Solstice Music Resources (along with NYC 2016 Solstice Setlist)

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Raymond Arnold

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Nov 12, 2016, 1:05:46 AM11/12/16

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I recently completed the charts for the songs in the NYC 2016 Solstice. (A couple exceptions for our version of Stopping in the Woods and Glen Raphael's 'When I Die', which I didn't have the chords for). If you're using any of these at your event

Some notes:

Bring the Light now has chords, and I think having accompaniment makes the song way less dependent on having the really outgoing gospel-type singer to lead it.

Gather Round is a new song I wrote this year, basically so I could have a song that covered the "it's cold outside, let's hang out and sing and be nice people together" genre while also being a good mix of "subtly Solstice themed", and "upbeat and easy to sing, energy building" and "Raymond definitely has copyright authority on it so he can include in in an album and website without paying money."

Bitter Wind March (the reprise) now has more fleshed out chords that make it feel both distinctive from the lullaby version, and is way more epic. (It's intended to be a quiet, slow building epic that doesn't disrupt the solemnity of the "Darkness" section)

Endless Light is aiming to be a new Big Anthem song. One of it's goals was to be the song that *actually* addresses the question "a lot of my friends/family are going to die. How do we come to terms with that without resorting to comforting lies or weird contorted platitudes"

(Last year 'Endless Light' was called "Hundreds of Thousands". I modified it slightly for a few reasons. One of them is that I overuse 'repeat a big number a lot of times' in solstice songs. Another was that I wanted it to have a splashy title that'd make for a good "front page" song)

Brighter Than Today has (as of last year, actually) settled into a final version (I think the "oh-oh-ohs" here are optional, since they're more of a pop-song thing that some people don't like, but lyrics/chords/melody should be stable from here on out)

Here and Now was new last year, and is a fun, upbeat song that's a pretty good mix of accessible but ingroupy.

Part I: Light

Always Look on the Bright Side

X-Days of X Risk

Bring the Light

Gather Round

When I Die

Part II: Twilight