I first came across The Piano Guys a few months ago, thanks to Peter and Evynne Hollens who had filmed a wonderful video for "What Are Words" with them. Since then, I've watched some more of their videos, though I don't believe I've seen them all. When I started this video spotlight series, I figured that I'd be featuring them at some point. I had another of their videos in mind for the first one I'd write about and was set to start writing about it. But then I watched this video and that was that. I don't think you can go wrong with any of these videos, but this one seemed like such a great introduction to the group. What I love about these guys is that they take classical pieces of music and pair them with recent hits in some fashion. I'm such a fan of this concept because I think it builds a nice bridge between different kinds of music and I always enjoy when people do that successfully. For those who may find classical music to be somewhat inaccessible for some reason, this will change that. On the flipside, there may be some who hate some or most of today's music, but it's amazing what an arrangement can do. I've said it before, but it really does all come down to the arrangement.
"Story of My Life" is a One Direction song and I imagine for some of you, seeing that might make you want to run for the hills. Don't. Trust me. The Piano Guys have done something wonderful with it. Their arrangement, which was done by Al van der Beek and Steven Sharp Nelson, was inspired by a piece by Saint-Saëns' called "Aquarium". This is part of his "Carnival of the Animals" Suite. If you watch this video on YouTube, The Piano Guys have included a link to that piece in the video description and I think it's worth checking out. You may have heard "Story of My Life" before, but I'm going to guess that you've never heard it performed like this. Not to mention that this is also among the best music videos I've seen in a while. It's so beautifully done.
But maybe we should back up and talk about who The Piano Guys are first. There's a whole team behind them, but The Piano Guys are: producer and videographer Paul Anderson; pianist and songwriter Jon Schmidt; cellist and songwriter Steven Sharp Nelson; and music producer and songwriter Al van der Beek. For more information on how the group came together, check out their biography on their website which you can find here.
Now sit back and watch a lovely story about a boy, a girl and a very special tree.
Now sit back and watch a lovely story about a boy, a girl and a very special tree.
That moment when you realize that the life story that is being told is the life of a tree. Yes, we follow the boy and girl throughout their lives, but the tree is the main star of the piece. I love this concept and they executed it perfectly. This story captured my heart, it truly did. It's so charming and beautiful. It had me from the beginning with the drawing and then fading into the live action shot. It just got me and kept a hold on me until the very end with that final drawing of the tree in all its glory with the words "The Story of My Life" underneath. It's so interesting how you can tell such a complete story in such a short amount of time, relatively speaking.
The animations were such a cool idea and gave it a little something extra that most videos don't get. It kind of surprises me how well they fit which is a testament to YDraw who created them. They just worked so well. I love the colors - story aside, this was such a beautiful video visually. I think I may have actually gasped when the tree got struck by lightning. And then to see that that little boy, now a grown man with a baby on the way, working to make a cradle for his own child choked me up a bit. Not gonna lie. It took a repeated viewing to notice the drawing of the tree on the wall of the bedroom. Very nice touch there. Then to go back to the older gentleman from the beginning as we see drawings of some of the highlights from the video. Yeah, this whole video was a bullseye straight to the emotions for me. I don't know how many times I've watched it since, but it gets me every time.
Of course, the video wouldn't be quite as meaningful without the music. I tested this theory by watching it with the sound off. I do this every now and then to see how well the video holds up on its own. It's kind of surprising how much this can ruin some of them. I'd say most hold up. This video holds up very well. Very well indeed. But it really does need the music. You get some of the emotional punch without it, but the music amps it up so much more.
I remind you all that "Story of My Life" is a One Direction song. I actually don't mind One Direction, but it's still funny to think about. The Piano Guys took what really isn't a bad song by any means and turned it into something incredibly beautiful. The arrangement is outstanding and they play it with so much feeling. In the description box on YouTube, The Piano Guys says that they wanted every note to feel like a word from the story. I say, mission accomplished. The music is almost feels like its own character in this and that's not something that happens too often. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: "Where words fail, music speaks." - Hans Christian Anderson. Isn't that the truth?
If this touched your heart like it did mine, here's where you can stay in touch with The Piano Guys.
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