Based on this painting that is hanging in the Art Institue , Chicago, Il
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11992973
Sunday in the Park: A Sunday on La Grande Jatte
Its Sunday Somewhere
On the Island of La Grande Jatte
Georges Seurat
Observes the people on the shore
From ancient oak tree shade
Watch the top hat promenade
Faceless and immobile gaze
Of tin soldiers waiting for their war
Parasol in hand
A laughless bustle pose
Gentleman’s red lapel rose
Appear to float on the French horn melody
Sailboats on the sea
Rowers wait for the call to stroke
The sleeveless mans tobacco smoke
Hangs in the windless air under the tree
His measured profile people, formal and profane
He paints and then he watches and then he paints again
A ten by seven record, two years of his life
Will the critics find meaning , in these points of light
The Art Institute
Michigan Street parking lots
Disconnected dots
Shuffling patrons strain to view
The pointillistic hues
Fishing on the river Seine
Red tailed monkey on a chain
Frozen as the front porch lion statues
That image is one the cover of one of my sketchbooks! Nice description, ummm don't know if blues'll work here though :lol:
That image is one the cover of one of my sketchbooks! Nice description, ummm don't know if blues'll work here though :lol:
Thanks for reading and commenting. I'm thinking 4/4 time 65 BPM . Not thinking blues though. My 8 string uke sounds mandolinish if I use a medium plastic pick. I need to get the melody fleshed out. The word spacing means I'll need to create some dynamic rests.
Hi MrEWorm,
I really like the idea of the song based on the painting. :mrgreen: I enjoyed going back and forth between the lyrics and painting......so you'll have the french horn in there :wink: and go with some French music :)
........one minor detail....the location appears not to be at sea, but on a river
"is a large island in the middle of the Seine River "
http://www.atkielski.com/PhotoGallery/Paris/General/LaGrandeJatteSmall.html
Thanks for sharing. I'll watch out for the update and recording.
James
Yeah, I cheated when using the word "sea". It fit the idea, the meter and the rhyme.
There is a french horn in the painting, the fellow with an orangeish jacket and a hat that looks like a pith helmet. He is facing to the right rear.
I probabaly won't have a french horn sound in the tune, if it ever gets a tune. One of bits I read about the painting is that very few of the people have feet. They all seem to levitate. Couln't work that into the narrative though.
I thought you might launch into the switch from the scene where the artist is watching becoming the scene of the museum visitors. I'm not entirely comfortable with this as it is but doubt I'll be able to get it polished before the next assignment comes up on Saturday.
Slight editing to make it singable (added, edited and deleted sylllables).
Sunday in the Park: A Sunday on La Grande Jatte
Its Sunday Somewhere
On the Island of La Grande Jatte
The painter, Georges Seurat
Watches people on the shore
From ancient oak tree shade
View the top hat promenade
Faceless immobile gaze
Tin soldiers waiting for the war
Parasol in hand
A laughless bustle pose
Gentleman’s lapel rose
Float on the French horn melody
Sailboats on the sea
Rowers wait for the call to stroke
The sleeveless mans tobacco smoke
Hangs in the air under the tree
His measured profile people, formal and profane
He paints and then he watches and then he paints again
A ten by seven framed record, two years of his life
Will the critics find meaning, in these points of light?
The Art Institute
Crowded parking lots
Disconnected dots
Shuffling patrons strain to view
The pointillistic hues
Fishing on the river Seine
Red tailed monkey on a chain
Frozen as the front porch lion statues
I wasn't convinced that an entire song about a painting would be interesting to many people. Then I remembered something called "Starry, Starry Night" being a big hit.
I could probably accept "gaze" and "promenade" as being near rhymes in the second verse if you didn't use "shade" in the first line of that verse. Otherwise, the rhyming pattern in the second verse doesn't match the other verses.
I'm assuming that the following is a bridge and not a regular verse, so it's OK for the rhyming pattern to be different:
His measured profile people, formal and profane
He paints and then he watches and then he paints again
A ten by seven framed record, two years of his life
Will the critics find meaning, in these points of light?
After making all of these nit-picky comments, I have to say that I like the whole idea and there are some great descriptions.
Renee
Hi John
A lot of elegant descriptive line here. Don't know why, but I think this one, in all its simplicity, truly strikes the right mood and tone:
He paints and then he watches and then he paints again
I like the rewrite but "The painter" seems both a little stuffy and unnecessary (if you're expecting your listeners to know that there are lion statues outside the Chicago Art Institute's front entrance, they should surely know that Seurat is the painter in question the moment you mention the Island of La Grande Jatte). Maybe using some of the simple elegant style that comes later would help, like this:
Its Sunday Somewhere
On the Island of La Grande Jatte
And Monsieur Georges Seurat
Watches people on the shore
Just a thought. Looking forward to hearing this put to music at some point.
Peace
Great suggestion David.
I edited one more line - "Float on the melody" just sounded better than "French horn melody" and I wasn't going to try to learn how to play French Horn. Also, I dedided to go witha Minor key and a flamence rhythm.
On my recording software wav file it sounded fine. I used Audacity to convert the wave to an MP3 and it added a lot of popping noise. If anyone knows how to get rid of it, please let me know.
Hi MrEWorm,
Wonderful recording :mrgreen: I really liked the mix of instruments and the overall feel of the song.
One suggestion would be it seems like a great laid back grove, but needs a bit of a vocal solo or high point for some contrast and to build a bit of intensity and interest....and then settle back into the groove.....2 ways: one sing some higher notes in your range and two possible play with some syncopated or off the beat lyrical phrases.
....but even as is, it's very enjoyable :wink:
Thanks for sharing.
James
I used Audacity to convert the wave to an MP3 and it added a lot of popping noise. If anyone knows how to get rid of it, please let me know.
It might be if you don't have a compressor on the audio signal, so when the audio signal pushes too far in digital, it just kind of explodes and doesn't sound too nice. One solution is to put compression on the audio tracks another is to be sure the signals are on the low side; not pushing the master meter into the red.
You can also try googling some youtube explanations about compression or maybe ask in a "techie" part of guitarnoise forum.
I edited it to remove the slapping sound. Not really sure what I did to remove it. While recording the rhythm, I was slapping the uke as I have seen flamenco guitarists do. It just didn't come out right in the mix.
Instruments used: Kamaka Tenor Ukulele, Kala U-Bass ukulele, National Reso-Rocket Guitar.
