This edition was prepared by James Crawford — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Futility
Staff Notation • Secular, Art songs
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Futility by James Crawford — Lyrics
Move him into the sun
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields halfsown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.
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About Futility
James Crawford’s Futility sets Wilfred Owen’s poem of the same name, creating a poignant art song for solo voice. The text contemplates the futility of war, reflecting on a soldier’s death and the indifferent sun that once brought life and warmth. The lyrics paint a stark, yet tender, picture of a body in the cold, contrasted with the memory of sunlit fields and the hopeful awakening of seeds. Crawford’s setting explores the profound sadness and questioning inherent in Owen's words, offering a deeply moving reflection on sacrifice and the natural world's ceaseless cycle, which continues irrespective of human suffering.
