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Posted By: JoanneCooper Cecil the Beautiful - 08/25/15 05:23 AM
I was recently approached and asked to set these heart wrenching lyrics about Cecil the Lion to music. Lyrics by John C Gull, music by myself. As before all proceeds from the song and video are being donated to the Aware Trust.

Cecil the Beautiful on Youtube

joannecooper.bandcamp.com/track/cecil-the-beautiful]Cecil the Beautiful on Bandcamp (link no longer valid)

Will post the realtracks when I have an opportunity to go back to my recording computer.

Lyrics are here:
All over the world people shed tears today
Beautiful lion has been taken away
Hunted for his magnificent mane
Has the world gone completely insane?

Never again will we hear him roar at night
Never again see him in the morning light
The majesty of his mighty roar
Is lost to us, forever more.

He was lured out of his sanctuary
An act that lives in infamy
Caught in the glare of the brightest of light
Didnt know the hunter had him in his sights

For 40 hours you suffered unbearable pain
They tracked you down and found you again
After finishing off with a gun,
They stood behind you laughing, having fun

So many animals killed every year
Slaughtered by hunters no shame to spare
Killing rhinos, elephant and more
To have a trophy they can hang over their doors

And yet so many of us must share the blame
Many of us must hang our heads in shame
It took his death for us to see the light
It took his death for us to do what's right.

What we now must achieve
Stand strong we will succeed
Raise the voice of who believe
We can force the hunters out, they must leave

Cecil we miss you still
And I guess we always will
On the plains and in the hills
In the name of Cecil no blood will be spilled
Posted By: gibson Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/25/15 06:12 AM
Beautiful,
I have never understood the need to kill for fun.
I shall pass the links around my friends.

A long sad song that passed all to quickly so I played it again.

all the best

Alyn
Posted By: Charlie Fogle Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/25/15 09:17 AM
A nice collaboration and a good video.

However,
"And yet so many of us must share the blame
Many of us must hang our heads in shame
It took his death for us to see the light
It took his death for us to do what's right."

The writer takes the wrong path here I believe. Hope his inspiration is due to rhyming. These lines are out of context to the other lyrics...
Posted By: boehm Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/25/15 10:43 AM
Hi Joanne,

nice tribute. I like the harmonies.
Unfortunately the video can't be seen in
Germany. So I enjoyed my listen on Bandcamp.

Guentere
Posted By: Janice & Bud Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/25/15 11:09 AM
"Sport" hunting is something I've never understood even though we
live in an area where it is extremely popular.

Great tribute. The vocals, harmonies and the production all work
together very well.

Nice job! We will pass it on to others.

J&B
Posted By: RnAM Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/25/15 12:06 PM
Hi Joanne,

A beautiful song again and again for a good cause!

Rob and Anne-Marie
Posted By: mwgilbert Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/25/15 12:37 PM
Josie, a moving tribute to Cecil and the very sad event of his passing. Well written and well sung.

I want to echo the rest of us here as to the tragedy of commercialized sport hunting. I have absolutely no issues with food sustenance hunting. Commercialized sport hunting is only about selling the act of killing to people with big egos and lots of money.
Posted By: MarioD Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/25/15 06:40 PM
Originally Posted By: mwgilbert
Josie, a moving tribute to Cecil and the very sad event of his passing. Well written and well sung.

I want to echo the rest of us here as to the tragedy of commercialized sport hunting. I have absolutely no issues with food sustenance hunting. Commercialized sport hunting is only about selling the act of killing to people with big egos and lots of money.


EXACTLY

My father and his brothers all hunted, we live in a hunting area. But everyone around here will eat what they kill. BIG DIFFERENCE!

I don't get sport hunting.

Anyway this is another JosieC masterpiece!
Posted By: JoanneCooper Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/26/15 11:19 AM
Originally Posted By: gibson
Beautiful,
I have never understood the need to kill for fun.
I shall pass the links around my friends.

A long sad song that passed all to quickly so I played it again.

all the best

Alyn


Alyn - thank you so much for your ongoing support. The Aware trust and I really appreciate it.

Originally Posted By: c_fogle
A nice collaboration and a good video.

However,
"And yet so many of us must share the blame
Many of us must hang our heads in shame
It took his death for us to see the light
It took his death for us to do what's right."

The writer takes the wrong path here I believe. Hope his inspiration is due to rhyming. These lines are out of context to the other lyrics...



Thanks Charlie. I was asked to leave the lyrics pretty as they had been written (which is hard for a control freak like me..). The song was even longer (I cut out two versus). I think this particular verse is alluding to the fact that many of us have just really sat back and watched it happening but have only now woken up and started to raise our voices.
Posted By: JoanneCooper Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/26/15 11:26 AM
Originally Posted By: boehm
Hi Joanne,

nice tribute. I like the harmonies.
Unfortunately the video can't be seen in
Germany. So I enjoyed my listen on Bandcamp.

Guentere


Thanks Guenter - The video is similar to the other one so you didn't miss much!

Originally Posted By: Janice & Bud
"Sport" hunting is something I've never understood even though we
live in an area where it is extremely popular.

Great tribute. The vocals, harmonies and the production all work
together very well.

Nice job! We will pass it on to others.

J&B


Thank you Bud and Janice and thank you for leaving a comment on the YT video. I appreciate you sharing.

Originally Posted By: RnAM
Hi Joanne,

A beautiful song again and again for a good cause!

Rob and Anne-Marie


Thanks. This was the first time I have tried to do something like this with someone else's poem. I did once attempt something with another poem a while back but didn't clear with the writer upfront whether she would let me do a "derivative" work from the poem. I ended up pulling the song and video.

I was really surprised how easily the music flowed out of me when I didn't have to give much thought to lyrics (having already cleared up that the writer wanted me to leave them pretty much as they were).
Posted By: JoanneCooper Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/26/15 11:28 AM
Originally Posted By: mwgilbert
Josie, a moving tribute to Cecil and the very sad event of his passing. Well written and well sung.

I want to echo the rest of us here as to the tragedy of commercialized sport hunting. I have absolutely no issues with food sustenance hunting. Commercialized sport hunting is only about selling the act of killing to people with big egos and lots of money.


Gilbert - Thank you and I agree with your sentiments.

Originally Posted By: MarioD
Originally Posted By: mwgilbert
Josie, a moving tribute to Cecil and the very sad event of his passing. Well written and well sung.

I want to echo the rest of us here as to the tragedy of commercialized sport hunting. I have absolutely no issues with food sustenance hunting. Commercialized sport hunting is only about selling the act of killing to people with big egos and lots of money.


EXACTLY

My father and his brothers all hunted, we live in a hunting area. But everyone around here will eat what they kill. BIG DIFFERENCE!

I don't get sport hunting.

Anyway this is another JosieC masterpiece!


Thank you so much Mario
Posted By: Charlie Fogle Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/26/15 10:58 PM
Quote: "Thanks Charlie. I was asked to leave the lyrics pretty as they had been written (which is hard for a control freak like me..). The song was even longer (I cut out two versus). I think this particular verse is alluding to the fact that many of us have just really sat back and watched it happening but have only now woken up and started to raise our voices."

That makes sense. We can all be a bit too tentative at times. Thanks for clarifying the allusion, I took the lyrics too literally I guess.


Charlie
Posted By: Greg Johnson Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/28/15 02:25 AM
Nice tribute Joanne! This was extremely heartbreaking. Seeing the picture of the hunter behind the dead, beautiful lion almost brought tears to my eyes. There are two sides to almost all stories. I simply cannot see the other side of this one. Thanks for posting! Take care. Greg
Posted By: 44kfl Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/28/15 10:46 AM
Very sad story, nice tribute told very well here. Fine performance, enjoyed.

Kenny
Posted By: gruverider Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/29/15 06:34 PM
Wonderful tribute for a horrible incidence.

The mix is clean and to the point I like that style.

much enjoyed
Posted By: JoanneCooper Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/31/15 11:48 AM
Originally Posted By: Greg Johnson
Nice tribute Joanne! This was extremely heartbreaking. Seeing the picture of the hunter behind the dead, beautiful lion almost brought tears to my eyes. There are two sides to almost all stories. I simply cannot see the other side of this one. Thanks for posting! Take care. Greg


Sorry it is taking me so long to reply to all your lovely comments on this song. I seem to have too many irons in the fire and am getting myself burnt! I need to put some time away to listen to all the lovely new songs here. soon...

Greg - Thank you so much and I agree. I don't think there is another side to this particular story. It is a very sorry one all round.
Posted By: floyd jane Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 08/31/15 12:18 PM
Joanne,

It is great that you are taking such issues head-on.

Nice mix with a good choice of instrumentation.

Keep up the good work!

floyd
Posted By: JoanneCooper Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 09/04/15 03:21 AM
Originally Posted By: 44kfl
Very sad story, nice tribute told very well here. Fine performance, enjoyed.

Kenny

Thanks so much kenny. I appreciate the listen
Posted By: JoanneCooper Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 09/04/15 03:25 AM
Originally Posted By: gruverider
Wonderful tribute for a horrible incidence.

The mix is clean and to the point I like that style.

much enjoyed

Thanks Lawrence. I have been working quite hard on trying to bring my mixing skills up to speed. I joined dueling mixes (graham cochrane) and got some help from the guys on their forum, which I think helped because most of these guys just mix 24/7. It is quite a nice community over there.
Posted By: JoanneCooper Re: Cecil the Beautiful - 09/04/15 03:26 AM
Originally Posted By: floyd jane
Joanne,

It is great that you are taking such issues head-on.

Nice mix with a good choice of instrumentation.

Keep up the good work!

floyd

Thank you so much Floyd. I always appreciate your comments.
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