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'The Great War 1914 ~18 Centenary Suite' (LAVALLIN) feat. Mark J​.​Bennett & Marianne Holland

by Lavallin

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'The Great War 1914~18 Centenary Suite' (iii) ~ The Lamps Are Going Out ... The Ballad Of Harry Patch' ( © Lavallin/Bennett 2014 ) Spoken word: 'The lamps are going out all over Europe ...we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime' ~ Lord Edward Grey's famous speech on the eve of the Great War. Lyric: We'll be home in time for Christmas, just you wait and see (3X) Spoken word: 'You will all be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees' ~ The Kaiser's speech to departing troops in August 1914 Narrative: 'A private soldier from Somerset, Harry Patch, became the very last 'Tommy' who actually fought in the trenches of the western front'. Harry Patch: 'You could hear the guns ... you never knew when one was going to fall short ... that was the bugger of it!' 'We heard the shell burst, saw the flash and I went down ... how long I stayed there I don't know' ... (gunfire & explosion) Narrative: 'Harry was badly wounded and three of his friends were killed'. Harry Patch: 'There was nothing ever found .......... (long pause) .... I was lucky. (big sigh) 'I've tried for eighty years to forget it ... but I can't. If any man tells you he went over the top and he wasn't scared ... he's a damn liar!!' 'I had no inclination to fight anybody ... I mean, why should I go out and kill somebody I never knew ... for what reason?' 'When I joined the Army, I swore I would serve my King and Country and by some reason or other it flashed into my mind, when Moses came down off Mount Sinai ... the sixth commandment he brought down ~ "Thou shalt not kill" ~ and I can't kill him. I had about five seconds to make my mind up ... I shot him above the ankle and above the knee and I brought him down ... I didn't kill him'. Lyric: We won't be back in time for Christmas ... Harry Patch: 'The five of us were a little group together and that's what worried me most, when three, four and five were killed'. Narrative: 'The pact's members, and those whose lives they'd saved, would now be joined by one who'd spent 111 years as a living testimony to the priceless virtue of none of it ever happening anymore ... if Harry patch could help it. Wars will cease when men refuse to fight. By his giving it the firmest possible shine, it had made him and his old friends greater than anything that had taken place in that so called Great War ~ that serial enormity ... Lyric: We won't be back in time for Christmas ... Harry Patch: 'I picked up a piece of shell about two inches long, half an inch wide ... jagged edge to it ... right in the groin! (gunfire & explosion) Doctor came along and he said "Would you like me to take that shrapnel out?" And the pain from it was terrific, and he said "Before you say yes, I've no anaesthetic in the camp whatsoever ..." I said "How long will you be?" He said "Well about two minutes ..." So I thought for a minute and I said "Go ahead with it" and, in those two minutes, I could have killed that bloody doctor!!' Narrative: 'Every Remembrance Day the Nation falls silent to honour the millions of men who fought and sacrificed themselves in the Great War of 1914 ~18' Lyric: We won't be back in time for Christmas ... Narrative: 'The name of Harry Patch, the very last fighting 'Tommy', will live on forever with them ...' With grateful thanks to Alan Cox and Bernard Hill for tenure of the text of the narrative and of course the deeply moving account from Harry himself.
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'Lament For The Fallen' ~ Lavallin * Bennett © 2015 Intro: Just two lines of Harry Patch, the last 'Fighting Tommy', reading an extract from the Laurence Binyon Remembrance Day poem at the Menin Gate, Ypres on 29/07/2009. Harry prefaced his full reading of the poem by first saying: 'Let us remember, those who fell, on both sides of the line' ... Harry Patch: When the sun goes down, and in the morning, We will remember them ... (We will remember them) Soldier: I made a promise That I'd always be yours I've only ever been yours ... Through it all You'll always remain Sweetheart: You'll always remain Just a boy Soldier/Sweetheart: In my heart ... Sweetheart: Just a boy, in my heart I made a promise That I'd always be yours I've only ever been yours ( You're just a boy, in my heart) Just a boy, in my heart ... in my heart ... Just a boy, .... Just a boy, .... Just a boy, .... fadeout .... Songwriters: Graham Lavallin & MarkJBennett © 2015

about

2014 marked the centenary of the outbreak of The Great War 1914~18 ... this complete centenary suite of songs in five parts is set against the backdrop of that 'war to end all wars' and the cultural shift heralded by that cataclysmic conflict.
Guest vocalists for this suite are my good friend Mark J.Bennet, who also contributed the narrative on 'The Lamps Are Going Out/Ballad Of Harry Patch', and Marianne Holland ... both were a huge inspiration and contributed greatly, especially together on the last and very poignant track 'Lament For The Fallen', where Marianne also played bass guitar.
Harry Patch, 'the last fighting Tommy' deserves a special mention for the immensely moving vocal archive clips that helped to tell his own amazing story here ...

'The Great War 1914 ~18 Centenary Suite' (LAVALLIN)
feat. Marianne Holland & Mark J.Bennett:

(i) Oh To Be In England ... (Instrumental)
(ii) Cold Wind In Sarajevo (Instrumental)
(iii) The Lamps Are Going Out All Over Europe ...
The Ballad Of Harry Patch (feat. Mark J.Bennett)
(iv) The Angel Of Mons Suite (Instrumental)
* Waiting In The Wings * Over The Top
* Against The Odds * The Angel Apparition
* March Of St. George
(v) Lament For The Fallen (feat. Mariane Holland & Mark J.Bennett)

Instrumentation:

Korg Kronos and Roland Jupiter 50 Synths
AMG VST Mellotron
EWQL VST Drums, Percussion, VOP Vocal Layers, Orchestral Instrumentation
Fender Strat Guitar through Boss ME70 Multi FX and Echoes Of The Past Delays
FX Loops and Atmosphere

Thanks so much for listening:))

This Great War 1914~18 Centenary Suite was originally written with the intention of being one continuous piece of music, and with wonderful contributions from my good friends MarkJ.Bennett and Marianne Holland, I feel it should also be presented as such.
The original full continuous version of this WWI Centenary Suite uploaded to SoundClound on Remembrance Sunday 2014 is also available as a free download in it's entirety on my SoundCloud page at the following link:
soundcloud.com/lavallin/the-great-war-191418-centenary-suite-lavallin-feat-markjbennett-marianne holland-free-download

*Full descriptions of each track may also be found in the playlist version there on my homepage page at: soundcloud.com/lavallin
... just follow the links:)

** My good friend Lee Lucas also produced a video for the last track 'Lament For The Fallen' from several of my father's photos and memorabilia ... the link is: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X98olTPtfM

Dedicated to the memory of my father George Edward Lavallin 1898 ~ 1974

Alternative * Cinematic * Orchestral * Great War Centenary * Synths * Guitars * Mellotron * Vocals

© Graham Lavallin 2015

credits

released February 1, 2015

Mark J.Bennett ~ Vocals, Spoken Word & Narration, Lyrics, Artwork & inspiration
Marianne Holland ~ Vocals, Bass Guitar on 'Lament'
Harry Patch ~ archive spoken word audio clips
Graham Lavallin ~ Music, arrangement, production

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about

Lavallin Cambridge, UK

Hi all,
I play guitar and synths, doing a vocal or featuring guests ... making recordings just for the sheer enjoyment and fun that making music gives you.
My albums here are all imaginary journeys ... to the stars; around the world; through the seasons; back in time; even the soul's journey from this world to the next ... and back ...

Peace ... Graham:)
... more

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