This is the work page for CG's chromesthetic interpretation of Tom Waite's "All the World is Green". The painting will be titled Kelsier's Dream. Kelsier, a priniciple character in Brandon Sanderson's "Mistborn" trilogy, was inspired by his deceased wife Mare to work towards returning the world to a state of "green". I like to think of the words as being Kelsier's words (with Mare taking the place of Marie), regardless of the whatever the true inspiration for the song may have been. Under this interpretation, and all that it implies, I find the song to be as lyrically beautiful as it is musically beautiful.
The colors in the following image were generatied randomly, and collectively consititute a palette that is extremely distant from the palette that will be used for the painting. The image is provided to suggest the chromesthetic nature of the painting, but definitely does not represent the chromesthetic mapping from pitch classes to colors that will be used for the painting. (larger image)
The melody is presented in the Key of D Major. In the map that follows "W" represents some sort of a void -- nothing at all. "R" represens a rest (silence). And the remaining symbols represent pitches with respect to the D Major scale (X=F# and V=C#). (larger map)
I fell in - to the o - cean, When you be - came my wife.
I risked it all a - gainst the sea, To have a bet - ter life.
Ma - rie you are the wild blue sky, Men do fool - ish things.
You turn kings in - to beg - gars, And beg - gars in - to kings.
Pre - tend that you owe me noth - ing, And all the world is green.
We can bring back the old days a - gain, When all the world is green.
A face for - gives the mir - ror, A worm for - gives the plow.
The ques - tion begs the an - swer, Can you for - give me some - how?
May - be when our stor - y's o - ver, We'll go where it's al - ways spring.
The band is play - ing our song a - gain, And all the world is green.
Pre - tend that you owe me noth - ing, And all the world is green.
We can bring back the old days a - gain, When all the world is green.
The moon is yel - low sil - ver, All the things that sum - mer brings.
It's a line you'd kill for, And all the world is green.
He's bal - anc - ing a dia - mond, On a blade of grass.
The dew will set - tle on our graves, When all the world is green.
Pre - tend that you owe me noth - ing, And all the world is green.
We can bring back the old days a - gain, When all the world is green.
Output from the Melodichrome program:
MC> stats green
PROCEDURAL DATA:
PLAY=323 REST=33 SETSCALE=1 PUSHSCALE=75 POPSCALE=75 RP=376 LP=376 S2=168 S3=51 S7=5 X2=168 X3=51 X7=5
DECLARATIVE DATA:
V=8.0 D=9.375 W=37.5 E=7.875 X=13.75 G=5.875 A=9.875 B=9.625 R=10.625
TBL=113.0
Summary of the pitch class data, ordered from long to short:
W=37.5 (void)
X=13.75 (degree=3)
R=10.625 (rest)
A=9.875 (degree=5)
B=9.625 (degree=6)
D=9.375 (degree=1)
V=8.0 (degree=7)
E=7.875 (degree=2)
G=5.875 (degree=4)
The voids will bronze. The rests will be silver. The scale degrees will be mixes of green with various metalics and various yellow with silver.