Lifetimes – Song and a Chat

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Episode #5: Lifetimes – (Song at 4:26 & 14:08)

This week I’m presenting an instrumental solo piano song, ‘Lifetimes’, written in 1987.

There’s 2 versions here : The original demo and also the track released on my first piano album Eridanus / River Music.

On the demo, this is my first effort at arranging strings – an orchestral type of arrangement using my keyboard, which I added after recording the initial piano on my upright acoustic piano.

Lifetimes started out as chords and melodies scrawled onto different bits of paper – very basic notation written at the various times I composed each part.

One winter’s evening after playing a gig with a covers band, I sat down at my old upright piano back home around midnight and brought all the sections together. I also composed joining phrases, new movements, etc. Fortunately everyone was out for the night and I could play the piano without disturbing anyone.

Some day I’ll hire an orchestra and record it again. Nonetheless, for now, here’s how it sounds.

As a creative person, it pays to enjoy your art in the form it is in presently, while keeping it in mind to perhaps rework in the future.

Have a listen and I’ll talk you through how it all came together, then I segue into the songwriting angle. Enjoy.