Music & Lyrics from the Winter
Mornings
1.The Beauty of the Earth
The lyrics "and we are the children of the universe, together we all will survive",
just bubbled out of my heart. I truly believe we are all connected to each other,
and the universal energy.
The beauty of the earth surrounds me.
I'm so lucky to be alive.
For God is a man, and the earth is his lady.
together they are beautiful and alive.
And we are their children of the universe.
Together, we all will survive
So please don't take advantage of their marriage.
For they will surely die.
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2. Winter Skies -
This song was inspired from looking at the sky in the morning
from the studio window. It was so relaxing. The music just went along with the slow
moving clouds.
3.Icicle Melt -
Is from looking at the dripping of the icicles melting off the house.
4.10 Degrees -
This song really tells it like it was the winter in the Northeast.
5. Winter Morning -
I relaxed back in the soft quite morning of winter at the lake.
6. Snow Dance -
Being that it snowed, and snowed and snowed some more, I was captured
by looking at how the snowflakes would dance in the wind.
7.Children and Snowmen -
Now, having all this snow around the next event naturally occurred.
children and snowmen were popping up everywhere outside. I even built a
snowman myself.
I brought some snow in for the cats to play with, but they preferred just to look at it out the window.
Walking along here in the snow.
Winter has stayed far too long.
Wishing again for winter to end.
For Spring to sing her love song.
(Chorus)
Children and snowmen are out in the snow.
They don't mind the cold.
Kitties and doggies look out their window.
Wondering what is all this snow!
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No one's in town walking around.
Everyone's safe in their home.
The town's café is empty today.
No one wants even hot cocoa!
(repeat Chorus)
Grandma and Grandpa left months ago
for the Gulf of Mexico.
Walking back home,wind howls and blows
I need to get out of this cold!
(repeat Chorus)
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8.Gulf of Florida-
is very truthful and humorous at the same time.
Even though this winter was so beautiful... I am guilty of being a
snowbird. and going
on vacation in
the Gulf of Florida every winter for a week to get out of the cold.
I'm going to the Gulf of Florida
to get out from the snow
I know if I stay north here
I'll surely die of the cold.
So I'm going to the Gulf of Florida
to play out in the sun
I don't think I'll come back here
until winter is done!
Down in sunny Florida
Life is really slow
Here in New York City
the wind blows, I can't hold on
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Down in sunny Florida
they say the life is fine
Here in Manhattan
It's so cold I'll lose my mind!
So I'm going to the Gulf of Florida
leave my frozen bones behind
It's time to leave north here
until the springtime
Yeah I'm going to the Gulf of Florida
to hang out in the sun
I don't think I'll come back here
'till the robins birds have sung!
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CD Reviews for "Winter Morning"
review by Bill Binkelman - Wind & Wire.com
& New Age Reporter.com
What a great
recording this is! So few artists record music that attempts
to evoke the moods of winter (except for holiday carols).
However, keyboard player Shirley Cason has done just that -
composed an entire album of serene, peaceful, evocative
electronic keyboard and piano instrumentals, tinted with a
superb combination of somberness and gentility. As a result,
these eight musical soundscapes properly reflect winter's
emotional resonance on the land and on people. Being from
Minnesota, the land where winter lasts from November through
March, I know what I'm talkin' about, Willis!
Winter Mornings is full of lovely music. Throughout the album,
Cason shows her ability to mix her assorted keyboards and
synths (strings, bells, textures, piano) in songs that are
accessible yet (at times) free-flowing enough to be
quasi-ambient. This is especially true on the eight-minute
"Winter Skies," which mixes softly swelling strings,
twinkling bell tones, gentle plucked guitar, and subtle
background spacy synthesizer textures. For comparison's
sake, imagine a blend of Jon Mark's melancholy beauty with
Kevin Kendle's wonderful melodic sensibility. I hold Messrs
Mark and Kendle in the highest regard so this comparison is
rare praise indeed. And, while Cason is not quite at their
level, she is getting close with this recording.
Besides the
beautiful "Winter Skies," there are also the shiny bright
bell tones, hushed synth chorales and gentle electronica
rhythms of "Icicle Melt," the somber and darker "10 Degrees"
(sounding a little like Tim Story, with repeating piano
refrains and shadowy synthesizer shadings, and then moving
slowly into a warmer romantic sound, a la Ciani or Yanni at
their best). In addition, there is the plaintive minimal
piano and synth title track and the light-as-a-feather bells
and chimes of "Snow Dance" (Cason plays this one smart by
opening with the chimes and bells played arrhythmically,
thereby creating a musical illusion of randomly falling
snowflakes). This last piece also features well-executed
flute samples and slowly building momentum over a bed of
what sounds like sampled kalimba (African thumb piano). The
opening track, "Beauty of the Earth," features delicate
synth strings and gently strummed/picked guitar (sampled)
while "Children and Snowmen," yet another peaceful mixture
of assorted keyboards, once again reminded me of Kevin
Kendle, but this time with a dash of playfulness and
innocence added to the other elements. Finally, for a touch
of whimsy and humor, the artist closes with "Gulf of
Florida," a short piano and minimal synth number which
features parts of the refrain from the traditional folk song
"Oh Susanna," leaving the listener with the notion that,
while winter has its charms and its beauty, one does need a
little warmth and sunshine too (again, as a Minnesotan, I
heartily agree!).
When I
reviewed A Summer Dream (2002) a few years ago, I
knew Shirley Cason was talented, but I admit to being
surprised at how fully realized a musical statement
Winter Mornings is. While there are no tracks that
will remind you of blizzards, these beautiful, somewhat
minimal, relatively subdued songs are evocative of that
season which is normally ignored by artists. Fans of warm
melodic electronic keyboard music (mostly without overt
rhythms, though) will almost certainly enjoy this CD, and if
you miss the days of classic new age music (lots of bell
tones and twinkling chimes), then you're in for a big treat
as Cason has plenty of them throughout the album. Highly
recommended, especially for romantics (like me).
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