Musical Monday: Perfect Eternity.

Not a lot to say about this one, as it's late and I'm very tired, but it was written for my poetry class my junior year of high school. (If I recall, I got a perfect score.) It was written about a girl I met out in California after one of my high school youth group Mexico mission trips.

» Perfect Eternity

duration: 3:42
file size: 3.40 MB
written: 1996
recorded: 2003
instrument: piano
recording medium: computer
lyrics:

The arid aroma
Of a warm desert night
Her arms wrapped around
Holding me tight
I close my eyes
To the world outside
Friends in the distance
Saying goodbye

And out from our lips
Not a sound to be heard
But a joining of hearts
That goes beyond words

CHORUS:
The perfect eternity
Memory sublime
A moment forever
Suspended in time
A moment forever
Suspended in time

A cool breeze blows
Through the warm desert air
The warmth of her body
The scent of her hair
I shut my eyes
To the world outside
My pulse picks up tempo
As her lips approach mine

And in those few seconds
Not a sound to be heard
Just a joining of souls
That goes far beyond words

CHORUS

The arid aroma
Of a warm desert night
Her arms wrapped around me
Squeezing me tight
I close my eyes
To the world outside
Nothing else matters
Not at this time

And out from our lips
Not a sound to be heard
Just the joining of hearts
That goes far beyond words

CHORUS

I'm so glad to be here
So glad that you're mine
I could stay here forever
Suspended in time
I could stay here forever
Suspended in time
I could stay here forever
I think that'd be fine

Musical Monday Archive

Musical Monday: Head Over Heels.

Back to my "classical" period. :)

Off of album number six. Not a lot to say about this one. I still play it every now and then; it's fun, but when the key change hits at the end, it always catches me off guard. (But isn't that always the case?)

» Head Over Heels

duration: 2:28
file size: 2.26 MB
written: 1996
recorded: 1996
instrument: Casio keyboard
recording medium: cassette tape
album art: Brain Food
lyrics:

I close my eyes
And I see your face
And dream an hour or two
I miss your smile
Your sweet embrace
I long to be with you

Falling down
Watch me fall
Falling down

CHORUS:
Head over heels
This is how I feel
Cannot stop my head from reeling
Cannot stop this feeling
Head over heels
I've found a love that's true
Head over heels
I've fallen head over heels
For you

I close my eyes
And I hold my breath
My body floats away
I think of you
And we seem so close
Even when you're far away

Falling down
Watch me fall
Falling down

CHORUS

Falling down
Watch me fall
Falling down

Head over heels
This is how I feel
Cannot stop my head from reeling
Cannot stop this feeling
Head over heels
I've found a love that's true
Head over heels
I've fallen head over heels

Head over heels
This is how I feel
Cannot stop my head from reeling
Cannot stop this feeling
Head over heels
I've found a love that's true
Head over heels
I've fallen head over heels
Head over heels for you

Musical Monday Archive

Musical Monday: How Can I Repay?

Today's (ahem, yesterday's) Musical Monday is dedicated to my (paternal) grandparents, who are both recovering from succesful surgeries last week.

In a first for Musical Monday, here is a "demo" recording -- this song is currently unfinished (though it's more finished than the vast majority of my unfinished pieces) and I have no real plans to finish it. Which isn't to say I won't -- if it comes to me, I'll write it -- but it's one of many pieces of mine that have fallen by the wayside. Unlike most of those, however, this one can almost pass for a full song on its own. I recorded a number of other demos during my session last month; they'll be trickling out over the rest of year.

I should point out a performance-time error here: the first two lines of the middle pair of verses should be swapped. I typed the lyrics correctly, so if you follow along, it'll make sense. Just a quick brain freeze when I was playing; I considered swapping them around on the computer, but eventually decided not to bother trying. I mean, it's just a demo...

Oh, and next week's entry will be on time -- I'm typing it up right now.

» How Can I Repay? (Demo)

duration: 2:54
file size: 3.98 MB
written: 2005?
recorded: 2007
instrument: piano
recording medium: cassette
lyrics:

Comfort in sorrow
Hope for tomorrow
For doing what You promised You'd do
How can I repay You?

A clear head in madness
A spirit of gladness
A sure Path and a Light that is true
How can I repay You?
How can I repay You?

A shoulder to cry on
Wings I can fly on
For old, broken hearts made anew
How can I repay You?

Courage through trials
Strength o'er the miles
For guiding and seeing me through
How can I repay You?
How can I repay You?

Comfort in sorrow
Hope for tomorrow
For doing what You promised You'd do
How can I repay You?

A clear head in madness
A spirit of gladness
A sure Path and a Light that is true
How can I repay You?
How can I repay You?
How can I repay You?

Musical Monday Archive

Musical Tuesday: Yet Still.

Another busy day at work, then straight to the Twins home opener, so I didn't get much of a chance to post this yesterday. Here it is, now, though!

This is the title track to my second, shorter, instrumental album. Starting back in college, I started to notice that people would use the word "yet" when I would have said "still", and it got me thinking about the differences and similarites between the two. To me, "still" gives an indication of continuity, of some ongoing event. Whereas, to me, "yet" feels almost opposite, implying an ongoing wait for something to occur. For example, we're still driving in the car; we haven't arrived yet. And yet (!) the two words are fairly interchangeable. (We're driving in the car yet; we still haven't arrived. Though the former useage feels more "natural" to me.) But it doesn't stop there: each word has other meanings, as well: "still" can mean motionless, or calm. "Yet" can be used in the same fashion as "but".

So the name "Yet Still" can have a number of different interpretations, and though I tend to think of it as meaning "But Calm", the interplay between the two title words gives it a deeper meaning that I've never fully grasped, though in some way I can feel it.

As for the song itself (if you'll pardon the length of this post) I had the title (for both song and album) long before the song was even written. In fact, I knew what I wanted the song to be: a calm, peaceful, slightly haunting melody, but short -- and coming into a crescendo at the very end. I knew what the song was, but no notes ever came to me for the longest time. And then, finally, there came this:

» Yet Still

duration: 1:18
file size: 1.19 MB
written: 2004
recorded: 2004
instrument: piano
recording medium: computer
album art: Yet Still

Musical Monday Archive

The boys are back!

Baseball is back! The Twins opener last night was a blast. We sat in section 206 -- corner of the outfield, second deck, first row -- with Sarah's brother and parents.

The Twins won; Santana (reigning Cy Young) struck out his first batter, Mauer (reigning batting champ) got a hit in his first at-bat, Morneau (reigning MVP) hit a home run his first at-bat (followed on the next pitch by Torii Hunter's own HR.) Santana wasn't his best, but he was still okay, and the Twins beat the Orioles 7-4.

Elizabeth and Alex both enjoyed the game, though Alex wanted to run around a lot. It was fun. It was a lot of fun.

Some good links (to my favorite Twins blogs) about the game:
Aaron Gleeman
Batgirl