FAWM : arthurrossi (@arthurrossi)

arthurrossi

@arthurrossi

Songs

119

Joined

2012

Email: arthurrossi18@yahoo.com

Dear FAWMers,
another FAWM has come and I am happy to be a part of it again, particularly in these dark days of the Modern Middle Ages we are living in, with an omnipresent propaganda on an unprecedented scale, which the world has hardly ever seen before. Even worse, the very last, very, very tiny remnant of real, free, professional, objective, fact-based journalism was burned at the stake of hypocrisy at the latest when Julian Assange was arrested.

Against such a background, writing a song or just a little set of lyrics (as I do) seems even a bit less relevant than ever (if it ever mattered to anyone at all - except, of course, for the few of us present here). Despite it all, let´s continue what we have been doing in the past so far, as - if nothing else - writing is a part of ourselves, this is who we are…

As far as I am concerned, I have set some new goals for this FAWM for myself and there will be some novelties, too. Those who know me also know that I like to write lyrics in different languages from time to time. This FAWM, however, I am going to do this more systematically, by - after completing one or two dozen sets of lyrics in English - writing at least ten sets of lyrics in other languages in a row, ten in Spanish, ten in Italian, ten in French, ten in German, ten in Serbocroatian, and a few maybe in an invented language, too, at times eventually intermingled with a few sets of lyrics I will do in the context of Skirmishes. For me, it will be the first time to post lyrics in Serbocroatian here and the first time to write lyrics in Spanish at all…

As always, my lyrics are meant to be merely “rough ideas”, if anyone likes any set of lyrics and feels inclined to put it to music, I would be very happy, and please, feel free to alter the words in any way and to any extent you like…
Have a great FAWM!

Songs

Soundboard

@paul_pedersen 3w

Arthur - Thanks for providing lyrics for so many of us music types to pick and choose from. Without strong lyrics made available by writers like you, I would never have surpassed the target number of songs. I was happy to be involved with "Love Me Like I Love You" and "I Never Wanted to Say Goodbye". I see you got two versions of Say Goodbye. I find it interesting to see how other people respond to the same lyrics. Hopefully that's fun for you, too.

@roel_van_veldt 3w

Arthur, I know you're prolific, but again, you have truly astonished me: you're an 8-fold FAWM 2023 winner! I've come across some extraordinary collaborative gems on your list. Allow me to apologize for including a song in the list which may not be immediately recognizable as one of your own lyrics. The lyrics of 'Emotions Have No Notion' have been adapted rather freely by yours truly… Should we ever release it (the music is still in its early stages), rest assured you will receive 100% credit for all the lyrics!

Hoping to hear from you soon,

§ Roel

@levesinet 3w

I thought you were crazy to promise that you'd write at least ten lyrics in a foreign language and then another ten in another and... I don't know how you do that. That is very impressive. I'm beginning to feel happy about this FAWM, this has made me forget these are Middle Ages we're living in. I want to thank you for providing input material that proved enjoyably challenging. For me it is important to keep learning by trying different approaches to creating music. Your good sense of meter explains to a considerable extent why so many fellow fawmers are drawn to your lyrics. I have learnt some more Italian and even Spanish. That Spanish thing was difficult but now I kinda approve the zigzaggy melody and maybe I could make it sound ok if I just sang it more relaxed. Sorry I can't do Serbocroatian or even German. I just haven't developed an ear for those languages.

@levesinet 4w

The essence of Copacabana
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjfOATjCSgk

The essence of Bahia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIiaHFxiAhA

The essence of the Northeast north of Bahia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItKm9Wgpkok

The music of Minas Gerais, a mountaneous region of old gold mines, is introverted and sophisticated. Erudite music since the Baroque era. Clube da Esquina emerged from there.

And here's the only song I keep performing with my guitar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUX6qnvKhDI

@levesinet 4w

If you like some Brazilian popular song, do a Google search 'letras (name-of-the-song)'. I'm amazed at how many songs this huge site of lyrics covers.
https://www.letras.mus.br/chico-buarque/85975/
Fun stuff. Here the performance doesn't completely match the lyrics given.
https://www.letras.mus.br/doris-monteiro/990010/

Notice the s is pronounced sh at the end of a syllable. The letter s becomes voiced based on the following sound:
carinhoso (z); mesma (zh); Todas as manhãs (z zh sh);
but these mutations depend on the dialect.
Look up how r's are pronounced (rua, carro, ardente, ficar; maravilha, praia).
Ferreira - two different r sounds; Pereira - same r sound twice.

Now Vinicius de Moraes was an old school Brazilian poet. He often pronounced the r's as in Spanish. Nobody else does that when singing his lyrics these days, not since the 1950s.
https://www.letras.mus.br/vinicius-de-moraes/86493/

@levesinet 4w

Observe lh and nh where Castilian has ll and ñ.
Look up differences between Lisbon and Brazilian Portuguese.
Notice the pronunciation of de and te and di and ti in Brazil (in unstressed syllables, not in stressed syllables).
Notice how the Brazilians tend to pronounce and often even write the word 'para' colloquially as 'pra'.
It's a nimble language and a quickly changing language.
Also words referring to women or girls. Mulher (my woman, wife; adult woman in general), moça (young lady, commonly used), garota (synonym for moça but not so common), menina (young girl), morena (a dark haired woman), namorada (girlfriend).
I've never come across the words rapariga and miúda in Brazilian lyrics.
It's the same language though. Portugal has been shifting to use Brazilian orthography.

@levesinet 4w

You're always so polite. I feel Hispanic music goes against my essence. And I'm not equipped with Aragonese vocal cords! Those would be of use in Naples too.

Good luck with Portuguese. That's easier said than done, so I don't take that as a promise.
I say may you find moments of pleasure immersed in Lusophony! I can't really speak in Portuguese but I want to give you some hints to get started. Feel free to ignore them.

@doug52 5w

Hello, Arthur. Been playing around lyrically and realized that one issue is putting the "singer" in a bad light. The "singer" comes across as a sad sap, making "him" look bad. Below is what I think I have come up with but to be honest, I dislike where I am going. [Again, one should never put the "singer" in a bad light.] so I am struggling.

THE TASTE OF LOVING

[Intro]

Once I had a taste for love,

thought I was a lucky man.

But it ended just as quickly

as it fell into my hand.

[V]

Said she was there to give me
her love in un-thinkable ways.
Then she kissed me, tightly squeezed me,
left me standing in a daze.

[V]

Thought I'd be chasing rainbows

ending with her and the gold.

But when she finished with me

She left me standing out in the cold.

[B]
Her eyes taunted and teased me.

Her touch ruled my body and soul.

The taste of love she fed me

had me losing all my control.

[C]
And now I feel like crying
while dark thoughts take root.

Spreading down deep to ensnare me.

This love-struck crazy old coot.

Guess I should start doubting

she'll return like the stars up above.

But like the fruit there in that garden

I had a taste of love.

[V]
When out there, love sounds amazing.
Until those wounds strike that never heal.
Again it starts off like a rainbow

so bright and so big and so real.

@paul_pedersen 6w

Hi Arthur. Thanks for reaching out about co-writing. I appreciate your faith in the possibilities. I think I might be able to do something with "Love Me the Same Way I Do". At first glance, I think I might have to adjust a few words along the way to make it fit the music in my head. If I have the freedom to make small adjustments in the interest of the overall song, then I'm in. Let me knowif that's okay with you.

Cheers!

@mikehex 6w

I do have an idea I've been kicking around that you might find interesting. It's a song expressing hopeless admiration for / obsession with the rigid airships built in the first half of the 20th century, even in the awareness of their dangers and limitations. This is an analogy (hopefully not too heavy handed) for a conflicted and reticent affinity for the nationalist ideals that were so disastrous during the same time period, yet have such a strong pull on us even today.

The song title for this idea is: "Dirigible Fixation".

In terms of style, I like to go medium-heavy and impressionistic (sometimes to the point of oblique). For this song idea, for example, I wouldn't want the words "dirigible" or "fixation" to appear in the lyrics at all. As somebody commented on one of my songs, "it's a definite mood".

Let me know if this is a direction you'd find interesting, or if there's something else you'd like to do. Also, full disclosure: I have trouble coloring inside the lines. So what usually works from a collab standpoint is for me to take your work, adapt it to music, then you can review and help fix the resulting lyrics

@deafsteever 6w

My goodness, Arthur!! I see you're writing lyrics at your usual torrid pace this FAWM!! I so admire your prolificacy. :-) I know I haven't been very present on FAWM the past several years. Just lacking that songwriting "spark", you know? Maybe I'll rediscover it soon. We'll see. Believe it or not, I *still* have some ideas for some lyrics you posted in 2016 ("The Girl From the Painting"). There's a song there that's definitely trying to blossom! I can't promise that I'll get it done this FAWM, though. As you can probably guess, I'm a dreadfully slow songwriter. I'm not built for FAWM, really. Lol! Anyway, I thank you for your greeting on my FAWM profile and hope you have a fruitful month! Cheers!

@tunecat 6w

Thanks for reply. I wrote a song and roughed it out (it's still very rough ) but quite apart from being a female - my accent is horrible (espeicially since I haven't spoken Italian in ages and ages. I cringe when I hear it. I'll tidy it up a bit though.. and send you a version with and without my voice for your friend to sing. I probably need to sing it a few times again today to get the phrasing better... I really enjoyed doing it... I hope you'll like it!!

@levesinet 7w

There was no referendum on NATO membership in Finland and nobody asked my opinion. It's cold and gloomy here and I feel tired. But then I watch the news and see the uSUAL TALKING ****HEADS, and it's a funny thing, how it builds up my blood pressure, because suddenly I'm not so tired after all. Blood begins to circulate in my brain. Indeed it works better than eating lots of (salty) salmiakki.
Anyway, my not being much of a lyricist, I don't have a lot to say in a way that would rhyme and not offend some people, so it's better for me not to use too much time attempting to write my own lyrics.
Good to see you, too, mister lyricist polyglot. I'll be lurking around, looking forward to potential language lessons. Let's see if I can get the sound libraries reactivated.

@nancycunning 7w

Arthur - So glad you are here. Can't wait to see and hear what you come up with in English, Italian, French, Spanish, German....As a possible inspiration for other languages, here are two articles both by my friend Paul La Farge wrote about Volapük - a 19th century attempt at a universal language: https://www.villagevoice.com/2000/08/01/pk-memory/
The second about the elvish language in The Lord of the Rings:
https://www.villagevoice.com/2002/01/15/arda-or-ardor/

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