FAWM: "Caliban"

Caliban

Liner Notes

#shakespeare #iambicpentameter
A sensible song for song 2!

Lyrics

subhuman monster, feral and deformed
opressive captor's slave after the storm
i'm seventeen and feel injustice reign
i see your pain, your strain against the chain

you're dispossessed of all that once was yours
an outcast in a jail on your own shores
the pitiful portrayal angers me
the bullying humiliation spree

Caliban I see your beauty
you understand nature's poetry
Caliban it isnt easy
to reconcile the conflict of my empathy

a drunken savage, earthy and grotesque
with lustful urges not to be expressed
i'm processing, i don't know what to think
allegiances are switching in a blink

dehumanised and ridiculed and scorned
compassion tugs my heart until it's torn
i see the inner scream i hear the roar
miranda me or him i am not sure

Caliban I see your beauty
you understand nature's poetry
Caliban it isnt easy
to reconcile the conflict of my empathy

Comments

@nancycunning 4d

Wobbie - those words are so beautiful and they make me feel the emotions of the story. Putting it inside the eerie music feels like the bleakness of being alone on a windswept shore....I'm really curious what would happen with this one if you sang it with guitar or the bass or the banjo, to see all the different places these words would take you with different instruments... (I'm imagining it might even become a song you sang in a longer set... )

@pippa 1w

This is really impressive, Wobbie. I'm just gonna say ditto to what @jeff9 said. And then add that i find the chorus bewitching, haunting, kind of like that whole play, up there musically and lyrically with the Bard.

@janeg 1w

What can I add that your adoring fans haven’t already said? Your take on this character is as original as you, and an excellent perspective for us all to remember when someone is described as a monster. Maybe, maybe not.

@jeff9 1w

Holy smokes, Wobbie--I had not heard this artsier side of your work before. Very impressive. Quite extraordinary how you've made these well crafted, poetic and literary lyrics work so well musically.

@seemanski 2w

Great tune, the swirling music really works well with your vocal delivery. The lyrics were lost on a unculture swine like myself, I really should get out more. However, that help to add to the mystery of the song for me.

@iamcatelliott 2w

Wow, this is brilliant! Wasn't expecting something this dreamy and deep and haunting... go Wobbie! 🙌🥰

@timfatchenMod 2w

Always identified with Caliban, even though I don't have scales. I think this expresses how I felt at 16. Kudos for the diffferent sound/feel too!.

@jibbidy34 2w

Something very different for you here. I confess I don’t know Caliban. That’s no good for an A level English student is it? But I can appreciate good song writing when I hear it. :)

@kc_ 2w

WoW Wobbie! Heavy as a Chevy... Darkness and dawn... I think you knocked it out of the park. Great Lyric! Write on, write on!

@greengrassgirl 2w

I'm currently reading a book with a lot of Shakespeare references, so this is very timely. I like this sound from you. And the lyric is one that will reveal more meaning each time you hear it. Your song sent me to the internet to learn more about Caliban. Thank you.

@guatecoop 2w

Good lord this is deep and heavy! I just love your writing and how you crafted music that just amplifies the depth. This is both beautiful and deeply emotional. Wonderful song!

@gwynjones 2w

Great writing and I don't just mean the Bard!

@davidtaro 2w

Oooh some Shakespeare. Fabulous take on the character. Prospero always was a bit of a pr**k, wasn't he. I love that swell and decay on the synth, it's super unsettling. Great atmospherics on the drums and, ultimately, a very beautiful track to mirror the beauty you're seeing in Caliban. Nice!

@jerrypettit 2w

Shakespeare was my favorite class in college--I really need to reread all of that stuff. GREAT song--love that background arrangement. Really a nice job! ❤️

@chill4matt 2w

I love this backing track and truly enjoy this side of your work.

@beacon 2w

I love every part of this. Pure Wobbie brilliance! You certainly are one of our best poets. The orchestration really support it also.

@robynmackenzieMod 2w

Love those ethereal sounds and the tribal sounding drums. I think William would have loved this tribute to one of his most iconic characters.

@betoMod 2w

Love the swelling pads, like waves crashing on the shore. Beautiful song, Den, I listened a few times. I love how it expresses sympathy in the chorus, it's a beautiful message. ❤️

@glasscrow 2w

This tune is great. I really love this part: "I'm processing, I don't know what to think / allegiances are switching in a blink"

I'm uncultured and don't know any Shakespeare besides the plays they made us read in high school lol. But despite that, I can still feel the lyrics. It's wonderful how art can capture and speak to such broad themes.

@beej 2w

I read the words first.
No way I would have imagined it to sound as it does - ethereal, dreamlike, dark as fk.
Shakespeare? Wow, much higher brow than my output 😝

@billwhite51 2w

this expresses a side of you i had not heard before in your music. it is a gorgeous, insightful portrait of one of shakespeare's most maligned characters. the music reflects his lumbering movements and your vocals express his deep sorrow and longing. i feel a kinship her between caliban and mary shelley's adam.

@reinderd 2w

The vocal on this is one of your best, I think.

@richaaaay 2w

A brilliant piece of poetic music. Contemplative and thought provoking. Iambic Pentameter? I had to look it up…Love this example. Always a master wordsmith you are Wobbie…Well done!

@gordon 2w

Shakespeare would be much more popular with the young 'uns if they were exposed to this first. Really loving this dreamy soundscape and the lyrics. Great stuff

@theodamus 2w

The music feels like waves in the sea, which is perfect for a song that feels like either a lighthouse or a siren, and for caliban. Really beautiful

@zedisdead 2w

wow, there is something in your voice that touches me, that moves me....The music is of an angelic simplicity, just the essential, nothing is missing, nothing is too much... To my taste, perfect association between voice and music. I love it