I see you there. Doing your fabulous life. (Yes, I know it doesn’t feel all that fabulous all the time, but it is.) Singing your sings, writing the things, teaching, dancing, organizing, balancing books, healing, managing staff, building stuff, connecting people… all the things that you do with that fabulous meat machine you’re driving around, known as your body. With your body at your command, you play your life like a virtuoso plays a fine instrument.
And then the day comes. <*ACHOO!*> “Aw nuts, I hope I’m not getting sick.” Your lungs feel a little smaller, your limbs a little heavier, your mind a little slower. And it never comes at a good time. “Plans are afoot! I need to be here for this!” But it comes anyways, and you lose days and days of productivity, and all you get in exchange is the misery of physical malaise.
Perhaps we need a song for when we are barely in possesion of the physical gifts that we rely upon to be who we want to be.
Your Prompt: Sing for a time when you were sick. Remember, as well as you can, not being able to do things as well as you’re accustomed—breath support, open breathing passages, standing up—and sing from that place. And perhaps we will learn (if we don’t know already) to value ourselves not for what we can do when we are at our best, but for what remains when we are at our worst.
Options
It’s good to have options. Here are a couple of different ideas for specific directions you could take this, if you wanted to. As always, you’re in no way limited to these particular options.
Option A: Symphony of theSick – Once upon a time, this guy made this tune in response to one of our other Prompts, and lo it was good. And not just in his use of studio technology; also in his creative use of the sounds associated with a cold or the flu. So, for this Option, freely explore the musical possibilities of the kinds of sounds people might make when they are ill. Try not to gross us out. Unless that’s where your artistic vision takes you.
Option B: Not All Sickness Can Be Seen – I’m keenly aware of various issues surrounding mental health. I’ll resist the urge to get preachy, but anybody familiar with the effects of depression, anxiety, dementia, obsessive/compulsion, or attention-deficit can attest to the insidious ways they can keep us from doing what we do. If this is an issue near and dear to you, sing any song you like on the topic mental health.
To Contribute
The steps are as follows:
- Step 0: Sign up for a free SoundCloud account here. Join the SSS group.
- Step 1: Record yourself singing your sick song.
- Step 2: Upload to SoundCloud and post the track to the SSS group.
- Step 3: Listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow singers. (Play nice!)
Deadline: Your tracks should be uploaded by midnight wherever you are on Tuesday, February 9, 2016.
Length: The length of your finished work should be about 2 to 5 minutes, or however long you need to sing your song.
Description: It would be awesome to include a short description of where and when you sang your piece—and how it felt.
Title/Tag: When uploading to SoundCloud, put “[sss-sick]” in the title of your track. Also include the term “sss-sick” as a tag. This will help us find it.
Group: Once the track is uploaded, click on the “Add to group” button below the waveform and make sure to select the Society for Spontaneous Singing group. (This option will only appear if you have already joined the group! So do that now.)
Linking: You are welcome to include this info in your description:
This track is a reply to “Prompt 54: SICK.” More on the Society for Spontaneous Singing at http://singthis.org. You can join the SSS at https://soundcloud.com/groups/society-for-spontaneous-singing
Thank you, sweet singers!