This is a folky, spooky pop, Celtic-like Seasonal Ballad, for the Autumn and Halloween season…
This track was originally inspired by a beautifully enchanting song from the soundtrack of a somewhat cute Halloween holiday family flick called: Hocus Pocus. From what I understand, the name of the song is ‘Come Little Children." I can still remember thinking to myself when I first heard it, “wow, that is like the perfect kind of song for Halloween. What a great melody, and such awesome chord changes.” In fact, it is like in the perfect key for that type of vibe and mood. A minor. Which in music, is also known as the Aeolian or ’Old English' mode. Ya know, it has that distinct sound and tendency to lend itself to moonlit nights, renaissance fairs, the crisp chill in the air, and the color of the autumn leaves, etc. What I also really dug about the chord changes of this song, was that before it would go to the next verse, it would temporarily go outside the key for a moment and end on an E major instead of an E minor, the V chord of the key of A major (not A minor). The V chord is the chord that usually resolves to the I chord in the major key. I thought this was such a brilliant chord change. So, such is the case with this song. It is in the key of A minor, with very similar chord changes. Its just revamped somewhat differently. But I think it lends itself to pretty much the exact same mood and feeling.
I have always loved the Autumn season from when I was a kid. In fact, one of my earliest childhood memories was when I went to Catholic school and all, around this time of year, when the class was given a project by our teacher to draw pictures of Halloween, and I remember just loving it, because I just loved the feel of the Autumn season and all to begin with. (In fact, the drawing I made for the cover art for the song is reminiscent and actually quite similar to one of those drawings when I was a kid back in Catholic school, and brings back a whole lot of memories in itself from that time in my life). And of course, Halloween sort of (unofficially?) kicks off the entire Holiday season alone, that eventually ends with Christmas and New Years. The music project itself, is actually in two movements. The 2nd movement (The Autumn Snow) is an instrumental, and actually in the key of D minor. I had written and recorded a rather short and simple instrumental track from when I lived in Maryland (that I believe is still on YouTube) called ‘The Autumn Snow.' And had always wanted to revisit that, and to rewrite and complete it. That was kind of the inspiration for this part of the track here. I called it ‘The Autumn Snow’ because at the time (although not being terribly religious and all) I had inadvertently discovered a rather peaceful (and beautiful) place not too far from where I lived known as ‘The Seton Shrine’. It not only sorta' took me back to my Catholic school days, but around the time of my first visit there in the fall season, we had a rare Autumn snowfall in the early morning on that day, and you could still see the rather lite (leftover) dusting that remained on the grounds there, and I particularly noticed it when walking through the Cemetery, by the Basilica itself, where several of the children of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton seemed to be buried. (St. Elizabeth is considered to be the first canonized American saint). She had a pretty hard life from what I understand. I was so moved (and saddened) when I actually saw the last names of the girl's that were buried there, and when I had like, immediately realized (from the stories I heard about her) that they were actually her very own daughters! But never-the-less, I have to say, you could actually feel something of a peace that pervaded the place, including the Cemetery area itself. So, the 2nd part of the track was somewhat inspired by that scene, standing among the lite snow covered Autumn leaves on the grounds there. This part of Maryland (the West Central part) had allot of very old cemetery's to begin with. You could see some of the dates on the tombstones actually going back to the 1800's, if I remember correctly. (Ironically, the location of The Blair Witch Movie was only about a 20 minute drive in the other direction from my house). But anyway, yea, the Autumn season has always had some significant memories for me. In fact, I just remembered, O.M.G. (and not get too morbid here) that today is actually the day of my father Richard's passing! (The date of this blog post here). Wow, it was like something just reminded me of that. Well anyway, this track is sort of a tribute to the Fall season, and many of the memories that go with it. And once again, Rest in peace Dad. I will, of course, absolutely never forget you as well. There will never be anyone like you, to say the least. (He was a REALLY good man). And, along with his mother (my grandmother) they were most probably (and in that other world as well, I would think) saints themselves, in their own way. Most definitely. Here's to genuinely good people, and to a time of season when the veil between our worlds supposedly becomes somewhat more transparent, as told (and recollected) in (Gaelic/Celtic) folklore tradition… Amazon Music
Oh, by the way, there are several awesome renditions of the song I referenced above (one I include below) initially along with the song that I mentioned that had musically inspired the first part of my own track here, which has since been taken down by YouTube because of a seeming restriction by Disney, but which you could sorta' hear that Celtic-like (Old English) Renaissance feel (that I love so much, especially around this time of year) and in the following music video rendition as well…