For anyone sent to this page on your wedding anniversary, congratulations!
As promised, here is the song I wrote for my last year’s wedding anniversary, complete with music video. May it bless you and encourage you to fondly remember that most wonderful of decisions to embark on a great adventure together, be grateful for the life together that you have and bond that you share, and look forward to the future with hope in our loving Lord.
The lyrics are:
It’s that time of the year again To look back and remember when We wore our smart shoes, Said our “I do”s, And our new life began.
Much more than a friend to me, I’m with you to the end, you see; That ring on your hand, We both understand Foreshadows eternity:
Enveloped by love, In heaven above, Our spirits set free In pure harmony, There with the Living God.
Oh wife of my youth, I’m declaring this truth: We share the same dream To be more than we seem, Bound strong with our Loving Lord.
So today I still promise to Always love, honour, cherish you All the days of our lives, Despite the world’s lies, We’ll hold on to what is true.
Now put your sweet hand in mine, Let me see your eyes’ full shine As I look at your face, I’m in the right place, Our hearts fully intertwined.
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Lyrics, melody, arrangement, vocals, audio mixing, and VST instrument programming by Ben Zwycky in Reaper using virtual instruments from Orchestral Tools, Spitfire Audio and the Virtual Playing Orchestra, and video editing in Hit Film Pro 13 using stock footage and images from Pixabay, and stock footage provided by Freepik, downloaded from videvo.net.
The third track of the Virtual Orchestra: Heavenly Light Album
is about the beauty of creation displaying God’s handiwork and giving a foretaste of eternity in His presence, His knowledge of our struggles and awesome love and care for us despite our flaws and failures, His unique character, and the wonderful future He has in store for His children. English and Czech subtitles are available.
The lyrics are:
You paint the sunrise and pour down the rain, Sculpt towering mountains and wide open plains; Grant comforting friendships and welcoming smiles, Warm invitations to rest here a while.
Glittering waterfalls, flowers and trees, Delicate butterflies, hardworking bees; Breathtaking beauty is nothing compared To the radiant glory we’ll see from you there
You’re the Holy one, Uncontainable God’s own Son, Flanked by angels, enthroned on high Your love will never die
You went to find me when my soul was lost, Were willing to suffer, you’d counted the cost. You see my cowardice, selfishness, wrath, Sigh as once more I go down the wrong path;
You witness my failure again and again, Know all my sorrows and share all my pain. When I’m broken-hearted, you bleed with me there, Ensuring that I bring my head up for air.
You’re the Holy One, Unmistakable God’s own Son, Irreplaceable Prince of Peace, You give my heart release.
You’re full of tenderness, justice and mercy; I long for that great day when finally we’ll see You face to face, There in that wondrous place,
For You are the Holy One, Mighty, powerful God’s own Son; Truly wonderful Counsellor, We couldn’t ask for more.
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Lyrics, melody, arrangement, vocals, audio mixing, and VST instrument programming in Reaper using virtual instruments from Orchestral Tools and Spitfire Audio, 3d rendering in Daz Studio, and video editing in Hit Film Pro 13 by Ben Zwycky using stock footage and images from Pixabay, and stock footage provided by Freepik, downloaded from videvo.net
I am pleased to present the music video for track 4 of Virtual Orchestra – Heavenly Light
which is about how Christ understands the isolation, pain, and suffering that is endemic in our world and especially among young men, and the rich, meaningful life that He offers that the world cannot compete with. English and Czech subtitles are available.
The lyrics are:
You deeply understand my loneliness, Abandoned by your closest friends; And when you prayed alone in deep distress, You clearly saw how that day would end.
Subjected to all of man’s cruelty, You died so that others might live; And as they all mocked you with vicious glee, You cried out, “O Father, forgive!”
You’re more than worthy of all my praise With all my strength, for all my days; You’ve taken away all my guilt and shame, And shown me the way I should live.
Help me to become a better man, With love to give and strength to serve. I know my life is safe within Your hand; I won’t receive what my sins deserve.
Give me wisdom to see through the world’s great lies And courage to go against the crowd; Fixing my eyes on the eternal prize, With my whole life declaring out loud:
You’re more than worthy of all my praise With all my strength, for all my days; You’ve taken away all my guilt and shame, And shown me the way I should live.
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Melody, lyrics, vocals, instrument programming, arrangement, audio mixing and video editing by Ben Zwycky using Reaper and Hit film pro with virtual instruments from Orchestral Tools. Guitar accompaniment by Petr Mares.
As promised, here is the second music video from my first album, this time for the titular track, Heavenly Light. May it encourage you and help to keep things in perspective in all your daily struggles. It seems especially appropriate at this time of year, traditionally a time when we look back and seek to learn from our mistakes as well as looking forward to a new year and all the promises of new beginnings that it holds. (Both English and Czech subtitles are available)
The lyrics are:
The world loves the shadows, And living in fear; Corrupting its fellows, More brazen each year.
Devouring its seed corn to put on a show; Regarding with deep scorn All those who don’t know.
But I choose to follow Your heavenly light; Despite all my sorrows, I’ll stand up and fight
For things that are beautiful, The Good and the true; Since everything wonderful Points right back to You.
Grant these frail bones strength enough To persevere when the road gets rough, So there’s purpose in my current pain; I won’t live in vain.
When my time here’s done and I see Your face, I’ll be welcomed by Your warm embrace, I’ll have kept the faith and run the race, And at last I’ll be home.
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Lyrics, melody, arrangement, vocals, audio mixing, and VST instrument programming by Ben Zwycky in Reaper using virtual instruments from Orchestral Tools and Spitfire Audio, and video editing in Hit Film Pro 13 using stock footage and images from Pixabay and videvo.
My long silence on this blog has not been entirely due to laziness, I am happy to announce that my first album, Virtual Orchestra: Heavenly Light, is now released in time for Christmas, including one Christmas-themed song as track 8, an African-style take on the classic Christmas carol blended with my previous song on the nature of love.
May it entertain, uplift and inspire you to grow closer to the source of all love.
Both English and Czech subtitles are available.
The album (both as a whole and as individual tracks) is available for streaming and download at most major online music outlets:
Come see what happens when I try to recreate the music that runs through my head late at night and there are no wiser heads to tell me to tone it down a bit, observe my composition and vocal skills as well as my audio mixing deficiencies.
Of course, now that it’s released and too late to change anything, I realise that not all the tracks are as polished as the one above, so don’t feel pressured to buy the whole collection, but if people could purchase at least one track that they particularly enjoy (for only 99 cents, I might add), that would help to cover the cost of production. (I have yet to cover the costs of any of my releases, so it would make a nice change and encourage me to continue with these sorts of efforts). Over time, I will attempt to fix the issues in the less polished tracks and upload them to youtube.
Today is the 22nd anniversary of the first time I contacted the girl who became my wife. Here is the song I wrote and sung for the occasion last night.
There’s a certain precious magic in communication When distant souls discover they are close; Two lonely hearts that have their homes in separated nations Take a chance, and thus a friendship grows.
That friendship can plants seeds of love that sprout and grow and bloom, And multiply the joys and stakes of life, Until the two stand side by side as blushing bride and groom, Forever to be joined as man and wife.
I’m so glad I started down this path that led me to your heart And grew my soul immensely on the way, So I’ll do my utmost to always play my part In blessing you, my treasure, every day.
After far too long to get it ready, I am pleased to announce the release of Without Love, There is No Life, available on most streaming and music platforms, complete with a music video on youtube.
All options for listening to and downloading the song can be found here
The song has been tweaked and expanded on since the poem version, originally inspired by multiple scenes in Nobility Among Us, and even since the live performance a year and a half ago (which was less than an hour after the piano accompaniment was worked out with the extremely talented Daniela Zoubková).
She is back again providing the piano, Petr Mares is on the guitar, (whose talents you may know from Did you Know? and A Tale of the Once and Future King) and I provide the vocals. I edited the music video using freely available stock footage and imagery from Pixabay and Unsplash. English closed captions are available in the youtube video for the hard of hearing and non-native English speakers, and Czech subtitles are available.
Listen, watch, enjoy, and share with those you think will appreciate it.
Lyrics:
Love is full of purity. It shows patience and humility. Love is not a selfish lust; Instead, love gives a grounds for trust. Love gives a child security. Love gives a thing its beauty; Because, without love there is no life.
Love is a many-splendoured thing. Love gives a broken man new wings. It perseveres, no matter what the cost; If you have love, you’re never truly lost; Love, seeing all my flaws; Love, guided by higher laws; You know, without love there is no life.
Love simply wants to hear the truth. Love, it is not eternal youth. Love is more than soothing noises, ‘Cause love steps up and makes hard choices. Love lasts through the ages, It’s written on all life’s pages. You see, without love there is no life.
It makes the ordinary great, Won’t mind if you are late, Won’t leave you to your fate, This is love.
Love puts you in harm’s way. Though you try, you can’t always save the day. Love is there to share your pain, To weep and help you on your feet again. Love is a healing flow. Love gives you room to grow. You know, without love there is no life.
Love looks you in the face. Love helps you find your place. With love, you can forgive the past, Move on and build a peace to really last. Love is where you find your worth; If you’re loved, you’re more precious than the Earth. You see, without love there is no life.
Love is full of light. Love does what’s right. Love is patient, love is kind. Love is humble, but not blind. Oh, love is beautiful! Oh, love is wonderful! You know, without love there is no life.
It shows you you belong, It admits when it is wrong, It’s majestic and it’s strong, This is love.
But love is not every time returned; Love is not something you have earned. Sometimes our care isn’t even prized; Instead our thoughts are utterly despised. True love goes on caring anyway, Even when we walk the other way; It knows that without love there is no life.
Love is how your soul can truly shine. Through love, I am yours and you are mine. Love expressed is such an open book; A life of love is worth a closer look. Can it be, that here is love for me? Come explore this greatest mystery, And see that without love there is no life.
**EDIT** Czech subtitles are now available, translated by Petr Mares. It is not meant to be singable and is not always an exact translation, the emphasis was on the beauty and flow of the text while capturing as much of the original meaning as possible.
Kde není láska, tam chybí život.
Láska – ta je vždy čistá, Plná trpělivosti a pokory, Není sobeckou vášní, Ale právě naopak: je základem vzájemné důvěry. Dítě pocítí v lásce bezpečí A každá věc jen v lásce nabyde své krásy. Protože kde není láska, tam chybí život.
Láska je něco nadmíru zázračného. Je to láska, co dá zlomenému nová křídla. Láska vytrvá, ať to stojí cokoli. A máš-li lásku, nikdy nejsi ztracený případ. Lásce nejsou moje chyby skryté, Řídí se nicméně vznešenější logikou. Totiž tam, kde není láska, tam chybí život.
Láska chce znát pravdu takovou, jaká je. Láska není slib věčného mládí. Láska je víc než plané konejšení. Umí se vydat i cestou těžkých rozhodnutí. O tom, že láska přetrvá věky, se dočteme na každé stránce života. Ono totiž kde není láska, tam chybí život.
Věci běžné promění ve skvělé, nerozladí ji zpoždění, nenechá tě napospas osudu. Taková je láska.
Láska tě neušetří těžkostí. Rád by ses jim vyhnul, ale není to vždy možné. Ale je tu láska, aby sdílela tvou bolest. Aby s tebou plakala a pomohla ti znovu na nohy. Láska je proud moci uzdravení. A láska ti dává také prostor k růstu. Totiž tam, kde není láska, tam chybí život.
Láska ti hledí do tváře, A pomůže ti přijít na to, kam patříš. V lásce dokážeš odpustit věci minulé, dokážeš jít dál a budovat trvalý pokoj. V lásce najdeš svou pravou hodnotu. Když jsi milován, jsi vzácnější než celý svět. Ono totiž kde není láska, tam chybí život.
Láska je plná světla; udělá to, co je správné. Láska je trpělivá a vlídná, je pokorná, ale nikoli slepá. Jak nádherná a úžasná je láska! Víš, kde není láska, tam chybí život.
Láska ti dá najevo přijetí. A pokud se mýlí, dokáže to uznat. Je vznešená a silná. Taková je láska.
Láska nicméně není vždy opětovaná. S láskou to není něco za něco. Občas zůstane naše snaha bez ocenění, někdy se setká dokonce s opovržením. Pravá láska i tak vytrvá. I tehdy, když je jí odpovědí lhostejnost. Ví totiž, že bez lásky není skutečného života.
Teprve v lásce se tvoje duše skutečně rozzáří. Skrze lásku jsem já tvým a ty jsi mou. Láska vepsaná do stránek otevřené knihy, Život v lásce stojí za bližší prozkoumání. Mohu se opravdu i já setkat s pravou láskou? Pojď, prozkoumej to největší tajemství. A přesvědč se: není života bez lásky.
As promised, here is a recording of the song I sung to my wife on our nineteenth wedding anniversary, attempting to make it as romantic a moment as possible. I dressed up smartly and had flowers and chocolates waiting for her by her favourite armchair when she came home from her sign language lesson, her brother was hiding upstairs with his car parked around the corner so she wouldn’t notice him being there. As she was looking at the flowers, he came down the stairs strumming the guitar and I began to sing:
You can also listen to the song via the major streaming services, as well as purchase the song for download on amazon, itunes and other online stores.
Did you know?
Did you know, when you go,
In my heart you leave a hole?
My life isn’t full without you,
You’re worth more to me than gold.
When you smile, for a while,
I feel like I can fly;
It’s like heaven’s doors are opened,
For you I’d walk a hundred miles.
My heart is ever open
To you, my precious one;
Every time I bring you joy
It is the greatest prize I’ve won.
The day you said you were mine
I truly came alive;
I can’t imagine how to live
Without you by my side.
All the stars, with their cars,
And their hotel rooms and bars,
Are just wandering empty souls,
They don’t have half the joy that’s ours.
I’m so blessed to possess
A companion on our quest
To raise our children strong enough
To cope with every test
My heart is ever open
To you, my precious one;
Every time I bring you joy
It is the greatest prize I’ve won.
The day you said you were mine
I truly came alive;
I can’t imagine how to live
Without you by my side.
Yet here you are, my shining star,
I love you just as you are.
My apologies, I should have posted this yesterday. It is a song (to the tune of “A Song About Heartbreak” by Daniel Thrasher) about our duty to those that protect us and have given their lives throughout history to keep us free.
When you’re under attack…
When you’re under attack,
Things look so black,
And it seems you might crack;
To get back on track,
And see what your soul lacks,
Take a look back:
Remember the heroes who stood at the gates
When evil clouds gathered, to spare us our fates.
They strengthened each other and stood side by side,
To weather the onslaught and beat back the tide
Of enemy fury, missiles and blades;
Some armoured like titans, some stealthy as shades.
When push came to shove, they didn’t give ground;
When faced with old terrors, new courage they found
On a lonely hill, to the bone all chilled,
Through sheer force of will, they watch us still.
To pay back the way that they lay down their lives
Let’s honour and treasure our husbands and wives,
Raise God-fearing children with love and respect,
And give them a place they’ll be proud to protect.
Let them know, that you love them so,
So their hearts will glow as into the night they go.
The Zwyckyverse 