The Evolution of a Song

Aaron A. Lehman May 13, 2012

“A Year in Review”

This song began as the first line of a Haiku. “A year in review” is 5 syllables.  The next line came to me as “gives mixed emotions” but it needed 7 syllables.  The next line came as “from fire and flood,” 5 syllables and the next line came as “brings fears and tears or remember the fears/tears.  I liked the words, but it was not going to make a Haiku.  I decided to just write it as a free verse poem.

            Continue with:

A year in review can’t fathom the loss, dreams and aspirations lost in a moment.

A year in review can trigger periods of sobbing, trying to remember the things that we lost

A year in review brings memories of the heroes, many sacrificed their own to save a neighbor’s home.

This continued for another 11 stanzas and ended with: Come help us celebrate the gains we have made, just come and help us celebrate a Year in review.

I presented this to my Writers Group friends and they gave me some suggestion.  First, take out some of the “A year in Review” lines.  Condense it into fewer stanzas and make it more of a song.  What?  How can I do that?

A week later, the group liked the revisions and said I should write the music for it.  I can’t write music, but I do play a guitar and have tunes going through my mind at times.  This was different.  It didn’t seem possible.  Then one time, when I was just practicing some chords, a short segment of a tuned popped into my head and I rushed to my lap top and recorded the first phrase, “A year in review brings mixed emotions, from fire and flood we remember the tears.”  Later, I tried to arrange the words of the other phrases to fit this tune.  It all seemed to fit, except the last stanza.  I tried different ways and it just wouldn’t work.  Then, I realized this could be a chorus and I could alter the tune and rhythm.  It still didn’t fit until I tried altering the rhythm and the whole notes.  It worked!!

            Come help us remember

                        The terrible loss

            Come celebrate

                        The gains we’ve made

            Just come help us (hold for two whole notes)

                        Celebrate a year in review

I revised and practiced this and then recorded a first attempt on the lap top and saved it on a memory stick.  My voice range didn’t fit the tune I had, so the high note was a bit shaky.

I was representing the Writers Group at a banquet following an all-day Wellness Conference in Slave Lake on May 11, and I asked if I could read this song.  I said it could be sung at the banquet if I found a good singer.  They recommended Leigh Sinclair, the pastor at the Slave Lake Ecumenical church and after a bit of persuading, she agreed to sing it, if I played the guitar with her.  We agreed to one practice and then performed the song at the banquet.  We received a nice applause.  I think it is a good summary of the events leading up to the one year anniversary of the worst wild fire in Canadian history on May 15, 2011.  It expresses the pain we feel, yet promises hope for the future.

Aaron A. Lehman         

A Year in Review

Slave Lake Fire

Copyright  April 26, 2012

Aaron A. Lehman

A year in review

          Gives mixed emotions

From fire and flood

 We remember the tears

Aspirations and dreams were

Lost in a moment

A year in review

          Can’t fathom the loss

Chorus:

Come help us remember

 The terrible loss

Come celebrate

          The gains we’ve made

Just come help us

 Celebrate a year in review 

A year in review

          Can trigger the sobbing

We try to remember

          The things that we lost

It’s hard to remember

 The good things that happened

Yet remember the heroes

          Who gave us their best

Chorus:

A year in review

Helps us remember

The actions of many

          Saved lives of us all

From across the land

          Help for recovery

A year in review

 Remembers them all

Chorus:

A year in review

          Highlights the struggle

Some seemed to give up

Others shouldered the load

With signs of renewal

          And sense of direction

For all you Slave Lakers

          The future looks bright

Chorus:

A WOW moment for a self-published author.  A young Aboriginal boy left his peer group and walked up to me showing a big smile. “I read your books and I liked them.  Now I want to read the next one.”  He read Mystery on Dog Island and Return to Dog Island and wants to read the third book in the series, North of Dog Island.

To you editors and publishers, who turned down these books, eat your heart out!  I may not make much money selling books, but you will never have the pleasure of having a young reader telling you he likes these books!  The young Aboriginal boy is the type of audience I was trying to get turned onto reading.  I think I succeeded, even if it is only one.

Aaron A. Lehman

Author of the Dog Island Trilogy and Friends of the Fencerow 

Book launch today, May 4 at Slave Lake Shoppers Drug Mart.  4-8PM

www.aaronalehman.com

Mystery on Dog Island Trilogy

Aaron A. Lehman

            Three fictional books by Aaron A. Lehman give factual information about Alberta, its history and Aboriginal culture, in an interesting and amusing presentation.

Order Form

Book                                                    Price                            Number                       Total

Mystery on Dog Island-                       $15.00                         _____                          _____

Return to Dog Island-                           $15.00                        _____                           _____

North of Dog Island-                            $15.00                        _____                           _____

Set of all three-                                   $40.00                         _____                          _____

Teacher’s Guide for Mystery on Dog Island coordinated with the Alberta Gr. 5 Social Studies & Gr. 6 English Curriculum-                      $15.00                            _____                                ____  

Teacher Special: Teacher’s Guide free with a set of three books.

Set of three books plus Teacher’s Guide- $40.00                      _____                             _____

Friends of the Fencerow-                       $10.00                           _____                              _____

Sub Total-_____

Plus shipping__?__

Total-      ______

Send order to:        Aaron A. Lehman            Slave Lake, AB           T0G 2A2              780 849 3574

aaronl@incentre.net

www.aaronalehman.com

New book has arrived

Friends of the Fencerow-  $10.00

Contact me for copies

aaronl@incentre.net

Author Presentation

Mistassiniy School, Desmarais/Wabasca, Alberta

Aaron A. Lehman, March 7, 2012

On Wed. March 7, I had a unique and wonderful experience at Mistassiniy School.  Upon arrival, my wife and I were greeted welcomed to the school by Office staff and greeted by Dave Dumont, the teacher organizing the event.  I mean event!  I was treated as the famous author of Mystery on Dog Island.  Students had been prepared for my presentation and were anticipating my arrival.  There were about 50 students from Grade 6-9, seated in the drama room and the media teacher and students gave me instructions and helped me put on a remote microphone.  They were making a video of my session and the DVD would be available in the library.  I would receive my own copy later.  Am I nervous or what?  Dave gave me a warm welcome and then introduced my books.  He had prepared a list of my characters on a display board and had given each a one or two word description.  Opposite each, he had the Cree words.  The liaison worker for the school then pronounced the Cree word and the students had to say it with her.  Dave gave his rendition to much laughter.  He did very well.  I need a lot of practice!

Next, I had another new experience.  After reading a children’s book to warm up the audience, Dave proceeded to read Chapter one of Mystery on Dog Island to the students.  It is different to listen to your writing being read by someone else.  He probably did better than I did.  I was introduced and then the teacher nature took over and I proceeded with my presentation.  I did some reading from all three books, but they liked it best, when they discovered in North of Dog Island, that their towns, Wabasca , Desmarais and Sandy Lake were actually mentioned in a book by a famous author.

After rounds of applause, I was presented with a small, moose skin drum, prepared by the art class and designed by a Grade 12 student.  Wow!  A very humbling experience.  Later a grade 11 student, with her cousin, wanted to by a book for her mother from Sandy Lake.  As it happens, her mother was one of my Grade 3 students in my first teaching job in the one room school with all 8 grades, at the isolated community of Sandy Lake.  Today there is pavement to the town.  The girls were very gracious listening to us tell about their grandparents and mother.

I nearly walked off with microphone still attached and was surprised with a cheque for mileage and an honorarium.  A great day for an author from northern Alberta.

Aaron A. Lehman

Dave Dumont – Teacher

Shirley Fayat – Art teacher – Drum project

Danika Manybears – Grade 12 student – Design and painting on drum

Edna Orr – Liaison worker – Cree words

1.

Dear Mr. Lehman,

I met you last summer at my grandma‘s house. Since then my grandma gave me your Dog Island trilogy to read. I have just finished the third book. I enjoyed all of the books very much.  I thought they were very well written.

I enjoyed learning about a native boy’s struggle to decide to live by the “old ways” or by the “white man’s ways.” The most interesting thing I read was when Raymond and his step brother went to Dog Island on his snowmobile and crashed on the lake. It was packed with adventure and drama. I thought the mystery was very suspenseful and it inspired me to keep reading.

I understand that Raymond’s search to find his grandfather ends when he resolves that he can be an indian and a white man. He says, “I can have a job as a mechanic, have both indian and white friends and I know I can live by the old ways if I want to.”  I am glad that Raymond was able to find his true place in life.

I imagine that as a teacher in Slave Lake you may have met many boys like Raymond.

Thank you for the enjoyable reading experience.

Sincerely,

2.

Dear Mr. Lehman

I am doing a book report on one of your books and am having a hard time finding information on you for my Biography part of my report. I am a grade 8 student and have chosen your book for my Canadian author project. Can you please assist me in completing this portion. Thank you for your time.

Sawridge book sale and contest for title of my new Children’s book with the word”Fencerow” in it.