When I read a translation of the words, I was struck by how Piteous the words were, and so, using the musical structure of Carl Orff, I attempted to convey that sense of pity without the orchestral dramatics that we all know from his version of the Poem.
lyrics
The Lyrics I use are a mixture of various translations from the Latin.
O Fortune
Like the Moon
Ever Changing
Ever Waxing
Ever Waning
Oh Hateful Life
Treats us Badly
And then Soothes
This Mocking Hand of our Desires
Causing Power
And poverty alike
To melt like Ice
Dread Destiny
An empty Fate
An ever turning Wheel
You are malevolent
And well being is in vain
Always fades to nothing
Shadowed
And veiled
You work against me
How through your trickery
My naked back
Is bared to you unarmed
Good Fortune
And Strength
Now Are Turned from me
Driven on
And Weighted down
Always Enslaved
So Gather Now
Without Delay
Pluck the vibrating Strings
And since by fate
The Strong are overthrown
Weep Ye All with Me.
credits
released April 5, 2019
Written by Carl Orff and based upon a Latin Goliardic Poem.
Steven Harry Mason: Voice and Guitar
Yan Pierre White: Zither
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