← more from
Unlimited Media Limited

There Was A Fire

from What's Trending by Leo Sidran

supported by
Dean Zemel
Dean Zemel thumbnail
/

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Digipak - artwork designed by Jamie Breiwick / B Side Graphics.

    Includes unlimited streaming of What's Trending via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      $12 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Vinyl edition of "What's Trending" - graphic design by B-Side Graphics.

    Includes unlimited streaming of What's Trending via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      $25 USD or more 

     

about

“There Was A Fire” is based on a legend of Jewish origin from the 18th century. The legend is about the importance of memory.

The story begins when a community of the faithful is in danger and requests the help of the elderly Rabbi Baal Shem Tov. This wise man knows the ritual to remedy the situation, so he goes to an exact point in a nearby forest, where he makes a fire and says a prayer. The community is saved.

Years later, the same community is threatened again, but the Baal Shem Tov has died and the next rabbi, although he remembers the corner of the forest where he had to go to light the fire, no longer remembers how to say the prayer. In any case, he repeats what he thinks he remembers and miraculously, the community is saved.

Several years later, the community faces a new danger and by then, the next new rabbi doesn't even remember the place in the forest where the fire had to be made, much less the prayer, but even so, he returns to the forest, chooses a place at random, makes the fire and says a few words that occur to him, and to his surprise, the community is saved again. There is no longer a memory of the ritual, but only the memory of a memory.

The important thing in any case is to maintain that memory of the memory that allows us to preserve the intention of the ritual, so that we can reinvent it in such a way that it maintains its usefulness and perhaps ultimate meaning, which is the cohesion of a community.

The legend also provided the title to my father’s book about the Jewish contribution to popular music in America (also called There Was A Fire).

lyrics

There was a place
Deep in the wood
There was a prayer that was prayed

There was a fire
That burned for a while
And there was a vow that was made

As the years passed
The fire was extinguished
The prayer was forgotten
But hope still remained

That maybe the memory
Would be sufficient
That there was a fire
And the people were saved

There was a time
Out of the shadows
Warmed by the heat of the flame

There was story
Written and carried
And there was a name that was named

As the years passed
The fire was extinguished
The prayer was forgotten
But hope still remained

That maybe the memory
Would be sufficient
That there was a fire
And the people were saved

credits

from What's Trending, track released September 23, 2022
Written by Leo Sidran (Bulldog Music / ASCAP)

Written, Produced and Mixed by Leo Sidran (Bulldog Music / ASCAP)
Mastered by Oscar Zambrano

Leo Sidran: drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, vocals
Mark Dover: clarinet solo
Peter Hess: woodwinds
John "Scrapper" Sneider: brass
Ben Sidran: backing vocals
Sol Sidran: backing vocals
Nina Zeitlin: backing vocals

Cover artwork by B Side Graphics

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Leo Sidran image

Leo Sidran Brooklyn, New York

“Vocally he suggests an amalgam of his father Ben with a hint of Donald Fagen. His fluid laidback style is reminiscent of Bob Dorough. Musically and lyrically his compositions are smart, sharp, and sparklingly original.”
— Jazz Times

I'm a multi instrumentalist musician, producer, arranger, composer, recording artist, and podcast host based in Brooklyn.

More about Leo: www.leosidran.com ... more

shows

contact / help

Contact Leo Sidran

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Leo Sidran, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featured guests are the golden-voiced Baby Rose and psyche soulsters Brainstory.
listen now