When I composed this song, I was thinking of William Butler Yeats’ golden bird,
in the poem “Sailing to Byzantium”. In that poem the bird is
“… set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.”
My golden bird sings for everybody, rich or poor.
My initial idea was to write English lyrics for a Greek folk-style melody and accompaniment.
You can hear something of what I had in mind on YouTube
here.
The decision to use piano and a more classical style was transformative. However,
the Greek colour remains thanks to the 7/8 Kalamatiano rhythm and the ornamental
phrases on the piano, which are reminiscent of bouzouki.
Reviews have all been enthusiastic. Lambrini Christopher of Radio 3XY wrote: “It’s divine!
Absolutely beautiful!! Congratulations. I will definitely play it on my show.” The concensus
is that it is a “truly beautiful song” with a “very poignant message”. It is interesting
to note that children too seem to be greatly attracted to the song—one eight-year-old said
it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up!
The cover illustration includes a contribution from Copilot. The stylised branch is from a
VectorStock picture by Imrandk. The synthesis and modifications are mine.
The song is distributed by LANDR and is available on most platforms (e.g. Spotify,
Apple, Amazon, but not YouTube.)
