culture / music

Open Mic Adventures XCI: “Tu Me Manques”

The Portly Politico8 Comments

Yours portly has been composing a ton of instrumental music over the past year (ten releases since 1 September 2023:  Spooky Season, Spooky Season II: Rise of the Cryptids, Leftovers, Firefly Dance, Epistemology, Leftovers II, Four Mages, Advanced Funkification, Heptadic Structure, and White Boy Summer), but my songwriting has lain fallow for some years now.  As far as I can tell from my records, the last song I wrote to completion was back in 2019.  D’oh!

So I finally sat down this past weekend and hammered a new song, “Tu Me Manques”; it translates to “I miss you” in French, but the literal translation is “you are missing from me”—far more poetic.  I took that concept and wrote this 1970s-style piano ballad, with liberal use of common French phrases.

A former colleague—a French teacher named Mackenzie—gave me the idea for this song with her poetic translation of “tu me manques.” As such, I wrote the song for and loosely about her.

I’m really pleased with how this song came out, though I think my tempo is a bit quick in this performance (you’ll also notice my damper pedal was not entirely connected; watch as I plug it in 0:50). I’m chalking that up to nerves, as well as the sweltering temperature that night. The coffee shop was packed, and the HVAC couldn’t keep up.

That said, it was the perfect night to debut this tune, and it came out well overall. Next time, I’ll slow the tempo down a bit.

This performance is from open mic night at F.E. Pop’s in Florence, South Carolina, the evening of Tuesday, 30 July 2024. I took the “stage” around 8:30 PM. Thanks to Mason Sandifer for filming the performance.

Happy Listening!

—TPP

One-Time
Monthly
Yearly

Make a one-time donation

Make a monthly donation

Make a yearly donation

Choose an amount

$5.00
$10.00
$25.00
$5.00
$10.00
$25.00
$25.00
$50.00
$100.00

Or enter a custom amount

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Your contribution is appreciated.

Your contribution is appreciated.

DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearly

Other Editions of Open Mic Adventures:

  1. “Open Mic Adventures I: Oingo Boingo’s ‘Just Another Day’“
  2. “Open Mic Adventures II: Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’“
  3. “Open Mic Adventures III: Joanie Sommers’s ‘Johnny Get Angry’“
  4. “Open Mic Adventures IV: KISS’s ‘I Still Love You’“
  5. “Open Mic Adventures V: ‘There’s a Light (Over at the Frankenstein Place)’“
  6. “Open Mic Adventures VI: Journey’s ‘Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’“
  7. “Open Mic Adventures VII: ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’“
  8. “Open Mic Adventures VIII: Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘The Sound of Silence’“
  9. “Open Mic Adventures IX: Journey’s ‘Faithfully’“
  10. “Open Mic Adventures X: ‘Time Warp’“
  11. “Open Mic Adventures XI: Spooktacular Supergroup Covers ‘Monster Mash’“
  12. “Open Mic Adventures XII: ‘Ghostly’“
  13. “Open Mic Adventures XIII: The Penguins’ ‘Earth Angel’“
  14. “Open Mic Adventures XIV: ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’“
  15. “Open Mic Adventures XV: ‘O Holy Night’“
  16. “Open Mic Adventures XVI: ‘Please Come Home for Christmas’“
  17. “Open Mic Adventures XVII: ‘L’il Divertimento in C major’“
  18. “Open Mic Adventures XVIII: ‘Satiean Motion’“
  19. “Open Mic Adventures XIX: ‘Two-Day Minuet for Left Hand’“
  20. “Open Mic Adventures XX: ‘Sleepy Student’s Serenade’“
  21. “Open Mic Adventures XXI: Styx’s ‘Come Sail Away’“
  22. “Open Mic Adventures XXII: ‘Blessed Assurance’“
  23. “Open Mic Adventures XXIII: ‘Gabbi’s Gavotte’“
  24. “Open Mic Adventures XXIV: ‘Softly and Tenderly’“
  25. “Open Mic Adventures XXV: ‘Venite, exultemus Domino’“
  26. “Open Mic Adventures XXVI: ‘Sonatina’“
  27. “Open Mic Adventures XXVII: ‘Heavenly Sunlight’“
  28. “Open Mic Adventures XXVIII: ‘Song of the Bigfoot’”
  29. “Open Mic Adventures XXIX: ‘Lavender’s Blue’“
  30. “Open Mic Adventures XXX: ‘Chorale for a Sleepy Wednesday’“
  31. “Open Mic Adventures XXXI: ‘Carousel’“
  32. “Open Mic Adventures XXXII: Hymn Medley“
  33. “Open Mic Adventures XXXIII: ‘Spore Song (Mushroom Dance)’“
  34. “Open Mic Adventures XXXIV: ‘Chase’s Dilemma’“
  35. “Open Mic Adventures XXXV: ‘The Rings of Saturn’“
  36. “Open Mic Adventures XXXVI: ‘The Rings of Saturn’ LIVE!“
  37. “Open Mic Adventures XXXVII: ‘Private Lessons (Goth Chick)’“
  38. “Open Mic Adventures XXXVIII: ‘Quasi-Date’“
  39. “Open Mic Adventures XXXIX: ‘(I’m in the) Business of Love)’“
  40. “Open Mic Adventures XL: ‘Parada’“
  41. “Open Mic Adventures XLI: ‘Serenade for a Sleepy Student No. 2’“
  42. “Open Mic Adventures XLII: ‘1001 Arabian Nights’“
  43. “Open Mic Adventures XLIII: ‘Greek Fair’“
  44. “Open Mic Adventures XLIV: ‘Skeleton Dance No. 1’“
  45. “Open Mic Adventures XLV: ‘Skeleton Dance No. 1’ – BASS“
  46. “Open Mic Adventures XLVI: ‘Canon Event’“
  47. “Open Mic Adventures XLVII: ‘Skeleton Dance No. 2’“
  48. “Open Mic Adventures XLVIII: Sloppy ‘Hipster Girl Next Door’ Medley“
  49. “Open Mic Adventures XLIX: ‘Lament of the Lizardman’“
  50. “Open Mic Adventures L: ‘Bigfoot Boogie’“
  51. “Open Mic Adventures LI: ‘Minuet for a New Moon’“
  52. “Open Mic Adventures LII: ‘Andante in D major’“
  53. “Open Mic Adventures LIII: ‘I Need Thee Every Hour’“
  54. “Open Mic Adventures LIV: ‘”Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus’“
  55. “Open Mic Adventures LV: ‘Orange Roll’“
  56. “Open Mic Adventures LVI: ‘Firefly Dance’“
  57. “Open Mic Adventures LVII: ‘Kartofelsalat’“
  58. “Open Mic Adventures LVIII: ‘Listless Chorale’“
  59. “Open Mic Adventures LIX: ‘Silent Night’“
  60. “Open Mic Adventures LX: ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’“
  61. “Open Mic Adventures LXI: ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’“
  62. “Open Mic Adventures LXII: ‘FRANTIC!!’“
  63. “Open Mic Adventures LXIII: ‘Snowfall’“
  64. “Open Mic Adventures LXIV: ‘Uninspired Étude in E major’“
  65. “Open Mic Adventures LXV: ‘Scribblings I: Post-Christmas Concert Scribbling’“
  66. “Open Mic Adventures LXVI: ‘Ode Napoléon’“
  67. “Open Mic Adventures LXVII: ‘Cook’s Brief Bourrée in E minor’“
  68. “Open Mic Adventures LXVIII: ‘Triumphant Processional’“
  69. “Open Mic Adventures LXIX: ‘Moody Noodling’“
  70. “Open Mic Adventures LXX: ‘Epistemology’“
  71. “Open Mic Adventures LXXI: ‘Three Chorales in Diminishing Length’“
  72. “Open Mic Adventures LXXII: ‘Blue Mage’“
  73. “Open Mic Adventures LXXIII: ‘Red Mage’“
  74. “Open Mic Adventures LXXIV: ‘White Mage’“
  75. “Open Mic Adventures LXXV: ‘Black Mage’“
  76. “Open Mic Adventures LXXVI: ‘The Blind Prophet’“
  77. “Open Mic Adventures LXXVII: ‘Robobop’“
  78. “Open Mic Adventures LXXVIII: ‘Pink Princess’“
  79. “Open Mic Adventures LXXIX: ‘Purple Prince’“
  80. “Open Mic Adventures LXXX: ‘Yellow Knight’“
  81. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXI: ‘Green Knight’“
  82. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXII: ‘Brown Friar’“
  83. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXIII: ‘Advanced Funkification’“
  84. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXIV: ‘Funk Chorale (Hymn to Funk)’“
  85. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXV: Steelheart’s ‘I’ll Never Let You Go’“
  86. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXVI: ‘1001 Arabian Nights’ Redux“
  87. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXVII: ‘Heptadic Structure’“
  88. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXVIII: ‘Angularity’“
  89. “Open Mic Adventures LXXXIX: ‘White Boy Summer’“
  90. “Open Mic Adventures XC: ‘Balladic Processional’“

8 thoughts on “Open Mic Adventures XCI: “Tu Me Manques””

  1. Good song, mate. I didn’t mind the tempo in the early stages though in and around the choruses, it did jump, maybe quicker than you wanted it to. Clean that up and you’ve got a hit on your hands. 👍😉

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      • I take it you went for the French title because of the double meaning?

        I tend to get the impression that the French enjoy playing around with loose and literal translations but we can do that with English too so the joke’s on them! 😂😂😂

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        • Precisely! Yes, I liked the literal translation of “tu me manques” to mean “you are missing from me,” so in the chorus, I sing, “Tu Me Manques—you’re missing from me.” I also just like the classiness of it.

          As you can tell, I play with several French phrases in the chorus.

          Haha, yes, I’m sure the French play fast and loose with English just as we do with their language. English is far easier to play fast and loose with, though; it’s an amazingly flexible language. It also irks me how every Romance language has this construction: “balloon of the water” instead of “water balloon.” We can modify our nouns and make compound nouns so much more easily.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

Leave a reply to 39 Pontiac Dream Cancel reply