Norwegian Arms - Secret Town Alone
This is the first in an ongoing series of songs (to eventually become some sort of complete album/composition) about my life in Tomsk, Russia. For those who don’t know, Tomsk is located in the Siberian section of Russia. I have been sent here on a government grant in order to teach English at a local university, but naturally the trip appealed to my creative side. As I compose and record songs, I will post them here in the hopes that someone will connect with them.
This first song (actually somewhat of a demo) is about a town near Tomsk, named Seversk, where a very important nuclear power plant is located. Up until about ten years ago, this town was not even marked on maps. Now, in order to enter the town, one is required to have a special license, which is checked inside of reportedly very strict conditions (gates close in front of and behind the buses) and it is nearly impossible for someone who doesn’t live there to get inside.
I reflected upon this notion of not being able to connect with people from outside of your town. Or if you do, the impossibility of your friends and loved ones outside of the city to ever visit your home, meet your parents, see the house where you grew up, etc. I find this notion sad and compelling, and it prompted me to compose this song. Like this and other songs I will be working on, versions will be posted as I complete them, the goal being an entire album named ‘тетрадь’, or ‘notebook’.
