A Bell In The Valley

SmokeyVW

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Description

as the winter solstice approaches

i wrote this melody in the mid 70's as a belated anti-war song, with entirely different lyrics (which i can't find anywhere, i guess i lost them, but they were trite, as i recall). the opening three notes are lifted from the US national anthem "The Star Spangled Banner". sometime around 1990 or so, i did a MIDI version of it that i included on a cassette of traditional Christmas songs that i had sequenced.

i wrote these new lyrics a few days ago.

more versions:

http://www.macjams.com/song/37406 by SmokeyVW
http://www.macjams.com/song/37422 by Moviz
http://www.macjams.com/song/37499 by arachnidzone
http://www.macjams.com/song/37528 by buckhorn
http://www.macjams.com/song/37669 by abstractreality
http://www.macjams.com/song/37772 by Cori Ander
http://www.macjams.com/song/37777 by jfaaz
http://www.macjams.com/song/37807 by Bud
http://www.macjams.com/song/37815 by SmokeyVW
http://www.macjams.com/song/37850 by filters are fun
http://www.macjams.com/song/46825 by Rik_Berryere
http://www.macjams.com/song/47823 by ic42
http://www.macjams.com/song/48355 by wurzel
http://www.macjams.com/song/48523 by davajonah
http://www.macjams.com/song/48669 by Doadars Uncle
http://www.macjams.com/song/48670 by deputydoofy
http://www.macjams.com/song/55727 by PaulaMunk
http://www.macjams.com/song/55729 by mybravedesign
http://www.macjams.com/song/55993 by Ren-Tin-10
http://www.macjams.com/song/57683 by Ren-Tin-10
http://www.macjams.com/song/57814 by Doadars Uncle
http://www.macjams.com/song/57857 by Skean
http://www.macjams.com/song/63221 by Roxylee
http://www.macjams.com/song/63247 by richard13
http://www.macjams.com/song/64300 by Ren-Tin-10
http://www.macjams.com/song/70911 by dimm witness
http://www.macjams.com/song/75593 by richard13
http://www.macjams.com/song/75599 by TennesseeVic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Open Collaboration Forum Thread -- Add your version to the collection.

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Lyrics

There's A Bell In The Valley

There's a bell in the valley
It sings to the wind
There's a bell in the valley
Where do i begin

This time i will listen
But will i hear the song

This night as i'm sleeping
A long, long way from home
I'm a long, long way from home

There's a voice in the valley
It speaks to my mind
There's a voice in the valley
It speaks to mankind

But who here is lis'ning
And hearing what it says

This night as we're dreaming
A long, long way from home
We're a long, long way from home
We're a long, long way from home

(c) 2007 Bill Grundmann

Song Stats

Hits: 3424
Comments: 31
Fans: 19
Plays: 293
Downloads: 154

Uploaded: Dec 05, 2007 - 10:32:20 PM
Last Updated: Dec 22, 2012 - 03:42:18 PM Last Played: May 10, 2013 - 10:15:36 AM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-ShareAlike

Song Actions

Keywords:

bell (18), valley (14), home (71), resolution (9), a bell in the valley (4)

Comments

lengold	lengold said 1997 days ago (December 6th, 2007)
	Very nice holiday feel Bill, but where were the vocals - have you posted an incomplete version? Cheers Len Check out my latest song called B E A U T I F U L

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 1997 days ago (December 6th, 2007)
	could be a collab the initial idea was to have the listener read the lyrics while listening, so that the message comes through on a second channel. or perhaps sing it to themselves. it's supposed to be kind of personal. of course, if someone would like to replace the glockenspiel with a vocal - that would be nice too! Check out my latest song called RUOK

Roxylee	Roxylee said 1997 days ago (December 6th, 2007)
	I love the bells and the drone, and the imagined art and lyrics, too. :-) Check out my latest song called Emma, by davisamerica

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 1997 days ago (December 6th, 2007)
	. you got it! this is another experiment in minimalism i suppose. thanks Check out my latest song called RUOK

lostsongs

lostsongs said 1997 days ago (December 6th, 2007)

Excellent post Smokey
I got the concept from the start with the artwork. At first I thought it represented the darkest day - longest night - then with the poem it started to click as a fill-in-the-blanks thing. Very cool. You should solicit a vocal track from everyone - without any lead vocal to go by and see what you could build from all the different takes.

Check out my latest song called Lost and Found

bud	bud said 1997 days ago (December 6th, 2007)
	oops again it's hard keeping it straight. Check out my latest song called ditto

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 1997 days ago (December 6th, 2007)
	. identity crisis? a strange phenomenon that. Check out my latest song called RUOK

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 1997 days ago (December 6th, 2007)
	. i really like your idea of multiple takes sans the melody. a mix would approach the idea of everyone contributing, each in their own way, to the whole. which, actually, is precisely what is happening all around us, every day. that fits nicely. wow. Check out my latest song called RUOK

kingbee	kingbee said 1997 days ago (December 6th, 2007)
	Loveley I don't really like xmas..but I like your song..and it softened my heart a little. I must be going soft in my old age ;-) Nice composition..not too sure it really needs vocals. Sounds good as it is Check out my latest song called Home

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 1974 days ago (December 28th, 2007)
	. the sentiments are not actually about Christmas, but perhaps more about new years' resolutions. it's kind of a "fill in the blanks" sort of thing. perhaps that explains it. thanks for listening Check out my latest song called RUOK

Henke

Henke said 1997 days ago (December 6th, 2007)

You know
I read the lyrics while listening to the music and I thoght, "hope he's not going to sing this and ruin it". (Oops, maybe that was not so polite, but you know I usually like instrumental's best...) And you'd just fooled me all the way to heaven! Cause I really like this one, music and lyrics! It gave me the first sprinkle of Christmas joy this year...

Thanks!

/Henke

Check out my latest song called Spring

Henke	Henke said 1997 days ago (December 6th, 2007)
	BTW Cool minimalistic artwork too ;-) Check out my latest song called Spring

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 1997 days ago (December 6th, 2007)
	. actually at the moment i can almost hear Moviz doing a voice over on this - no singing - just gentle speech... Check out my latest song called RUOK

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 1997 days ago (December 6th, 2007)
	that artwork it's not all dark you know - under the right conditions you may perceive something :-) Check out my latest song called RUOK

Moviz	Moviz said 1997 days ago (December 6th, 2007)
	A Lovely take on a Christmas song with thought provoking words.... a nice mysterious sound with that slightly ominous background drone and the lighter bright bells that say it will all be fine.... nice sound and words, cheers M Check out my latest song called Shine Your Light

peacepiano	peacepiano said 1997 days ago (December 6th, 2007)
	Simple Sweet and simple and just right for the season. Thanks Bill Check out my latest song called Sex tet

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 1974 days ago (December 28th, 2007)
	. thank you! Check out my latest song called RUOK

MissChaos	MissChaos said 1996 days ago (December 7th, 2007)
	O' Beautful... Organic and fluid -- lots of restraint to pull off something so minimal that packs such a punch. Bravo. I can hear our dear Mystified's voice in this... Check out my latest song called Little Perfect*

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 1974 days ago (December 28th, 2007)
	. this ended up growing into a collab "project" - i think you may be the one who planted that seed. thanks! Check out my latest song called RUOK

guitapick	guitapick said 1996 days ago (December 7th, 2007)
	I downloaded this... ...it reminds me of my childhood. In my dark room...staring at the lighted church and little lighted Christmas tree next to it. Portable turntable playing carols... Thanks so much... Check out my latest song called 'Cuz I Can

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 1974 days ago (December 28th, 2007)
	. maybe it's those bells. i glad i dug up this old tune. thank you Check out my latest song called RUOK

michael2	michael2 said 1993 days ago (December 10th, 2007)
	sooo beautiful. i'm really jealous of this one, you got the gift. Check out my latest song called yes you told me (that you're cynical)

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 1974 days ago (December 28th, 2007)
	. don't know what to say, so i'll just say thanks! Check out my latest song called RUOK

Cori Ander

Cori Ander said 1985 days ago (December 18th, 2007)

BEAUTIFUL
Hi Smokey, glad you posted the invitation to make versions of this gem. As soon as I heard it (a couple of hours ago) I was struck by its beauty. It sensed as a perfect Christmas tune. Like a classic.

Occasionally I happened to have two rare things at the moment: 1) the microphones set up for recording 2) time. So I decided to give the day to this tune.

Here it is:

http://www.macjams.com/song/37772

cheers
Johannes

Check out my latest song called Nu tändas tusen juleljus

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 1974 days ago (December 28th, 2007)
	. thanks so much for jumping in. your version came out beautiful. Check out my latest song called RUOK

said 1854 days ago (April 27th, 2008)

Holiday!
This is the real great "Holiday" tune. One of the very bests ever posted here. You really captured the atmosphere of the Christmas and turned it into a music. I guess that it wasn't so easy to do because the Christmas has its own style of music. Thanks for sharing such a masterpiece. KUDOS for this work and all the participants who added to this piece.

(Cori Ander's version sounded great btw!)

Take Care
- Yeman A. Al-Rawi

richardhowardjones	richardhowardjones said 1814 days ago (June 5th, 2008)
	Thank you. I really like this tune. Could you mail me? I have a couple of ideas. Check out my latest song called NIGHTFALL

Char	Char said 1734 days ago (August 25th, 2008)
	Sorry, late, to hear this. Somehow, I don't want to hear what others have done with this, at least, not yet. Genius. :) Thank you. Check out my latest song called The Sea

sschedra

sschedra said 1273 days ago (November 29th, 2009)

Bill,
I had listened to this a while back and then left in a hurry and didn't comment. I just want to share how truly special this song is. This song reaches right into the soul. It brought tears to my eyes. Its beauty and sadness are like a shinning star on Christmas eve. This is a truly iconic Holiday song. One that should reverberate around the world.
Stephen

Check out my latest song called E Lucevan Le Stelle

FEEL	FEEL said 1248 days ago (December 24th, 2009)
	Very fine tune It gives me goose bumps. So clean and Christmas like... What better way to spend the Holidays, without war. I don't know how I missed this one. Check out my latest song called I Want Emoticon

TennesseeVic	TennesseeVic said 154 days ago (December 22nd, 2012)
	Bell This is truly an inspirational tune. Let me try to do it justice. Check out my latest song called A Bell in the Valley