JPF Home Page Forums Lyric and MP3 Feedback MP3 Feedback Forum Song Challenge- Eugene Field's "Long Ago"

I've wanted for a long time to see how our friends here a JPF interpret the lyrics of others. Most poets of the 19th and early 20th century had a good sense of rhythm and rhyme. Is anyone interested in tackling this little gem by Eugene Field? My first idea was to pick a lyric from the JPF archives but this is safer I think because we don't have to figure out whose JPF lyric to choose. I think this a compelling poem. Louis, Joanne, Heidi. Mike, Moker, Al, Paul, John, are you game? It doesn't have to be a big production- just piano or guitar vocal would be great. I'll try my hand at it to.


Long Ago
by Eugene Field (1850-1895)

I once knew all the birds that came
And nested in our orchard trees,
For every flower I had a name---
My friends were woodchucks, toads, and bees;
I knew where thrived in yonder glen
What plants would soothe a stone-bruised toe---
Oh, I was very learned then,
But that was very long ago.

I knew the spot upon the hill
Where checkerberries could be found,
I knew the rushes near the mill
Where pickerel lay that weighed a pound!
I knew the wood---the very tree
Where lived the poaching, saucy crow,
And all the woods and crows knew me---
But that was very long ago.

And pining for the joys of youth,
I tread the old familiar spot
Only to learn this solemn truth:
I have forgotten, am forgot.
Yet here 's this youngster at my knee
Knows all the things I used to know;
To think I once was wise as he!---
But that was very long ago.

I know it 's folly to complain
Of whatsoe'er the fates decree,
Yet, were not wishes all in vain,
I tell you what my wish should be:
I 'd wish to be a boy again,
Back with the friends I used to know.
For I was, oh, so happy then---
But that was very long ago!

UPDATE: Here is what I came up with.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=538905&songID=5590899

Hmm, might be fun, have I got more than an hour. lol.

Come on Louis, take your time. This should be right up you alley.

This is public domain. change it if you want but I think it is really well done just like it is.

Ok, here's a rough take, just 1st verse.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=100639&songID=5573651

Interesting.....

I read the last two lines of the first verse and immediately thought of Dylan's "My Back Pages":

But I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now

Then I was amused to find that the entire verse sings nicely with the exact melody of "My Back Pages".

So that's the melody I'd use - no need to record it - it's readily available

Haven't listened to Louis's take yet though...

Scott

Just listened - nice job, Louis....

I've never been able to write melodies to lyrics. But I do have some melodies that I am working on lyrics for. One of them happened to fit this pretty well, I think.

It's here (one take, rough):

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=377550&songID=5573931

Scott

Hey guys,
Now there's a concept! Take an old poem or lyric now in public domain, post it and make a little melody writing contest out of it. What a delightful idea! Yes, it would be fun to hear what folks will come up with. Who knows, might lead to a new classic folk song or a contest winner!

I'm just not sure about this line:
Where lived the poaching, saucy crow,
But maybe that's better than what I could come up with?!

Michael

Scott, that was real pretty.

Michael, you gotta watch them crows.......

Hi All,

Both melodies are great. Before i listened to either, I tried singing it. You gotta understand, my cat runs for cover from the product of two cracked and scarred eardrums. Once upon a time I could sing, when I'm drunk enough I still think I can. But I do know flow. This flows very well. It's a beautiful poem, and will make a great song. Thanks for sharing it with us Sam.

I've been gone all day but I'm happy to see this has generated some interest. I don't want to listen to anything until I have mine finished but thanks for participating. As for any awkward lines, I say go ahead a rewrite them because this was probably written in the 19th century and I don't think Eugene will mind.

Hi,

Well, I couldn't stop myself from participating in this one. It's fun to experiment with new melodies. I just opened my mouth and this is what spilled out. First rough draft.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=675409

Thanks for sharing this poem. Great idea Samuel.

Vanessa

Oops Samuel,

I just noticed this was an 'invitation only' party. Sorry.

Oh well. Teach me to read all the post in the future

Not a very big challange, for as you say Samuel, most writers of this era had a good sense of metre, and this is no exception.
It is straight stanzas and relates to 16 bar turnarounds pretty weasily.
As I am test driving a new mike, I used the bed of my latest song to sing along to it as it had the required nubmer of sectionhs.
Now to go see what the others have done.
Meantime. Here is the link to my first go at it on my Graham Henderson And Friends Soundclick site.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=92616&songID=5577422
Graham

OK you reeled me in. This is before I listened to any other posting. Rough first take with all the errors from not knowing the lyrics or what chord to play next. I'll probably redo it as it was fun to do. Thanks for posting this challenge.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=116792&songID=5577588

Rick

Thanks for participating one all all. I am itching to listen to what you have come up with but I don't want to bias what I may come up with by listening. It may be Monday for me because I left all my recording gear at work.

I have a musical idea and I think I see what part will become the bridge. I love the "idea" in this- the child is wise enough to "know" the world more intimately than adults can.

Something like this certainly could have commercial potential in a period movie, for instance. It kind of reminds me the Kenney Loggins song- "Christopher Robin"

Some of the lines in that song:

but i wandered much further today than i should
and i cant seem to find my way back to the wood
so help me if you can i've got to get back
to the house at a quarter by one
you'll be surprise theres so much to be done
count all the bees in the hive
chase all the clouds from the sky

Vanessa, if this is a party, you are sure invited!

Ya know. This has been a very interesting caper for me.
Since doing the first take of this, I also used the same progression and did a jazzish take and put that on the same me and friends soundclick.
I was about to do a Bluegrass go at it but then decided it was more productive to bend the thougts into something closer to home, and the result I post below.
I like it anyway.
Same progression and told Jammer to go ye haw.
Graham
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=7032&songID=5582188

A Long Time Ago.
Copyright © Graham Henderson APRA 2007

When I was young, I knew every bird.
That came with seasons of the year.
And every bush call, that I heard.
I could answer pure and clear.
I could catch a rabbit with my bare hand.
And fish too where mountain waters flow.
I really was of the land.
But that was a long time ago.

Every dog I owned loved me.
And served me faithfully.
And the wildest stock soon would be.
Models of tranquillity.
Though the reason was never clear.
I knew that it was so.
That nature’s creatures held me dear.
But that was a long time ago.
Instrumental Four Bars.
Trucks and tractors soon replaced.
The slaves I cherished were mostly lost
To changing times that must be faced.
No matter what the cost.
Instead of spending my free time.
Training a youngster I had on the go.
I kept busy in books and grime.
Missing what seemed a long time ago.

But recently I got a DVD.
Of my son who’s gone up north.
Looking a whole lot like me.
With dogs herding back and forth.
As he rode tall, tanned and slim.
Through a patch of Brigalow.
And oh how I wished to be him.
But for me that was a long time ago.

Hi Samuel,

I guess I'll turn it into a party if it wasn't already!

So, where's your melody. I didn't have the luxury of working on this till 'Monday'. Have lots of stuff going on right now so I spent only 10 minutes on mine. But, it was a very nice diversion from all the tedious stuff going on here.

Glad to know I wasn't intruding.

Vanessa

I just finished my version. It is up on soundclick now.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=538905&songID=5590899

I recorded on a Roland digital 4 track. First track had guitar and vocal. Second track had fill and lead guitar (same guitar)
Thrid track had harmony vocal and for the last track I used an empty a 20 oz plastic coke bottle because it has a nice sound when you thump on it. If I had to do it over, I would seperate the vocal out so that I could sing to the mix.

Very nice job Samuel, it's beautiful.. I really like that coke bottle too....

Yeah, nice job Joe - I'm impressed how you gave it variations, given the consistency of the meter. Pretty interpretation too. Gonna have to try that coke bottle thing.....

Scott

Sounds good to me Samuel.
I was experimenting with percussions around the house yesterday and came up empty as far as a sound i liked.
Guess i have to go buy some Coke now. Sounds just about right.
Graham

Hi Sam,

You did a fabulous job with this. It came off as the verse, verse bridge verse format w/your melody and you even added an instrumental. Wow!

Best,
Lynn

Hi Samuel..

You blew this one out of the water. I had three versions done and none came close to this one.

Loved it.

Rick

So throw them up Rick.
I think that is the purpose of the trip.
To see what differant people come up with on a given set of words.
Graham

Sam,
I think you done this poem/lyrics right! Great melody, nice interpretation of the verses, adding a bridge, instrumental break and solemn ending. I think you nailed it!

As a thought, I bet there'd be a whole market for these kinds of folk style songs. The singing and production could all be very contemporary, but the lyrics could all be these kinds of classic writings bringing back some of the best of our historic culture.

By the way, this kind of music probably has huge licensing potential for film, documentary and History channel applications, if produced up to broadcast quality speed.

Got more?!
Michael

I just got back from taking my 17-year-old daughter to "Hairspray". There is some very clever writing in this musical- very funny. The only problem I had was John Travolta. They should have cast a woman because I didn't believe him for a minute. The young actress was very good though. We should tackle a musical some time- would be fun.


Now that I have heard all the takes on this, here is my observation" 1. they were all so different, it wouldn't have mattered had I listened to them before- except maybe Louis- I think he and I may have had a similar take on these lyrics.

Graham, you cheated by substituting your own lyrics but you are forgiven because you are 12000 miles away and you probably don't have Pickerel or Checkerberries down under anyway. Do you write to a track or do you write and add tracks later? I suspect you may be writing to pre existing tracks or to Band-in-the-box created tracks. I play harmonica and I will try to add that to my next song. Do you play "cross harp"- that is: use a G harp in the song of C for instance? It you haven't tried that yet, you will be amazed at how blusey the song will sound because it is easy to bend notes when you draw rather than blow.

Vanessa, you are a trooper for doing the song extemporaneously and a Capella. I would never try that! You have a nice sense of melody and fortunately, a good voice. I could hear your kid(s) in the background.

Scott, the song was working pretty well. I was hoping that both you and Louis would do the whole thing- especially to see if you detected the bridge that was hiding in the verse.

Rick, your treatment is one I would have never thought of. The only place where I thought the treatment "ran over" the lyrics is the part- I have forgotten, am forgot. It seems like that has to be delivered carefully because it is basically the heart of the poem.

Michael. About 15 years ago when I was writing a lot of kids songs, I took the poem from Wind in the Willows and turned it into a song and it turned out very well I think. I thought of pitching it to Disney. Other than that song, I don't recall ever trying to put music to old poems until "Long Ago". If you haven't read the book, the poem goes like this:

`DUCKS' DITTY.'
All along the backwater,
Through the rushes tall,
Ducks are a-dabbling,
Up tails all!

Ducks' tails, drakes' tails,
Yellow feet a-quiver,
Yellow bills all out of sight
Busy in the river!

Slushy green undergrowth
Where the roach swim--
Here we keep our larder,
Cool and full and dim.

Everyone for what he likes!
WE like to be
Heads down, tails up,
Dabbling free!

High in the blue above
Swifts whirl and call--
WE are down a-dabbling
Up tails all!

I barely changed a word- just repeated "Up tails all" with different harmonies.

We could make this the next challenge I guess cause I wouldn't have to do any work but if someone has an idea for a "musical" challenge, I am game. How about we take a scene from a popular movie and write a situational song as if we were writing a musical.

Well I do have two takes of it up on my Friends and me Soundclick that are in fact the original words Samuel
The links are there.
I was going to do the same with the country one but decided it was more productive to do a reword and make it a new song.
All the backings i made useing Soundtrek Jammer Pro 5.
They are all the sasme progression I punched into it with the genre changed twix them, along with tempo from memory.
I play mostly cross harmonica Samuel, but it all depends on what I am doing.
I sometimes use a chromatic harmonica if I have to change keys mid stream, but the little blues harmonicas are so dang easy and I am lazy.
And yep. Checkerberries and pickeral were words I had to work on as i don't think I have ever herad them, let alone used them before.
Lot of fun Samuel, and i look forward to hearing any others that come up.
It sure does make a person rethink the "what's a poem and what's a lyric" debate we often see in the forums.
The cross for C is in fact a F harmonica Samuel. Not the other war around as you state.
C harmonica crossed plays G.
It is the fourth note of the scale of the key the song is in for major keys, and the best harmonica to use in minor keys is usually the seventh note of that minor scale, and sometimes the cross harmonica to the relitive major key.
Depending on what chords are used in either case.
Graham

Graham

Hi Sam,

I love it. You brought it life very well. Thanks for sharing.

I'm surprised this thread is sleeping so long given the interest shown to it at the start, and how much fun I had with it.
Graham

Anybody done any more toward this thread yet?
Given how much interest was shown earlier, I would like to hear anything else coming from it.
Graham

Samuel.. thanks for your idea, I really enjoyed doing this. I wanted to come up with something of my own, so I didn't get a chance to listen to everybody, but I'll post later this evening.
Graham, thanks for keeping this thread alive, I wouldn't have found it otherwise.
Here goes.. I hope this isn't too 80's for everybody's liking
http://www.lucasdemo.com/long_ago.mp3

Thanks JD. That is lovely.
I am about to head north later thisd morning and won't be around for a while so hope to see a couple more up when I get back.
I find it good to hear how differant people are phrasing the same set of words.
I did one yesterday and was sure it was going to be a 12 bar, but when I sang it, it wound up 16 bar, and I am not going to be surprised to oned day do it as a 12.
All depends on how it sits with the mind set we are in at point of entry I guess.
Thanks JD, You did very well with this.
I really like the guitar work, and the sing is no slouch either by the way.
Graham

Gosh Joe -
I love your music .. I love you lyrics, I love your voice .. I could listen you sing for hours ..
I missed this challenge .. but I never could have done better than this! Beautiful.
All the best
Joanne

I think the aim of the game is diffeant, not better Joanne.
Come on. Be a devil.
It is a lovely poem.
Graham.

That was beautiful, JD. Great job!

Scott

Very nicely done JD. It has a melancholy renaissance feel like
it should be playing in a Shakespeare play.

Joanne, thanks for the kind words. I guess that makes us mutual fans of each other. I recorded you at Pinevest. Are you interested in getting a DVD of your performance? I can't do it for everyone because I don't have the time but since you were on stage with Bob Cushing and he requested I send him a recording of his performance, it will be simple enough to send one to you if you are interested. This will be the first night you performed at Lyrix when you sang "Letting go"

If you would like it, PM me your address and I will mail it to you.

joe

As I used this to try something toward another thread regarding 6/4 time I thought I'd put the link to the nouise in here too.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=7032&songID=5671328
Graham

Did anyone do a waltz yet?

I did 5-6 vocal takes and it became obvious that I was never going to sing this one in tune -- sorry. I mercifully stopped the fight at one verse. I started off with just my acoustic guitar and me, but it just wasn't recording well, so I pulled out a "waltz jam" that had been posted at a guitar forum that I frequent.

I'll now go and listen to all the other versions!!!!!

MP3: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=620106&songID=5671742

Kevin

Hey Graham ...
I would love to join in .. just lacking a recording program ... one of the days .. hopefully soonish.
I am going back to listen to the other songs now...
Joanne

You mean you don't have a soundcard and microphone on your computere Joanne?
That is all you need to do a take good enough for this exasise.
I did use the free recording program Audacity but could have used my soundcard one just as easy.
I and I have botom of the range Creative Vibra soundcard and that came with the recording program and also wav studio lite which I have used but like Audacity better.
I have tpo go North right now so will checik back in about nthree weeks.
I was supposed to go yesterday but it has been raining too hard to load the trailer.
Thank goodness for some sunshine at last.
I has a few 3/4 things in stock.
I will see if any can go under this.
Graham
Graham

I think I have a soundcard.... and a mic ... gee ... duh ... feeling kind of "dumb" right now I'll have to check with my son when he stops by tomorrow.
thanks Graham
Joanne

May I try?..Sam....

I listened to everyone's except couldn't find V's and Louis's...
Enjoyed how differently each sounded... Nice work.., all...
with each stanza the same in pattern...I think it would be challenging.....

best...
Kaley


Many Genres Here:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=8404
Children's Music Here:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pageartist.cfm?bandID=6469
Wyman and Kaley's Andy & Friends CD Here:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kwwg

Kaley, I think you are a perfect canditdate to tackle this one. Would you be doing a vocal? I have never had any trouble following your piano tracks even without the vocal so either way I am sure you will be able to put some wings on this poem. I'm looking forward to hearing it.

This is a fantastic idea, I will give this a go tomorrow.

Andy

Thanks Andy, I'm looking forward to hearing it. Some of the language is a little dated (but still charming), but the idea in this poem is timeless.

Here we go

I went for a scottish folk approach to it, rolled out of bed this morning grabbed the guitar and just went with what came out.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=740403&songID=5694973

Andy

Very cool, Andy....

Scott

Thanks Scott,

Liked your take on it as well very nicely done. I had planned to go for the ballad angle too but got up today to nothing but bills in the mail so any thought of delicate went out the window

Andy