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Keywords:
bell (9), valley (10), home (43), resolution (9), a bell in the valley (3)
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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/37434 by Bud
http://www.macjams.com/song/37499 by arachnidzone
http://www.macjams.com/song/37595 by sonny jim
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
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Open Collaboration Forum Thread -- Add your version to the collection.
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
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Very nice &mdash 12/06/07 - 07:39:04 AM
holiday feel Bill, but where were the vocals - have you posted an incomplete version?
Cheers
Len
[ Reply to This ]
could be a collab &mdash 12/06/07 - 07:52:59 AM
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!
[ Reply to This ]
I love the bells &mdash 12/06/07 - 07:49:56 AM
. &mdash 12/06/07 - 07:54:55 AM
you got it! this is another experiment in minimalism i suppose.
thanks [ Reply to This ]
Excellent post Smokey &mdash 12/06/07 - 08:08:48 AM
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. [ Reply to This ]
oops again &mdash 12/06/07 - 08:19:37 AM
. &mdash 12/06/07 - 05:16:03 PM
. &mdash 12/06/07 - 05:13:34 PM
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. [ Reply to This ]
Loveley &mdash 12/06/07 - 09:03:53 AM
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 [ Reply to This ]
. &mdash 12/28/07 - 09:50:55 PM
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 [ Reply to This ]
You know &mdash 12/06/07 - 03:26:26 PM
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 [ Reply to This ]
BTW &mdash 12/06/07 - 03:27:51 PM
. &mdash 12/06/07 - 05:10:01 PM
actually at the moment i can almost hear Moviz doing a voice over on this - no singing - just gentle speech...
[ Reply to This ]
that artwork &mdash 12/06/07 - 05:05:28 PM
it's not all dark you know - under the right conditions you may perceive something
:-) [ Reply to This ]
A Lovely take &mdash 12/06/07 - 05:58:43 PM
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 [ Reply to This ]
Simple &mdash 12/06/07 - 08:43:39 PM
. &mdash 12/28/07 - 09:52:37 PM
O' Beautful... &mdash 12/07/07 - 03:23:32 PM
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... [ Reply to This ]
. &mdash 12/28/07 - 09:55:29 PM
this ended up growing into a collab "project" - i think you may be the one who planted that seed.
thanks!
[ Reply to This ]
I downloaded this... &mdash 12/07/07 - 04:38:45 PM
...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... [ Reply to This ]
. &mdash 12/28/07 - 09:57:11 PM
sooo &mdash 12/10/07 - 06:49:43 PM
. &mdash 12/28/07 - 10:05:00 PM
BEAUTIFUL &mdash 12/18/07 - 08:57:42 AM
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 [ Reply to This ]
. &mdash 12/28/07 - 10:03:25 PM
Holiday! &mdash 04/27/08 - 02:11:14 AM
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 [ Reply to This ]
Thank you. &mdash 06/05/08 - 11:15:36 PM
I really like this tune. Could you mail me? I have a couple of ideas. [ Reply to This ]
Sorry, late, to hear this. &mdash 08/25/08 - 07:03:38 PM
Somehow, I don't want to hear what others have done with this, at least, not yet. Genius. :) Thank you. [ Reply to This ]
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Cheers
Len
[ Reply to This ]