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Twenty Year Heart

from M​é​m​è​re & Me by Robert Sylvain

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Both French and English versions of a dozen Acadian folksongs from Maine in a double CD wallet, shrinkwrapped.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mémère & Me via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $25 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

  • Sheet Music + Digital Album

    70-page spiral-bound songbook with professionally scored vocal sheet music of all 12 songs with melody, chords, lyrics, translations, notes and sources, plus photostats of pages from the original notebook.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mémère & Me via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $39 USD or more 

     

about

Roland Gauvin from the Acadian group 1755 recorded a version of this song on a solo album released in 2005. Although it is beautiful and there’s a long tradition to support reimagined melodies for folksongs, I admit being a bit disappointed when he told me that he had penned a new melody for the old lyrics, because I was after something more archaic. When I found an older version, it was a case of “be careful what you wish for” as I found the sheet music from the Université de Moncton archive to be nearly indecipherable to my ear. The melody keeps landing on the 7th note of the scale, giving it a Lydian modality that was completely foreign to me, not to mention the odd number of measures in the refrain. Also the transcription included some accidentals seemed truly accidental. Musical genius Steve Muise was able to make reasonable harmonic sense of the melody as written by Chiasson, but in the end I took a bit of creative licence here and there to come up with this balanced but decidedly old-world sounding arrangement that lends itself well to a musette- style bounce. It’s become one of my favorites.

lyrics

When I think of my mother
I think of my twenty years
I think also of my lover
The only one I love dear
She and I were the same age when We found ourselves deep in love Yes it is such a sweet thing
Just to have known such a love
Refrain:
I hold you in my arms
And we’ll never part
Down low I tell her so
My twenty-year heart
Down low I tell her so
Your beauty and your charm Never will I forget
My twenty years of love
I find you fascinating
You and your eyes so blue Your smiling lips in waiting You and your golden hair too You look just like an angel You’re all that I’m thinking of Yes it is such a sweet thing Just to have known such a love

credits

from M​é​m​è​re & Me, released August 15, 2020
Robert Sylvain, vocals
Steve Muise - fiddle,
Junior Stevens - accordion
David Surette - guitar
Steve Roy - bass
Per Hanson - drums

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Robert Sylvain Portland, Maine

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