A second visit to the world of the ‘Deer’ A collective noun for Deer is a ‘Bevy’ and so we bring you a Bevy of songs that celebrate this animal.
“Deer” is the thirteenth single by the Bay Area collective Peach Tree Rascals released in June 2020 by Homemade Projects and 10K Projects. The song is the first to be released by a record label, as opposed to a self-release. Tarrek stated that “[Joseph] and I wrote this song about celebrating the happy moments that almost feel too good to be true…Whether it’s love, reaching a career goal, etc. – that’s what this is about.” The song takes inspiration from the member’s upbringings, being second-generation Americans, with the song talking about “appreciating the highs as they come.” After the writing process was finished, producer Dominic Pizano was thinking of song titles when he looked outside his widow and saw a doe walking by, then thought of the name “Deer.”
“‘As the Deer” is a well-known praise song by Martin J. Nystrom, a native of Seattle. Written in 1984, this song is based on Psalm 42:1. Nystrom admits that the song “As the Deer” he wrote in 1981 sprang from an incident in his life in which he was not spiritually motivated…at least not at its beginning. His song’s words make us think ‘this composer must have really been close to God’, as we sing of panting and longing for Him. But, this is where knowing the song story really helps me get in touch with how I, like others before me, can draw close to the Lord. It begins in a desert, in which I’m pretty distant from the Holy One. That’s where I must begin? That’s what Nystrom’s experience suggests.
“The Deer’s Cry ” is a sacred motet by Avro Part, set to text from a traditional Irish lorica for a four-part choir a cappella. He composed the piece on a commission from the Irish Louth Contemporary Music Society. It was published by Universal Edition in 2007 and first performed in Louth, Ireland, in February 2008. The work was commissioned by the Louth Contemporary Music Society. The text is the final part of a traditional prayer for protection, Saint Patrick’s Breastplate, attributed to St. Patrick, the primary patron saint of Ireland.
“I Arise Today (The Deer’s Cry)” The Breastplate of St Patrick, also know as St Patrick’s Lorica is an Old Irish poem, attributed to Patrick. Various translations have been made – and some of these were set to music as hymns. One of the best known is I Bind Myself Today, which was put into verses by Cecil Frances Alexander (1818–1895) and set to a tune by Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924). Another translation was by German scholar Kuno Meyer (1858–1919). Irish composer Shaun Davey set part of Meyer’s translation to music of his own, originally to be sung by Rita Connolly for a Granada Television documentary about the treatment of the Birmingham Six. It was later added to the 1994 re-release and update of his CD titled “The Pilgrim”, under the title “The Deer’s Cry”.
Finally, I am stretching the theme just a little to include one last song. “Do-Re-Mi” is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. Each syllable of the musical solfège system appears in the song’s lyrics, sung on the pitch it names. Rodgers was helped in its creation by long-time arranger Trudy Rittmann who devised the extended vocal sequence in the song. In the stage version, Maria sings the song in the living room of Captain von Trapp’s house shortly after she introduces herself to the children. However, when Ernest Lehman adapted the stage script into a screenplay for the 1965 film adaptat, he moved the song to later on in the story. In the film, Maria and the children sing this song over a montage as they wander and frolic over Salzburg.
