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Post by grant on Aug 10, 2009 14:20:08 GMT
Hi Martin Let's not forget that this wonderful composition, Talk to Me, was co-written with Beth Orton so it may well have been his storyline. Interesting Martin, I assumed Beth (short for Elizabeth) was female. Best wishes Grant
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Post by Richard on Aug 10, 2009 14:47:16 GMT
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Aug 10, 2009 15:44:21 GMT
Hi Richard & Grant I did wonder with a name like that ! But now I really am confused! I am sure that when Hayley introduced this song at Southend, she said that her co-writer was in the audience. So who then was the chap that Hayley introduced to us as her co-writer outside the theatre just before she left Southend? In fact, she gave him a big hug. Or was it just one huge senior moment? Best wishes Martin
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Post by grant on Aug 10, 2009 18:04:17 GMT
Hi Martin I am sure that when Hayley introduced this song at Southend, she said that her co-writer was in the audience. So who then was the chap that Hayley introduced to us as her co-writer outside the theatre just before she left Southend? In fact, she gave him a big hug. Well I don't remember the introduction or the hug but then I guess I would have been busy with my camera BUT, I do remember Hayley mentioning something about a co-writer in the audience and I'm sure she said his name was John. I guess that was who you met. Best wishes Grant
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Aug 10, 2009 18:58:59 GMT
Thanks Grant. But the mystery deepens! Who is this "John" then and what has he co-written?
Martin
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Post by James on Aug 10, 2009 20:00:32 GMT
As I remember it, I think Hayley said that she had a friend called John in the audience who had first introduced her to the music of Beth Orton. Therefore without that friend, Hayley would not have been singing "Talk to Me".
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Post by martindn on Aug 10, 2009 20:17:02 GMT
Hi All Let's not forget that this wonderful composition, Talk to Me, was co-written with Beth Orton so it may well have been his storyline. One thing is for sure - it is a definite question for Hayley the next time we see her. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gifMartin Hi Martin, Well, I don't know for sure what happened of course, but I think in every other songwriting collaboration involving Hayley, it is Hayley who wrote the lyrics and the other person the melody. And it does to me have the "feel" of a Hayley lyric. This one looks a bit unusual as it feels like a song where the lyric was written first and the melody later, the opposite way round to what Hayley normally does. I would love to know how it was done! Martin
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Post by Colin on Aug 10, 2009 21:20:32 GMT
I'm still a little confused about what the song is about Me Too, So far I've had 3 ideas but none really fit completely. 1st idea: Hayley was talk to someone she loves (but then why "Tell me your name") 2nd idea: was the song was coming from a mothers perspective talking to a child. (but then why "Tell me your name" still doesn't fit) 3rd idea: is Hayley is talking to a stranger, somebody who's been hurt as "I won't Question" supports my idea here But I'd love to found out what Hayley's idea behind this song really is. Dean Hi Dean/Grant/Martin I think this is an interesting discussion. How about if it's to a prospective attachment, a prospective lover? Someone she wants to find out about, but who is too shy/tongue-tied to tell her. So "Talk To Me" is a plea - please talk to me, I want to know you, tell me anything, whatever's easiest for you, even if it's just to tell me your name. I just want to talk with you. And then I think the "to be" or "today" question comes down on the side of "to be" - because I think there are two words that are implied but missing there: "How it really feels to be [in love]". I agree with Martin that I suspect Hayley's involvement in this song is more on the lyrics side, as with her other collaborations. If this is the case then I would also guess that it is quite personal to her because it is certainly her tendency to write from the heart. Kind regards Colin
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Post by Libby on Aug 10, 2009 21:32:20 GMT
If an artist writes a song, it usually relates to them somehow. On the other songs she wrote, she had people help her, like Sarah Class for Let Me Lie and Jeff Franzel for Summer Rain. But some of that may have more to do with help with the music itself, not just the words. Remember, she said she wrote the words to Summer Rain, and Jeff Franzel helped her compose the music. I'm assuming she's doing the same thing with these co-writers now. Wasn't she working with somebody named Gavin somebody-or-other? Someone said they saw on his Twitter page that he had worked with Hayley Westenra and somebody else, and that it was a strange day! I wonder why he said that? Oh, and remember her Facebook entry a couple months ago where she said she said she was songwriting with her guitar? I think I'm going too far off-topic now. Jono, I didn't say I thought for sure she was saying "today", I just meant it sounded more like it at the end than anywhere else, if she did say it at all. I'm going to have to listen to it again, with my ear pressed to the speaker, as I've been doing so much already.
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Post by grant on Aug 10, 2009 22:26:13 GMT
Hi Colin How about if it's to a prospective attachment, a prospective lover? Someone she wants to find out about, but who is too shy/tongue-tied to tell her. So "Talk To Me" is a plea - please talk to me, I want to know you, tell me anything, whatever's easiest for you, even if it's just to tell me your name. I just want to talk with you. Yes, I think that is what I was trying to suggest. I agree with Martin that I suspect Hayley's involvement in this song is more on the lyrics side, as with her other collaborations. If this is the case then I would also guess that it is quite personal to her because it is certainly her tendency to write from the heart. Yes again, I'm sure the lyrics are Hayley's. Best wishes Grant
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Post by Richard on Aug 11, 2009 8:08:26 GMT
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Post by comet on Aug 11, 2009 12:03:00 GMT
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Post by Libby on Aug 12, 2009 4:14:04 GMT
Well, I don't know for sure what happened of course, but I think in every other songwriting collaboration involving Hayley, it is Hayley who wrote the lyrics and the other person the melody. And it does to me have the "feel" of a Hayley lyric. This one looks a bit unusual as it feels like a song where the lyric was written first and the melody later, the opposite way round to what Hayley normally does. What do you mean, "what Hayley normally does"? She's only written songs for 1 album so far, so I'm not sure how you know what she "usually" does. The only song I remember (from reading her book) she wrote where the melody came first was Melancholy Interlude. The other ones, particularly Summer Rain, she said she wrote the lyrics and the other people helped her with the music. I'm not really seeing this as written to a "lover". To me, it sounds more like about a friend. Maybe the "to be" part means exactly what it says, how it feels to be. Okay, I pressed my ear up to the speaker like I said, and it definitely is "Who broke your heart?" and yes, Grant, it is "to be". I even watched at the end just to see, and she clearly says "be"; her lips come together and part. If she'd said "today" you would see her teeth, and I definitely didn't. I definitely heard "to be". "Today" doesn't make that much sense with the song anyway. I think you should try putting your ear up to the speaker, too, and see what you think.
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Post by martindn on Aug 12, 2009 8:08:16 GMT
Hi Libby,
She has wriiten most of the lyrics for her two Japanese Songs albums, and that is what I was thinking of. Since the Japanese songs existed first, and Hayley translated/wrote the lyrics, we can be sure that Hayley wrote her words after the melodies were written. We even see her doing exactly that in the "On the Wings of time" video. Since these compositions far outnumber the others of her own composition that she has recorded, this is what she "usually does".
Oh, and I agree, to me it sounds like "who broke your heart" and "to be" - which I interpret as meaning "to exist".
BTW I'm intrigued by the "Childline" theory of this song. It would certainly fit! Especiall the bit about cuts and bruises. Could beshe is thinking of talking to an abused child, perhaps over the telephone.
Martin
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Post by postscript on Aug 12, 2009 10:38:49 GMT
Hi Martin.
May I pick up on your reference to 'to be'? I am not in any way presuming to be a source of influence, there are many other ways and more prominent authors than I who have used that style of expression but it is a term I have used on my birthday/christmas cards to Hayley imploring her not to rush through her life but take time 'to be'. The motive is expressed without precise quote in the opening couplet of Davies' poem 'Leisure' I have previously quoted.
In that context 'to be' is more than to exist. It involves self-awareness within the context of the whole, it is very much an extension of oneself into the metaphysical. It is to be apart and yet with. Hayley has used the expression in her autobiography (I think) of a moment which she quoted as similar to 'an out of body' experience.
In my view, what ever her personal 'formal' views might be, she is a spiritually aware person in the widest sense of the metaphysical. In my view all creators of any sort of originality are, for those moments in time, mediums. A channel through which the metaphysical may enter the physical.
Longfellow expresses it as '...so come to the poet his songs, all hitherwards blown, from the misty land that belongs to the vast unknown.' In another poem O'Shaunessy writes, referring to writers, '... we are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams, who wander by lone sea-breakers, dreaming our dreams.'
Peter S.
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