An honorable mention to Woody Guthrie for writing "Tom Joad." But, the song uses no quotes by Stienbeck and was actually written after the movie (Grapes of Wrath), without Guthrie's having cracked the novel at all.
Meditation XVII: No man is an island
John Donne
"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
Inspired this ditty I remember from my high school chorus days:
No Man is an Island
No man is an island, no man stands alone
Each man's joy is joy to me
Each man's grief is my own
We need one another, so I will defend
Each man as my brother
Each man as my friend
No man is an island far out in the blue
We all look to One above
Who our strength doth renew
When I help my brother
Then I know that I plant the seeds
Of friends that will never die
I saw the people gather
I heard the music start
The song that they were singing
Is ringing in my heart
No man is an island, no man stands alone
Each man's joy is joy to me
Each man's grief is my own
We need one another, so I will defend
Each man as my brother
Each man as my friend
Don't Know the composer.
Is this the sort of thing you're looking for Edgar? Not verse, but inspiration.
fealola
I'm mainly looking for the author's words to somehow be incorporated into the music, exact quote or only partial. No hard rules about any of it. Your post reminds me that there is probably a song using the words: "For Whom the Bell Tolls." I'm not certain, though.
well the ones I could think of off hand have been mentioned! I'll keep thinking.
I just did a quickie search and found two "For Whom the Bell Tolls" songs: BeeGees and Metallica.
Hamlet, Act III, sc 4, line 203:
"I must be cruel, only to be kind"
Cruel To Be Kind
Oh, I can't take another heartache
Though you say oh my friend, I'm at my wit's end
You say your love is bonafide, but that don't coincide
With the things that you do and when I ask you to be nice
You say you've got to be...
CHORUS:
Cruel to be kind in the right measure
Cruel to be kind it's a very good sign
Cruel to be kind means that I love you
Baby, got to be cruel, you got to be cruel to be kind
Well I do my best to understand dear
But you still mystify and I want to know why
I pick myself up off the ground to have you knock me back down
Again and again and when I ask you to explain
You say, you've got to be...
CHORUS
Ooh ooh ooh
ooh.. ooh... ooh...
Well I do my best to understand dear
But you still mystify and I want to know why
I pick myself up off the ground to have you knock me back down
Again and again and when I ask you to explain
You say, you've got to be...
CHORUS
I'm learning a lot from these posts. Thank you all.
Loreena McKennit did a lovely musical rendition of Tennyson's 'Lady of Shalott':
The Lady of Shalott.
On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road runs by
To many-tower'd Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.
Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Thro' the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four gray walls, and four gray towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.
By the margin, willow veil'd,
Slide the heavy barges trail'd
By slow horses; and unhail'd
The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd
Skimming down to Camelot:
But who hath seen her wave her hand?
Or at the casement seen her stand?
Or is she known in all the land,
The Lady of Shalott?
Only reapers, reaping early
In among the bearded barley,
Hear a song that echoes cheerly
From the river winding clearly,
Down to tower'd Camelot:
And by the moon the reaper weary,
Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
Listening, whispers " 'Tis the fairy
Lady of Shalott."
PART II
There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.
And moving thro' a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near
Winding down to Camelot:
There the river eddy whirls,
And there the surly village-churls,
And the red cloaks of market girls,
Pass onward from Shalott.
Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,
An abbot on an ambling pad,
Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad,
Or long-hair'd page in crimson clad,
Goes by to tower'd Camelot;
And sometimes thro' the mirror blue
The knights come riding two and two:
She hath no loyal knight and true,
The Lady of Shalott.
But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror's magic sights,
For often thro' the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and lights
And music, went to Camelot:
Or when the moon was overhead,
Came two young lovers lately wed:
"I am half sick of shadows," said
The Lady of Shalott.
PART III
A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley-sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.
The gemmy bridle glitter'd free,
Like to some branch of stars we see
Hung in the golden Galaxy.
The bridle bells rang merrily
As he rode down to Camelot:
And from his blazon'd baldric slung
A mighty silver bugle hung,
And as he rode his armour rung,
Beside remote Shalott.
All in the blue unclouded weather
Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather
The helmet and the helmet-feather
Burn'd like one burning flame together,
As he rode down to Camelot.
As often thro' the purple night,
Below the starry clusters bright,
Some bearded meteor, trailing light,
Moves over still Shalott.
His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd;
On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flow'd
His coal-black curls as on he rode,
As he rode down to Camelot.
From the bank and from the river
He flash'd into the crystal mirror,
"Tirra lirra," by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.
She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces thro' the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She look'd down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shalott.
PART IV
In the stormy east-wind straining,
The pale yellow woods were waning,
The broad stream in his banks
complaining
Heavily the low sky raining
Over tower'd Camelot;
Down she came and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And round about the prow she wrote
'The Lady of Shalott'.
And down the river's dim expanse
Like some bold seer in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance--
With a glassy countenance
Did she look to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.
Lying, robed in snowy white
That loosely flew to left and right--
The leaves upon her falling light--
Thro' the noises of the night
She floated down to Camelot:
And as the boat-head wound along
The willowy hills and fields among,
They heard her singing her last song,
The Lady of Shalott.
Heard a carol, mournful, holy,
Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
Till her blood was frozen slowly,
And her eyes were darken'd wholly,
Turn'd to tower'd Camelot.
For ere she reach'd upon the tide
The first house by the water-side,
Singing in her song she died,
The Lady of Shalott.
Under tower and balcony,
By garden-wall and gallery,
A gleaming shape she floated by,
Dead-pale between the houses high,
Silent into Camelot.
Out upon the wharfs they came,
Knight and burgher, lord and dame,
And round the prow they read her name,
The Lady of Shalott.
Who is this? and what is here?
And in the lighted palace near
Died the sound of royal cheer;
And they cross'd themselves for fear,
All the knights at Camelot:
But Lancelot mused a little space;
He said, "She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott."
EB: Although these words are not sung by Jimmy Buffett, they are narrated by him prior to singing "The Prince of Tides" (Pat Conroy).
Exact quote from book spoken by Buffett:
"The sun, red and enormous, began to sink into the western sky. And simultaneously the moon began to rise on the other side of the river with its own gorious shade of red, coming up out of the trees like a russet firebird. The sun and the moon seem to acknowledge each other and they moved in both apposition and concordance in a breath taking dance of light across the oaks and the palms. My father watched it and I thought he would cry again. He had returned to the sea, and his heart was a low country heart."
And then Buffet sings:
African drums are silent and the Wingos are poets at last
Out on Dafuskie Island, the bulldozers bury the past
And the low country sinks, she cannot swim
The dogwood feels the hurt
While the foursome plays on borrowed days in their alligator shirts.
Now I realize who killed the Prince of Tides
How can you tell how it used to be
When there's nothing left to see.
One night they put a price on the sunset
And that got the whole world shaking
They rose from the grave both the weak and the brave
'Cause history was there for the making
And the winos surrounded the condos forming a frail human fence
And they shouted out loud to the roar of the crowd
'Same old story, more dollars than sense'.
Refrain
And beach music, beach music, beach music, just plays on...
"The white porpoise comes to me at night, singing in the river of time, with a thousand dolphins in radiant attendance, bringing charismatic greetings from the Prince of Tides." (I believe this is a direct quote, too, but I'm not positive)
(A nice tribute, don't you think?)
In 1814, while the War of 1812 was still going on, the people of Maryland were in great
trouble, for a British fleet began to attack Baltimore. The enemy bombarded the forts,
including Fort McHenry. For twenty-four hours the terrific bombardment went on.
"If Fort McHenry only stands, the city is safe," said Francis Scott Key to a friend,
and they gazed anxiously through the smoke to see if the flag was still flying.
These two men were in the strangest place that could be imagined. They were in a little
American vessel fast moored to the side of the British admiral's flagship. A Maryland
doctor had been seized as a prisoner by the British, and the President had given
permission for them to go out under a flag of truce, to ask for his release.
The British commander finally decided that the prisoner might be set free; but he had no
idea of allowing the two men to go back to the city and carry any information.
"Until the attack on Baltimore is ended, you and your boat must remain here," he said.
The firing went on. As long as daylight lasted they could catch glimpses of the
Stars and Stripes whenever the wind swayed the clouds of smoke. When night came they
could still see the banner now and then by the blaze of the cannon. A little after
midnight the firing stopped. The two men paced up and down the deck, straining their
eyes to see if the flag was still flying.
"Can the fort have surrendered?" they questioned. "Oh, if morning would only come!"
At last the faint gray of dawn appeared. They could see that some flag was flying,
but it was too dark to tell which. More and more eagerly they gazed. It grew lighter,
a sudden breath of wind caught the flag, and it floated out on the breeze.
It was no English flag, it was their own Stars and Stripes. The fort had stood,
the city was safe. Then it was that Key took from his pocket an old letter and on the
back of it he wrote the poem, "The Star-Spangled Banner."
The British departed, and the little American boat went back to the city.
Mr. Key gave a copy of the poem to his uncle, who had been helping to defend the fort.
The uncle sent it to the printer, and had it struck off on some handbills.
Before the ink was dry the printer caught up one and hurried away to a restaurant,
where many patriots were assembled. Waving the paper, he cried, "Listen to this!"
and he read:-
-
O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does the star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?"
"Sing it! sing it!'' cried the whole company. Charles Durang mounted a chair and then
for the first time "The Star-Spangled Banner" was sung.
The tune was "To Anacreon in Heaven," an air which had long been a favorite.
Halls, theaters, and private houses rang with its strains.
The fleet was out of sight even before the poem was printed. In the middle of the night
the admiral had sent to the British soldiers this message, "I can do nothing more," and
they hurried on board the vessels. It was not long before they left Chesapeake Bay
altogether,--perhaps with the new song ringing in their ears as they went.
Both "Twas the Night Before Christmas or Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" by Major Henry Livingston Jr. and The Lords Prayer Have both been put to music.
If we went with religion, the list would be endless!
Joyce Kilmer's poem "Trees" (I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree, etc.) was set to music in the thirties and has been recorded by Nelson Eddy, Paul Robeson (that surprised me because I thought I had all his recordings) and The Sons of the Pioneers, to name just a few. It was performed in the movie, The Big Broadcast, and by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians in the movie "Melody Time".
TREES! Yes! I remember singing it in grade school.
--And of course the most memorable rendition was by Alfalfa in The Little Rascals. He sang it with bubbles coming out of his mouth while hiccoughing! I think Miss Crabtree had just washed his mouth out with soap!
"America the Beautiful" -- Poem to Song
"America the Beautiful" was written by the professor, poet, and writer, Katharine Lee Bates. Bates wrote the song in 1893 while on a trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado. When she got to the top of Pike's Peak, she said, "All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse". The view was so beautiful that it inspired her to write the song that is considered by some to be the country's unofficial national anthem.
"America the Beautiful" first appeared in print in The Congregationalist, a weekly journal, on July 4, 1895. Within a few months, it was set to music by Silas G. Pratt. Bates revised the song in 1904, after receiving many requests to use the song in publications and special services. An additional change was made to the wording of the third verse in 1913, to give us the version we know today.
For two years after "America the Beautiful" was written it was sung to just about any popular or folk tune that would fit with the lyrics. "Auld Lang Syne" was the most popular of these tunes. In 1926, the National Federation of Music Clubs had a contest to put the poem to music. None of the entries seemed to fit the poem. Today, "America the Beautiful" is sung to Samuel A. Ward's "Materna". Before her death in 1929, Ms. Bates never indicated publicly which music she liked best.
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/symbols/americathebeautiful.html
