Under The Spreading Chestnut Tree 

Disclaimer: All the tracks from "We Were Dead From The Start" are base on the book 1984 by George Orwell. "Memories being the first song, I explain why I wrote this album on that post. It'll help to read these posts in order of album appearance.

Halfway through the album was supposed to be another song taken from the book. A reoccurring song that Winston here's throughout 1984 is a song that says, simply:

Under the spreading chestnut tree I sold you, and you sold me. There lie they, and here lie we under the spreading chestnut tree. 

It forewarns of Winston's betrayal of Julia. It forewarns of the death of Winston's ideals and humanity. It's one of the major themes in the book. I composed a song that was intended to have an old timey gospel hymn feel. Bigger than life piano playing behind a four part harmony, then fading out so the song ends acapella. To top it all off, I was pretty excited about the melody I composed. I got some friends in another local band, My Brother's Keeper, to sing with me. I was really excited about the song. It was designed to follow Julia and split the album in half. The first half upbeat, almost joyful, the second half dealing with the darker themes. But, as explained in the post on "Memories," I never got permission. But here it is anyways. 

3 comments