When I grow up, I want to be the written equivalent of Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds.
“Hold up,” you say. “That’s based on, uh, The War of the Worlds. It’s already something that’s… you know, been written.”
Yes it is, I’m aware, and thank the gods for granting us H.G. Wells. It’s not the tale in and of itself, though. Other stories have meant so much more to me as pure stories. The tension Jeff Wayne added with the aural experience is something moving. Nostalgic and magical.
The truth is, if it weren’t for Richard Burton’s narration, I would not understand exactly how I want my words to move together. His part as The Journalist gave me the clearest vision of what lilt and flow a story should have. His voice lives on as the ultimate measure of sentence structure and word choice for me. Credit in the hands of the author for penning the the script, but the performance of Mr. Burton gives it another life.
Add in the artful pauses, the rising pressure, sudden starts and stops in the music. All the emotion. The leitmotifs and sound design. That is merely flavour to the distinct narration which encompasses what I feel storytelling should be. If I can leave my readers with a sense of sincerity amidst all that otherworldliness the way this production has always left me, I will have succeeded.
When I grow up, I want my stories to be a late 1970’s concept album. It’s not the worst goal a lady can have.
~A
The Fane 
Love, love, love, this post.
What a great analogy of an aspiration to story telling.
I’ll wager that you like Vincent Price narrating for Alice Cooper too.
Absolutely, Vincent Price is a legendary narrator.
~A
Always glad to find someone else of my generation who doesn’t hate late-70s concept albums. 😉
Pah, someone our age has to have good taste. 😉
~A
Thank you, Ashlee. I’m off to listen to the entire album. 😉
As you should!
~A