Soundtracks
This was an assignment for my Digital Music Production program at Langara College.
We had to source an existing short film, documentary or cartoon and write and produce a soundtrack to accompany the footage. I chose “Postcards from Pripyat, Chernobyl,” a short 3-minute video of the first drone footage shot of Pripyat, Chernobyl, the site of a devastating nuclear disaster in 1986. The full extent of the disaster is still not know but Pripyat, Chernobyl remains abandoned after more than 30 years.
The video was shot by Danny Cooke and was accompanied by the haunting song “Promise Land” by Hannah Miller. https://vimeo.com/112681885. The original video has received over ten million views on both youtube and vimeo. Mine has received 65!
My soundtrack was inspired by the story, the video and Hannah’s haunting tune. I was responsible for all aspects of the soundtrack except that I hired a professional singer who did an extraordinary job!
Here are the lyrics:
Postcards from Pripyat, Chernobyl
Music & Lyrics by Les Merson
Verse 1
The swings are rusted
The parks are filled with weeds
The children aren’t outside
There’s no one at home
There is no home
My God why did this happen?
Verse 2
The womb ripped open,
A mother’s scream awakens
The world to her nightmare
My baby she cries
In her arms, he dies
My God why did this happen?
Chorus
The shortcuts that we take
Are the choices that we make
Be careful, no mistakes
For the future and our sake
Outro
Make the right choice
Make the right choice
I’m thinking of sending my version to Danny Cooke and seeing what he thinks … I hope he doesn’t make me take it down.