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Twilight run
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I wrote this in late January 2006 as a poem about running and my father; only then did I shoe-horn the lyrics into folk song, with just guitar and some guitar-tapping effects.
singer songwriter musician uk acoustic guitar cubase reason sheffield bass guitar doncaster al stravinsky voxengo brian delaney
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Touching, funny, serious, award-winning songs about life and love; all penned, played, arranged, sung, recorded and mixed by Al.
So he never existed... not really, as a real person. He made himself up one day in 1969 and lived a dual existence: half of him surviving on dead-end jobs, the other half believing that one day he would write at least one song that the world would remember. Now half of him is dead, and, as with all conjoined twins (without major surgery) that sentences both of them. It would be sad if it wasn't so pathetic. Fairy-tales always end this way... well not always, rarely... and this was rarely a fairy-tale; so there the similarities end: the ending was neither sad nor happy - it just... was. The enigmatic and tragic Jackson C Frank was a hero of his... now he emulates that frail and failed soul. Maybe in 40 years people will still say 'Al who?', much as they do today. That would be both a great epitaph, and a fitting legacy. Below is the page as he inexplicably and hurriedly left it: hot meal still on the table; knife and fork still in place and at the ready; the drink untouched in the bone china cup... ************************************************************* I now have an album: 'The sentence that I serve' available from CD baby. Click on this mini album cover to take you there: INVALID -- CDBABY INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID for AL STRAVINSKY: The sentence that I serve -- It's on iTunes too, where the whole album or individual tracks can be downloaded in mp3 format: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=216015067 Thanks. I've been a professional musician for 24 years, and over 3000 gigs (I've stopped counting); always working, travelling, trying to make ends meet...nearly...if you could just hold these a minute please...er...thanks: my hands are now free so I can get on with actually (ironically) playing some music at last. I sing and play bass guitar and I play some acoustic/electric guitars also.
Song Info
Genre
Acoustic • Acoustic Folk
Charts
#3,262 in subgenre Peak #22
Charts
Peak #81
Author
Al Stravinsky
Uploaded
February 03, 2006
Track Files
MP3
MP3 3.3 MB • 128 kbps • 3:33
Story behind the song
While running in a competitive 6 mile running race in 1976 my father had a heart attack and died on the spot. He was about as old as I am now. At that time I started to run myself, following some of the paths I knew he would have taken, past the church on the moors at the edge of the Peak district near Stocksbridge where he now rests. The more it hurt, the better I felt. Sometimes at dusk, be it an echo or a phenomenon of the peaty earth, I was sure I could hear someone running behind me, just out of step with me. It scared me at first, but then it comforted me; I relaxed and ran all the better, with an amazing energy. I wrote this in late January 2006 as a poem; only then did I shoe-horn the lyrics into folk song (not an easy task, and the scars show), with just guitar and some guitar-tapping effects. The vocal distorts in places, but I was pleased enough with the over-all effect to leave it in.
Lyrics
verse 1 I'm racing to catch you On your twilight run; Eyes on the red horizon. Chasing the memory, Running from the pain, Up and over the hill, Past the stone at the top of the world. verse 2 My footfalls echo Through the earth. I shake and awake you. I follow the narrow path We used to walk, Where the bracken turns to gold By the moss-green, dry-stone wall. Refrain a The path climbs again, My heart is pounding now, No end in sight. Onward and upward; I'm flying now, Exhilarated: Now I know why you ran, And I wish I'd run with you. verse 3 I hear you fall In step behind me Like an echo of myself; Resist the urge to glance back, Outpace my fear. 'Run another mile with me, Beside the ancient, broken wall'. Refrain b The path climbs again, My heart is pounding now, No end in sight. My breath becomes the mist That cloaks the trees like demons: Now I know why you ran, And I wish that I'd run with you. verse4 Hurry on past the millstones, Body aching. I feel you close, now closer; I hear your breath, Feel the warmth, and find strength. Calmness descends as we run With grace and ease, And we talk like we never did. Refrain c I forget, smile and turn To look - And empty darkness Sends you back, Breaks the spell. I break down, Out of breath, On my knees, Close to tears: Now I know why you ran, And I wish that I'd run with you ...while I had the chance...
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