I wrote and performed this song a few years back for a production of Shakespeare's "As You Like It". I wanted it to be seductive and inviting, but also a bit haunting, unreal, and even menacing--like a siren's song. The characters in the play are in exile, and though the lyrics are merry there is a deep underpinning of sadness underneath the whole play--I wanted this song to have that dichotomy, especially since two other songs I wrote for the production were more overtly joyful. 

For the production all I had was my voice and an acoustic guitar, so I enjoyed building out this arrangement using a Jeff Buckley-like guitar as a base and adding electric bass, organ, vocal harmonies, and some synthesized sounds to add depth to the piece. To reflect the dreamlike quality I wanted, I added some distorted and phased portions near the end--like the image is flickering in and out of reality. 

Music, Performance, and Production by Jeremy Cohn, copyright 2021. All rights Reserved.

Lyrics adapted from "As You Like It" by William Shakespeare

Under the Greenwood Tree

Jeremy Cohn