The origin story of David’s Arn’s new video is nearly as interesting as is the final product. The process he followed in creating the “St. Paul’s Chimes” is almost counterintuitive.
Normally, an artist writes a song, hires creative talent, and then storyboards and shoots. Arn did it completely in reverse. In the process, along with director William Murray and actress Carly Erin O’Neil, he has created a beautiful piece of short cinema with a moving soundtrack.
David was first inspired to shoot the film after reading an autobiographical blog post by O’Neil. He enlisted Murray to direct, and then David wrote the song. It is an emotional story of a gorgeous young model who is haunted by demons from her past.
Murray skillfully directs O’Neill through a powerful and layered 4:26 one-woman performance. They effectively weave together images from the past and present. Together with David’s music, they build a heartbreaking narrative.
Arn’s lyrics tell the tale from the perspective of a man who loved the woman once , and then reconnects years later. He finds the beauty, wrestling with her memories and the personal issues which stemmed from them.
Musically, the track’s sparse arrangement of acoustic guitar, bass, drums and vocals flows quietly along a melancholy tempo. Cool and mellow blues guitar licks, along with occasional violin swells, play a perfect counterpoint to David’s understated yet emotional singing. His lyrics are almost conversational, as though he is telling you the story from the bar stool to your right.
Like any good barroom yarn, the details aren’t exactly clear. As David says, “memories are always changing.” However, none of that matters. The emotion is real. Pain and regret are understood universally. They do not need clarity.
Watch “St. Paul’s Chimes” here, and follow the links below to connect with David Arn.
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Here is what David says about “St. Paul’s Chimes”…
No extensive tease, no non-disclosures. In the world of the hit game, many viewers may not find David Arn’s new video “St. Paul’s Chimes” appealing.
Forget that it was produced by award-winning film maker, William Murray. Forget that even before the release of the music video, it had won the Bronze Award at Atlanta’s Spotlight Film
Fest. And forget that the video’s sole character is brilliant actress Carly Erin O’Neil, who in a little more than four minutes pulls off the convincing transition from confident beautiful model to a woman who can still hear the long echo of abuse.
Forget it all. It is arriving without fanfare.
Arn has been creating music videos which are socially conscious in their story-telling but with this subject he was uncertain of the approach until he read a blog post by actress O’Neil. “It was a fine confessional piece ” he said in a statement. Arn contacted her and asked if she would consider being in a music video. He had not yet written the song.
The video and single will be released (without fanfare) on October 1st. Mastered by Alex Wharton (McCartney,Radiohead, Pixies) at Abbey Road Studios the song will appear on David’s forthcoming CD “Traveler Tales”. It features Joni Fuller on violin and Toby Wilson on guitar.
