Description
A song. Not a popular one, no, and neither an underground, for a small circle of appreciators' song. Just a song. A song probably only a few people on earth have heard, just like millions of others composed by regular people in the whole world. A song about nothing and at the same time about anything you want. A song that has no words but speaks to you in its own way. Not money, not houses, not paintings, not even writings, but just a song out of it all. Of course people will remember them all; some - the money, some - the houses and the paintings there, some - the poems and the stories. But it is not the money that is his biggest treasure, nor are the houses and all the wealth they keep within, neither the old fashioned poems and certainly not the short stories he wrote during long sleepless nights.
A song. A song he came with one long summer day, unaware of what he was creating. If he knew that it would be the last thing he ever composed he probably would have paid more attention to the process of crafting it. But the song was unplanned - a raw, spontaneous outburst of thoughts and fears, sweet lies and the bitter truth, the realisation of that bitter truth. A song that was never understood by the One who unintentionally and completely unaware of that fact became his muse, the everlasting fountain of inspiration overflowing beyond the reach of his hands, words, thoughts, his dreams... However, the song had a much greater impact on his life than a mere dedication to somebody: it became the hymn of it, the turning point of all his being. It was the first blow on the foundations of the old He, the prophet, which foretold the coming changes, the alienation of his old self, the collapse of his tiny little world he created around himself through which, like through a veil, his childhood would carelessly gaze out at the life around then arrogantly tuck itself back into the sandbox, pretending to be a free thinker who goes against the socially accepted behaviour, who believes that he is the centre of the whole fucking universe and that all the others around him are at his disposal to appease his every single whim and desire whenever he pleases, whatever be the cost.
A song that broke it all. That still breaks it all. A song that slowly flows into a powerful wave which softly crashes you, imminently spreading all your dreams into myriad atoms and molecules, that embraces you and exalts your mortal spirit in rare moments of sincerity, emptying every ounce of it, then gently puts it down on the sinful soil - into your flawed body. After which, all hollowed, your spirit longs for a purpose which that song took away in its final seconds exploding in a silent harmony, devastating your mind and soul, leaving you all alone, facing the world in its complete hopelessness. And that moment your heart bursts. Bursts out of pity for the World, for you then see how lonely it is, how cold it is, how much it needs an end to start anew. That moment you feel how weary the soil has become under our weight, for it bears not merely our bodies but our dreams and hopes and ambitions which expand as we go, in the end becoming the weight under which we break, and with us breaks the soil, embracing our remnants in a wooden box deeply buried in its heart - still weary of our presence. That's what the song meant to him.
And when the last spade of earth covers the ground above him, a song will be left. When all those people who have known him are gone, a song will be left. When the whole world with us all ends, a song will be left.
Comments: 20
saevuswinds [2013-02-08 16:17:35 +0000 UTC]
- Is the switching between the style of storytelling too abrupt?
I don't believe so.
- How is the ending?
It was a good connector, but I wish it held more impact. It's such a short piece, I felt it coming from the start.
-Does it sound off when compared with the 3rd paragraph or does it fit in?
Not really, some editing wouldn't hurt.
-Also would it be better to put the ending before the 3rd paragraph?
No.
-Other things?
I felt it needed to be expanded if trying to convey a story. While the mood was enjoyable, the piece doesn't add any lasting impact for me due to how we know little of the one who created the song. The piece feels more like a slam poem or prose poem than actual prose, and I wish there was a little more original, unique detail where it the song isn't like, it just is. I liked the ending a lot though, it got interesting after the second stanza/paragraph. I feel like this piece would be best if let unraveled. Try to expand on it a bit, see what happens.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
SCFrankles [2013-01-23 00:20:05 +0000 UTC]
Just listened to the piece of music ^^ It is the same piece used with "All Too Much", isn't it? ^^" Sounds even better on the website - such a lovely warm guitar sound. I really, really like it. Must admit, it isn't exactly what I would imagine the song in the story to be like but I suppose that's a positive thing - every reader will come up with their own song, even if it's only an abstract idea. (For me, very abstract - I'm not terribly musical ^^)
I didn't find the switch abrupt. Didn't notice the switch in style, which probably answers your question ^_^
I absolutely love the ending - it's the best part. It completely fits in - for me, anyway. I love both those last two paragraphs, and I would definitely leave them that way round.
I can't swear that I understand the whole piece but the emotions and the language carry me along. And the ending really touched me.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
SCFrankles In reply to Vainamoinenian [2013-01-26 00:27:50 +0000 UTC]
I can't put a finger on what the song sounds like in my head. It's too nebulous. And I have a feeling no matter what real-life song was presented to me, I would say, "Oh, it's not really like that." ^^ I suppose in the end, no song can match up to the way you've described it in words.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
oracle-of-nonsense [2013-01-22 02:51:24 +0000 UTC]
Wow. I'm left wanting desperately to hear this song, which I assume means you did your job of writing it very well
To answer your questions:
I did not find the difference in styles too abrupt; to be honest, I didn't notice them until I went back over after having read your question.
I think the ending does a very good job of wrapping the piece up, adding an even deeper level of meaning and poignancy to the piece, and tying it solidly into the prompt. It's a very lovely, succinct way of describing the way that the art, at least the good art that we leave behind will be around and be affecting other people, strangers, long after everyone we know is long gone. you go even further than that, saying that even if "the whole world with us all ends" the art, the song will still be there, playing itself out in the cosmos, through the dead landscape. Delightful to think about.
In the first paragraph, you say "But not the money is his biggest treasure" and I think that's somewhat awkwardly worded. Perhaps "But it is not the money that is his biggest treasure" or "But the money is not his biggest treasure" would work better and feel less awkward.
Overall, lovely work, and I'm glad you won
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Vainamoinenian In reply to oracle-of-nonsense [2013-01-22 20:03:30 +0000 UTC]
Thank you so much for this lovely comment! If you're interested I can link you the song, which is described here a little bit exaggerated, but at certain moments, it has all that strength in itself, at least for me
It's really good that the flow of writing style is smooth, because in the beginning I was aiming to have a straightforward story with no abstract ideas and double meanings, but ended up with something completely different, so I worried that starting from the last (LONG) sentence of the 2nd paragraph the manner of storytelling had changed. haha
Good job on interpreting the final idea behind the lines "when the whole world with us all ends..." You got straight to the point! Concerning that idea of music remaining in universe, I once read an interesting article, it was some musician writing his philosophical ideas or something like that, I don't really remember, so the idea he expressed was that we don't create music, we discover it. Like all the notes and their all possible combinations with all the breaks, tempo/key changes already exist in the universe, which basically means that when we write a song, we simply uncover a musical composition which already existed in the universe. That's a pretty interesting perspective to view things in my opinion.
And regarding the ""But not the money..." line. I have been told about it before, and I too agree that I have to change it, sometimes it sounds right to me, but that's maybe because I got used to it I just don't get the time to think of something proper to write there. Your suggestions are excellent!!! I'll keep them in mind when comping up with a solution for this
PS. Here's the song [link] I figured out I want people to listen to it too much to wait for your reply It's okay if you won't find the things described in this piece in the actual song, but as I said, to me it gives the same exact feelings, especially when I'm playing it... Hope you like it
And thanks again for your wonderful comment!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Sammur-amat [2013-01-20 09:17:07 +0000 UTC]
Hello there!
Your piece has been featured for #theWrittenRevolution 's January 7th prompt-piece!
Remember, this is only a critique, and all my suggestions are just that - suggestions. It's completely up to you as the writer to decide what to do with them!
I really admire the honesty, vulnerability and emotions brought about by this piece.
But not the money is his biggest treasure, nor are the houses and all the wealth they keep within, not the old fashioned poems and certainly not the short stories he wrote during long sleepless nights.
I believe it would sound more "correct" if you were to edit these lines into:
But neither is money his biggest treasure, nor the houses and all the wealth they keep within. His treasure has never been the old-fashioned poems and is certainly not the short stories he wrote during long sleepless nights.
There's just something that irks me about the repetition of "not" you see, plus you have a tendency to write too long lines/ run-on's and so yeah, splitting your sentences up sounds like a good plan. XD
A song. A song he came with one long summer day, unaware of what he was creating. If he knew that it would be the last thing he ever composed he probably would have paid more attention to the process of crafting it. But the song was unplanned - a raw, spontaneous outburst of thoughts and fears, sweet lies and the bitter truth, the realisation of that bitter truth. A song that was never understood by the one who unintentionally and completely unaware of that fact became his muse, the everlasting fountain of inspiration overflowing beyond the reach of his hands, words, thoughts, dreams.
Very lovely.
However, the song had a much greater impact on his life than a mere dedication to somebody: it became the hymn of it, the turning point of all his being, the first blow on the foundations of the old He, the prophet, which foretold the coming changes, the alienation of his old self, the collapse of his tiny little world he created around himself through which, like through a veil, his childhood would carelessly gaze out at the life around then arrogantly tuck itself back into the sandbox, pretending to be a free thinker, who goes against the socially accepted behaviour, who believes that he is the centre of the whole fucking universe and that all the others around him are at his disposal to appease his every single whim and desire whenever he pleases, whatever be the cost.
Again, run-on. I'll leave it up to you to split the sentences as you see fit.
Your entire last paragraph and last lines were absolutely stunning. Bravo! Congratulations on piercing piece, dear one!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
alineva [2013-01-18 20:15:17 +0000 UTC]
When his beauty fades away, and he is no longer the center of the universe... then he would discover that there are no triumphs left for him but his songs. ))
👍: 0 ⏩: 1