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A/am/ams (come ashore, turn over)

voice, violin, guitar, bass guitar
45 minutes

Listen at: https://glarc.bandcamp.com/album/a-am-ams-come-ashore-turn-over 

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A/am/ams

(come ashore; turn over)

 

1. Blue sgith music

 

First speeches:

 2. Crocuses, violents, etc.

 3. Achilles’ Lyre (with the strap, the bridge of silver, and everything)

 

4. ADRIFT

 

Second speeches:

 5. The second speech of the antagonists

 6. The second speech of the protagonists 

 

7. On the beach (at the end of the war)

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English by R. Elliot

Gaelic by Cass Ezeji

A/ac/aca

(thig gu tìr, tionndaidh mun chuairt)

 

1. Speur gorm ceòl

 

A’ Chiad Òraidean :
2. Cròcasan, bròg na cuthaigan, mar sin air adhart.
3. An Ladhar Aicheall (leis and crios, an drochaid airgead, is a h-uile càil)

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4. AIR FALBH LEIS A’ GHAOITH

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Na Dàrna Òraidean:
5. An dàrna òraid de na nàmhaidean
6. An dàrna òraid de na prìomh-neach

 

7. Air and tràigh (aig deireadh a’chogadh)

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A/am/ams – tha ancient wanderer – passes by. A walks along e shore. A listens to e voice. Every time a rolls e over, e has a different face.

 

 

 

 

When a met e, tha sgith was blue.

 

 

Æ staggered through tha heathaze, on tha ridge of tha mountains. An ere a drochte. A lay gaspin in tha trickle of water over mossy rocks. E lay flat, eyen in tha shade of an outcrop, an e chest burnin on.

 

 

This shoreline goes on forever. Round pebbles turned to hot sand, an a black cuillin now grey, roughly pounded out on tha beach, turnin over an over in a surf... an a liftin e up, turnin, keerlin, light in tha salty sea.

 

 

Tha beach twists an curves, down an down forever.

 

 

When a flecked e, athun, tha mountains wheeled around, hot white

quartzite shit spinnin into nawhere, inta silver an iv’ry.

 

 

Dark crossin inta day, an æ perchin on concrete ruins, sippin black water, an a walkin out wi e beside tha sea, tha glas sea, tha absent sea, tha one glassy sea, higher then lower, forever.

 

Æms there passing it all by — tha sea on tha left, tha whorl on tha right. Tha sgith is an oister shell, an e is lookin aweg, but e yet sees tha orange sun is reflectin on ams face. An see – a has na shadow.

 

 

Fuckin hard to say what happened athun. E is gan awhile, an e icoman back in, salty an still on a ridge of tha sea, layin on rumours of rain. An a reels e on tha rocks, an it is a song, reelin jus there, in tha fish an blood reek an tha sharp slykees.

 

 

Annow, laid side by side, sand an wrack in æ hair – what happened here?

The music was performed in Civic House, Glasgow, and in Elgol Hall, Isle of Skye, with musicians Josie Vallely, Stevie Jones, Andrew Herrington, and Harry Gorski-Brown.

Stevie Jones performing in Elgol by LiveLoveRun.jpg

A bilingual text was developed in English and Gaelic by Rufus and Cass Ezeji respectively. 

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A/am/ams (come ashore, turn over) was commissioned by OVER / AT for their 2021 season. This was supported by Sound and Music's Composer-Curator programme and by Creative Scotland.

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Initial development was supported by Magnetic North.

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Photos thanks to Jordan of LoveLiveRun

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