[TITLE: THAT TIME OF YEAR IN ME — Sonnet 73 Earthling Cut] [ARTIST: Earthling] [STYLE: Intimate acoustic folk-soul; literary Americana; warm, weathered baritone; fingerpicked guitar, upright bass, brushed snare, restrained Hammond, violin and cello] [TEMPO: 64 BPM | TIME: 6/8 | KEY: D MINOR → D MAJOR] [MOOD: Autumn light, mortal tenderness, love made more present] [PRODUCTION: Close vocal with audible breaths. Leave space after Shakespeare’s lines. Instrumentals carry the feeling between verses. Build slowly; end with guitar, voice, and room tone.] [INTRO — fingerpicked acoustic; bowed bass beneath it; free time] Mmm… mmm… [Spoken, close] I used to hear a poem about dying. Now I hear someone asking to be seen. [VERSE 1 — guitar alone; sing the quoted lines plainly] That time of year thou mayst in me behold, When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. [Original response — bass enters] There’s an old tree leaning by the road. Every fall, I wonder how it holds. Then spring comes through the branches once again— Not the same leaves. Still the same old friend. [CHORUS — soft brush pulse, open vocal] Look at me while the light is here. Come a little closer, love, and stay. I can feel the turning of the year; I can feel your hand in mine today. We don’t have to make the seasons slow. Love me in the time we know. [BETWEEN-VERSE INSTRUMENTAL — 8 bars; fingerpicked guitar motif, bowed bass becomes a plucked pulse; violin answers with one spare phrase] [VERSE 2 — low Hammond enters] In me thou seest the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west, Which by and by black night doth take away, Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest. [Original response — intimate] You pull a chair beside the windowpane. The last gold leaves our faces as you say, “I’m here.” And in the quiet of that room, The dark can come. It cannot make you leave. [CHORUS — strings rise, then settle] Look at me while the light is here. Come a little closer, love, and stay. I can feel the turning of the year; I can feel your hand in mine today. We don’t have to make the seasons slow. Love me in the time we know. [BETWEEN-VERSE INSTRUMENTAL — 8 bars; cello takes the melody, acoustic guitar keeps the 6/8 sway; slide guitar echoes faintly like autumn wind] [VERSE 3 — drums fall away; voice and guitar near a whisper] In me thou seest the glowing of such fire That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, As the death-bed whereon it must expire, Consumed with that which it was nourished by. [Original response — gently gathering strength] So let me set another log upon the flame. Tell me that old story one more time. The room grows warm; the windows gather rain. Your laughter finds the younger man in mine. [BRIDGE — spoken low over bowed bass and one held guitar chord] This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well which thou must leave ere long. [Full breath of silence] [Sung, fragile] I cannot promise you another spring. I can pour the tea. I can stay and sing. And when your hand reaches across to me, I’ll take it while the light is here to see. [INSTRUMENTAL LIFT — 12 bars; melodic violin and electric guitar trade the chorus melody; cello and organ slowly turn D minor toward D major] [FINAL CHORUS — D major; warm female “ahh” harmony and low male hum; full but unforced] Look at me while the light is here. Come a little closer, love, and stay. I can feel the turning of the year; I can feel your hand in mine today. We don’t have to make the seasons slow. Love me in the time we know. [OUTRO — band falls away; guitar and voice only] That time of year thou mayst in me behold… [Spoken-sung, close] The kettle’s on. The rain is here. And so are you. [Open D major chord; natural decay; room tone; silence]
