JOHN HERMAN: "The Dream of Intersecting Paths, part 1" is the first in the ETA series. The ETA and THETA songs were inspired by dreams. This is perhaps the simplest song produced by the project, but at the same time it is one of our deepest.

CHALLENGE #1: Write twelve sentences based on your most recent known dream -no matter the subject. Then write another twelve lines about your earliest remembered dream. Translate the 24 lines into Italian using http://www.freetranslation.com

BRIAN SPIELVOGEL:
I didn’t start at first. I read the challenge and side stepped down some translation horror stories I have experienced at work. I remembered with 24 hours to go. I was trying to remember my dreams. The stronger ones came through with maple syrup clarity. I was watching TV with my pregnant wife. I got up and walked down to my office. I banged it out in 11 minutes. The nice thing was I just wrote down what I was seeing again. I have a little TV next to my computer. I leave it on the directory channel and it plays elevator
music. I leave it on that channel for hours, I just like to prove that there is nothing on. I was smiling.

Ero da une montagne russe. Era un passaggio pedonale al di sotto di un attraversa. C'era una donna camminando da me. Ha avuto dei capelli biondi. Era alta e magra. Ha afferrato il mio braccio come ha passeggiato da. Ho girato la mezza maniera. Eravamo vicini. Ha esaminato i miei occhi. Ha detto, "sono nel timore di lei". Ha mollato via dal mio braccio. Non l'ho mai visto ancora.

Era un avvenimento orribile. Non posso scrivere realmente ciò che è successo. Dopo che 32 anni non direi tuttavia tutto. Mi sono svegliato all'orrore. Ho usato per sognare di un'onda enorme. L'ho sognato per gli anni. Abbiamo scalato alto di evitare le onde. Abbiamo guardato tutto il va via dal balcone. Ho cominciato sognare di esso sempre più. Poi ho visto il video sull'internet. Avevo visto degli anni prima nel mio sogno. Tentare di gridare ma soltanto il moaned, svegliando la moglie.

CHALLENGE #2: You must record a vocal track and a piano track inspired by one of the following (two) dreams written in Italian. If you are not familiar with Italian, then translate the words into your first language by whatever means necessary. Choose the dream that makes the most impression on you. Record a vocal track that is a dramatic telling of the dream as if you were the dreamer. The telling can be through spoken word or song -but with no accompaniment. Separately, record a piano track that tells the story of the dream.

NATASHA DUCHENE:
Since I don't know Italian, the first part of the challenge was clearly to get some help understanding what this was all about. I called a friend in Toronto who is obsessed with Italian cinema and who also happens to have an Italian roommate, but neither of them actually spoke the language. My sister-in-law, who is also Italian and has been to Italy several times, took two days to respond to my email only to say she'd look at it later.

Fortunately, by that time I was already in a panic and had run across town to a cafe I worked at two summers ago. It turns out the owner gives Italian lessons on the weekend and is also a very nice guy (if you're ever in Montreal check out Cafe Mauro on the corner of Maisonneuve and Vendome - seriously, very good people). We sat down over tea and took a look. Success!

I chose the first dream, about meeting a woman in the Russian mountains.
Retelling the story came quite naturally. One of the themes I liked in the dream was the idea of intersecting paths - not just physical paths, but the ones we take in life. Meeting a woman where two roads meet, walking together and then parting ways again. I decided to bring that out in my telling.

The piano track was much more challenging. I wanted two voices, crossing and moving together, then moving apart again. A feeling of nostalgia, of movement, and tenderness. The beginning of the song came almost immediately, but then I got stuck. I tried writing it out by hand, I tried improvising. I kept quoting some Bach prelude that I don't remember which one and just could not get away from it. I finally decided to go with a variation that doesn't really sound anything like Bach anymore.
The piano part also has a narrative though. The introduction of the song is when the dreamer meets the woman. Two voices move together and come to a stop. Next, they walk together, as the piece starts to move more quickly. Finally, a moment of tenderness right before she leaves. I kind of feel like I'm cheating with that part because those chords are about the most overused recipe for drama ever invented, but hey, they do sound lovely don't they? Then, the voices move apart again.

Natasha Duchene at her keyboard

NOTE: The piano track is heard on this track while the vocal track mentioned will appear on a future song release.

CHALLENGE #3: Record a vocal for the attached song. Your inspiration is the idea of intersecting paths - not just physical paths, but the ones we take in life. Meeting a person where two roads meet, walking together and then parting ways again. Submit lyrics with your record of experience.

MARTIN WALKER:
When I received the challenge I was:

A. Very excited to get a vocal & lyric challenge.
B. In the midst of publicizing my book -- just published.
C. Sick with a cold (sore throat).

Martin Walker's new book --click the image for an Amazon link

I procrastinated, largely due to the book. But I did listen to the piano track and immediately liked it. It had a lot of space, a great deal of feeling. I knew it would not be difficult to find a way in to the music. And I read the challenge, which oddly corresponded to some lyrical ideas I'd been abstractly, abstractedly working with. So the days passed by, and on each it seemed more important or appropriate to be doing something other than the TMWWT vocal. I began to relish the procrastination, knowing that at some point it would be the 11th hour. During these few days I spent a lot of time working on my book publicity, especially my web pages -
http://www.martingwalker.com and http://www.meaninginmylife.com.

Until today, the day of reckoning, when I knew that it had to be done.

I told Hope (my wife) that this was it. She opined that I would be spending all night on it. "Don't you have to write lyrics and sing them and record them," she said. "Yes," I said, "but that won't take all night." I gave myself 45 minutes before dinner. As soon as I listened to the piano track again, I knew I could work quickly. I used a version of the first line that I'd been thinking about, then worked from the directions. The piano was incredibly powerful as an emotional partner. 45 minutes later I'd finished. (Not a brag, a tribute.)

Here are the lyrics:
"You said that you would disappear
I was naive enough to think that you were wrong
But now you're gone and I can see
That this was written and so would be
And fate has got the whole thing upside down
Come back, my love, I want to find that road again..."