In my three part Speaking the Music series (published in 2023) I considered how the spoken word, soundscapes, and music intersect . The series explored how the voice could be employed in the musical mix more as narrator or commentator than a singer. This post Just Tell Me a Story is an experiment in which the spoken word leads the two minute poetic charge into a quasi-choral translation. The outcome is a seven minute piece that moves from the initial spoken words situated close to the listener’s ears to a cathedral-like space where the instruments and singers can expand the theme. This is a mixture of the classical and the pop so there are church organs, wind instruments, piano, a choir and, oh, a trap beat.
I will consider the theme of the verse and song in the ‘About’ section but for the moment play the SoundCloud embed below to listen to the result. Choose play ‘Listen from Browser’ button below if you haven’t got a SoundCloud account (free). It is best enjoyed with good speakers or a decent set of headphones. Playing direct from a phone or tablet speaker just degrades the experience and intention.
Verse
Do you want my story
Or to make your own
Massage my narrative
To shape your clone
Today I’m a hero
Tomorrow recast
Now I’m a villain
Reshape my past
Keep it simple
It’s good or bad
Triumph over evil
Or a backstory sad
Target a mindset
Whisper in ear
Feed it the tales
It wants to hear
Truth doesn’t matter
As long as it chimes
For lies are transformed
Inside their minds
Now it’s so easy
To share our ‘news’
Our effluent sewers
Conveying their views
Algorithms pushing
More of the same
Trapped in a tunnel
With echoes to blame
Now the stories align
So it ‘must’ be true
Pump up the volume
Suck in the new
So I tell my story
But it doesn’t fit
So it’s reshaped and altered
Until it’s a hit
Or it’s ignored
Not given the time
For the zeitgeist train
Doesn’t travel this line
So be a hero or villain
And you’re in with a chance
You’ll star in a drama
Or perhaps a romance
For all great fictions
Transcend disbelief
The ship of reality founders
On the narrative reef
So here’s the secret
It’s crystal clear
Just always, always tell them
What they want to hear.
Lyrics
Tell me just a story
I want to hear
Speak just MY truth
Make message clear
My ears they are open
My mind it is closed
Fiction as history
I am so disposed
Make truth a lie
And facts ignore
Just FEEL my story
Hear crowd roar
Thought now action
Justifies the crime
For YOU preferred stories
To reality's grime
Tell me a story
Please tell me a story
But tell me just a story
I WANT to hear
Tell me just a story
I WANT to hear
Speak just MY truth
Make message clear
My mind in a tunnel
Excluding all light
Sees only spectres
Urging the fight
Truth now imprisoned
In media jail
Tortured and broken
Shaped to a tale
Rogues are now heroes
Preachers of spin
For YOU preferred stories
So the liars always win
Tell me a story
Please tell me a story
But tell me just a story
I WANT to hear.
Go to page 2 if you are interested in finding out more about this post. Otherwise thanks for listening or viewing.