In 1932, Mary Elizabeth Frye (1905-2004), an American, wrote a short poem to comfort a friend.
Do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning's hush I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there. I did not die.
Quote:
... the plight of a German Jewish woman, Margaret Schwarzkopf, who was staying with her and her husband, had inspired the poem. Margaret Schwarzkopf was concerned about her mother, who was ill in Germany, but she had been warned not to return home because of increasing unrest. When her mother died, the heartbroken young woman told Frye that she never had the chance to "stand by my mother's grave and shed a tear". Frye, according to Van Buren's research, found herself composing a piece of verse on a brown paper shopping bag. Later she said that the words "just came to her" and expressed what she felt about life and death.
Over the years, Mary Frye's words have inspired many creations.
Just recently, I came across a melody created by the Japanese composer Man Arai around 2006. This melody is very popular and has since been used by many.
1. Korean Lyrics (with English Subtitle Translation) The video clip below, is a South Korean translation and interpretation of Frye's poem set to Man Arai's melody. Performed by the South Korean lyric tenor, Im Hyeong-Ju, this version of the song was the memorial song for the 304 people who lost their lives in MV Sewul ferry tragedy in 2014.
From a lyric-writing perspective, what fascinates me most is comparing the two sets of lyrics and seeing how the two songs are structured. This allows me to ascertain how Frye's words were modified so that they could be massaged into really outstanding musical works in different languages and set against an existing melody.
I hope you find listening and watching these videos as instructive as I did.
1. The South Korean lyrics (translated into English)
Quote:
Please don't cry at my grave I am not there, I do not sleep Please don't cry for me I am a thousand winds I become a thousand winds that blow I am flying freely in the wide sky
I am the sunlight on the ripened grain in Autumn I am the diamond glint on snow in Winter I will wake you in the morning, becoming the lark I am the stars that shine at night I will defend you
You, standing in front of my grave Please stop your tears I am not there Please don't think I died I am a thousand winds I become a thousand winds that blow I am flying freely in the wide sky
I am a thousand winds I become a thousand winds that blow I am flying freely in the wide sky
I am flying freely in the wide sky
2. The English lyrics
Quote:
Please do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there, I do not sleep I am the sunlight on the ripened grain I am the gentle autumn rain
I am a thousand winds I am a thousand winds that blow I am the diamond glint on snow I am a thousand winds that blow
Please do not stand at my grave and cry I am not there, I did not die I am the swift rush of birds in flight I am the stars that shine at night
I am a thousand winds I am a thousand winds that blow I am the diamond glint on snow I am a thousand winds that blow
Please do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there, I do not sleep I am the sunlight on the ripened grain I am the gentle autumn rain
I am a thousand winds I am a thousand winds that blow I am the diamond glint on snow I am a thousand winds that blow
I am a thousand winds I am a thousand winds that blow I am the diamond glint on snow I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glint on snow I am a thousand winds that blow
I'm really glad that you found time to have listen.
I absolutely love Man Arai's melody and the way it carries me along and really tugs at my heart strings. Im Jeong-Ju has a truly spectacular voice and his ability to stir my feelings transcends any language barriers that exist between his words and my ears.
My favourite version is with the Korean lyrics. For me, it's like listening to opera in Italian. I do not need to understand the words to feel the emotions behind the music, the words and their performance.
If you're interested, another truly outstanding presentation is the one below. I haven't worked out why but I cannot listen to this version without tears forming in my eyes. The combination of strings, piano, English horn, and Park Eun-Tae's voice really gets to me. I'd love to be able to write and arrange something to this level of expertise. (I'd better keep on practising!)
Hi Noel. I see that this poem is in the public domain... I think I would also like to have a go at setting it to music so I’m not going to listen to these examples until I have... thanks for some Sunday morning inspiration... definitely something I felt like I need today.
LyricLab A.I assisted chords and lyric app. Export lyrics and import directly into Band-in-a-Box 2024. https://lyriclab.net Play-along with songs you know and love, download SGU files https://playiit.com/
That's a really poignant poem, and a beautiful song to boot. I'm really curious to see where you take it It's neat to me that something of that nature is public domain - I've never heard of it before.
User Video: Band-in-a-Box® + ChatGPT = Impressed the BOSS!
Since AI is now readily available online as a resource for many things, we recently put together and shared a video where we demonstrated how to create a song using Band-in-a-Box®, ChatGPT, and Synth V; we've also shared a Bob Doyle Media video, Convert MIDI Chords into AI Vocal Harmonies with ACE Studio and Band in A Box, showing how they utilize AI for their song projects. Now it's time to share Henry's video, Band-in-a-Box + ChatGPT = Impressed the BOSS!, where he demonstrates how to use ChatGPT and Band-in-a-Box to whip a song project together in only 3-4 hours.
Visit Henry Clarke's YouTube Channel, Henry Clarke - Senior Musicians Unite, to find a large collection of tutorials showing the viewer how to achieve amazing results using Band-in-a-Box®!
If you've reviewed our Support page, you've probably noticed the Videos page, which separates our Band-in-a-Box® tutorial videos by category: Overview, VST DAW Plugin, Setup, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and there's even an Archive category to go down memory lane... (You'll also find these videos on our YouTube Channel.)
Ci siamo dati da fare e abbiamo aggiunto oltre 50 nuove funzionalità e una straordinaria raccolta di nuovi contenuti, tra cui 222 RealTracks, nuovi RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, "Songs with Vocals" Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 3, Playable RealDrums Set 2, due nuovi set di "RealDrums Stems", XPro Styles PAK 6, Xtra Styles PAK 17 e altro ancora!
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 apporte plus de 50 fonctions nouvelles ainsi qu'une importante de contenus nouveaux à savoir : 222 RealTracks, des RealStyles nouveaux, des SuperTracks MIDI, des Etudes d'Instruments, des Prestations d'Artistes, des "Morceaux avec Choeurs", un Set 3 de Tracks Jouables, un Set 2 de RealDrums Jouables, deux nouveaux Sets de "RealDrums Stems", des Styles XPro PAK 6, des Xtra Styles PAK 17 et bien plus encore!
Video: Making a Song with Band-in-a-Box®, ChatGPT, and Synth V
Take your Band-in-a-Box® project to a whole new level when you incorporate ChatGPT and Synth V to add lyrics and vocals to your song!
We wanted to demonstrate how this is done with our video, where we show you how to go from nothing to a finished "radio ready" modern pop song by combining the features of Band-in-a-Box®, ChatGPT, and Synth V!
User Video: Convert MIDI Chords into AI Vocal Harmonies with ACE Studio and Band-in-a-Box®
The Bob Doyle Media YouTube channel is known for demonstrating how you can creatively incorporate AI into your projects - from your song projects to avatar building to face swapping, and more!
His latest video, Convert MIDI Chords into AI Vocal Harmonies with ACE Studio and Band-in-a-Box, he explains in detail how you can use the Melodist feature in Band-in-a-Box with ACE Studio. Follow along as he goes from "nothing" to "something" with his Band-in-a-Box MIDI Melodist track, using ACE Studio to turn it into a vocal track (or tracks, you'll see) by adding lyrics for those notes that will trigger some amazing AI vocals!
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It's neat to me that something of that nature is public domain - I've never heard of it before.
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