The Songs, the Stories

I am writing a companion piece to my new album, La vie sous la mer. It’s just a small booklet, which will be available here as a PDF file.

Why?

Well, have a look at this excerpt to find out. All the songs are stories. Since I’m not a singer, the melody is there, but the lyrics are not. I don’t let that stand in my way. Words change, but melody endures.

from La vie sous la mer: the Songs, the Stories
by Bruce H. McCosar (November, 2007)

Do you need to know any of this to enjoy the music? No. Actually, before I finished the album, I was toying with the idea of just letting this all be a mystery. There’s something elegant to letting everyone make their own interpretation.

Then I realized I didn’t really want this world to be lost. I lived here for quite some time.

1. The Strange Lady I Met on the Shore
   Jekyll Island, Georgia, United States: 1986.
   The story begins at the end. In a way, it’s a haunting.
2. La vie sous la mer (or, the Mermaid Wife)
   Shelmerston, England: 1836.
   Every legend contains a bit of truth.
3. The Night Jenny Saved the Sailors
   North Atlantic Ocean: 1917.
   Three ships, lost in the fog, and danger hides beneath the surface.
4. Enfin du sommeil
   Gainesville, Florida, United States: 2007.
   Your humble storyteller takes a moment to reflect on the long journey.
5. It’s Always Raining Somewhere
   A Port City on the North Atlantic Ocean: 1949.
   The last commercial tall ship comes in to port: farewell to an age.
6. Hypothermia / The Illusion of Warmth
   Greenland Ice Sheet: 1930.
   Many scientists at Eismitte heard rumors of a ruined, ancient city, glimpsed occasionally during storms. Or heard, faintly, the ringing of a distant, yet unsettling, bell ….
7. Werewolf
   Near Bayonne, France: 1610.
   Falsely accused and hunted, a fugitive meets “le Maître de la Fôret” and strikes a deal.
8. 150 Years Later (The Mermaid Wife II)
   Haven, Georgia: 1986.
   Searching for history, finding only folktales.