I. | LIFE BEAT |

— welcome on board —

I can’t find the words to express how thrilled I am to start sharing the making of a project I’ve been dreaming about since I was a child: my first novel!

The storyline is almost done, and a few chapters’ bits are ready: our road until publishing day will be veeeeery long.
But I will ensure it’ll be one of the best you’ve traveled on.

Our road, paved with music inspiring the poems of our story, starts here.

|| FROM POETRY TO THE STORY ||

The last time we met, every living soul on Earth fell asleep after a strange event occurred. Music was blasting in their minds, creating dreams about their past while poetry paved the way.
Their mind was at peace. At last.

Our narrator, unlike others, heard a kaleidoscope of music’s history. Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” resonated first and, with it, dreams about society’s past.

A poem appeared along the way...

Your call!
What does it tell us about our story?
What’s that event, or those events, our narrator saw in the dreams?
CLICK HERE to share your craziest thoughts.

I’ll share the best and funniest answers in the next issue!

|| INTO THE MUSIC: BILLIE HOLIDAY’S “STRANGE FRUIT” ||

Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” is one of the ultimate tunes expressing how music has the power to leave a strong mark on history.

“Strange Fruit” story started as a poem by Abel Meeropol in 1937. With Ann’s help, his wife, he made a song out of it, which shortly became a protest song about the lynching of Black Americans. But when Billie Holiday finally agreed to perform it, "Strange Fruit” gained its anthem dimension.

Known as a jazz singer whose voice's talent shined through seductive waves and emotion, “Strange Fruit” was out-of-the-box of her repertoire. Yet, Billie Holiday offered its best rendering: one that makes you feel like you’re standing in front of the tree. No surprise it’s one of the rare blues classics that isn’t often covered by new generations of musicians. There’s something of a scent of moving magic in Billie’s version—one which no one else will ever be able to make you feel.

In the late 1930s, “Strange Fruit” disturbed as much as it moved the public. Many obstacles paved the song’s life, one of which led Billie Holiday to be banned from Mobile, Alabama, for trying to hum the tune.

Nowadays, “Strange Fruit” still resonates as an anthem of a lifetime, a protest song of the past highlighting our present and a chant that should never be forgotten.

|| BRAIN FUN FACT ||

Music has many benefits for human beings. Here's your monthly dose of fun fact and resource to learn more about it:

If you want to keep your brain young, listen to music!

More about this cool idea is on Johns Hopkins Medicine’s website.

|| | WORDSTOBEMUSIC | VOL.2 ||

As next month will be fully dedicated to | wordstobemusic | vol.2, I have a little gift for you: an exclusive interview with British singer SummerPearl recorded at the Cully Jazz Festival last April.

A 13 min talk where she shares everything about her future projects and her relationship with music and writing!

Make sure to grab | wordstobemusic | vol.2 later this summer—her performance will be explored through poetry.

|| OUR COMMUNITY RISES ||

This month, I’d like to share a poem called “The Engagement Farm” by @daffodil_jones which @arjantupan shared with me. These few stanzas moved me and inspired an interesting self-reflection. What about you?

|| CONTEST ||

It’s time to win some NFT poetry! CLICK HERE to suggest an album or a song!

In the next post, I’ll share a poem inspired by a piece of music you submitted {chosen by drawing lot}. The winner will win the 1/1 NFT poem.
The trick? If the album or song doesn’t inspire me anything, there’s nothing to win.

After all, our relationship to music is subjective, isn’t it ;)?

|| THANK YOU! ||

Thank you for reading! 

I hope this little getaway offered you some peace of mind.

If you'd like support the project, you can subscribe and/or collect this post or any of my other works.

☁️✒️


S.