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A Wretch Like Me
To miss the mark, to lose my way,
To choose the dark, on Christmas Day.
No star I see, no Virgin Birth,
No joy for me, no peace on earth.
But for a wretch like me He came,
To fetch me from my sin and shame.
So by his manger now I stand,
My finger in His tiny hand.
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Jack DesBois is a singer, actor, and storyteller. He gives annual Epiphany season performances of “The Western Star,” which he wrote in 2016. He self-published a chapbook of short poems in 2018. As a singer, Jack has had the good fortune to solo in several of the great works of Baroque Oratorio, including Handel’s Messiah (Bass) and Esther (Haman) and J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion (Jesus). Jack lives in Topsfield, Massachusetts.
That’s beautiful, I could listen to you sing and play guitar all day. You have a great voice and plenty of musical talent and the recording quality is good too. And I really like the poem, well done both of you. Wishing you a merry Christmas.
Brief and beautiful contrasting stanzas in perfect rhythm. Great work, Joe!
I especially liked, Jack, how, in the transit from the first stanza to the second, you modulated into a minor key, a very effective musical device that parallels the transition from despair to hope, though it could have gone the other way without anyone objecting.
Thank you, C.B. I wanted to do something different to evoke the mystery of salvation in the 5th and 6th lines of the poem, hence the D-minor chord (working together with an offset melody to highlight the introduction of an offset internal rhyme). My hope was that the minor interlude would help transform the somewhat pedestrian major mode of the first four lines into a fresh, new, and welcome major sound in the final couplet.
I love the beautiful words. The beautiful music and beautiful voice bring the words to life magnificently. Thank you, Joe and Jack for bringing rhyme, rhythm and rapture to my Christmas.
Jack and Joe – beautifully written and beautifully sung.
Hi, Joe, moved by your poem and Jack~singing it~ highlighted its verse even more! Quite lyrical. I thank you both!P
Dear Jack,
I think you have great passion and heart, and your piece shows how even just two simple stanzas, in the hands of an honest and original artist, can go a long way.
Keep up the great work!
Best,
David
PS
Are you familiar with the young composer Alma Deutscher?
Her Siren Waltz is definitely “next level”:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W0xMpLXQNvM
The young Alma is sure as hell not playing around when it comes to classical composition!
Thank you, David! And thank you for introducing me to the music of Alma Deutscher. Hers is a much-needed voice in contemporary classical music (it is not surprising that she was homeschooled). I just hope she can hold on to her honesty and originality through university – I’m still recovering artistically from the indoctrination into mediocrity I received in college and grad school!
Absolutely!
Hopefully she starts to rub off on the others in her environment lol, which is also possible. In that case, her going to university would be a gift for not only the university in Vienna, but the whole musical world. She’s quite serious on the question of composition as such, and she seems to have a healthy approach to experimenting and doing original things, so hopefully she keeps it up.
I like your focus on story-telling, which has suffered many setbacks in recent times. I will say that it’s interesting to see how there are talented writers, and there is some compelling story-telling in even some of these Netflix and similar series, BUT, but, I think recognizing that there is talent also allows us to make an important observation: one can have talent, but talent can be used for good, bad, or just be wasted. The question becomes: what are we to use our talents for?
In respect to aesthetics, I think it comes down to ideas, which are immaterial. There is material beauty, sensual beauty, in which case we are pleased by the outward form of something, a compelling and beautiful arrangement of proportion, color, harmony, contrasts between symmetry and asymmetry etc. However, something can have a sensually pleasing and beautiful outward form, but still also be ugly in immaterial terms, idea, personality, soul etc.
The great artist develops a fine sense of craft, but then all the more, the question becomes: what do they have to offer, what ideas, content? A story can be told well, but have a dark or ugly idea. In the case of popular entertainment, we see a lot of that. There’s also a lot of “priming” in regards to various nefarious ideas. People think they’re just watching a movie or listening to a story, but they’re not.
However, that only goes to highlight the power of storytelling, and the importance of composing and presenting beautiful stories that can impart Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. Beauty without Truth becomes superficial; Truth without beauty cold and careless; Goodness without Truth rarely amounts to anything but good intentions…
Indeed, I think the only way to defeat bad and ugly ideas is with good and beautiful ideas. We seem to be at a point where there is a lot more brave and commendable critiquing of crazy or evil ideas, but there is still a lack of vision and sense of what original beautiful looks like the 21st century.
In this respect, good storytelling definitely has an important role to play. Everyone lives by stories. Both the enemies and defenders of humanity know this, and they will seek to either alter, encourage, or destroy various stories, depending on their intentions. But all the smarter ones know, information only goes so deep, but stories seep into the depths of our psyche and soul.
It’s no small matter!
So again, thanks for sharing and keep up your great work on storytelling. The more music and poetry can be united beautifully, truthfully, and rigorously, the closer we may arrive to a new “age of the muses.”
Best,
David
PS
Here’s an amazing example of Alma improvising with 4 notes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0OAcYknyw