Naviarhaiku109 - The cool breeze



This haiku shared by Naviar Records this week reminded me of one I wrote late last year about the sound of the wind in cypress pines.

My track draws on my haiku but the theme is about pantheism and communing with nature. I quite like the line about growing lighter in the shade of a tree.

Inspiration for the song comes from Max Martin and Dr Luke, who have been responsible for a number of the biggest hits in pop music over the last decade. I read a beaut piece at Popbitch about their approach and took a few lessons from it, particularly the opening guitar riff.

The lyrics were written and recorded quickly. I don't consider myself a singer, so they're very much a 'trace' of an idea (to use the term from John Seabrook's book The Song Machine). I don't really consider myself a guitar player either but, anyway, it's a sketchy sketch too.

This track also uses the 3/4 bassline idea that I've been incorporating into various tracks for the last six months or so. And I had the idea that I should also include woodwind instruments, so I added a couple of MIDI clarinets from Ableton Live's sampled instruments.

Cypress pine
move with the wind
create a calm
deep within

In the quiet
empty space
a resonance
fills this place

From the branch
high in the tree
a sound like old tape
is calling me

In the cool shade
I close my eyes
feel a spirit
stir inside

And

Fall away
fall away
all my trouble
and some pain

Fall away
fall away
become distant
and I feel a change

I grow lighter
in the shade
of the tree
where I pray

Here I know
the divine
here I know
peace of mind

It’s my nature
in this space
far away
from the human race

They all

Fall away…