almost a diary

Merry Christmas everyone. It’s been a while since I last presented a song here. I wrote the original version of “Santa’s Fantasy” in Sydney, Australia, in December 2007 as “theme song” for the christmas party I attended. It was thus first performed live about 365 ago depending on your time zone…

Almost one year on I decided to partially rewrite the song as a little Christmas present for my Australian friends. What you can listen to here is the result of the effort. I’m quite happy with it.

Many thanks to my sister, who sang the backing vocals and Sebastian Linke, who’s, as so often, the mastermind behind the drum arrangement. As usual, it’s a mostly VST based demo in 160kbps mp3 format. Enjoy!

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You can download it here.

It’s been a little while since my last post. But, gentle readers, do not despair, you’re in for a treat today. A good friend of mine married last Saturday, and I decided to honor the occasion with a song. It’s called “Fight for you”, and Sebastian Linke is partly responsible for the drums – the good part, of course… Well, enjoy!

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(Click here to download (160bps, mp3))

I’m in Amsterdam this weekend, to celebrate the wedding of two friends. And while they were clever enough to avoid unwanted and unneeded presents by sending a list, I decided that I’ll add something more personal, sat down at the piano, and wrote a song. It’s called Guardian Angel, and I hope the happy couple enjoys listening to it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you, gentle reader, are so inclined, you may also enjoy it, by downloading the mp3 from the RSS feed, or simply by pressing play on that flash player below.

It’s a home recording, and much is VST based. Many thanks to Sebastian Linke for the drums arrangement, which he put together on a motorway at 130km/h with a laptop on his, well, lap. If you got the beat, you just got it… enjoy!

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Guardian Angel, words and music by Tobias Schwarz, (c) 2007

In all these nights I couldn’t sleep
I lay awake tried not to weep
So torn apart I didn’t know there was
Hope for me beyond the rush
of emotional drugs

Some call it fate others a dream
Some say phenylethylamine
Some call it luck they just don’t understand
The truth I’m holding in my hand
When I’m holding yours

You give me strength, you make me weak
You are the sense to all the madness
I feel in me

I see your face
When I close my eyes at night
It dawns on me
Can’t live without you by my side
You save my life
With every glance you lay on me
My guardian angel
You’ll be watching over me
You’ll be watching over me

I live my life each single day
I count the hours you’re away
My blessed heart beats for you eternally
It knows that immortality
Is another word for love

You give me strength, you make me weak
You are the sense to all the madness
I feel in me

I see your face
When I close my eyes at night
It dawns on me
Can’t live without you by my side
You save my life
With every glance you lay on me
My guardian angel
You’ll be watching over me
You’ll be watching

You’ll be watching all the while
As I’ll watch over you
’cause I’m your guardian angel
I’m your guardian angel

I see your face
When I close my eyes at night
It dawns on me
Can’t live without you by my side
You save my life
With every glance you lay on me
My guardian angel
You’ll be watching over me

I see your face
When I close my eyes at night
It dawns on me
Can’t live without you by my side
You save my life
With every glance you lay on me
My guardian angel
You’ll be watching over me
You’ll be watching

You’ll be watching over me
You’ll be watching over me

As a bonus feature for the “Pilù – the other life” DVD Sebastian Linke shot a videoclip of me performing the song I wrote for his film. For those of you, my gentle readers, who don’t want to wait until the release of the DVD, have a look at this youtube-based preview. Enjoy!

Als ich im Januar an dieser Stelle den von Sebastian Linke (Text) und mir (Musik) unter anderem beim letztjährigen Rio Reiser Songpreis eingereichten Song “Mond über Mainz” vorgestellt habe, habe ich ja bereits erwähnt, daß Sebastian als Schlagzeuger der Mainzer Oi!-Punk Formation “SpringtOifel” (Wikipedia.de) immer einen schönen deutschsprachigen Text aus dem Ärmel oder der Schublade schütteln kann.

Was ich aber im Januar noch nicht angedeutet habe, ist, daß die ursprüngliche Motivation für den Song nicht zuletzt das überaus spannende kreative Experiment eines Crossovers meiner als “adult contemporary” einzuordnenden Komposition mit der rauen Oi!-Punk Inspiration der SpringtOifel war.

Das höchst interessante und hörenswerte Ergebnis dieser Kombination – eine Ska Version des Songs – kann man dann auf dem demnächst erscheinenden Album der SpringtOifel – “Engelstrompeten & Teufelsposaunen” – verkosten. Als Vorgeschmack aber bieten die SpringtOifel “Mond über Mainz” und drei weitere Songs (allerdings nicht vollständig) als mp3 auf ihrer Webseite zum Anhören und Herunterladen an.

Und meine Version gibt es zum Vergleich gleich hinterher -

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Viel Spass!