Closer
Written especially for Barbra Streisand with a beautiful lyric by Dean Pitchford.
May we all be closer in 2012.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to one and all!
All The Best,
Tom
Click here to listen
Click here to listen
Very beautiful lyrics, melody, and performance. This is another one of which I’d love to hear the original demo. I’ll bet it’s a doozy. Pitchford’s simile’s are lovely (I like the personification, too), but as with “You Bring the Sun Out,” I am especially impressed with the “triple entendre” of lyrics that could fit a lover who has moved on, a loved one who has passed on, or a religious connection with “The Almighty,” Your melody really makes all three of these interpretations powerfully apropos. It was probably very nice to be writing a song for Streisand, but I’ll bet that it was a delight for her to be getting such a beautiful Pitchford/Snow song.
This is my latest. I performed it at my cousin’s memorial gathering a couple weeks ago, along with a song that I wrote specifically about her passing. I had hoped to post this song for the holidays, but things have been hectic, and I haven’t been able to record it yet, but I did send the lyrics in my Christmas cards to some of my musical friends. It’s a holiday song as well, with an appeal to the spiritual, but in a much lighter vein (a sort of mix of Hank, Sr. (melody) and Sesame Street (lyrics):
Let’s make a rainbow world like one we’ve never seen
Where peace on Earth and goodwill toward all are not just an idle dream.
Let’s make a rainbow world—it’s time to turn the page:
Instead of just a Happy New Year, let’s ring in a Happy New Age….
Maybe it’ll rain a little bit—Maybe we’ll get some snow [We did…. Tonight we got a little Tom Snow!]
Maybe the sun will shine on down—Maybe the wind will blow…
In every kind of weather we can reap just what we sow
If we’re in this thing together, we can make a wiser world grow
Together we can make it better for every boy and girl
Together we can make it better in a real Rainbow World
Happy Hanukkah…
Merry Christmas…
Joyous Kwanzaa…
Sacred Solstice…
Blessed Ramadan…
Great Pancha Ganapati…
Peaceful Vesak…
Festive Yuletide…
Together we can make it better for every girl and boy
Give a gift that keeps on giving: Let’s make a Rainbow World of joy
Yes, it’s a human race, but it’s not between the races;
Still, it’s a gruelling pace when they put you through your paces.
To redeem a fall from grace, just cultivate some saving graces,
And put on a human face in these fights each human faces
Maybe it’ll rain a little bit—Maybe we’ll get some snow
Maybe the sun will shine on down—Maybe the wind will blow…
In every kind of weather, we can reap just what we sow
If we’re in this thing together, we can make a wiser world grow
Together we can make it better for every boy and girl
Together we can make it better in a real Rainbow World
Let’s make a Rainbow World like one we’ve never seen
Where peace on earth and good will toward all are not just an idle dream
Let’s make a Rainbow World—it’s time to turn the page
Instead of just a Happy New Year, let’s ring in a Happy New Age
©2011 Tim McMullen
All Rights Reserved
Thanks once again for choosing to share your creations. I wish you and yours great joy for the holiday season, a terrific next year, and a Happy New Age,
Tim
Thanks, Tim. Beautiful words my friend. Right back ‘atcha!
Tom
Dear TOM U right… Closer… is very connected to … Missing you!!!!
So… We feel close to you two as much as we miss you
Love
Toto, Dafne, Renèe, Zoe
P.S. Cherry Mistmas !
I first heard this the Christmas after I lost my sister the previous October. Being a Streisand mega-fan anyway, you can imagine my response to her interpretation of your lovely melody and the heart-wrenching lyrics. It still brings tears, as it should.
I have been looking for this in piano sheet music every since! I guess that is something I will never find, since you wrote this specifically for Barbra. So let me just tell you, your music lives on in my heart, as I am sure it does in many others. Thank you for a gorgeous haunting melody that has very special and lasting meaning!