Hello all.
So this one's complicated...
I'm writing a modern version of the Ancient Greek play
Electra by Sophocles.
Ancient Greek plays alternate between episodes and odes. The former are dialogue scenes between actors; the latter are chants performed by a chorus of 12 or 15.
But instead of the traditional choral odes, I'm writing songs - and I've decided that these songs need to be performed on a looper (
http://www.boss.info/bossloop/). I've decided this because the play's characters seems to be trapped in a cycle of destruction and I want to echo that in the iterative, circular quality of looper performances.
Why do you need to know this? Because otherwise you'll look at the multi-column lyrics below and think I've gone mad (which quite possibly I have).
For those unfamiliar with loopers, a looper records what you sing (or beatbox, or play) and plays it back while you're singing something else. It then records that and plays it back while you're singing something else. It then records that...
This means that what you just sang four bars ago can be playing underneath what you are singing now. And that's why there are columns in my lyrics.
(If you're reading this on a narrow screen, it might look very weird indeed, so sorry.) Also, each line is one bar, which sometimes makes the line breaks look a bit odd.
The song will be performed live onstage entirely by a vocalist, who will use the looper's built-in vocal effects to create percussion, bass, pads, lead guitars, etc. So when it says "guitar solo", it isn't really - but it kind of is...
Phew, that took a while.
(
Electra is about revenge and oppression, by the way.)
All comments welcome!
***
Burn It Down
So this world is sorrow,
And this world is hate,
And it's true tomorrow
Looks even worse than today.
But there's a higher justice
Comes to those who wait.
And I promise trust is
Always rewarded if you
Pray for the
Weak.
Turn the other
Cheek.
Pray for the So try to calm your fury,
Weak. Try to soothe your rage,
Turn the other Somewhere there's a jury
Cheek. Handing down a verdict on this
Pray for the Age. And there's a golden glory
Weak. That will rise instead -
Turn the other A happy-ending story
Cheek. Nothing like the voices in your
Burn it Head!
Down!
Burn it
Down!
[Guitar solo]
So try to eat their poison,
Try to buy their lies,
While their greed destroys a
Nation that they secretly des-
pise. And all the little people
Will one day share the crown -
And pigs'll fly and sheep'll
Hunt the wolves and burn their houses
Down! Burn it
[Guitar solo] Down!
Burn it
Down!
All you need is patience,
All you need is love,
And the expectation
Someday your virtue will pay.
So take the fire that fills you -
That you're frightened of -
And even if it kills you,
Just light a candle and then
Pray for the Burn it
Weak. Down!
Turn the other Burn it
Cheek. Down!
Pray for the Burn it
Weak. Down!
Turn the other Burn it
Cheek. Down!© Matt Lyon, all rights reserved.