lovedale

lead kindly light...

...thank you, Noel - for recording this hymn! Lead Kindly Light was one of the hymns I posted about earlier. I've always found the last couple of lines moving.

Here's Noel's take on this classic. And, if you'd like to sing along - the words are right below:

lawrencia...

...gosh, it's been a while since I last posted! That's not on!! It's been a hectic time after my recent road trip and I do apologize.

I have had several email requests for Lawrencia - as played by Noel, and here you are.

The words are from a sixties version of our Hymn Book. Typos rule and have a certain charm :-) If I am right, the word in the second verse is supposed to be ardours, not odours...!

whistle while you march...

UPDATE: I just found what those lyrics were. When I can stop giggling long enough to post them with a straight face, I might just do that...
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...this one is added with a bit of a grin.

I was solemnly assured by an OL last week that there were some risque lyrics to Colonel Bogey. Hey, I tell it like I hear it. :-) 

Actually, when I hear this tune, I think not just of the song we marched to, but also of a series of luggage ads from Indian manufacturer - VIP. And of course, I think of that unforgettable movie - Bridge on the River Kwai.

Whatever the memory the tune evokes, here's Noel at his delightful, inimitable, best - playing...Colonel Bogey.

play it again, noel...

...this could turn out to be a wonderful collection of classic tunes!

This time, Noel plays our School Song - Never Give In...

And...if you'd like to sing along...

Never Give In

1 At the dawn of life’s endeavour
With our hopes strung high we stand
In our childhood’s home which ever,
Spreads wide her bounteous hand,
Here a glorious inspiration
From our Founder we’ll surely win
And with strong determination
Play the game and ‘Never Give In’.

Chorus
Lawrencians! Lawrencians!
Keep the dear old school in mind,
Strengthen our hearts to play our parts
Thrust fear and wrong behind.
We’ll live our life mid stress and strife
With the power and the will to win
And we’ll show the world our flag unfurled
With our watchword ‘Never Give In’.

2 At the noon of life’s endeavour
While we toil to win the prize,
There’ll be memories nought can sever
Thro’ heart and soul they’ll rise.
To the ‘Blue Hills’ they’ll restore us
From the heat and the toil and din
To that home whose haunting chorus
Still rings out its ‘Never Give In’.

Chorus

3 At the eve of life’s endeavour
When the sands of our work run dry
All Lawrencians, dull and clever,
Will hear the loud ‘well done’
And our rest will be the better
From convictions so deep within
That in spirit and in letter
We did strive and ‘Never Give In’.

Chorus

haunting echoes...

(musical update...tweaked to reflect this: Day is Done is in fact played by a bugler! :-) Apparently, I had trumpets on the brain when I typed this last night!)

...there are certain pieces of music that effortlessly transport us back in time...bringing memories back in a flood.

This was one of them - and thank you Noel!

Noel is an Alumnus who plays the keyboard. And plays it beautifully; his rendition of 'Abide With Me' takes me right back to Beating the Retreat at School.  This evening ceremony has always been my favorite part of the entire Founders programme...not least because the setting sun provided a stunning backdrop for the lone bugler playing 'The Day is Done' .

Abide With Me was played with two trumpeters...one at each end of sprawling Top Flats. The hymn was begun by the brass band, who provided a soft harmony as the trumpeters then took it in turn to play the verses. The music gently swelled to a crescendo at the end...hmmm, yeah - bottle that memory.

It was followed soon after by the 'Day is Done' - a lone bugler standing on top of the high diving board at the gym - and silhouetted against the sunset. The haunting sounds of the bugle echoing across a hushed field and through the twilight is one that always brought a lump to my throat.

With his permission, here are two versions of the hymn, played by Noel. I think you'll love them both.

Version one:

Version two: