My Renaissance Album

My Tracklist
1. Love without Tragedy/Mother Mary
2. Pretty Little Birds
3. Summer Soft
4. Gloria: 1 The Proclamation
5. Appletree
6. Je te laisserai des mots

Rebirth. The English translation to the French word Renaissance. They used this
word to describe a significant era in history, a time in history when creating and
learning were encouraged. Creators of art were painting and sculpting
magnificent wonders to the eye. Scientists of their day would discover new ideas
and constructs. A time when breaking the mold was the only way to preserve
your view of life. It all started in the Renaissance era. I wanted to make an album
that I felt perfectly encapsulated that era. My album covers most of the ticks of
this time relatively well. The main vocal points of this period were Art,
Knowledge, Life, Death, and Religion. Here are the songs that best suit each of
those ideas.
 Love Without Tragedy
The album begins with the toned electric guitars of Love Without Tragedy by
Rihanna. I used the themes of Love Without Tragedy to make a connection to the
beginnings of the Renaissance. This song states the troubles and hardships life
has handed Rihanna. She wants to be more in many regards, but her life is out of
her hands. Past relationships, death, and even her image haunt her despite her
wanting to be something more significant. The start of The Renaissance also
started with trouble. The Black Plague caused great terror and death. Many
people in that period were horrified. Most thought that if they were to die, they’d
want to make a spectacle before they passed on. However, unlike the depressing
endings of Love Without Tragedy, the Renaissance made something beautiful.

Pretty Little Birds

Track 2 of Rebirth starts with a bass synthesizer and a melancholy trill of notes
reminiscent of birds. Although the meaning of this song is more ‘Love’ focused, I
believe the lyrics can help paint a picture of life and hope in finding beauty. The
themes of Pretty Little Birds demonstrate the beauty love offers, even if you end
your relationship with someone you thought was the one. This context can help
further the themes of people during the Renaissance. While death is imminent,
you can still create magnificence in it. With lyrics like “Pretty little bird
You've hit the window a few times. You're a pretty little bird. Pretty little bird. You
still ain't scared of no heights. When the spiral down feels as good as the flight”,
it’s pretty easy to compare the two.

Summer Soft
Summer Soft starts with simple piano notes and the sounds of nature. It sets the
tone for a more peaceful and laidback tune for the ears, as well as middle portion
of the Renaissance. Summer Soft discusses the nature of the seasons,
represented by a fictional male, and female. The more artistic take on the
seasons almost resembles the creative minds of many artists in the Renaissance
period. Nature and how people perceived it back then was probably a big factor
as to how we interpret weather today.

Gloria 1: The Proclamation

Trumpets ring out in a giant cathedral, triumphantly calling to the heavens. Gloria
is the song that reminds us of religion. While the name of this piece is almost a
dead giveaway as to what it’s about, I still believe it’s themes are slightly hidden.
The song sings out about the glorys of heaven, and God. I think religion was a
pretty hot topic during the Renaissance. Either, you sticked to religion and the old
ways of knowledge, or you decided to venture further into the depths of your
 mind and forge a new path for mankind. While both were not the wrong the
wrong answer, I still see this piece as a final attempt for Christianity to give a
piece of thier thought process.

Appletree
Almost in retaliation with the previous piece, Appletree is the antithesis of
religious thinking. This song speaks about knowledge, a common thing most
people wanted during the Renaissance. However, the song also talks about
pursuing knowledge without caring what others think as well. Most ideas that we
know of today and are regarded as extremely important to science were deemed
idiotic and wrong during the Renaissance. Most scientists didn’t let that stop
them from thinking outside the box though. In fact, it pushed them to look even
further.

Je te laisserai des mots

The album finishes just as the Renaissance era ends. This piece is the calmest
in the entire album. It represents how despite the Renaissance’s end, lots of it’s
ideas and creativities are still commonly brought up and used to this day. The
slow piano is almost as reminiscent of living in that time period. The album ends
almost in reverse. The beginning was much closer to our present, as much as
the end is close to beginning of the most important time period. I like to kinda
make music more poetic like that. Also the last Minor C key in the beginning of
this piece loop the album perfectly to the first song on this album, Love without
Tragedy. It reminds me of history repeating, a common fear of mines.