Castle in the Sky

Castle in the Sky

© 1994

Written and performed by Lynn Dicksion

Instruments:

Lynn Dicksion:

Vocals

Rhythm guitar – Martin D28

Ensoniq EPS

Monty Dicksion:

Bass – Gibson G3

Guitar – Yamaha FG75

Drum track made with Ensoniq EPS

Lyrics:

We have been friends for a very long time,

And sometimes we don’t exactly see eye to eye.

But we’ll keep holding on,

Till we reach that Castle in the Sky.

Watching each other growing old,

Grasping the future as it unfolds,

With similar desires,

Merging forces to become inspired.

But it’s OK.

Even better than before.

Feeling acceptance is enough.  Don’t give up

Using that revolving door,

Because it doesn’t lock.

I just want to tell you,

I’ve enjoyed the experience.

Seems like only yesterday

We were a couple of mischievous kids.

But it’s OK.

Even better than before.

Feeling acceptance is enough.  Don’t give up

Using that revolving door,

Because it never locks.

I have been friends with you for a very long time.

Tears and fears will be left behind.

We’re searching way beyond,

Destined for that Castle in the Sky.

A few words about this song:

This song by Lynn is a masterpiece.

First, I'd like to say that the beach scenes are from various beaches we saw on our "Trip of a Lifetime" trip to New Zealand.  We took the waterfall pictures from on board a boat in Milford Sound.  The rocky point showed at the end of this video is Cape Reinga, at the northern tip of New Zealand.  It is a special place to New Zealanders, especially the Maori people.

There are some things about this song that are very unique for us.  For one thing, I think it is the only song we did that fades out.

Also, Lynn intentionally kept her vocals very restrained.  Although she had excellent control of her vibrato, she deliberately held back for the most part, giving the vocals a character unlike anything else she sings.

I used the Ensoniq to create the drum track.  The Ensoniq EPS (which stands for Ensoniq Performance Sampler) is a sequencer instrument.  It is capable of playing a set of sounds in a loop, in perfect rhythm indefinitely.  But doing that restricts the feel of a song and gives it a rigid, mechanical feel.  To avoid that, I chose the percussion sounds I wanted and played them manually for the duration of the song.  My goal was to get a natural drum-like feel.

Lynn played the Ensoniq too, as a background instrument throughout the song.  I like the sound she selected and I think it gives the song an attractive, and a slightly distorted character.  The sound always reminds me of the Mellotron that the Moody Blues and Yes used to use.

The song is a regular study in restraint in every way, and is quite different from how we ordinarily played.

Lynn worked for hours and hours on just the perfect way she wanted to strum the rhythm, and her Martin positively rings like a bell right to the last fading chords of the song.

This home recording was made 17 years before I made the video to go with it.  It was important to me to do my best to enhance Lynn’s song and not to do anything that would detract from this very fine musical piece.

I hope you enjoy it.