Season 339 - "Let There Be Light"

Another hostly appearance here - this time with an ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) song. ELO were one of my dad’s favourites back in the late 70s and early 80s. I had an early morning newspaper round (which I strangely loved) and with the money earned I bought a music centre (turntable with integral tape cassette and radio tuner), which lived on a shelf above my bed. I could lay on my bed listening to music - mainly through my dad’s headphones as I shared the room with my 3 brothers (only a small room with bunk beds!) and we had quite different musical tastes back then. Trouble was I’d spent my money on the music centre so couldn’t buy any records (all vinyl of course back then) for a good while. So I borrowed some stuff from my dad’s collection and discovered the ELO album Discovery - this was and is one of my favourites from that LP:

 
SOTU 339: Let There Be Light - "Shine Forth Your Light" Original by Dennis Danner

The lyrics and chords are at the end of the YouTube description and following the video thumbnail in this post.


===================== Songchart in Chordpro Format follows: ======================

{title:SHINE FORTH YOUR LIGHT! - Dennis Danner (2018)}
{subtitle: Written: Aug. 12, 2018}
{time:2:53}
Time:2:53

INTRO:
[C] / / / / [C] / / /

VERSE 1:
In the | [C] dark - ness of your | [C] body, . You | [Am] shel - tered me | [Am] there. And
In the | [F] dark - ness of your | [Dm7] body, . I felt your | [G] touch, I knew you | [G7] cared. And
In the | [F] comfort of your | [F] arms, . . I | [C] nourished from your | [C] breast. While
| [G] nestled in your | [G7] arms, . I slept | [C] cradled on your | [C] chest. . .

CHORUS:
{soc}
| [C] Let there be | [G] Light! . . . | [G] shining from your | [C] life! . . . |
| [C] Let your light shine | [G7] bright! . . . | [G7] through the darkest | [C] night! . . . |
| [C] Let your light be | [F] shared . . . | [F] with everyone who | [C] cares. . . . |
| [C] Take your tiny | [G] spark . . . | [G] Shine Forth Your | [C] Light! . . . | [C] . .
{eoc}

VERSE 2:
In the | [C] comfort of your | [C] arms . I grew | [Am] stronger every | [Am] day, and
In the | [F] comfort of your | [Dm7] arms, . . . | [G] you would always | [G7] say: .
"From with - | [F] in my body so | [F]dark, . born in - | [C] to a world so | [C] bright . . . |
| [G] Take your tiny | [G7] spark . . and, | [F] Shine Forth Your | [C] Light!" . . . |

CHORUS:
{soc}
| [C]"Let there be | [G] Light! . . . | [G] shining from your | [C] life! . . . |
| [C] Let your light shine | [G7] bright! . . . | [G7] through the darkest | [C]night! . . . |
| [C] Let your light be | [F] shared . . . | [F] with everyone who | [C] cares. . . . |
| [C] Take your tiny | [G] spark . . and | [G] Shine Forth Your | [C] Light!" . . . |
{eoc}

REPEAT CHORUS:
{soc}
| [C] Let there be | [G] Light! . . . | [G] shining from your | [C] life! . . . |
| [C] Let your light shine | [G7] bright! . . . | [G7] through the darkest | [C] night! . . . |
| [C] Let your light be | [F] shared . . . | [F] with everyone who | [C] cares. . . . |
| [C] Take your tiny | [G] spark . . and | [G7] Shine Forth Your | [C] Light! . . . | [C] /
{eoc}
 
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Trent asked me to do the backing vocals for this song, and I will readily admit that backing vocals is what I enjoy the most. When I was a kid, I didn't want to be a country star when I grew up. I wanted to be in the Nashville Edition.

Trent also said I could play on it if I wanted to, so I worked on it for about an hour and a half, maybe? Anyway, Trent will have to say why he chose this song. It's a great song, that's for sure. I'm pretty certain that's Dr. Ralph Stanley on backing vocals and banjo on the original.

Please note that the guy attempting to play "bass" on this song is not the former bass player, lol! I think my range is still improving. I was able to hit that high G# fairly well. A couple of years ago, I couldn't have done that.

 
There used to be a classic rock station in San Antonio, callsign KZEP. Back in the 80s, they had an Americana program on every Sunday morning called The Tumbleweed Connection. I would tape it every week, and listen to it 3 or 4 times during the week. The songs that really hit me I recorded to a keeper tape so I could listen to them again in the future. This was one of those songs.

Back about 1990, I had this bizarre, whirlwind...uh...not exactly a romance, more of a relationship, with a girl who was several years younger than me. She didn't ride a motorcycle, but she was, in my opinion, trying to live her life too fast. This song always reminds me of her. We parted ways long, long ago, and I don't know whatever became of her. A long time ago I did a song for the seasons called "December Rain." That song was about her.

Today when I was working, the line "racing by, a flash of light" popped into my head, so I thought it would be a good song for this week.

I highly recommend looking up this song on youtube and listening to David Wilcox perform it. There is more than one video of him doing it live.

 
For this week, I went through my iTunes library and picked out a half dozen songs that I'd enjoy doing. How many I do will partly depend on how readily I can find, or figure out, the chords. And how soon my voice comes back after having to shout to be heard at my 40th high school reunion (the room was loud, it's not that our hearing aids were broken ;) ).

The musician I've seen the most times in concert is Richard Thompson, and I've got a ridiculous number of albums of him solo, with Fairport Convention, and various side projects. This is a song of his I've never tried until now.



 
I was once given a stack of writing papers with glitter. the kind you inked out your love and wishes and sent to your long distance pen pals.
some of these papers were perfumed (yuk)...many had pretty illustrations at the top and bottom.

I wrote this song, after I tore up a letter I wrote.
how many words have I written but not sent?
how many words have I spoken but not heard?

I struggle with words when I try to describe something, to say something. I have always struggled with words.

I hold on to things, but they don't last.
yet the glitter is stubborn, like scars.

stars are not like glitter.



I recorded this song after I heard Gina's tribute to her brother. I hope Nick will find his rainbow too, Gina.
 
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this is a song I wrote in 2015 after a saw the smile on a light man's face when the bulb that he had just replaced lit up. That was JOB SATISFACTION, I thought to myself.

I was at that time struggling with my job as an art teacher. what I believed in seemed to be in conflict with what the school was after.
I was trying to push my students to question and have a better understanding of who they were as people, and to hopefully find a personal and original voice in their process. When you think about it,
what I was trying to "teach" would take a life time, it is an on going process, and it never ends when the current art work is made.
It is not always easy to accept the end product on the canvas after a 2 hour lesson. The school wanted results. I was interested in something that would take a lot of time and patience. I was struggling with my job.

Seeing that smile on the light man's face somehow lifted me a little.

I know that I should never lose that light in everything I do, if I wanna go on.

 
Greetings,

A treasure was given to me yesterday, scraps of paper with words and chords scrawled on them written by my brother who passed. I never knew he wrote poetry, or music. No one in my family did. So with his words and chord selection I have found one that will meet the criteria. I will try to bring Nick's lyrics to life for this season.

Ciao

wow, that is indeed such a precious and wonderful discovery


i hope a "moonlit night" will count for the theme... like with my previous song choice, this is an amazing song that i loved back in the day, and i still love it now. thank you, del, for a wonderful theme that has inspired me to grapple with this song and try and bring it the best that i can on uke...

"sleeping satellite" by tasmin archer

 
Morning everyone - some wonderful work coming through here - thank you all so much for finding the time to participate in my season. Modern life can be pretty hectic and there are so many demands on us from work to family and all the stuff in between that sometimes it isn’t easy to grab an opportunity to play. So it’s very gratifying for me as host to see you all devoting what time you have to the theme and embracing it in the way that you have. Thank you all!
 
I was at work today and thought this would be a great song for this week, and what an awesome song it is, but I kinda sorta tried it a long time ago, and didn't get far before giving up, so wasn't sure how it would go. This time I got thru it, Viva me!

 
This week is falling into place so well...yesterday I heard this song by The Fratellis on the radio, probably the first time for years, and thought "that might work on the uke". Then when I saw the lyrics, the lights are all out in the second verse. Perfect.

 
We already heard pabrizzer do a great fingerpicking version of this song, here is my uke-mando contribution:
This little Light of mine
 
Some warm California Sun. Looks like much of California could use some chilly rain right now.

 
Trent asked me to do the backing vocals for this song, and I will readily admit that backing vocals is what I enjoy the most. When I was a kid, I didn't want to be a country star when I grew up. I wanted to be in the Nashville Edition.

Trent also said I could play on it if I wanted to, so I worked on it for about an hour and a half, maybe? Anyway, Trent will have to say why he chose this song. It's a great song, that's for sure. I'm pretty certain that's Dr. Ralph Stanley on backing vocals and banjo on the original.

Please note that the guy attempting to play "bass" on this song is not the former bass player, lol! I think my range is still improving. I was able to hit that high G# fairly well. A couple of years ago, I couldn't have done that.



What you did sounds awesome Alan! Thanks so much! I chose this song because I thought a lantern would be an interesting light emitting object for this week, and I used to sometimes listen to this song over and over when I was driving overnight.
 
this is mine and Kevin's cover of "the lights behind" by Shannon Lyon.
a wistful, nostalgic and to me, beautiful song,
made more lovely by Kevin's accompaniment.

 
I chose this song because I like it. I did it in the original key, which was a little high for me, and after some practice my voice was wearing out. But I was still able to hit that A on the ahwooo! From Bob Mould's first solo album, Workbook.

 
SOTU 339: Let There Be Light" - "Hope For The Light (2016)"- D.Danner

As mentioned in an earlier post, I wrote this song for Geoff's Season 227. I was happy to have the opportunity to re-record it for this Season and try a solo arrangement on my Kala 8 string bari with some picking on the tenor over-dubbed into it. The song actually is a better fit for this season's theme than for 227's, but I still have to thank Geoff and his theme for being the catalyst or "spark" which brought this one to me.

Thank you Del, for coming up with a great theme, and providing an opportunity to do this one again. I hope you enjoy my 2018 re-do of my 2016 song. :)

 
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