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Hi, here is our new song. Please feel free to let us know what you think. Thank you.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=936270
Kindness I Mainly Recall (C)2009
Lyrics by Donna Devine, Music by Nadia Cripps

Gemma Louise Edwards (voice), Billy Playle (Cello) and Nadia Cripps (piano).

V1
Sleepless, I gaze through the window
At roses growing close to the wall
Dew from the long night is forming
I know many petals will fall

Chorus
Grey is the colour of my true loves hair
His eyes are faded blue
The hands that I love, once hard and strong
Look bruised where the veins show through
Where did it go? When did it go?
We seemed not to notice at all
With the passing of years, the joy and the tears
Its kindness I mainly recall

V2
We paid with youth for our wisdom
Yet memories make me smile late at night
For I know though these hours move slowly
In my heart, loves embers burn bright

Bridge
He's dreaming softly beside me
Once the lover who hid in my garden
Then came to my arms when the moon rose
And our bodies needed no pardon

Chorus

Nadia/ Donna,

This is just lovely!

This must be the perfect collaboration. Your wonderful romantic writing in conjunction with Nadia's flair for the musicals!

The performance is classical, and wonderfully done. Beautiful piano, the singing is stellar and the cello is gorgeous! And underneath I sense a little pop'ish flavour too, so I think this could have been in the Eurovision in stead of the Warren/ Webber one!

Somewhere in the second chorus, I felt the emotional wave coming in, so there the song must have broken down all of my male defences for crying!

Anyway, great job girls. This is a very promising match up!

Hi Donna and Nadia,

This is a beautiful lyric, Donna, and art song seems perfect for it.

Nadia, Your musical composition is beautiful, the bridge is absolutely gorgeous.

My only tiny nit is that the singer's vibrato slows noticeably at the top of her range (blue/through), and I'm wishing for it to be either entirely absent or more natural sounding.

The live performance is well performed and quite moving. Very enjoyable.

Mike

That cello is really a nice touch too, beautiful tune. Is that you singing Nadia? Pretty voice.

Hi Magne, Mike and Louis. Thank you so much for taking time to listen and for your beautiful words about our song. Louis, it's Gemma's voice. You wouldn't want to hear mine, I promise.
Nadia

It has to be good -- it's got a cello in it! I'll call it an art song and I'll call it good, too.

Kevin

Nadia, Donna, Gemma and Billy,

This is just lovely. The lyrics, the arrangement, the piano, cello and vocal all come together seamlessly and exquisitely.

Donna, you continue to impress me with your range of topics. This has a bit more of a poesy flair than some of your others, but it works for sure. While there is a melancholy you write about, the fact that "Kindness I Mainly Recall" is a tribute to any long-standing relationship/marriage". But not over the top...it makes perfect sense to me.

Nadia, your piano playing is so pretty. Your interplay with Billy's cello (one of my fave instruments) creates just the right mood...and I so enjoy where the music simply SWELLS! Gosh, you sure make me want to get back to playing....

Gemma's voice is simply angelic. I literally imagine her singing behind me in the balcony at church....

So in case you couldn't tell, I really enjoyed this. And isn't it wonderful that "modern technology" allows for such a tremendous international collaboration?! Got me a little weepy, I'll confess...

Thanks so much for sharing....
Beth

Hi Nadia and Donna:

I was drawn in by the title - it's great!

Love the music - I've been saying this a lot lately but it really is a superb match to the lyric.

The chorus lyric is as perfect a thing as I've seen here - and that's saying a lot. It truly knocked the wind out of me with it's beauty.

Sounds like I might be alone on this though - it's such a wonderful title and hook that I wanted the song to be more explicitly about it.

I agree with Kevin - it's an art song ( ) and it works fine for me that way. But if the verses were written to the hook, it would probably be one of the most powerful things I've ever heard. And that's not hyperbole....

Scott

Magne, Mike, Louis, Kevin, Beth, and Scott, thank you so much for taking time to listen and respond. I'm thrilled the song touches you, and am deeply moved by your comments.

Nadia's playing and Gemma's vocals are exquisite, and Billy's cello - for me - gives an extra magical dimension.

Donna

A perfect blend of lyrics and music! Congratulations Nadia and Donna! This belongs in a Broadway musical.

Best, John

Kevin, Beth, Scott and John, thank you so much for listening and your wonderful words of encouragement.
Nadia

Nadia and Donna,
Donna I think your lyic can be described as poynette. Or really sad. And Oh my that bridge brutal and honest.

And Nadia what a georgous setting you gave this. And Cello is now my favorite instrument.

Loved it,
Tom

Wow. This sounds really beautiful, guys. Love the mood both the lyrics and the arrangement create.

You have done an excellent job on this - sounds like a showtune to me (which is not my genre BTW!).

All the parts are well done and I too like the piano and cello combination.

One minor nit and that is that I don't care for the octave jump in the last line of the verses......but that's just me. Many people would like it.

Hi, Tom, Tricia and Colin, thank you so much for listening and commenting. It was Billy's idea to add cello and I'm so glad Donna asked Billy if he could add something to the piano and vocals. Billy is a real genius and Gemma is a wonderful singer who gives so much to every song she is singing. It was amazing to work with Donna who was there for me when I was asking for some changes in her lyrics and Donna gave me some tips on the recording (I know it's not professional but I hope the song still gets across). Colin, I was wondering about the octaves as well but at the end I thought I wanted to have them. it's hard to know though if I've made the right decision.

Hi Nadia, Donna,Gemma, & Billy

I'm right there with the Bravo crowd ! Nice melody and playing all around. Good match of musical feel to lyric and nice writing to boot....

here' s my Note if you decide to do another take down the road...... slow it down slightly 2-3 bpm......

I say this because early on there were a couple of places where I felt the singer and piano fell out of sync..... minorly....... but slowing it will also address Mike's comment about vibrato --- give her time to think and breathe..... ALso Billy will have MORe opportunity to make his cello part soar MORE --- sorry I couldn't resist the rhyme.......... ; D love it though ~jm

John, Tom, Tricia, Colin, and JM, thank you all for your gracious comments and suggestions.

Yes, Billy's cello touch added another dimension to Nadia's wonderful music.
The song isn't sad as such, but is poignant, as Tom mentions. The cello expressed that without sliding into melancholy.

It was a pleasure as well to work with Nadia. She was responsive to musical suggestions I made early on and incorporated them in the piece. It was truly a two-way collaboration, with each of us learning from the other. I feel Gemma did a marvellous job with the expression and emotion. Although she's a young woman, she conveyed successfully the feelings and thoughts of a much older character. This is one of the marks of a professional.

Donna

Nadia & Donna,

This is beautiful on all accounts.

Donna, so many visual images in the lyric...like the message...excellent.

Nadia, the music is lovely...I really enjoyed your piano playing….it compliments the lyric just so...

Pretty vocals and like everyone else, I too, like that cello! Really enjoyed this!

Kristi

Hi Joice, thank you for listening. I find it tricky to play the piano part which is supposed to be with the singer, on its own. I really prefer playing with the singer as it gives us both an opportunity to have the song recorded in a more natural way but I appreciate the importance of having separate tracks for the recording. Gemma didn't have the headphones when she was singing because the headphones I had we couldn't adjust that day so it was hard to hear the piano part and sing at the same time. Billy then added a separate track to the recording and I'm sure he used something to make it sound better (thank you Billy!) so you see, it was inevitable that the timing wasn't totally precise (sorry) but I felt the song came across and we all were very interested to know of the opinion on this wonderful forum. Thank you so much everyone who took the time to listen and reply.

Thank you so much for listening and commenting, Kristi. I always enjoy listening to your songs and I'm very grateful to you for your support.
Nadia

beautiful!!

Kristi and Sherry, thank you for listening and commenting.
I'm so pleased that the song 'speaks' to you.

Donna

Nadia, Donna, Gemma, and Billy,


What a beautiful marriage of music and lyrics. Absolutely exquisite vocals by Gemma.

I truly felt I was listening to a lovely piece straight out of a Broadway musical.

All of you did a splendid job.

Kind wishes,
Gail

yeah,it felt like a great song from a musical

yeah,it felt like a great song from a musical

Nadia, Donna, Billy & Gemma (love that name...Gemma!), may I include myself among those that have alreasy this is a wionderful, passionate and gorgeous piece of music? I can hear this on so many stages.

If a gentleman were asked "What's the lovliest thing besides your wife and children?", this piece of music might be high on the list of possibilities. It would be on mine.

Beautiful in all respects!

Alan

Hi, Sherry, Gail and Alan. i've just seen your comments and they made me smile. What a nice start of the day. Thank you so much.
Nadia

Hi Nadia

This sounds like another song straight out of a musical – I really love the mix of piano and cello and Gemma’s voice is wonderful.

You really need to start writing that musical

Great work

Nige

Hi Nige. Thank you for listening and commenting. I don't know what happened to me, I feel I'm driven by composing theatre/stage songs now. It has been always my genre but I was composing in other genres as well yet now it seems I'm totally into theatre/stage songs. I know for a fact that it's really hard to get them published so what am I doing?
Nadia

Gail, Sherry, Alan, and Nigel, thanks so much for your listening and for your lovely comments.

Nadia, I've always wanted to write lyrics for a musical.

Donna

Donna and Nadia

Beautiful and powerful Very nice all the way around. Good job ladies.

Kevin

Hi Kevin. Thank you for your support.

Hi Donna, that's fantastic to hear. Well, I'm here.

Nadia

Hi Nadia and Donna,
What a beautiful collaboration!I would have known it was beautiful withouit even listening.Donna lyrics are always perfect and poetic and Nadias piano playing sounds like its coming from a hit Broadway show.This song is perfection in every way and the vocals were a perfect match also.I agree with the others that the cello was beautiful and helped to make an already perfect song even more complete.
Michelle

Hi Michelle, thank you so much for listening and for your beautiful posting on our song.
Nadia

Very pretty - flowing and sweet. I think it is so effectively done. The vocals are so good - draw me in.

Tom

Kevin, Michelle, and Tom, I appreciate you listening, and your gracious comments.
Thank you.

Donna

This would be great sung in one of the romantic languages,I'd love to hear how that would sound.Beautiful piece as is though.

Thank you, Tom and Charles. Romanticlanguage? Did you mean French or Italian, Charles?
Nadia

HI Nadia,

Lovely song, I like the chorus a lot. Has a musical touch and sound at places, but i can see a Sarah Brightman type really singing this well. Is this intended for musical? Just i have a thought but really depends on where it is ie musical or album.

Anyway, the chorus is wonderful and the well I'm always a sucker for the piano. Well done. If I might suggest, the Where did it go? When did it go? line I might not have them both sounding so lyrically the same.Maybe When did it leave? Where did it go? so as to keep the rhyme. Anyway thats the only thing I'd look at.

Well Done,

Alan

Hi Alan, thank you so much for listening and commenting on Kindness. I think the song could be in an album and in a musical. I have many co-written songs which could be in a musical but so far I don't have a musical as such. I have been thinking about it for a while now but it's so difficult to compose musical which would really stand out and so hard to find any opportnuty to perform it that so far I'm just composing the songs with my co-writers.
Nadia

Hi Nadia,

I understand, I enjoy musicals a lot, I always see films or read books and think, hey that would make a good musical. But like anything writing musicals takes time ( I watched yesterday the dvd on the making of Miss Saigon, it is amazing how many changes lyrics go through). The thing with musicals is getting the right story. I always have a few ideas on that Anyway, nice to know you enjoy musicals as well.

Cheers

Alan

Hi Alan, yes, I enjoy musicals. I keep watching "Enchanted" which is such a lovely musical with beautiful story and music. The story is based on so many familiar fairy tales yet it has a unique atmosphere and it's timeless. I must listen to your songs. I'm sure I'll love them as you seem to like the same type of music I do. It's so hard to get musical/theatre/stage songs heard though. Anyway, good luck with your songs.
Nadia

Thanks Nadia, I really like Enchanted, (do watch it everytime my niece comes over) but it is a fun film with great songs....How Do you Know and Ever After are fab.

My songs are dry lyrics only for now but would be great to hear what you think. Most lean to a pop flavour as they are stand alone.

Cheers

Alan