Product Description
*THIS ACCOMPANIES THE VOCAL ARRANGEMENT*
This arrangement came to me over a number of weeks in a very organic way that began with the ostinato piano figure that prevails throughout the piece. I began playing it unattached to any tune and I just liked the way the line descended in the left hand and how I had to find voicings in the right hand that made harmonic sense like a puzzle. As I was playing around with this puzzle, thoughts of my father were swirling around in my head I was at the end of a 4 year period of separation from my parents owing to the fact that Im a Canadian expat living in the US and the borders were closed for a long time because of Covid, and then I had work visa issues and my parents were getting older before my eyes. They were also losing friends to cancer and other ailments and my dad, in particular, had experienced the loss of many close family members and friends during our separation and it was taking a toll.
One day I sat down and played the now familiar-to-me ostinato but randomly I started to sing Beyond the Sea over it and it fit perfectly. I thought it a happy coincidence. As the days went on I committed to putting my ostinato with Beyond the Sea and the lyrics started to seep into my brain. I have, of course, heard these lyrics many times before, (who hasnt seen Finding Nemo?) but the lyrics didnt mean what I thought they meant Theyre NOT about the ocean, they are about my dad!!! Well, kind of I realized, through careful reflection and by slowing the words down, that the lyrics are talking about a person in heaven who is patiently waiting for their partner to join them.
Somewhere beyond the sea
Shes there watching for me
Its far beyond the stars
Its near beyond the moon
And the lyrics end with them meeting, Well meet beyond the shore, well kiss just like before, and the song ends with: and never again Ill go sailing. Its like the big bang went off in my head about why all these thoughts of my dad, and his friends, and this arrangement, and what it all meant suddenly just MADE SENSE and I was able to start formulating a plan.
Performance Suggestions:
The improvisation solo in the middle should be free of any traditional scat syllables and should be more of a lament. Listen to singers like Aubrey Johnson improvise on ballads for inspiration. An idea for that improv section might be to have a male singer start the improv, then a female singer joins (as if together in heaven) then they sing letter F together (warning: will cause tears). All solo sections do not have to be sung as written soloists can take liberties with the melody as the spirit moves.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.