The Worm Is Free

Tom Atwood

Get Flash to see this player.

Description

This song is really an experiment. When finished, it will be a light Classical (and lighthearted) piece for 4 voices adapted from a poem I wrote years ago. Right now, the four vocal parts are played by MIDI instruments, and in this form, the piece is actually a quartet for clarinet, English horn, flute and bassoon.

I hope to find vocalists to sing the parts based on this instrumental version. I still have to figure out the best way to 'notate' the vocal score, something that doesn't seem to be easily done in GarageBand 2. So, while I work on that, and try to convince 4 MacJammers to collaborate on this, I thought I would post the instrumental version along with the planned lyrics, and the original poem which was written in 1969.

If you would like to sing one of the parts, just let me know. (You can get an idea, by reading below, how the lyrics will eventually replace the instruments with 4 vocal parts. )

Clarinet: The worm is free
English Horn: He has no mind
Flute: To bind himself
Bassoon: Like you and me.

Clarinet: He moves in a
English Horn: Secluded world
Flute: He’s sometimes straight,
Bassoon: And sometimes curled.

Clarinet (solo): But he doesn't care
What position he's in
If he had a face
He’d give us a grin.
English Horn (solo): But he cares not
What position he’s in
If he had a face
He’d give us a grin.

Clarinet: He's free as the breeze
English Horn: To do what he wants

English Horn: He has no mind
Flute: To bind himself
Bassoon: Like you and me.
Clarinet: Like you and me.

English Horn: He has no mind
Flute: To bind himself
Bassoon: Like you and me.
Clarinet: Like you and me.

All: The worm is free
All: The worm is free
All: The worm is free
All: Free
All: Free!

Leave a Comment

You must be registered and logged-in to comment.

Lyrics

THE WORM IS FREE

The worm is free
He has no mind
To bind himself
Like you and me.

He slithers along
In his secluded world
Sometimes straight,
Sometimes curled.

But he cares not
What position he's in
If he had a face
He'd give us a grin

For he's free as the breeze
To do what he wants
He has no mind
To bind himself
Like you and me.

The worm is free.

© 1969 Tom Atwood

Song Stats

Hits: 1337
Comments: 21
Fans: 3
Plays: 173
Downloads: 76
Votes: 7
Uploaded: Jul 17, 2005 - 07:50:54 AM
Last Updated: Jul 17, 2005 - 08:16:11 AM Last Played: Mar 25, 2009 - 10:40:26 PM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Song Actions

Hardware:

Casio Privia PX-300
G5

Software:

GB2
Jampack 4 Symphony Orchestra

Comments

	said 1576 days ago (July 17th, 2005)
	I like experiments I would be willing to give it a shot. I'm not sure I can do it justice vocally, and if my "attempt" is not used, that's fine with me. You have a solid foundation here, I'm sure the end result will be amazing once you have selected from your open auditions. Will there be a journey into variation or conterpoint? Keep us posted. Thank you.

Tom Atwood	Tom Atwood said 1576 days ago (July 17th, 2005)
	I like experiments Thanks, Alimar. I'll email you about this. As for variation and counterpoint, I would like to get these four parts recorded first, to see how the lyrics hold together. After that, I am open to other 'experimentation.' Thanks for your help! (I'm thinking you will take the bassoon part?) Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

stevel	stevel said 1576 days ago (July 17th, 2005)
	Lovely This sounds really nice indeed...very accomplished. I look forward to hearing the final 'vocal' version Steve Check out my latest song called Electricity

Tom Atwood	Tom Atwood said 1575 days ago (July 17th, 2005)
	Lovely Thanks, Steve. I heard thru the grapevine that you might want to apply some 'foghorn' to this? Was that a wild rumor? Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

perceptualvortex	perceptualvortex said 1576 days ago (July 17th, 2005)
	Wow Wish I could help, but can't sing. Those words are great! Don't really know much about chamber music, but the interplay of the parts here is really beautiful. I'd love to hear a final version. Check out my latest song called Machine Man (w Beastie Boys)

Tom Atwood	Tom Atwood said 1575 days ago (July 17th, 2005)
	Wow Thanks, PV. The poem was written as part of an English class project in 8th grade. Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

	said 1575 days ago (July 17th, 2005)
	Needed I always like to hear peaceful music after being wrapped up in my crooked, erratic music. Very well written, and i like that i can feel the passion in it. Evoking an emotion in music (I think), is the best thing you can do.

Tom Atwood	Tom Atwood said 1575 days ago (July 18th, 2005)
	Needed Thanks, Brandon. Glad I could help calm you down after your Drums__t piece. This must seem very bland to you by comparison. Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

saxking20

saxking20 said 1575 days ago (July 17th, 2005)

Great job!!!!
Wow am I blown away by your writing, the balance and the
whole piece! It's so nice to hear a cadence for a change....

One thing you might try. The flute is usually on top in
ensembles like this. Let the clarinet play the lead where
you want that sound but for the full quartet, I would like
to hear the flute.
I'm impressed, really impressed!!!

Check out my latest song called Rockin' Chair & Lemonade

Tom Atwood

Tom Atwood said 1575 days ago (July 18th, 2005)

Great job!!!!
I'm surprised you didn't suggest a sax for the lead, Charlie! Actually, the
instruments in this version are more like 'placeholders' than anything for the
voices that will soon (hopefully) replace them. I guess I put the clarinet on top
because I like the sound of the Jampack clarinet so much. It seems to sound
most authentic to me. Plus, I love the clarinet (even though, like you, I am an
old sax man).

Thanks for listening and for your comments.

Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

mandolinquent

mandolinquent said 1575 days ago (July 18th, 2005)

Lovely...
... thanks for letting us in on a half-way version. I'm
always knocked out by the delicate thoughtfulness of your
writing. (On a Monday morning, I can't think of a fancier
word, I'm afraid.) It'll be interesting to see how hard it is
to get four vocalists singing something as tightly-written
as this to sound like they're in the same room as each
other.

I'd be game, but there are many much better singers out
there so if they sign up, I'm more than happy to let them
go first.

Check out my latest song called Had We But World Enough

Tom Atwood

Tom Atwood said 1575 days ago (July 18th, 2005)

Lovely...
Thanks, Wm. I believe you are right about the difficulty ahead: getting the
vocalists to sound like they are in the same room, or on the same stage. My
feeling is if the lead vocalist (the clarinet) sings first, using the clarinet as her
guide, then the other vocalists can follow her 'lead.' Then, ultimately, the
wind instruments will be dropped from the final version, which will be
acapella (except for accompaniment in that middle section where the
bassoons are playing a rhythmic figure along with the clarinet and flute). We'll
see. Stay tuned as they say.

Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

Tom Atwood	Tom Atwood said 1575 days ago (July 18th, 2005)
	Lovely... I'm having word problems this Monday morning, too. I could not pull the word 'syncopation' from my brain to describe the middle bassoon section. So I wrote 'rhythmic figure,' instead. (Or, rhythmic figger as you would say in the UK). Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

Mystified

Mystified said 1575 days ago (July 18th, 2005)

The worm is really $.025
Everyone knows THAT, Tom...
Unless you get 12 for $3.00, in which case you can never tell if any of those worms are really free, seeing that $3 divided by 12 is still $0.25, so you see, a free worm is a ruse.
(And if you don't believe me, ask perceptualvortex. He knows...)

But seriously, this is a delightful piece. You astound me with your creativity.
Looking forward to hearing this further developed :)

Check out my latest song called Forever Voyaging (space race 2009)

Tom Atwood

Tom Atwood said 1575 days ago (July 18th, 2005)

The worm is really $.025
Hate to throw your math off, Ms.Tyfied, but $.025 is actually 2 1/2 cents, so
your division, and the premise of your comment, is faulty. You seem to be
bound, in a way, by your mind. You might learn something from this lo-cost,
if not free, worm.

Still, I appreciate your comments, and look forward to your participation in
this experiment.

Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

Mystified	Mystified said 1575 days ago (July 18th, 2005)
	The worm is really $.025 Bah. That was a typo. SIMON!! MIGUEL!! someone fix that! ;) pfffft. Check out my latest song called Forever Voyaging (space race 2009)

Mystified	Mystified said 1575 days ago (July 18th, 2005)
	The worm is really a good deal, if you think about it... Hmmm... Clerical Error I bet Mungo would have something to say about this, too... Check out my latest song called Forever Voyaging (space race 2009)

	said 1574 days ago (July 18th, 2005)
	The worm is really a good deal, if you think about it... LOL. Interesting piece, Tom. I'm afraid if I grabbed anything I wrote in 8th grade it would be bunch of gibberish about the tyranny of nuns, the wonders of plaid skirts and the agony of acne. --- Mungo

White Hawks	White Hawks said 1574 days ago (July 19th, 2005)
	nice title and lyric i can't wait to hear this with your vocal:) thanks for sharing. - Hawks Check out my latest song called Shepherds Out in the Field

jackstone	jackstone said 1574 days ago (July 19th, 2005)
	Thank you for helpping me with chat You made alot of excellent music. Warm and sweet.You loved by music,great! sorry my English is childish.. Check out my latest song called July Sky

	said 1560 days ago (August 1st, 2005)
	I have to say I really enjoyed this music thanks for sharing

Fan List

saxking20

12m

White Hawks

Artist Info

Name: Tom Atwood

I guess I could be a 'poster child' for MacJams. I joined the site on New Year's Eve 2004, after several years of not making much music at all. A long dry spell. Since then, I have posted more than 50 songs here, collaborated with some wonderful arti... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

Genre Info

More songs in Open Collaborations:

Chat