I Want You

I want you… only you
I want you… my true love
You’re all I dream of
I want you… oh yes you
Because only you’ll do

Oh, I want you… day and night
To keep my world bright
For the joy in your smile & the splendour in your eyes
Can cure any demise

For instance…
At the end of the day
When the sun has gone away
Or perhaps on a day
When the clouds have come to stay
And I’m just feeling down
Living life behind a frown
Only you can come ’round
And turn that frown right upside down

That’s why…
I want you… at my side
For all of life’s ride
I want you… yes I do
Because I love you true

Oh I want you… in my mind
To leave doubts behind
For the thoughts of you & the elation that they bring
Just makes me want to sing…

‘Every time my eyes gaze forth up into the night skies
I see your face in a constellation of mine
And I tell myself that therein my future lies
If it could be seen among the stars that shine’

I want you…
It’s so clear
No one else comes near
I want you… oh I do
So what else is there new?

Oh I want you… in my heart
To make my woes part
For the sound of your voice & the stroke of your touch
They do my soul so much

For instance…

When all seems to go wrong
When each second seems so long
Or perhaps when life’s song
Includes notes that don’t belong
And I’m in much unrest
Lost within despair’s tempest
I think of you to form
The bright rainbow after the storm

That’s why…
I want you… that I mean
You’re the best I’ve seen
I want you… so won’t you
Say that you want me too?

Oh I want you… to love me
To set my love free
With the warmth of your love & the comfort it contains
Nothing I’d want remains
So won’t you please be mine?

07.26.93 – 02.14.94

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This poem can be sung to the solo piano composition Je te veux, by French composer, Erik Satie (1866–1925). **

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Copyright by Minh Tan on listed dated of completion
and published in Perspectives, ISBN 0-9686250-0-2.

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Notes to this poem…

This was the first poem I completed which I really liked a lot. As part of my classical music sampling experience as I did homework in university, every now and then, I found a piece which just stopped me dead in my tracks. One day during the summer of 1993, when school had been out and I had gotten over my scholarship denial funk, a solo piano piece called Je te Veux (I Want You) by French composer Erik Satie (1866-1925) did just that. I can’t remember what I was doing when I heard it, but after three very quiet and reflective Gymnopedies*, this waltzy little tune just grabbed me from whatever it was I was doing and froze me captivated. To this day, I can’t say any more than that about why this piece still grabs me, but I love it as much as I did the first time I heard it. The title, rare to have a name with a mood or intent associated to classical music, although it is of the Romantic period, then inspired me to associate something with the piece to make it even more meaningful, somehow.

After listening to the piece for about a week, though, I remember thinking, I love it so much I can’t stand just being able to hum to it. I want to sing something to the tune, something meaningful. The easy solution to that was the direct translation of the title, which fitted well to the tune and stayed true to the composer’s intentions. And so off I went, although it was a good struggle considering I didn’t have it done till Valentine’s Day in 1994, some seven months later. Now, this composing this poem wasn’t on my mind most of that time, of course, but I still sang into dead ends a lot in trying to find the next words and/or lines to wherever I had stopped before. It also wasn’t a linear composing process, either. The bridge of the musical piece, “Every time my eyes gaze forth…”, was completed last, knowing I wanted it to be something I wanted to “sing” as the line previous had stated, while the last stanza was completed early as I knew how I had wanted the piece to end. The rest was then filler… difficult filler, mind you. But, man, by the time it was completed, I was absolutely thrilled. I don’t know how many times I have sung this piece while I’ve been alone. That’s how much I love it. See if you could see where the words fit to the melody of the music sample provided, 1 minute of about 4.5 for the entire piece.

As for the future, I’m still looking for someone to perform it to the piano accompaniment for which I have sheet music. I’m in a choir of talented musicians but nobody seems to want to do it or wasn’t committing the effort to the interest stated when it came down to trying it. No worries. I get things done in life. It just often tends to take a little longer than I had hope dand/or planned.

As for the obvious question of about whom this poem might have been written for, well, the answer was nobody. I wasn’t even up to taking an interest in anybody that Valentine’s Day. I just hunkered down and escaped into my own little romantic world to compose poetry, where I could feel romantic and feel good at succeeding in doing something rather than being turned down by some girl cause I was such a nerd at the time, and I did. And not just for this poem, either! My poetic output for Valentine’s Day in 1994 has never been equaled, in my eyes, and will likely never be equaled just for the sheer difficulty of the poems involved.

And no, I’ve never had a chance to sing this for a girl, either. But again, someday, I will. I’m thinking a debut world premiere dedicated to a girl I’ll love would be a nice event, don’t you? 🙂

* In an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where Captain Picard and the crew encountered some cloud like entity that informed them they had 10 minutes left to live after they ran out of options to escape, the Captain sat in his waiting and listened to the Gymnopedie #1 (0.9 MB) contemplating life lived and death forthcoming as Counsellor Deanna Troi walked in to continue the scene. If that’s not reflective in nature, as I had thought the piece to be, then I don’t know what is!

** How ironic is it that I heard this tune and loved it so much to write lyrics for it. Yet, it was inspired by a poem by Henry Pacory, for which Erik Satie wrote the tune to be able to sing that poem! 🙂

J’ai compris ta détresse
Cher amoureux
Et je cède à tes vœux
Fais de moi ta maîtresse
Loin de nous la sagesse
Plus de tristesse
J’aspire à l’instant précieux
Où nous serons heureux
Je te veux

>La suite>

Je n’ai pas de regrets
Et je n’ai qu’une envie
Près de toi là tout près
Vivre toute ma vie
Que ton corps soit le mien
Que ma lèvre soit tienne
Que ton coeur soit le mien
Et que toute ma chair soit tienne
J’ai compris ta détresse
Cher amoureux

Et je cède à tes vœux
Fais de moi ta maîtresse
Loin de nous la sagesse
Plus de tristesse
J’aspire à l’instant précieux
Où nous serons heureux
Je te veux

Oui je vois dans tes yeux
La divine promesse
Que ton coeur amoureux
Vient chercher ma caresse
Enlacés pour toujours
Brûlant des mêmes flammes
Dans un rêve d’amour
Nous échangerons nos deux âmes
J’ai compris ta détresse

Cher amoureux
Et je cède à tes vœux
Fais de moi ta maîtresse
Loin de nous la sagesse
Plus de tristesse
J’aspire à l’instant précieux
Où nous serons heureux
Je te veux

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