Critical Response #7: Butterfly by Rajaton

Butterfly by Rajaton

The song Butterfly is sung by an a capella ensemble called Rajaton. Rajaton is a Finnish a cappella ensemble, founded in Helsinki in 1997. The Finnish word rajaton means "boundless", to indicate the breadth of their repertoire, from sacred classical to near Europop. The six members of the group are: Soprano-Essi Wuorela, Soprano-Virpi Moskari, Alto-Soila Sariola, Tenor-Hannu Lepola, Baritone-Ahti Paunu, Bass-Jussi Chydenius. Butterfly was written by a young female composer Mia Makaroff. The song is taken from their second studio album, boundless (2001). I've been listening to this song for years. So long ago that I can't even remember. First of all, the melody is probably the reason that I love this song so much. Rajaton absolutely did an amazing job on this song. The melody is so peaceful and so pure. While listening to this song, I can imagine the flow of stream through my toes down to the headspring. Secondly, the lyrics are inspirational. The phrase "tomorrow I'll die" is such a sad fact that the butterfly knows when it's gonna die however, it also means a new beginning of life. "Love me, love me on the leaves, before we say goodbye" reminds me of cherishing the people I love. I think "love while you can, because life is otherwise too short." is basically what the song is trying to say.

Butterfly-Rajaton

Sweet as the sound of my newformed wings

I stretch them open, I let them dry

I haven't seen this world before

But I'm excused, I'm a butterfly

Sweet as the touch of your newborn wings

We fly in circles, we play with the sun

We haven't seen this world before

So fair, so bright, so blue the sky

Love me, love me on the leaves

Before we say goodbye

Love me, kiss me with the breeze

You will be my lullaby

Tomorrow I'll die

Tomorrow I'll die

Tomorrow I'll die

Tomorrow I'll die

Be my lullaby

Love me, kiss me with your breeze

Love me, love me on the leaves

Love me, love me on the leaves

Before we say goodbye

Sweet as the wind as it gently blows

The day away. And the night time comes

Great are the wonders that silence shows

I fall asleep and I dream of the sun

And my butterfly

Critical Response #6: Wonderful Life- Hurts

This is the original one sung by Hurts.

The song Wonderful life is sung by a British duo formed in 2009, consisting of singer Theo Hutchcraft and synthesizer Adam Anderson. It was released as their debut single in Denmark on 3 May 2010, and was released as their second single in the United Kingdom on 22 August 2010. The song peaked at number two in Germany, and reached top ten positions in Denmark, Switzerland and Austria. It also charted in Belgium. The first time I listened to this song, it immediately caught my heart. Differ than any other pop songs, the prelude to the song is using a very unique device. The prelude is like a clock sound which I think is quite suitable for the lyrics because it is about a guy who feels disappointed about his life and intends to suicide. And the clock sounds are like the countdown of his life. Speaking of lyrics, amongst all the recently released music, this one is definitely the most meaningful one. It's basically based on two extremes: the first being a man who wants to kill himself and the second being love at first sight. He's standing on the bridge about to jump and he's stopped by a woman. They see each other and fall in love. She basically says, 'Come with me, it's all going to be fine'. The song only offers a snippet of someone's life, so we don't know what happens at the end of it. The use of instruments is based on technology which is mostly synthesized sounds.

Wonderful Life- Hurts


On a bridge across the Severn on a Saturday night,
Susie meets the man of her dreams.
He says that he got in trouble and if she doesn't mind
He doesn't want the company
But there's something in the air
They share a look in silence and everything is understood
Susie grabs her man and puts a grip on his hand as the rain puts a tear in his eye.

SHE SAYS:

Don't let go
Never give up, it's such a wonderful life
Don't let go
Never give up, it's such a wonderful life

Driving through the city to the Temple Station,
Cries into the leather seat
And Susie knows her baby was a family man,
But the world has got him down on his knees

So she throws him at the wall and kisses burn like fire,
And suddenly he starts to believe
He takes her in his arms and he doesn't know why,
But he thinks that he begins to see

SHE SAYS:

Don't let go
Never give up, it's such a wonderful life
Don't let go
Never give up, it's such a wonderful life
Don't let go
Never give up, it's such a wonderful life
Don't let go
Never give up, it's such a wonderful life

SHE SAYS:

Don't let go
Never give up
Don't let go
Never give up, it's such a wonderful life

wonderful life, wonderful life, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful life
wonderful life, wonderful life, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful life

Don't let go
Don't let go

Cover by Jharda.

This is the cover by Jharda who is using a harp instead of synthesized sounds for instrumentation. The timber of the song is husky and jazzy. I really like the way that Jharda preforms this song because unlike the original version, this old school style strangely fits the atmosphere of the song. This cover in my opinion is very pleasant and beautiful. Using the harp as the instrument I think is very creative. It is unusual that harps are used as the main instruments. The song is played at a moderate speed with a metre of 2/4.


By contrasting the use of instrumentation, I personally like the original one better because the original one is more colourful and the cover seems to be a little bit plain and dull. In the original one, the opening of the song (the clock sounds) is very critical because it greatly realtes to the storyline. Without the opening, it's like eating pasta without tabaco, ordinary and tasteless. By comparing the two songs, they are both husky and lazy, but they are also slightly different. The original one is more like a pop song style and the cover is classical. However in general I think they are both melodious and elegant.

Assignment #5

An example of a Marching Band.

Auburn University Marching Band (AUMB) - Pregame

Critical response #4: Rhythm

An example of music with a 2/4 metre.

Salut d'amour- Edward William Elgar

An example of music with a 3/4 metre.

The Dancing Doll- Eduard Poldini

An example of music with a 4/4 metre.

Ave Maria- Schubert

The world music

La Bamba- Khalil Fong (Ritchie Valens)

This song is called La Bamba sung by Khalil Fong. "La Bamba" is a Mexican folk song, originally from the state of Veracruz, best known from a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens, a top 40 hit in the U.S. charts and one of early rock and roll's best-known songs. Valens' version of "La Bamba" is ranked number 345 on Rolling Stone magazine′s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and is the only song on the list not sung in English. In this video, the song is sung by an American-born Chinese singer named Khalil Fong. The melody of the song is relaxed and humourous. When I listened to this song the first word I instantly came up with was "humourous". I think the form of this song is a combination of jazz and bossa nova because the usage of intrumentation is based on a piano, a trumpet, a cello, guitars, and drums which are the basic instruments used in jazz music. However, the melody and the timbre tend to bo more like bossa nova style. I really liked the song because Khalil Fong uses a lot of singing skills to perform this song which is really pleasant to listen to. 

La Bamba

Para bailar la bamba,
Para bailar la bamba,
Se necesita una poca de gracia.
Una poca de gracia para mi para ti.
Arriba y arriba
Y arriba y arriba, por ti sere,
Por ti sere.
Por ti sere.

Yo no soy marinero
Yo no soy marinero, soy capitan
Soy capitan, soy capitan

Bamba, bamba, bamba, bamba
Bamba, bamba
Bamba

Para bailar la bamba,
Para bailar la bamba,
Se necesita una poca de gracia.
Una poca de gracia para mi para ti.
Arriba, arriba.

(guitar solo)

Para bailar la bamba,
Para bailar la bamba,
Se necesita una poca de gracia.
Una poca de gracia para mi para ti.
Arriba y arriba
Y arriba y arriba, por ti sere,
Por ti sere.
Por ti sere.

Bamba, bamba, bamba, bamba
Bamba, bamba
Bamba, bamba