“Now and then I think of when we were together”
I’m blown away I was never aware of this masterpiece by Gotye. The video, the song, Kimbra’s vocals, it’s perfect. The past few months have been difficult for me, but I’m thrilled to say I’m better than ever and see things clearly now – a perfect bookend into the arrangement of this piece and what it means to me.
As I was working on this piece, I thought about how it’s funny to reminisce about the bad times you’ve had, because the journey is the reward. The memory – as painful as it may be – serves as a marker for one’s positive change. And in the midst of all this back and forth, trying to find myself, trying to make sense of it all, it all seems so clear to me now – the bad times are part of the process! Much like you learn from your mistakes rather than from your successes, you get stronger and smarter with every battle you overcome.
You know that ideology of how no one wants to go through bad times? Sure, make sense. But I wonder how many times I’ve taken the good for granted, how many times something was a memory I used to have. Or how much someone is now a memory of someone I used to know. Life is a journey, and as much as I struggle, or have experiences or people I wished were a part of me forever and not just a memory, I can’t help but to think of one concept – growth.
Walk Off The Earth’s cover version of the original is absolutely breathtaking, and is what introduced me to the original. I must say, that their cover version is fantastic – one of the best cover versions of any song I’ve ever heard. Then I think about how it was arranged with 5 people on 1 guitar… well ain’t that something.
So to start this piece, I wanted a softness leading into a steady drum rhythm. I had to change some of the harmonies around in order to fit with the ranges of each respective orchestral instrument, and I also thinned out some sections that I thought had too much going on for orchestral writing. In addition, I didn’t want to just attribute Gotye in this piece, I wanted to also draw inspiration and acknowledge Walk Off The Earth, so I have some parts that mimic the sound of harmonized vocals, the timbre of the lead singers, and the harp to emphasize the high harmonics.
If you like my arrangement, then as always I’d appreciate it of you please check out the original artists, too. Much appreciation to Gotye (Wouter De Backer), Kimbra, Gianni Luminati, Sarah Blackwood, Ryan Marshall, Mike Taylor, and Joel Cassady.
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