I'm Friday's Child Album

Featured in FMA Blog.

Fellow music lovers, warmest thanks for your plays of my FMA tracks this past decade to the tune now of one million+ listens. It's been a minute since I composed a new piece—over six years as a matter of fact. Intervening was a call to political activism followed by a relocation to a new continent during a global pandemic. Since I had sold every bit of electronic equipment before the move to Finland, and soon after entered my 8th decade, I was resigned to embark on no further recording or production work. Then in September 2024, I was struck with an idea to create a new novelty piece culled from a collection of my silly aphorisms and taglines. I had barely begun penning a stanza or two when I received a midnight visitation from The Muse, who generously gifted me with a memorable melody to match my title sentence. It was a solemn minor key, however, so I shifted lyrics away from my trademark wordplay toward a more somber composition. It soon evolved into a latin rhythm but still sounded so melancholy, I decided I should make a point of ending my sad lyrics on an upbeat note. I had no wish to bring down anyone's spirits—including my own!—one solitary scintilla beyond wherever they landed at year's end. Plus after the election results for US, I was especially glad for that hopeful, major chord ending on I'm Friday's Child (IFC).

Since I no longer owned any synth equipment, I presumed new music production—if ever I returned to it—must rely on a collaborator for additional instrumentation and possibly for vocals as well. So after I had a rough guitar and voice part set for IFC, I immediately ed my Nice friend, Damien Riba, for a piano habanera part. Meanwhile, I had discovered the library here in lovely Hämeenlinna—hometown of Sibelius after all! --contains a well-stocked music studio with decent microphones for vocal recording and at least two synth keyboards connected to a Mac with GarageBand software. I was back in business to create my own orchestration, which you'll hear in track #1. It features my classical guitar throughout (now well into its 6th decade) along with a very basic piano part on an old Hellas upright piano gifted by my mother-in-law. Synth bits include cello, violin, organ, oboe, clarinet, accordion, trumpet and percussive accents. I could not use a capo to raise the key to a better vocal range for myself because of a chord slide-up several frets on my short-necked Guild. Rather than ditch the riff I had latched onto, I dug deep to sing as an alto here.

For track #2, Damien Riba came through—brilliantly as ever!—with a habanera piano part plus a delightful orchestration for me to use (courtesy of Mangalyan Records) in addition to my own. His arrangement includes piano, accordion, cello and percussion to accompany my vocal. Merci beaucoup, Damien! [Check him out at www.damienriba.com and www.cinelovers.fr ]

Track #3 is my own purely instrumental version of IFC with synth parts as described for track #1. Listeners ing me for permission to use my music are often interested in instrumental pieces for their film and video scores, so I had always planned to produce an instrumental version after finding the local music studio I could access for free.

Last but never least, multiple thanks to JT Lindroos for his great partnership in using the library's Mac software—I had only recorded vocals and synth parts in the past with a PC using Reaper software—and, as always, for his cover art contribution. How appropriate then to release IFC to the world on January 4, 2025, which marks our silver 25th wedding anniversary! 😊

😽 XXXOOO 🤗
Kat (a Friday's Child)

I'M FRIDAY'S CHILD

I'm Friday's Child living in a Wednesday world,
A world full of woe for me and any girl,
Who's loving and giving at the time of birth
And stays that way all her days on Earth.
I'm Friday's child living in a Wednesday world.

A Wednesday world can break a Friday heart.
This world of woe can tear that heart apart.
There was a time I seized the days,
They struggled free and slapped my face.
I'm Friday's child living in a Wednesday world.

A Wednesday world can crush a Friday's Child.
Can make her meek, and woe can drive her wild
With walls of pain built brick by brick,
A pincushion pierced prick after prick,
When a Friday's child living in a Wednesday world.

All Friday folk, let's forge a Friday world.
Each woman, man, all boys and every girl,
Who are loving and giving at the time of birth
And stay that way through their days on Earth,
Come Friday folk and make it a Friday world.
Yes, Friday folk can make this a Friday world!

--Kathleen Martin © 2024