Zero Hour

Lyrics

Valour and Sacrifice

Symbols enduring eternity

Though I may be gone

Remember it's for You and our Families

No ink can capture words

Anything that resembles this scene

The silence of gunfire

Changing the future of history.

July 1st

Roll call 780

One last drink of rum

And it's our turn to change history

Feeling anxious, but never feeling scared

Feeling courageous, never disappears

I think of you, don't shed a tear

Ah-oh-oh-oh...Zero Hour

Ah-oh-oh-oh...Zero Hour

Ah-oh-oh-oh...Zero Hour

Ah-oh-oh-oh...Zero Hour

Bad decisions, 10 minutes to Zero Hour

We've warned the enemy, and now it's an easy fire

Feeling anxious, but never feeling scared

Feeling courageous, never disappears

I think of you, don't shed a tear

Ah-oh-oh-oh...Zero Hour

Ah-oh-oh-oh...Zero Hour

Ah-oh-oh-oh...Zero Hour

Ah-oh-oh-oh...Zero Hour

Feeling anxious, but never feeling scared

Feeling courageous, never disappears

I think of you, don't shed a tear

Cut the wire, going over the top

Only ones moving, just like sitting ducks

Danger tree and I take 2 shots

No man's land 15 hours

Next morning, roll call 38

When you see the Caribou, remember us...

About the song:

I had recorded the music and melody first. The music carried heavy emotion and almost dark feel. It always seemed to present the notion of impeding battle or war. And when I arranged the latter part it felt like running with eminent danger protruding all around you.

I decided to write about Beaumont Hamel and World War 1 with its historical significance to our province and world. It's also written from the perspective of someone that was in battle. I wanted the intro part of the song to link a message from the past to the present-day. I thought of spoken word in very structured phrasing to capture a voice or spirit from the past talking to us in the present-day. And then added 'megaphone vocal' effect to make it stand out even more from the regular vocals within the song.

After the spoken word, the time-frame changes to July 01, 1916. I wanted to capture the facts and feelings pre / during / post Zero Hour. Lyrically, the final part is when the soldiers and narrator are going over-the-top. I added the higher single guitar notes to try to represent bullets flying overhead, clinking off helmets. And then a droning single note to represent immediate eminent danger.

Zero Hero is not produced well, and I didn't have a singer - so I sang just to capture how the song could progress...but I really can't sing! I am proud of the arrangement and lyrics and plan to re-visit. And may even look to bring in an electric guitar, bass, and drums with harmonies, etc to make it more heavy. Try not to let the singing throw you off, and enjoy! March 05, 2017.