Sold By Nobody (For Charlotte Bronte). [hit the cc button for lyrics]
This song is about Charlotte Bronte’s early writing and her memory of it. It is inspired the fact that one of her tiny books, which was inscribed “Sold by Nobody,” just sold at auction for 1.25 million. I had to work for this one. It took me awhile to get inspired and I had to read a lot of her personal writing and used a lot of her phrases from when she was reminiscing while away from home.
Please excuse the quality of production. Hopefully I am slowly improving. It’s a process.
Lyrics:
Sold To Nobody (Song for Charlotte Bronte)
We washed up on four separate islands, trauma-torn in stormy lands.
We conjured giants, six miles high,, who took their peace when offered none.
Mama died when I was five. Two sisters then. Too much to lose
But then we brought “tin men” to life. My Wellington the bravest muse.
And I hear the still small voice, like a stormy waking blast,
Like a heath in the wilderness Whirling me away so fast
To Haworth and our beds and secret books we held
That were sold to nobody and printed by ourselves
I held the book of geography
Inscribed by sisters’ vanished hand.
She wrote, “papa lent this book to me.”
It was a map on which to stand.
I leaned on thunder waking winds
On river banks in amber light
The trance that always took me home
back to our stories, wild and bright.
And I hear the still small voice Like a stormy waking blast
Like a heath in the wilderness Whirling me away so fast
To Haworth and our beds and secret books we held
That were sold to nobody and printed by ourselves
Never shall I, Charlotte, forget to hear
what now comes thrillingly to my body’s ear
It Sold to Nobody, and printed by herself
Sold to Nobody and written by myself
If you hit cc, the lyrics will show in the captions for you.
Interesting chord shifts Nikki. A haunting melody that fits the theme well I think. We live about 2 miles from Bronte Parsonage and of course Wuthering Heights is just over the hill. A familiar story for me. Good job
Interesting and unusual – I love the lyrics and the melody suits the story somehow.
I enjoyed that Nicole.
I really liked the piano and string mix too!😁👍
Thanks, Catherine, Kris and Phil! I am pleased with the lyrics and feel the melody needs some tweaking but I just finished this draft so need to let it sit before I try to go in there again and experiment. Catherine, I hope I pronounced Haworth correctly. My first recording I pronounced it Haw- worth and then I thought I better check the pronunciation because someone might live near it and know. : ) I’m jealous that you get to live so close!
Just got done catching up on the submissions in this category. I’m so humbled by everyone’s skill on guitar and the beautiful voices! So lovely to be in the company of so much talent. One day I will perform with guitar but have a lot of practicing to do first.
Great story telling Nicole. The haunting melody and unusual chord shifts fit your subject so well. Nice one
Memorable for the keys and the chord changes. Unusual but I like it. well done.
This is different, well done and keep going👏
Well done Nicole. Very unusual angle, matched by the enjoyably quirky melody and accompaniment. By the way, where will I find ‘cc’ on my keyboard?
Thanks all! Paul, if you click into YouTube on the video where it says, Watch On Youtube, and then on lower right you should see a cc button.
I love the piano in this. It’s great
Thanks, Tom. That makes me really happy because I’m not a very good piano player and I composed and played it myself via Keyboard into Logic Pro.
Liked this very much, great piano and string arrangement.
Love the folk style story style and melody is great
I love the period orchestral sound you’ve created on your keyboard but used more modern chords and tune, really inventive. The writing is great. I also like how you turned the last line into a personal statement. Great stuff
There are some lovely and interesting chord shifts in there, providing a perfect accompaniment to your soaring melody. Lovely.
Interesting and very different. Nicole. Well done. Don’t worry about playing the guitar we are all just having a go in a safe environment. So give it a try. I might Learn some keys to mix it up myself. Look forward to your future contributions.
Mal 👍
I’m loving listening to your song, Nikki. There’s an originality and emotion that pleases me greatly. I love your production and wish I knew how to achieve it. I’ve run out of time to listen to all the songs for this challenge but I’m very glad I found the time to listen to yours. Xx