- original music and arrangements -
Reading a BookSunbeamsbooknapping

Turn Up The Quiet

time to reflect...

Head to the sky, feet on the ground
Focus on truth now so hard to be found.
Take a walk in the woods, hold a child on your lap
Read a book, turn the pages, close your eyes, take a nap.

Let’s turn up the quiet and savor the peace
If we turn off the noise we’ll soon feel the release
Silence can clean up your world if you try it
Just shut off the screen and turn up the quiet.

March to the drummer in your heart, in your soul
Let it flower in your presence... may it give you control
To disregard the darkness all around us today
Hold fast to the goodness deep inside, do not sway.

Let’s turn up the quiet and savor the peace
If we turn off the noise we’ll soon feel the release
Silence can clean up your world if you try it
Just shut off the screen and turn up the quiet.

There's a digital din where facts are assaulted
Social media spins...fake news that's never halted
So turn up the quiet, let it take effect
If we turn up the quiet, there’ll be time to reflect.

Turn up the quiet...
Let's turn up the quiet...
Let's all turn up the quiet...

Music, Lyrics: Rich Coffey
Recorded at Mistura Productions


Timeline

Its curious how creative inspiration strikes you. The title for this song came to me suddenly when chatting—a few years back—with someone I knew up in Vermont. I made a note of it for future reference. Last summer (2019) while on the plane flying back from Denver, I wrote all the lyrics in a burst of focused creative energy. Nevertheless the song was shelved for a rainy day. Guess the excitement of adding to my Native American flute collection shoved finishing it to the back burner for a few months! Well finally in January 2020, while toying with a nice chord progression, it occurred to me "Hey - maybe this will work with the Turn Up The Quiet lyrics?!" Happily it all came together over time.

About the Music
The acoustic guitar is prominent throughout this arrangement—I wanted to give it a folky ballad feel. The lush strings and Native American bass flute add to the pensive flavor.

About the Lyrics
Although I am officially a technologist (my 9 to 5 is web development), I have been increasingly troubled by tech's detrimental effect on society. As I walk the streets, I see everyone tethered to their phones, seemingly oblivious to the world around them. In addition, it gets mind-numbing wading through the daily news and/or the myriad of popular memes devoid of any factual evidence—fakeness and falseness seemingly permeates the very soul of our culture. Folks these days are so easily mesmerized and manipulated by the one-click spoon-fed instant gratification that tech enables. We are all being lured down a deep dark path. Is this just another wishful "Pollyanna Kumbaya" song? There's no easy way back out for sure but perhaps "turning up the quiet" can be a productive first step...