"Songs for Emily" - New CD Project from Bob McCarroll Coming Soon.
Updated: Jan 11, 2021
Songs for Emily
Poem's by Emily Dickinson
Music and Arrangements by Bob McCarroll
A Little Background on This Project:
I had a great English professor in college who's all time favorite poet was Emily Dickinson - and of course, wanted all her students to love her too. While, at the time, I didn't have a true appreciation for the talents of Emily Dickinson's work, for some reason the professor and Emily Dickinson stuck with me over the decades.
Last year, after finishing up on my previous music project, "Outside the Music Box," I decided I wanted to do something different, and as writing lyrics is not really my favorite thing to do, I decided to incorporate the poems of Emily Dickenson as the written word.
Each poem was carefully chosen based upon how I felt about each poem and the musical possibilities it offered. If I felt a poem might be a good candidate for a song then I'd start composing. It was so important to me, though, that I carefully compose a melody and "feel" for each song that stayed true to the personality and sensitivity of each poem.
If you listen to "Songs for Emily" you'll find that most of the songs tend to have a "sad" feel to them - I guess that's kind of how I felt about a lot of her work. It was my goal, no matter the poem, to give them a melody and arrangement that worked to compliment her writings.
Emily Dickinson offered a very sensitive view of nature and the world around her and I'm so grateful that she prolifically shared her unique insights with us.
"Songs for Emily" is the compilation of over a years work, and while I actually wrote several additional songs for the project, there were a few songs that I couldn't quite get the musical results I hoped for and so chose not to include them here...perhaps in a future project?
About the Cover Artwork:
Using a public domain image of Emily Dickinson, I created a kind of a split image effect, with Emily's face on the right side and portions of my facial features on the left; signifying the 50/50 creative contribution to the project.
Most of all, I hope in listening to the music I composed for this project that you too might garner an appreciation for Emily Dickinson's poetic work.
Sincerely, Bob McCarroll.
Song List
1. I’m Nobody! Who Are You? - 02:12
2. I Lost a World the Other Day - 02:46
3. So Bashful When I Spied Her - 02:29
4. My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close - 03:02
5. The Skies Can’t Keep Their Secret - 02:20
6. On Such a Night or Such a Night - 04:27
7. If I Should Die and You Should Live - 02:45
8. While I Was Fearing It It Came - 02:48
9. To Learn the Transport by the Pain - 02:39
10. My Wheel is in the Dark - 02:41
11. There is a Word Which Bears a Sword - 02:55
12. A Bird Came Down the Walk - 02:08
13. Sleep is Supposed to Be - 02:51
14. South Winds Jostle Them - 02:07
15. A Train Went Through a Burial Gate - 01:46
All poems/lyrics by Emily Dickinson. All musical compositions, arrangements and performances by Bob McCarroll. Jerry Donato plays sax on “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?” Thank you to Evey McCarroll’s for her voice-over contribution on “On Such a Night or Such a Night.”
All Emily Dickinson poetry used under Public Domain permissions
Produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered at OneStop.Studio, Phoenix, AZ (www.onestop.studio)
©2020 - 2021 Bob McCarroll. All rights reserved (BMI) Unauthorized duplication, broadcasting, or streaming is prohibited.