The song is called Sleep. It was composed by Eric Whitacre in two versions: choral and instrumental. Both have the same melody, but the choral one has the lyrics. The one I have playing up top is the choral one (obviously). The lyrics are a slightly modified version of a poem by Charles Anthony Silvestri. The unmodified lyrics are posted below:
| 1 | The evening hangs beneath the moon | A |
| 2 | A silver thread on darkened dune | A |
| 3 | With closing eyes and resting head | B |
| 4 | I know that sleep is coming soon | A |
| - | ||
| 5 | Upon my pillow, safe in bed | B |
| 6 | A thousand pictures fill my head | B |
| 7 | I cannot sleep, my mind's a' flight | C |
| 8 | And yet my limbs seem made of lead | B |
| - | ||
| 9 | If there are noises in the night | C |
| 10 | A fright'ning shadow, flick'ring light | C |
| 11 | Then I surrender unto sleep | D |
| 12 | Where clouds of dreams give second sight | C |
| - | ||
| 13 | What dreams may come both dark and deep | D |
| 14 | Of flying wings and soaring leap | D |
| 15 | As I surrender unto sleep | D |
| 16 | As I surrender unto sleep | D |
I felt that it was appropriate for several reasons: one, the subject is sleep, which is very close to the dreaming process; two, the music is rather soothing, just as sleep is; three, it's one of my favorite contemporary pieces (I heard a wonderful symphonic band play it at a regional competition three years ago, it was dream-like [also because the concert hall was dimmed]).
But enough of that, there might be some analysis I could do on these lyrics (and the song).
First I'd like to note the rhyme scheme, AABA, BBCB, CCDC, DDDD. I see the last stanza's lack of conformity (DDDD instead of the expected DDED) as deep sleep. Imagine that each line that didn't rhyme was consciousness (as in the part of you that's still awake). The rest of the lines are sleep-like stages, so the awake-mind is surrounded by sleep in three stanzas until the final one, where the awake-mind "surrenders" to sleep (i.e: the line that doesn't rhyme occurs no more, and therefore the entire stanza rhymes, which implies sleep has begun).
"If there are noises in the night...Then I surrender unto sleep / Where clouds of dreams give second sight" (Silvestri, Sleep 9-12). Silvestri, here, makes a claim that dreams are an escape from reality. They hide us from the world's terrors and distractions (the clouds). This is somewhat stated by Freud who sees dreams as a restorative process, a process that also gives insight to our world or inner being (the second sight).
"What dreams may come both dark and deep / Of flying wings and soaring leap" (13-14). Silvestri says that dreams may be dark, which may mean they can be scary, mysterious, obscure (even beyond reality, if you take "obscure" to a further level, as in alien or nothing you've seen before [i.e.: imaginary or beyond reality]). He also says they may be deep, which references the fact that they may in fact draw on our inner processes, and give insight to what we think, wish, or fear. Finally, Silvestri lists two things, "flying wings" and "soaring leap" which refer to flying, which are beyond reality as mentioned by "dark". This is also typical of dreams, since many odd things happen in dreams that don't happen in real life (we can't have flying wings of our own, nor can we leap to "soaring" heights). Silvestri may also be referring to how dreams take us one level further into our thoughts, like, the higher level, the bigger picture that rests on top on our thoughts.
Musically, Whitacre writes the climax (or as my band instructor would call it, "the hit") on line 15, "As I surrender unto sleep". This makes the process of falling asleep dramatic, stressed, and important. Whitacre may be saying that it is a glorious thing to fall asleep, and let the dreams begin. Whitacre ends the piece with the world "sleep", repeating itself...fading slowly...into...the...back...ground... As a way to indicate the passing of the awake-conscious/mind...being surrounded by sleep and dreaming.
2 comments:
It was a nice thing for you to drift off the guide-like postings you had before on the book and analyzed a poem/song that was posted on your blog. The change in the set-up was great, since it broke the monotony of the past postings (no offense), but yet you only connected the poem to your topic and you did not actually connect anything to the book you are reading. If you are going to use any outside data, make sure you connect it to both the book and the topic.
I don't know if you noticed this, but a while ago, you were applauding the way my previous posts were. Yes, they were in the same format, but exactly how else would one present Freud's material? Or rather, present this kind of subject? It's a science, and the way it's approached should be consistent in some way.
If you read carefully, I mentioned briefly that Freud (the author of my current book) saw dreaming as a restorative process in connection to the lyrics.
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