Insider's View of Sage Sweetwater's AD Poetry Being
Transcribed to Song
In a recent conversation with
Finnur
Bjarki, we concluded
that the Icelanders and the Native American's are
very, very similar in the ancient ways of survival.
Finnur asked for some background
on some of my poems
in order so that he may understand the culture and
time frame I write about. Finnur loves cowboys and
Indians, he always played the Indian as a young boy
in Iceland when he and his buddies were playing
'cowboys and Indians'.
Most of Finnur's knowledge
of the Indians come from American movies and books,
which in most part represent the Native Americans
honestly, with the exception of a few which are
misrepresentations, but we have those
misrepresentations in all cultures. I have studied the Icelanders and
their culture not
only for the purpose of that it is a very
interesting and strong culture which intrigues me,
but in so that I may work well with Finnur Bjarki in
our songwriting adventure and so that we may well
understand each other.
We translate our cultures to
each other and we understand each other very
well...a half-breed Native American lesbian and a
handsome, buffed Icelander do fish in the same
waters. Why is it that a firebrand lesbian novelist
and a straight Icelander composer/songwriter work so
well together you may ask? Read further.
As you
remember, in one of my first newsletters, I said my
goal was to let my audience fish in untroubled
literary waters. Fish bonds Finnur Bjarki and Sage
Sweetwater. Both of our ancestors survived mostly
on fish. Also both cultures were very primitive,
building their shelters with earth, rock, timber,
and hides. Finnur's grandfather was born on a clay
floor in the 1900s. When Finnur said to me he would
like my straight-forward opinion that if he said
something that was not true to Native American
history, then to correct him because he is open to
learning at all times. I had before told him "just
know that I am an intelligent, talented woman and
please don't be offended or embarrassed by my words,
I am not sure how censored or how modest you are in
your country."
Our working relationship is one
of
cooperation. I gave Finnur permission to alter the
language in the songs. We think about marketability
and scoring these poems into songs for movies. At
this point, he said, "But I will go by the feel of
melodies I come up with, how much I change if any!" Finnur has no
problem with my sexuality. He admits
Sage Sweetwater "is a very open and free way of
storytelling and probably not for everyone. You
have amazing way of expressing yourself and I do
admire the straight forward style. And I´m sure you
give some people a culture shock sometimes:)". I supplied Finnur with this link
on the relations between Icelanders and Native
Americans in history. http://servefir.ruv.is/vesturfarar/e/SamIndianar.html
After a few rounds of
reading my Authors Den poems,
Finnur told me he got the
feeling he needed a
storyteller. He knows a
wonderful actor who has a
deep and warm, but rough
voice and he hears a woman's
voice. Finnur tells
that percussions will play a
big part in
transcribing my poems into song, an adaptation arrangement,
designed for the voice.
Thank you, Finnur
Bjarki for
giving me this opportunity!
