Both sides produced, arranged and written by Claus Ogerman. Lyrics by Scott English.
Text of \"No One Was There\" as seen on the lyric sheet:
\"No One Was There\" (Requiem)
Bashful was the color
of the rainbow in his eyes
roses on the velvet under glass
indian eternity was hidden from the dawn
absent in a world that moves too fast
no one was there, no one was there
Brightly went the hours,
gone the mask of cellophane
rhythm like the rain of silent tears
islands never reached before
became the song of life
answers on the lips of fallen years
no one was there, no one was there
(Copyright 1967 Helios Music Corp.)
Comment:
When I bought WEA's excellent Sunshine Pop compilation \"Come To The Sunshine\" a few years ago, this track lept out at me. Partly because, unlike the rest of the tracks, it was slow and sad.
What a major record company like Warners were hoping to achieve with such a single is beyond me as it hardly has any of the commercial appeal you'd expect from a single of this time. Instead there seems to have been almost a competition amongst certain west coast producers (people like Curt Boettcher and Gary Usher) to produce music of ever increasing baroque complexity and sophistication and damn the commercial consequences. This was produced by jazz arranger Claus Ogerman and was a purely studio based short lived project. It features heartbreakingly beautiful, almost gregorian, harmonies, a lilting sitar and an arrangement which is so sparse it gives the recod an accapella feel on the verses. But what really lifts this record into the ranks of the truly special, is the sudden entrance of trumpet and strings for a beautiful descending melody.
And then this wonderfully fragile, delicate record is over. So much attention and care for a song of just over two minutes, like a master watchmaker taking infinite care over minute parts that no one will ever see. ~ Archbishop G!
