25 Years Later

[billroper]

It is hard to believe that it has been 25 years since the Berlin Wall came down.

I had a little time today to play with this in the studio, so you'll find a link below to something that will eventually escape here on an album. Right now, it's a lightly mixed scratch track.

I hope you like it.

We Can Change the World

Comments

[madfilkentist]

Friendly advice: There are lines in it that I really like, but the title may be the #1 cliché in folk music. Perhaps there's a way to change it to something that will stand out more?

[billroper]

I agree that the title of the song has been used a lot in folk music, but -- to some extent -- that's the point. You're certainly right about it not making the song any easier to pick out though.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

I like it overall, but ... Give us a break!

I mean the musical kind, of course, a bit with a different tune. I would never expect to say this of a Bill Roper song, but at least in this rough cut the music was getting pretty monotonous by the time it got near the end. If I've got the melodic structure right on one listen-through, it's ABABA in every verse, and ABABAAAAA at the end. "We can change the world" is every other line and the chorus, and it's always to the same tune.

Hmmm. No, maybe there was a refrain with a different tune. But the impression I'm left with is "a heck of a lot of what at least seems like the same thing".

[billroper]

That's a fair criticism. On the other hand, I don't feel like the song wants a break. I may delete the first chorus instance, which will shorten things up a bit and remove one repetition and see how that works.

It'll also be interesting to see how the full orchestration works out. If nothing else, I expect a lot of drum. :)

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Looking forward to it!

[rinioth.livejournal.com]

Technically it hasn't actually been 25 years yet. Contrary to popular belief the wall's actual demolition did not begin until Summer 1990.

[madfilkentist]

Technically it still hasn't (completely) come down. Parts of it still stand, highly decorated with mural art. But its demolition did begin on November 9, 1989, as people began attacking it with hand tools. Physically it may not have been much of a dent in it, but those hammer-and-chisel efforts reflected the fact that it was no longer a functioning wall.