Tell me Brother is a song that was inspired by my own story...
A story that concerns everyone, since it is that of the loss of a loved one.
Brother here is a brother, but could also be a father, a mother, a sister, a child, a spouse, a friend, a master, a brother in arms, or other precious lives in our eyes.
The song is a prayer to the one who has left for the afterlife, but whose presence engraved in the memory of the one who sings it, allows an almost palpable form of communication.
When I composed this melody, I immediately associated it, as an evidence, with the story of this deceased brother, and I wrote the text.
Although very influenced by the Blues, the harmonic color of the music also refers to Flamenco, which is the Andalousin Blues, and to Jazz too in some chords of the verses. The chorus is rather Pop.
In a first version I performed it by simply accompanying myself on the piano. When Shamanik listened to it, he suggested that I call on an African gospel choir to reinforce the spirituality of the song.
The result is a very sober orchestration, based on the original piano that rhythmically chants the chords, enriched by the choir, an acoustic-sounding bass supported by subtle drums, Hispanic acoustic guitars, and a pop solo on electric guitar.
It happens that by a fortunate chance that Brother loved all these universal musical influences.
Hi Brother, I sang it for you!
Paul Rey
