Everyone they hated Percy Bysshe Shelley had Blasphemy and Sedition Francisco Goya persecuted The Spanish Inquisition Roy Harper's cursed with Freedom of Expression but Unbridled Greed is the way to Succeed With Executive Ambition Roil the Waters Roil the Seas Roil the Oceans of Insanities Roy'll bring us all to our knees If we can't learn to live in Peace... -jwc And I get a twisted pleasure out of rhyming Roy with Joy, Boy and my home state of Illinois ('cause I didn't think it could actually be done without making me cringe). I haven't worked in enough of a reference to Roy's huge cache of romantic love songs, or mentions of Miles or Che or Stormcocks or The Prisoner -- had to leave something for the other contributors to a Roy tribute album (I can dream, can't I?). Get to work, people!
Thanks, Andi. To update, I've changed some of the lyrics and worked out most of my guitar accompaniment, but I'd still like to hear comments, especially what my lyrics mean to you. I am least happy with how the "Roil..." refrain resolves each time. "To Roil" means to stir up or make cloudy, kind of the opposite of what Roy fans think, i.e., Roy makes issues seem clearer. I've added a verse saying Politicians say things are clear but Roy shows they're not! I also love that "Roil" sounds exactly the same as "Roy'll" (and for that matter "Royal."). The title of this song could also be "My Comical Broy-mance." I mean, c'mon, really! Aren't I a little over they top in my admiration of Roy's many talents? Or will someone dare to say I don't extol Roy's talents enough? I think it would be amazing if others wrote their own songs and we could fill out an album dedicated to Roy. I expect to change a few more lyrics before I post my second final version. I've avoided re-posting updated versions of the lyrics as I progress. I haven't written a song this long since I was much younger. It has been time-consuming to try out different arrangements of the music. Thematically the music is relatively simple but progressive, and I think I'm still missing one more change or bridge. It gives me a new appreciation for the work Roy has done on his many longer songs. I'm obviously quite a contradiction. Contrarian but encouraging. Shunning celebrity, but (fill in the blank)... The odds are stacked against this ever becoming a big hit, but for me, the work/music is reward enough. I'm lucky enough to spare enough time. I hope the "Why" is obvious. Like most of us, I'd like to see Roy experience the recognition he deserves for his amazing body of work. This song represents that dream.
"My Comical BROY-mance" Well, I'm pretty much finished with this song musically and lyrically. It's in its "perfect" form now. By "perfect" I merely mean the simplest most complete form that would allow anyone to learn it and do their own version. If you heard my original song "Model Woman" near the end of Podcast 35, I've gotten even better since then, but I haven't done any new recordings. Newer better versions of my old songs and recording my newer songs are on my to do list, so hopefully I'll make the song available in the future. If not, maybe I'll post guitar tabs for Roy's many fans to give it their own spin. This is the third or fourth re-write of the lyrics, and I've tried to shorten it for the potential of greater play if I ever become truly Ironic, i.e. not "No Celebrity." I've tried to limit the lyrics to Roy specific verses, so some of my favorite lyrics may end up in a back-burner called "2 Too Extreme." Please let me hear from you if this interests you. Unknown Artists live for feedback. What Is ODE To Roy? written by Jack W. Cramer © 2014 Open up your ears! What do you see? Coincidence, or Conspiracy! The Best things in life are Free... Or at least they used to be What do you think, Mr. Harper? How do we be We? Preserving Truth, Life and Liberty Together the Humanities Seven Billion More and More and More Individualities You are the Muse of Truth and Inspiration In Politics you don't belong Please take out your frustration Mighty Orpheus, sing your song What happens to Earth when we are gone? Or worse, what happens if we stay too long? Roil the Waters Roil the Seas Roil the Oceans of Hypocrisies Don't you want to live in Peace? No more Inequalities Hey, World Leader You say things are clear The road is straight and narrow The price to pay will be dear But I can't help wondering What would Roy sing If he were here? Roil the Waters Roil the Seas Roil the Oceans of Petty Tyrannies Bloated from their gluttonies Choking on their crooked feast Who will tame the evil beast? Let all the fighting cease... Roy's voice is mightier than your discord Seeing the world as it is is its own reward Spreading Dissent and Joy From Tashkent to Illinois Angels and Demons have NOTHING on Roy Heaven sent, Hell bent! Dear boy... Roy is a lover Provocateur undercover Roil the Waters Roil the Seas Roil the Royal Surrealities Roy'll bring you to your knees Exposing your Hypocrisies Roy's voice is mightier than Lorelei's discord Perhaps being Roy is it's own reward Just not as angry as he seems Roy's gifted with better dreams Heaven sent, Hell bent! Roy is a lover Provocateur undercover Percy Bysshe Shelley had Blasphemy and Sedition Francisco Goya persecuted The Spanish Inquisition Roy Harper's cursed with Freedom of Expression Miles away Stormcocks play in the face of Oblivion Unbridled Greed Is the way to Succeed With Executive Ambition Divide and conquer 'til the end of time Wars and rumors and horrors buried under lime Open up your eyes What do you hear? The end is the beginning Karma's getting near The best things in life are free! For an additional handling fee Roil the Waters Roil the Seas Roil the Oceans of Insanities Don't you want to live in Peace?... -jwc
I swear I posted an intermediate version, but it wasn't here when I posted the most recent version. Suddenly, I miss the musical arrangement for the four half verses "Democratically..., Government..., Commune..., Congress..." which became two verses both ending with "Divide and Conquer..." until I shortened this from 8+ to 6+ minutes. I guess I'm following Roy's example with "One Of These Days..." and "The Death of God" and a few others. Can't make up my mind, so maybe I'll eventually record them both, or do a shorter version for when radio officially becomes a dinosaur. Thanks again, Andi, for your encouragement. It's a fun song to sing and play, but hard to be objective about how others will HEAR it. It's funny too, but no disrespect to Roy. I am over the top in my admiration of Roy. I mean, really... How many allusions to other heroes can you find? WHAT WOULD ROY SING?
An interesting question which I've been meaning to ask Royston for many years now.... it's quite easy to write a spontaneous poem or two about things that have been going round your head for years... but to arrange it to music, is a completely more complicated matter in my experience. Especially if you involve others like David Bedford, Jimmy Page etc... just playing in time with a band I have always had this problem and thus prefer to do it solo... would have loved to have taken it seriously all those years ago, but never mind, coz I just adore the sound of music especially the emotional resonance of the guitar! But Roy's answer would probably be : about how he gets inspired to write a song; some experiences in your life act in a culmination of many criteria [anything from drugs, relationship problems, to doing something alleged to be illegal, moments of meditative wonder etc. etc...] sometimes on a spontaneous moment, and it inspires you to write the visionary experience down if you are that way inclined. I do cryptic crosswords everyday and have words floating around in my head anyway - complete waste of time I know but it's my form of relaxation. He mentions this somewhere about how The Lords Prayer just flowed out of him spontaneously on a visionary moment as the summation of all mankind's woes & desires in this Universe. But when you read into the depth of his lyrics you know you are dealing with a very deep, well read, thinking person. Beauty can be found in the simplest of things like leaves floating down a stream, the colours of the foliage in Autumn {Fall} , one person's kind comment to you in the street etc., and can trigger a song /poem in you. When you look at his books/scraps of paper where he writes his lyrics down you also know he constructs over time, and changes them/crosses out words/lines and it can take forever until you are happy with it. When he issued the Green Man,, he says at one gig that it was the song that 'It can't get better than that' coz he actually managed to write down his mind as he wished to explain himself metaphorically on many strata, and was pleased with his effort at communication. Got to go now... to be continued Inshalla.... A x
Well, it's obvious that you/Andi & I/Jack are fascinated with concepts of where creative/artistic inspiration comes from. That's why we love ROY! As the youngest of four children I received the most praise for my creativity and conversely less praise for "real work." I saw through most of that crap, because I wasn't a master artist, I just drew and made things, sang, learned to whistle and did paper animations all by the age of ten because I enjoyed it. I knew it would take years to get better at any art form, and never believed a lack of "natural talent" was a roadblock for anyone to find personal satisfaction or eventual success. I was not very good in group violin lessons at eight (plus, it hurt), too slow for my piano teacher at thirteen, but my brain absorbed things I still use today. I don't consider the first three songs I tried to write as an older teenager worthy of note. It was engaging in the process that bore fruit later. I'm now at fifteen songs I consider worthy written from the ages of twenty-one to fifty-five, or almost one every two years. Lyrical/melodic ideas pop into my head about every two weeks, but this is only an average. Teaching myself guitar forced me to experiment with different melodies and chord changes (I couldn't pick at all until my forties), and this is the source of half my musical themes, the rest come out of my mind. When my frame of mind is right, I can absorb complex melodies and memorize them for life. Other times, in the moment, I play and progress and am left in awe by the emotions, but frustrated when I can't re-trace my steps. I am the annoying, proverbial Jack-of-all-trades, creatively. I've written a sci-fi novel and satirical screenplay, both unpublished. I wrote the theme song for my screenplay "The Shuffle" in under an hour because I was trying to summarize what the satire was about (and my SECOND singer song-writing guitar-playing college girlfriend was also in a creative frenzy). My Novel "Project M4" (aka Magic and More Magic, Magic in the Fourth Dimension, Techno Warlock) has a theme song also, but it took over thirteen years to complete, though the initial spark always remained. In other words, inspiration takes many forms and many paths in my life. I've learned never to reject an inspiration because it was unorthodox. I have about six other unfinished songs on the back-burner. Andi, you are a creative brother. I do crosswords too (no longer daily), quote-acrostics, and jumbles. If you remember my recorded intro to my "Model Woman" in podcast 35, I've never had or played in a band either. I'm not nervous about singing, but I am about my guitar playing. Don't let that stop you. My musical friends with more skill envy that I am now a "recording artist." I've only performed musically before a group larger than ten a couple times since I sang in school chorus. I was stunned and gratified by the outburst of applause (the praise is usually for my voice). So don't question why you're inspired when in the moment. Know that 99% of your inspirations will fizzle, but 1% will be glorious, even if you're the only that gets it sometimes. I know Roy is a big reason I understand this. I still remember that clip of you playing guitar beautifully, so never stop. You get it. I hope some day, people (plural) will compare my work to Roy's, and I wish the same for you!!!
I think I may have asked this before, but are you in touch with Bill Khron on Facebook over there? Or don't you do FB? He's a fellow appreciative Harpernaut but not sure if he plays his own stuff? But I know you'd appreciate his posts... x I'll send you my old embryonic album of doodling on guitar and poetry if you message me your addy on here or on aspwatterson1@hotmail.co.uk x
The other remaining question in my head was do you need an ego to perform in public? To a certain extent you have to believe in yourself and other people's encouragement definitely helps. Some very shy people have become famous without really wanting to...e.g. Bert Jansch, Sid Barrett etc.. I've always struggled with this and the song that comes into mind is "Don't believe in yourself, knowledge is a deadly friend in the hands of fools", or something like "Confusion will be my epitaph" etc. Alcohol can give a false sense of security up to a certain pint [point!] and then, if too inebriated, the guitar, tuning,vocal attempts go awry, and microphone cables can trip up the unwary; even though when you're pissed it sounds wonderful and you think everyone loves you! Nick asked if I was going to play my tribute "Hats off to Jimmy Page" at Avebury this year but I chickened out and blamed stage fright. I am surprised at how nervous I get without a drink, especially considering I was in St Stephens Church choir for many years and we did concerts around Europe, me as head chorister unbelievably.... One of the most nerve racking experiences was singing "Once in royal Davids city" as a solo in front of 2000 people in Rochester cathedral, Kent. I had to walk up all these steps to the pulpit area and by the time I got there, I was out of breath, shaking, sweating and my voice came out with a tremelo effect! My parents were stuck behind a big pillar and didn't know it was me. These days we can cheat with all sorts of tuning aids, but when you get half way through a song it's very difficult to carry on [especially if you are singing as well] if strings start to go out of tune... which is why I admire Nick so much as he make the tuning up sound part of the song! Before I did a gig at Highbury College , Cosham my friend made [moreless forced!] me smoke something massive, and it took me ages to get the guitar in tune and promptly went on the stage and tripped over so took ages to get the guitar back in tune! One of the tricks is try not to bend the strings too much or play it too heavy if you've got a lightweight guitar/strings otherwise it will definitely start to detune. Or get too stoned! Paranoia man! Anyway rant over... x
Think I've just about recovered from the Clonakilty guitar festival week...think I'll have a Guinness to celebrate! Followed by a nice bottle of warm ginger wine... and so it goes on....ha! x
"Where'd 'ego?" or "Weird Ego" it doesn't matter. I generally do not even get asked to perform. I don't get nervous about my singing, a bad note here or there but my voice stays strong enough to power through and get applause (if I've had a chance to warm up -- I usually sing in the car on the way). But I get nervous and bump my guitar when I think about playing. It's best to have one song ready and stick with it unless you get to play a lot -- or so I'm told. Once I start singing, the guitar playing becomes more automatic, at least with the few polite crowds I've had.
I haven't commented on this song for over a year now. I did another rearrangement of the verses and added back the "congress" and similar verses, but now they're where they belong lyrically and musically. I still practice it a few times a week (it plays to about 8:45 in length, if I don't screw up the many changes). I re-read your comments, Andi, and thanks again. Arranging music is almost always an ongoing process that takes time. Sometimes a simple arrangement is best and can form almost completely in an instant. Don't expect it to be easy, and don't assume you will always fail. You write enough, and your experience will vary wildly. If Roy wants to argue this point with me, he is welcome to, but I'll freak out if I hear he's wondering why it's taking me so long to record even a simple version of it (and then make the world listen). Big Smile!
