The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #75005 Message #1616457
Posted By: Genie
29-Nov-05 - 12:42 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: Crossing the Bar (Tennyson, Arbo)
Subject: Tune: Crossing the Bar (Tennyson, Arbo)
Update and correction:
In my last post, I misstated the phrasing and syllabic emphasis I use in the tune I put to Tennyson's poem. This would be more accurate:
But SUCH a TIDE as MOVING SEEMS aSLEEP ...
...
When THAT which DREW from OUT the BOUNDless DEEP ...
I.e., I try to sing it pretty much the way I would speak it as a poem.
I do like Arbo's inclusion of a refrain, though, and that doesn't work as well with my tune. (Plus, I didn't want to plagiarize the format of her musical version of the poem.)
Betsy Wellings, a wonderful singer-guitarist-songwriter from Chehalis, WA (or is it Centralia?), does a beautiful rendition of Arbo's version, but with phrasing that sounds much more natural to me than the way the Hopeful Gospel Quartet sang it. In some places it requires singing 3 or 4 words on a single beat of the music, but the lyrics "scan" better that way.
E.g., instead of
But such a tide AS MOVing SEEMS aSLEEP,
Betsy sings:
But such a tide as MOVing SEEMS aSLEEP.
...
Instead of
When that which drew FROM OUT the BOUNDless DEEP
she sings:
When that which drew from OUT the BOUNDless DEEP.
Instead of
I want to see MY PI-lot FACE to FACE,
She sings
I want to see my PI-lot FACE to FACE.
I much prefer Betsy's phrasing, because the words sound more natural. It really is a beautiful song.