Music Conversations

When songs talk back

Have you ever thought of what it would be like to have a conversations between two different songs?

By this I don’t mean mash-ups like the amazing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “What a Wonderful World” by IZ (Israel Kamakawiwo'ole) or the gorgeous of combination of two of Adele’s songs by the two Irish tenors.

Instead, how about taking two seemingly unrelated songs and singing them as a back-and-forth conversation/discussion? Interesting, right?

I first heard about this technique from Abe Soane and Jeong-Soo Park of 8Eyes - an LA-based singer/songwriter duo. They were holding a conversation between two songs from two different movies. Abe would sing one song and Jeong would sing the other. When appropriate, they would merge the two by singing simultaneously in harmony. The songs were, “A Millions Dreams,” (The Greatest Showman) and “How Far I’ll Go (Moana). Another favorite is a conversation between “I Will Wait” (Mumford & Sons) and “Dial Drunk” (Noah Kahan).

You can hear more of the duo’s remarkable work by clicking on the links below:

8Eyes Website: https://www.8eyestheband.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/8eyestheband
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8eyestheband

Then I got to thinking about other ways musical conversations could be held. A recent “discussion” held between Ichika Nito (an electric guitarist from Japan) and Marcin Patrzalek (a polish acoustic guitar player) using the song “Just the Two of Us” written by Bill Withers, William Salter, and Ralph MacDonald came to mind.

Finally, I’ll leave you with a mind-bending conversation between Ren Erin Gill (known simply as Ren) and himself. The song is entitleld, “Hi Ren,” and is a conversation between Ren and the part of him that was desperately ill. Please listen to the song before reading the little bio I’ve written about him below.

About Ren
Ren is a Welsh singer-songwriter, producer, rapper, poet, and multi-instrumentalist who was poised to become a mega-star when he contracted Lyme disease. Initially misdiagnosed (the doctors thought he had chronic fatigue syndrome and depression), Ren spent seven years searching for a correct diagnosis while enduring all kinds of debilitating symptoms. He eventually obtained a correct diagnosis in Brussels, Belgium. You can learn more about him here: https://www.themusicman.uk/ren-gill/ and listen to a good interview HERE.

And of course you know I am going to ask you which of your favorite songs could be played together to create an interesting conversation. In addition to naming the songs and musicians, please tell us what you think listeners could learn from the conversation. I can’t wait to hear your suggestions!

Hugs!
Jena