ReMix:Stormlord "Seneca's Marble Pack Edit" 4:22

By N-Joy, Simona

Arranging the music of one song...

"Opening"

Primary Game: Stormlord (Hewson , 1989, AMIGA), music by Charles Deenen, Johannes Bjerregaard, Maniacs of Noise

Posted 2005-02-14, evaluated by djpretzel


Witness Valentine's Day - negations, affirmations, proclamations, prognostications, and lamentations, plus gratuitous Whitman's Samplers changing hands in ritual transactions across the globe. Or at least the parts where they're available. As a spectator sport, it falls a little short, sure, but there's always next year, and while seeing Google's logo laced with Valentine's paraphernalia might conjure unpleasant memories or absences of memories, we've got just the trick for lovers, lovers lost, and skeptical curmudgeons. N-Joy of The SoundWavers and his wife Simona created this amazing Stormlord ReMix before they wed, but that still makes it the only fiancé/fiancée duet mix on the site, to my certain knowledge. The ReMixer writes:

"I absolutely LOVE the original tune by Johannes Bjerregaard, featured in the Amiga and C64 game Stormlord. I can remember listening to it in background for endless afternoons, while I was studying.

So now its melody is hopelessly struck in my mind, and it seemed a good idea to me to do an "ultimate" remix of it (after a former attempt at an XG standard compliant remix), and to exploit its full potential I tried adding some lyrics. So I started working on it, and it was as difficult (since my extreme devotion to the original, I was always fearing my efforts were ruining the track) as rewarding a task. I then called in my favourite singer (who also happens to be my adored wife :) and wrote some lyrics, which had to be in italian (because I want to re-use the track in Simona's forthcoming italian debut CD :)

The tune has been lying in my HD for at least 4 months, since I wanted to make it a bit longer; I had already beefed up the length of the guitar solo at the end, but then I realized that the other thing I would have liked to do (another take of the vocals), was far beyond my patience ...and so decided to release it in its present state. I hope you like it nevertheless! "

I'd say it's drop-dead gorgeous - one of the most compelling, downright beautiful game mixes I've heard come out of the Commodore scene and a testament to the innovation there. N-Joy takes the original and turns it into highly-polished techno-pop, introing with vinyl and the chip original but transitioning with a string riff into a perfect - perfect - Italian vocal by Simona that's run through a radio-type effect initially but clears up at 036" as drums and auxiliary synth and strings come in and the verse gets going. After a second verse, there's a bridge, and if you aren't singing along (or at least trying to) when the "libera" refrain comes in on the chorus at 1'40", you've got more restraint than I. This strongly reminds me melodically and vocally of the (excellent) music of Cirque du Soleil, especially with the Italian. Every once in awhile there's a word that I recognize due to a familiar root, but for the most part, I have no idea what Simona's singing. We're looking into getting both lyrics and a translation, but while I'm very interested in reading both, neither are required to appreciate this arrangement. It's stunning, takes its source material to great heights and really builds a world around it, and does a fantastic job of working a traditional verse-bridge-chorus song structure. If you pass it by due to being unfamiliar with the source material, you will be doing yourself a world of disservice. You even get a rippin' guitar solo at 3'35" - it's all here, and I can say with confidence I'll be just as likely to loop it five times back-to-back ten years from now as I am today. This mix has been out for awhile as you'll see if you visit The SoundWavers' homepage, but it seemed especially appropriate to post today as it was created by a very talented couple. Magnifico.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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LamanKnight
on 2018-12-23 19:58:53

OK, here's a historical note, in case anyone reads this in the distant future, and wants to know why this comment comes out of nowhere:

In December 2018, OC ReMix did a 30-Day Song Challenge on their Twitter account; each day of the month, there was a prompt to share different kinds of songs. "A song with a colour in the title," "a song that reminds you of summer," "a song from the year you were born," "a song that makes you sad," "a song that moves you forward," etc. In this instance, this challenge was to post a remix from OverClocked ReMix for each of these prompts. They said, "Yeah, eh! Any of y'all can post up some of your own picks, dontcha know! Just DO IT!" (I'm paraphrasing.)

Throughout the month, I've been following this. I've seen a few artists post some of their favourite mixes, and a few fans doing the same. I've had the chance to share some of my favourites, and I've discovered some mixes I hadn't come across before. (I mean, I only found this site last year, and there are already over 3800 remixes as of today.)

I think the best thing I've gained from this 30-Day Song Challenge so far, though, is finding this today. See, the source is a game I'm not familiar with, this isn't a genre I usually like, the lyrics are in a language I don't speak (conozco algún idioma semejante, pero no italiano), and the subject matter of the lyrics is something I don't relate to at all. I would never have sought this out on my own. But djpretzel posted this mix in response to the prompt "A song you think everyone should hear."

He chose right; this is a beautiful piece of work. I don't think I'm crazy for saying that the love between the two artists is audible in this song. I found this profoundly touching, and I wasn't expecting to feel that.

So anyway, thanks, djpretzel, for getting me to listen to this. And thank you, grazie, to N-Joy and Simona. I should have said that 13 years ago. But I'll do it today, at least.

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TillyFun
on 2016-02-06 17:59:15

Just really cool. :D

Vocals unexpected but welcome. c:

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OA
on 2009-12-04 15:50:10

An exceptional mix in every sense of the word. Great vocals, good production, an exciting source track, and an effective arrangement.

A real standout ReMix, you'll be amazed after listening to it.

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Dunther
on 2009-07-20 10:55:16

Wow, an italian song on OCR! Nice to see other italians here :)

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Palpable
on 2009-06-25 20:05:45

Can't believe this doesn't have more comments - what a fantastic song. Granted, I haven't played the game either which might account for the lack of comments, but this is radio-quality pop right here. Great singing from Simona, very expressive and smooth. Then the blend of guitars, piano, and synths just hits. I could listen to this all day.

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MechaFone
on 2008-11-19 18:28:04

I wasn't actually sure if this was a remix from this site, the vocals are just top-notch and the music is superb. I'm going through my recent Utorrent downloads of every OCremix, and I just happened to find this on random.

I may have this on all night long.

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Arwen
on 2007-03-23 10:37:11

I feel compelled to review this song because "infectious" as another poster said it is really putting it mildly. I have had this song stuck in my head for the better part of the week and am loving it! I only wish I understood Italian so I could memorize the words faster and sing along. There is an undercurrent of grace, strength and beauty in this song--partly from the language and partly from the arrangement. Simona is easily the most talented vocalist I've heard out of OCR.

Now, if anyone could tell me where I can find more Italian pop like this, I'd really appreciate it. :)!!

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The Mac Attack
on 2006-12-16 20:15:53

I can't say I'm familiar with the game at all, but this is truly a marvelous work here.

Although it starts out in a fairly cliche fashion, once we get well into it, the highly infectious melody just takes over and is sure to be stuck in your head for hours (if you're not just playing the song on repeat anyway :P ).

Production-wise it's very well executed as well, and reminiscent of so many J-Pop songs I've heard recently.

One of, if not the, best pop piece on the site.

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Belmont
on 2006-12-12 13:04:24

Italiani su OCR, per piacere, I need help. At the start of the song, non capisco that distorted singing. My Italian is not so good. :o) The song begins with something like "io ho capito finalmente che non tornerai"(?). Please, help. Mille grazie. :)

(No, it's not on the lyrics page.)

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Yamato2299
on 2006-11-12 21:53:14

I first heard this on VGDJ and I have to say its downright beautiful. The remixers obviously put a lot of work into it and I love the vocals (I've come to believe that not understanding the lyrics to several songs makes them more enjoyable). Sad to think that I would have skipped over this song based on the game's obscurity.

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Geoffrey Taucer
on 2006-11-06 10:23:12

Wow, I don't know how I missed this one, but it's amazing!

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Amayirot Akago
on 2006-11-06 06:59:04

This song goes above and beyond any OCR out there. That, and it's from a game I've actually played. Brilliant stuff.

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Freudian Slip
on 2005-04-24 02:29:26

I think I've listened to this song thirty times today. I get something new out of it each time. Simona's voice is so moving, and the lyrics are beautiful, even before I knew what they meant. After reading the translation, the song has become even more haunting. The mixing and effects on the song are top-notch.

This is exactly the kind of music I'm always looking for. Thank you N-Joy and Simona for a masterpiece!

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frashpikass
on 2005-03-13 16:27:56

Sono contento di non essere l'unico italiano su Ocremix!!!!

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VGJunky
on 2005-03-03 01:36:39

I've been listening to the mixes here for something like 2 years now, and in my history of forums use, I've only really commented on the songs that I thought were outrageously awesome.

Well, there you go. This mix is outrageously awesome:

The lyrics are great, wasn't expecting Italian at ALL from the context of the song title, etc, but it was like uncovering gold without even meaning to.

Simona's voice is excellent.

N-Joy did a great job on his cover of the music (although being only a listener and not a mixer myself, I can't tell if he's made mistakes or not).

Going on only the impression this song's left on me, I'm going to say this is the most emotionally stirring song I've heard on OCremix. Everything else has been "this sounds great" or "this is awesome", but the singing makes this feel so much more complete than pure instrumentation or synths would have been able to accomplish.

Good stuff.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Stormlord (Hewson , 1989, AMIGA)
Music by Charles Deenen,Johannes Bjerregaard,Maniacs of Noise
Songs:
"Opening"

Tags (8)


Genre:
Pop
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Piano,Singing,Synth,Vocals: Female
Additional:
Lyrics > Language: Italian
Lyrics > Lyrics: Original
Origin > Collaboration

File Information


Name:
Stormlord_Seneca's_Marble_Pack_Edit_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,339,158 bytes
MD5:
f1a3e7c400be61d2fc26270582f23e35
Bitrate:
160Kbps
Duration:
4:22

ITALIAN:

io non posso restare qui
ferma sulla tua immagine
piangere te che non ci sei
e lasciare svanire la vita che è in me

Ti ho cercato per secoli
e ti ho perso in un attimo
sogno di un sogno che so già
dove l'unica luce mia è l'oscurità

io voglio crederci
io aspetto un'altra vita
risorgeranno i sogni che ormai non vivo più

il sole nascerà davanti alle mie braccia
riscalderà quel freddo che c'è dentro di me

libera adesso sono libera
vento ma senza una nuvola
come la terra gravita
e sempre torno a te
perché non guardi, perché vai via da me
perché non piangi e piango io per te
perché mi lasci, mi lasci e te ne vai
perché mi uccidi?

questa vita difficile
ti scalfisce anche l'anima
non è possibile per me
cancellare quei giorni vissuti con te

e volo libera tra il cielo e l'atmosfera
come una pioggia che mai cadrà per l'eternità
il sole nascerà davanti alle mie braccia
riscalderà quel freddo che c'è dentro di me

libera adesso sono libera
codice senza una logica
una lanterna magica
e sempre vedo te

perché non guardi, perché vai via da me
perché non piangi e piango io per te
perché mi lasci, mi lasci e te ne vai
perché mi uccidi?

ENGLISH:

I can't stay here anymore
still on your picture
crying for you that are not here
while the life inside me floods away

I've been looking for you for centuries
and I've lost you in a second
dream of a dream that I already know
where my only light is obscurity

I want to believe in it
I wait for another life
resurfacing the dreams that I don't live anymore

the sun will be born again in front of my arms
it will warm the cold inside me

free, now I'm free
wind without a cloud
like the earth I gravitate
and I always return to you

why don't you turn back, why do you go away from me
why don't you cry, and it's me who cries for you
why are you leaving me, you leave me and go away
why do you kill me?

this difficult life
scratches even the soul
it is not possible for me
to delete those days spent with you

and I fly free between the sky and the atmosphere
like a rain that will never fall for eternity
the sun will be born again in front of my arms
it will warm the cold inside me

free, now I'm free
code without a logic
a magic lantern
and I always see you

why don't you turn back, why do you go away from me
why don't you cry, and it's me who cries for you
why are you leaving me, you leave me and go away
why do you kill me?

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