Here is the process involved in creating the song 4Am which is loosely based on the Wislawa Szymborska poem of the same title.  

This is her poem, translated by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh:

Four A.M. 

The hour between night and day. 
The hour between toss and turn. 
The hour of thirty-year-olds. 

The hour swept clean for the rooster's crowing. 
The hour when earth takes back its warm embrace. 
The hour of cool drafts from extinguished stars. 
The hour of do-we-vanish-too-without-a-trace. 

Empty hour. 
Hollow. Vain. 
Rock bottom of all the other hours. 

No one feels fine at four a.m. 
If ants feel fine at four a.m., 
we're happy for the ants. And let five a.m. come 
if we've got to go on living. 


The way I began working with the text was to begin with the juxtaposition in the first stanza. I liked the idea of night vs. day, and toss vs. turn.  The image of 30 year olds being awake was an image I wanted in the lyric. My second system was my own, sprung forth from her words. I imagined a weary traveler trying to get some sleep on a train around this hour.  

My first verse: 

Night splits from the day 
Toss shifts from the turn 
30-somethings are awake 

Light shines out for none 
You're sleeping on the train 
we all fall down 

For the Chorus, I noticed the rhyme in the original poem between embrace and trace.  I liked the idea of the world's embrace.  Here's how it turned out:   

The world takes back it's warm embrace 
do we survive, or vanish without a trace?  

In verse 2, I mainly used my own thoughts as furthering the themes of the original poem. There were ideas in the poem I wanted to use, such as the extinguished stars and rock bottom of the hours, that just didn't fit in the meter of the lyrics I was working on.

Verse 2: 

The dark feeds emptiness 
and night loves loneliness 
pacing back and forth 

the sleep keeps you awake 
the world is far and gone, 
how much can you take?  

The music as a whole has a sleepy sound to it, but I wanted the bridge to be strong.  Her poem ends with 5 A.M. arriving if we are to go on living.  I wanted to make a statement with 5 A.M., a sort-of let's get on with it already.  Some people have asked why I used 5 o'clock in the lyric instead of 5 A.M., which is in the poem.  I chose those words because I liked the consonant sound of "sweep," "sun," "clock," and "come."  I felt that "let five a.m. come" would have been a bit of a letdown. 

Bridge: 

Sweep clean the hour, for the rising of the sun 
Sweep clean the hour, let 5 o'clock come

We are at another stand still in the waiting game that is permission to use Szymborska's material.  After a flurry of activity a few weeks ago, I now sit here and wait for clearance.  I guess this is the way of the world.  If there was a constant flurry of activity, it wouldn't ever be quiet enough to think.  This must be a thinking time. 
 
Last week, Courtney Chambers came by to record the final song for the album, which will either be titled "Mansion" or "Hearst Castle."  She killed it. The track sounds so great, and organic.  I was so pleased with her work on it. The song is based on a Szymborska poem which finds us going on a tour of a "Great Man's House."  It reminded me of a tour Annie and I took last winter of Hearst Castle in San Simeon, Ca.  So I created the line "Would you or I be happy here?....so much space."  The idea being would you or I find greatness the way W.R. Hearst did in a place like that?  Or do we find our muses in the quiet of our modest locales.  

I think Annie likes the title "Mansion" to keep it generic and open to interpretation.  I don't mind.  I liked "Hearst Castle" because it reminds me of a cool place and I think that people will grasp the idea a little better with that title.  What do you think? 

Our deepest sympathies for the loss of your president, Lech Kaczynski, and his wife Maria.  

Today I contacted Harcourt's permissions department and found out the guy I was working with is no longer with the company.  This is actually good news, as I have gone further towards securing permission than ever before.  The newbies at Harcourt now have me on the trail to permission, and this is great!  Perhaps I won't need to go to Krakow (although I have heard it is lovely this time of year) and may be able to take care of this right here at the computer.  

I think it's always better to take matters into your own hands.  I had a feeling that for the past few years Harcourt hasn't been fighting for me, and why should they, really?  It's a small project with limited capital, and they aren't going to dig as deep as I am digging.  

So now the key figure in the mix is Stanislaw Baranczak, a professor of Slavic Languages and Literature at Harvard.  He did an amazing job on the translation I've been using to compose my songs. I have spent time today trying to track him down, as the email I had for him was returned to me  (read: none of this has been easy).  Also, no calls were returned at the Office of Slavic Languages and Literature.  Perhaps they all speak Slavic languages and don't return phone calls in English.  If you, or anyone you know, has any information leading to the whereabouts of this man, it would be greatly appreciated!  

Even if we get permission through this source, it would be a great honor to meet Ms. Szymborska personally.  I know this would be difficult, but it's kind of like the Julie Powell - Julia Child idea.  If they had actually met, that would have been pretty cool.  Even if it were only to exchange some room temperature butter.  Well, Szymborska isn't getting any younger. And I learned she has no children and is a widow. I also found out that she enjoys the solitude mainly because she can think more clearly when there is silence and 4 walls surrounding her.  I wonder what she thought about the bagpipes in American Idol last night?  Probably the same as I did......lame! 

Today is the day we begin cataloging the journey we shall call: 'Finding Szymborksa.'  Although this is Day 1 for the blog, the act of finding this Nobel prize winning, 86 year old, Polish speaking, reclusive poet has been an ongoing one for me, the creator of the blog, the website, and the band Closer Ocean.  

There she is.  Looking at me.  She has a sort of happy but evil look in her eyes that says to me:  "You'll never find me."  Well, I guess we are going to see about that. 

I sort of feel like Ray Kinsella from "Field of Dreams," heading out on the road to find the Salinger-esque Terrance Mann.  Ray was egged on by a voice in the cornfield which told him "If you build it, he will come" and  "Ease His Pain."  

Although my quest seems perhaps more ridiculous based on the qualifications of Ms. Szymborska, (Terrance Mann did speak English after all, so how hard could that be?)  I haven't been spoken to by crazy voices in my head.  All I did was listen to NPR. 

NPR's afternoon show "All Things Considered" appears on the surface to be a relatively straightforward news program.  Most listeners don't end up on a multi year creative project based on a 4 minute segment simply titled "You Must Read This."  The name itself in retrospect must have felt to me, a competitive and daring soul, like a challenge to run the gauntlet or at least step over some piping hot charcoals.  

So I did 'read this.'  I actually was very moved by the poetry and the passion segment writer's voice (thanks a lot, Adam Gopnik!) that I drove straight to the nearest B & N and picked up her book, "Poems; New and Collected."  That was June 5th, 2007.  One-thousand-thirty-seven days ago.  

In that span, I read her works over and over again.  I spent many of those days captivated by her language.  I laughed at her wit and sense of humor.  I explained certain passages to my then girlfriend (now wife) Annie.  I said to Annie, "perhaps some of these poems would work as popular music."  They are interesting and universal themes, and listeners would perhaps peel away the words right down to the soul. 

I started innocently enough with just a few tracks on my home recording system.  

In the blog entries ahead, I will not only continue moving forward with actually finding Ms. Szymborska, but I will also let you in on the journey that existed between days 1 and 1,037.  The album is nearing completion and a few tracks are available to listen to on this site.  Please enjoy.  Please help.  Do you speak Polish or write poetry in Krakow?