Hayley's Songwriting

[mj]

Hello Hayley fans across the globe!

I, like most of you hoepfully, recieved my bit of Treasure through the post today, and was pleasantly surprised at how well done the songs that she helped wrote are! They are excellent! Never realised just how good there are from the snippets on the websites!

'Summer Rain' is phenomenal! Just a beautiful tune, really catchy and the lyrics are so well done.

'Le Note Del Silenzio' is so peaceful, and the english lyrics and tune go hand in hand like they were never apart! Really great!

'Let Me Lie' is also very well done, and I especially love the way the song ends.

I sincerly hope that this is the way Hayley's songwriting is going to progress, that it does so in the future, and that more songs on her future albums will be headlining her own hits.

Hope you enjoy 'Treasure' people as much as I have!

The Rest of the songs are good, but 'Summer Rain' is now my favourite!

Mj

P.S. Did anybody see Hayley today in Cardiff and how did it go?

[jons]

I started a 'Hayley Songwriting' thread on the official site about a year ago in anticipation of song's written by Hayley and although she's only co-written on a few songs, I am very impressed!

[roger]

Hi MJ,

I am not aware that any of us went to Cardiff today. Even for the UK members, it is a long way to go merely for a signing session. If anyone was there, please let us know how it went.

Roger

[comet]

Melancholy Interlude

Cold nights of loneliness
Dark nights of emptiness
I stood there waiting
But the summer came too late.

Seasons unfold
Stories lie untold
And still my heart is waiting
Summer came too late.

Credits:
Composer: John Dowland (1563 - 1626)
Lyrics: Hayley Westenra
Arranged: Nick Ingman; Nick Patrick.

I can't believe there has been so little discussion about this song.
I know it's short but it says so much. In just 33 words. one minute and 33 seconds.
The most significant things in life can be stated in just a few words.
To write a song like this takes great courage and is one thing, but to have it published is another,
Is it too close to a raw nerve ? Is it too honest or personal to be discussed ?

If Melancholy Interlude was NOT written from a personal point of view, Then I am way off the mark here.
( But it is one of the most haunting songs on the album)

I think this is one of the most personal songs Hayley has written and I believe it was written from the heart.
I also think it explains the essence of the way Hayley sings many of the songs we know and love,
Some of Hayley's most touching songs are of loss and regret.
An Irish word "uaigneas" comes to mind, there is no direct English translation but it encompasses : Loneliness, solitude, eeriness, privacy, yearning.

Hayley's voice seemed to portray these elements very obviously from her first International Album, Pure.
The very sound of anguish, loss and pain, if it has a sound.



I have not completed my thoughts on this one yet and hope to get back to it.

[Dave]

Hi Paul,

In the recent Survey thread, on

Mar 8, 2009 2:03:37 GMT Dave said:

2. And do you have a favourite song?

Melancholy Interlude (Exquisite tune & performance; an element of mystery about Hayley's simple but sublime lyrics)

[/quote]

Need I say more?

Cheers, Dave

[martindn]

I think that this is something that risks prying too closely into Hayley's life, but I agree, she sings these songs with so much conviction that it is hard to believe it is not from personal experience. And several of the lyrics in that vein that she sings were Hayley's own compositions. But in the end we don't know and should not seek to know. And I who have been through the experiences she sings about, can say that she hits the nail on the head every time!

Martin

[nicola]

I like Hayley's lyrics to 'Let Me Lie' but not for the Melancholy Interlude. They read as something that I had written when I was fifteen. They're simple and a little naive, but I think this is a good indication of Hayley's youth and the stage of her life. I'm not detracting from how authentic they are, anything but. I find with my poetry writing that I have great difficultly with writing something that is personal to me. If I am detached from it, I can write properly (well, better, anyway).

[grant]

Hello Martin and everyone

Mar 23, 2009 23:53:46 GMT martindn said:

I think that this is something that risks prying too closely into Hayley's life, but I agree, she sings these songs with so much conviction that it is hard to believe it is not from personal experience.

I agree with you on both counts, but I also thing it's worth bearing in mind that Hayley travels the world more than most of us ever will and will, at some point, get to see many different facets of human life.

Hayley has such a caring nature, that she will undoubtedly notice many aspects that most of us wouldn't, it only takes a second for that to plant a seed in her memory that may one day become a very poignant lyric.

Best wishes
Grant

[grant]

Hi Nicola

Mar 24, 2009 0:08:05 GMT nicola said:

I like Hayley's lyrics to 'Let Me Lie' but not for the Melancholy Interlude. They read as something that I had written when I was fifteen. They're simple and a little naive, but I think this is a good indication of Hayley's youth and the stage of her life. I'm not detracting from how authentic they are, anything but. I find with my poetry writing that I have great difficultly with writing something that is personal to me. If I am detached from it, I can write properly (well, better, anyway).

Yes, they are, but I also think that that's why they have the effect they do on so many people. If they were too 'clever' I don't think the song would work. For me, the way they are written leaves the listener to put his or her own meaning as to why "Summer came too late"

I remember Steve Abbott talking to some of us after a concert and well before the album came out, about when he first heard "Melancholy Interlude" - they were staying in a hotel and Hayley finished working on the lyrics late at night and rang Steve in his room, wanting to share them with him. It struck me at the time that it was also probably Steve's favorite track.

Best wishes
Grant

[Dave]

Mar 24, 2009 18:39:57 GMT grant said:

[Melancholy Interlude lyrics]For me, the way they are written leaves the listener to put his or her own meaning as to why "Summer came too late"

Hi Grant, yes indeed, the genius is in their simplicity - the meaning can be many things; I love the air of mystery, I'm a complete sucker for this kind of lyric!

I've just realised that it's for this exact reason that my daughter Emma's song was chosen in an English colleges competition, to be featured on a commercial CD by the long-lasting classical ensemble Brodsky Quartet. . They too were hooked by the simplicity and air of mystery about the lyrics; it was called "Shallow Footsteps" and listening to it produced exactly the same shiver up my spine as when I listen to Melancholy Interlude!

Cheers, Dave

[comet]

Mar 24, 2009 0:08:05 GMT nicola said:

I like Hayley's lyrics to 'Let Me Lie' but not for the Melancholy Interlude. They read as something that I had written when I was fifteen. They're simple and a little naive, but I think this is a good indication of Hayley's youth and the stage of her life. I'm not detracting from how authentic they are, anything but. I find with my poetry writing that I have great difficultly with writing something that is personal to me. If I am detached from it, I can write properly (well, better, anyway).

Ah but Nicola, you are young yet

The "what might have been" stays with you for life.
It becomes more precious as time passes.
it retains a perfection in the mind , untainted by everyday reality and the mundane.
It remains on a pedestal, The un-achieved.
The heart does not listen to reason..

I know some elderly people who still remember some event or even a non event that changed the course of their lives when they were in their teens often over 60 years ago.

The "TEENS" is the part of this I was going to get back to.
Even with the best relationships between parents and children, there are some things in a teenagers life that parents are often totally oblivious to.
I have experience of this from both sides now. Feelings of teenagers are so intense and world moving for them and they just assume their parents could never have felt like this.

I suppose if Hayley did not want these lyrics discussed they would have been kept private and would not have been published for all to see

[martindn]

Mar 24, 2009 19:46:59 GMT comet said:

Ah but Nicola, you are young yet

The "what might have been" stays with you for life.
It becomes more precious as time passes.
it retains a perfection in the mind , untainted by everyday reality and the mundane.
It remains on a pedestal, The un-achieved.
The heart does not listen to reason..

That is almost poetic! Perhaps you should have a go at lyric writing. But remember, that Hayley was even younger than Nicola when she wrote that. And I too can relate it to my own feelings as a teenager, which I can still remember vividly.

That song still gets to me. As do many of Hayley's other "simple" songs. In fact, with Hayley, it is often the simpler the better. That way her quality shines through.

Martin

[talialoveshayley]

I didn't know that Hayley Wrote Let me Lie! I love that song, probably in my top 2 favorites on treasure.