World music – top 10 profound themes quest
I’m about to start a new music project, which has next few cornerstones:
- Find out 10 to 14 songs from different continents, countries or ethnic groups
- Make uniform arrangement for each melody, rhythm and vocal part of the songs
- Record songs with group of co-workers and artists
- Share musical views through different windows to the unique experience of different cultures and their spiritual heritage
So I’d like to find a typical and describing song for each of the selected part of the world. Songs should have sophisticated theme for lyrics, not just songs about love or hate, perhaps some spiritual meaning behind the message, but not in narrow meaning. In addition rhythmical and melodic part of the song should describe the common personality of people or culture living on the area.
Second step is to make arrangement for guitar, perhaps one other ethnic instrument, singer and in some cases maybe choral part. If we think oriental or African native songs, they usually have conversation between lead singer and audience, so it would be crucial to get that feeling on such songs.
It might be necessary, that some lyrics must be translated to common languages, but I’m preparing to cover some exotic languages also. Singer with multilingual talents is really hard to find, but not impossible as I’ve seen recently.
As a start for the project, I’m leaving an open blog post here for comment and giving suggestions to the first part of the project. If you have time and interest, you could help me a lot by replying to these “small” questions:
Song name (native) [write song title in native language]
Song name (English) [write song title in English or other common language]
Region [country, continent or other area, where music is originated]
Music description [describe rhythm, melody and instruments used in original
song, link to music sample mp3 or video or any additional
resource]
Lyrics description [describe message on lyrics, link to lyrics sample or write
lyrics here]Give your name and email to the comment form so that I can contact you later. Please feel free to link to your website or for example Twitter account as well to get some link juice back.
When I get 10-14 songs collected, which may well take from weeks to months, I’ll raffle a $100 Amazon gift card between all serious contributors.
- Some of my music inspiration sources
- Greetings from summer vacation
- Virtues album – Purity
- The viral world of Twitter
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Song name (native) Hebrew doesn’t seem to be supported in this format so you’ll have to go to this link:
http://ot006.urj.net/files/hebrew/V%27shamru.pdf
To see the song in Hebrew as well as transliterated.
Song name: The song is called V’Shamru which itself is not English, just the transliterated version of the Hebrew word.
Region: This is a traditional song for Jews. There are issues with pronunciation between different ethnic Jewish populations, but in general Sephardi pronunciation is accepted as the “correct” one, but you can hear Ashkenazim as well as Ethiopian, and Yemenite as well. Ladinos would probably use the Sephardi pronunciation as well.
Music description: Many times this is sung/chanted a Capella as accompaniment is not always available.
Here is a link to it being played on a Lyre which would certainly have been used at some point in our history.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=30329014
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGjrDCiIaco
This above is poor quality audio but it shows how this can be played/sung by a gathering of musicians and Jews.
Lyrics description
“The People of Israel shall keep Shabbat, observing Shabbat throughout the ages as a covenant for all time. It is a sign for all time between Me and the people of Israel. For in six days Adonai made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day G-d ceased from work and was refreshed.”
—Those are the lyrics. Shabbat is very important to Jews. The most important thing we have. More than anything else, keeping Shabbat has sustained us a people for all time.
Here is a more typical arrangement and how you would more often see this song done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4IkjzI2VL0&feature=related
And perhaps a better example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbiWlLUHoDg
Karen (@temptabo) that was perfect! Lyre music was fascinating. You totally grabbed the idea I’m after and put the line high as it needs to be. Humble thanks.
In addition I want to share one marvellous project, that could inspire to fulfill top 10 profound themes quest:
2 years around the world +1000h music +100h video http://bit.ly/1GiantLeap by D. Bridgeman & Jamie Catto http://bit.ly/JamieCatto – Project has own website on http://whataboutme.tv I saw a documentary of it from Yle Teema just today.
Song name: Rodo Cotidiano
Song name (English): Daily Rake
Region: Brazil, Rio de Janeiro
Music description
The song is from a brazilian band callet “O Rappa”, and it’s a mix of alternative rock, hip hop and rap rock. As far as I can hear and see it got guitar, bass, drums, additional percussion and keyboard or sampler, sorry I’m not sure. This band’s songs are very “city like”, and when you lisen to it it’s very easy to understand why. The rhythm itself makes you imagine a very busy, big town and the different people that live there in the streets. So it kind of describs the metropolitan cities of the Brazilian southeast, wich is the heart of the country, although it’s only one part of the culture.
Only the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQOAvDulN-Q&feature=related
Live:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwdfR8NFcB8&feature=related
Lyrics description
The lyrics are full of willpower and it speaks in name of the workers, the people that are in these towns everyday trying to make a living for themselfs and for their families. About people here that don’t have time for themselfs, time to try sometinhg new for their lives, or time to persue a dream. They sometimes have to bring food for their work, and walk around with no money on their pocket. It is said in the lyrics too that these people “don’t walk where they like to walk, but in here you can’t run, everybody touch everybody” (meaning that, because of the hurry and small places, people dash eathother all the time). Then it is mentioned the “minhoca de metal”, wich is how some people call the subway, a very used means of transportation in those big cities. They still say that “the space is short (small), almost a cural” (cural is the place where oxen and cows are maintained).
Anyway, that is a song that I think express the reality of the big urban centers here. The band have these lyrics that say a lot about the social live, and it’s critical. If you are looking for something different I will be glad to help. But I wanted to show that, in my opinium, something like samba it’s not exactly what represents the country nowadays.
Lyrics:
http://vagalume.uol.com.br/o-rappa/rodo-cotidiano.html
Susana: That was fantastic contribution! I think I’m going to contribute some examples as well. I have two canditates, maybe they both make way to here this and next week.
One of our best guittar player, Paulinho Nogueira. The song’s name is “Samba em Prelúdio”, authors are Vinicius de Moraes e Baden Powell. The lyrics is related to a passinate man askng for his love life. The woman abandoned him and he sings: “Come, come my darling, without you I am nobody. Come, my darlyng, my eyes need your eyes, my arms need yours, come to see the life, our love were made for us, separeted we can’t stand.”
That was excellent contribution Fabio. Paulinho played great, wish I could take time to learn that piece, but his playing style and rhythm sense is so sophisticated, that I think it would take years for me to achieve. Thanks for suggestion!