A real challenge to able-bodied emigreys is to find a gainful occupation that doesn’t involve propping up the bar in some sad, insular expat dive to Blighty-bash and complain ad nauseum of all things local. I have my blog but what of Liam?  An early decision was to order a Roland keyboard from Istanbul. A creative renaissance ensued. Liam spends endless hours tickling the ivories and fiddling with his knobs. Well, if you can’t beat ’em then join ’em, so I have embarked on a set of suitably pretentious lyrics for him to compose around – more Shakespeare’s Sister than Shakespeare, methinks. The lyrics are evolving into a compendium cryptically entitled Asia in a Minor Key.

The title lyric, an ode to the emigrey forlorn, goes like this

Land of my fathers,  don’t you want your son?

Shall I run from you, my kin undone?

To the land of sunrise and chattering minarets

Bizarre bazaars and monkish pirouettes

  

Chase my dream across dusty hills

Past olive groves and neglected mills

To find myself in the arms of strangers

To talk in silence and delight in dangers

 

Erase the pain of past misdeeds

Follow my road to wherever it leads

Land of my father I have done all I can

To find the love of an Ottoman

 

Asia in a minor key

A game of chance

Last chance for me

 

Land of my fathers; don’t you want your son?

I ran from you, my kin undone

To the land of sunrise and chattering minarets

But shall my dream stay unrequited yet?

 

Pompous twaddle or what? I guess Liam thinks so. While his Steps to Sibelius musical palate may be a broad church, classically trained Liam struggles with hooks and the art of a well-crafted three minute pop song eludes him. In any case, his real dream is to complete the requiem he began to write a decade or so ago and to write a score for a film. This is now.

Liam has been experimenting with his keyboard by writing some short pieces as part of his score for a soundtrack. It’s very much a work in progress but you fancy a listen, please click below.

Liam Brennan