Music Day

It's Friday already?

...Friday's almost over already?

Crap. I guess I need to find a song. (*starts scrolling through iTunes frantically*)

So, um... how have you all been? What's been going on in your world?

Me, well lately I've been (ooh, maybe Sheila Walsh? Oh wait, the iTunes Store doesn't carry her stuff yet) working on choreography, like I think I've probably mentioned lately.

It's been going pretty well. I picked a song I've had an intro to for like months and have determined that I will not work on any other choreography until that piece is done. At least in rough draft form. Also I decided I'd work on it every single day until it's done. Even if that work just means transcribing my hastily-scrawled English-language notes about it into Benesh notation without actually coming up with new steps. Because making sure it's understandable six months from now still counts, if you ask me.

And believe it or not, I've already choreographed the entire seventeen-second intro, the first verse and the first chorus. I've transcribed about halfway through the verse.

Also, speaking of choreography, my dance friend and I have decided that we're going to do a NaNoWriMo-esque choreography month in May. There is already a similar challenge in January, but it was the last week of January before we found out about it and anyway, they don't have a minimum accomplishment threshold like NaNoWriMo does. And without a definite goal to push toward, neither of us gets anything accomplished (well, I don't anyway).

We're still trying to figure out what kind of goal to set (a certain number of minutes' worth in a month? a certain number of pages in a month?), but we've already set aside the first of June to get together and share May's output with each other.

So I've found a song!

This is another one from my childhood, from my father's collection. This is one of his favourite artists -- he has this song on vinyl (probably twice) and at least twice on CD. This is probably my favourite song from this artist... there's this moment, about four and a half minutes into it, after the lyric Not to speak a word... there's a pause and then a tremble of excitement in his voice in the next line that gets into the depths of your mind and sends itself down your spine because you know the celebration is coming and the excitement begins to build and it makes your hands flutter in anticipation.

And then with triumph the celebration starts! and it makes your heart beat faster and it makes you get up out of your chair and jump around, reaching higher with every leap, and it makes you sing along at the top of your lungs and by the time the song ends you're completely spent from the previous two minutes but you're totally exhilarated.

It feels dramatic, but it's also so real. And to top it all, this features some of his best lyric crafting (in my opinion).

Title: Gotta Tell Somebody
Artist: Don Francisco
Album: Got To Tell Somebody
Year: 1979
Label: Newpax Records
iTunes here; YouTube here.
(Based on the miracle documented in Mark chapter 5 verses 21-24 and 35-43. It's also covered in Luke chapter 8 verses 41, 42, and 49 through 56.)

And doesn't the analogue mixing/mastering just make that celebration? This song wouldn't be nearly as big a part of my memory as it is now if it weren't for the sound of the celebration pushing the volume limits of late-1970s recording equipment.


But with authority I'd never heard from the lips of any man
He spoke and every sound rolled out with the thunder of command...

He gave me life when all hope was dead
Where there was grief He brought joy instead...