"Fifteen Presents"

[Matt Levitz]

Mark: " 'Fifteen Presents' is a really personal family song about my 13 brothers and sisters and my parents. There were 'fifteen presences' living at the house, back in a time where we used to have a lot more fog, rain and Santa Ana winds. There was a white owl that lived in our neighborhood, and we'd chase it from palm tree to palm tree every night, and play hide-and-go-seek and freeze tag and capture the flag, and the smell of cookies and chocolate cake, and all the birthdays. It's a walk down memory lane. Kind of a mysterious, soothing song."

What are your thoughts about this song?

[nuevocasa]

My god....you can almost smell, feel and hear the atmosphere......like a sentimental movie.....AWESOME! I love the voice of Mark, so fragile....beautiful!

[conny]

the owl is my totem animal,i love that animal.
the song realy tells the story,fragile

:wave: con

[Aafke]

Must have been a great time, you feel it from the song.
ReMARKable voice of Mark ! Very good !

Aafke

[nuevocasa]

Yes, now I know for sure....this is one!!!! Listen to it over and over again....I can imagine that this was a hard job for Mark....writing a song about the ones he loves the most.....but some of them are not there anymore.....

What a PURE song....listen to it!!!!

:wave: Sylvia

[RonvO]

Every time I hear this song I picture Mark walking trough an empty house, remembering all those good days with a warm, loving family... would make a great mini-movie...

[astrid]

I love the way Mark describes his childhood memories... this song reminds me of the time when I used to live in New Zealand (from when I was five until I was almost eight years old)... I have sooo many fond memories of that time in my life...
Thank you Mark for writing this song!!

:bighug:

Astrid

[hourglass girl]

During this song I saw MARK being himself and enjoying the song from top till toe. During the song I can imagine how they sat down with present all over the floor rotfl

A great song both the lyrics and melody :up:
Great that it's performed during this tour :up:

And it also special because it's around Sinterklaas & Christmas and that's the giving period of the year :cool:

[J*ke]

listening to this song I can only hope my children will have such memories too....once.....

:wave:

[Diane Triantis]

Haunting, beautiful, bittersweet, real. What a picture Mark paints with his words and voice. This song breaks my heart. It's an ode to a time gone by and places in our hearts that never leave us.

Diane ( crying in Orange County)

[Helga van Beers]

So true Diane! And I don't even come from a large family, but hearing this song it almost feels like I do.
15 Presents is really one of my favourites. I don't cry often when I listen to music, but this one made me cry. I'm very happy they do this song on the tour. Specially because I'm seeing Venice one more time on the 18th with a very dear friend of mine. She does come from a large family and they were always very close ànd she loves to hear Mark sing, so I'm really looking forward seeing her face during this song. She will love it!! :)
greez,
Helga

[Vennes]

This is the one for me! This song really gets to me. I keep playing it over and over. Although I don't come from a large family myself, it reminds me of the things that used to be. Of a place and time where there were no worries and sorrows. Absolutely love this one. Beautifully done, guys!

Berni

[Marina]

This song is so beautifull I don't think I can describe it.
Although I'm not very good with words I'll give it a try.
Hearing this song for the first time live in Hoogeveen gave me a bit of a hard time. The lyrics and Mark's voice paint such a clear picture that made me think of something that once was and will never be again. It brings back lots of memories and feelings.
Thank you Mark for this bittersweet and loving song.
Marina

[Sanne Veneman]

Wonderful song!!!!!!

I have really no words!!!!!

[Chantal]

A ride back in time, when you close your eyes you can imagine a little what it was like!
And then mark's voice! Really great!:biggrin:

[Jonn]

I have a different take on this beautiful song. Since I already know that Mark comes from a large family, upon first listening, I knew right off he was singing about his family as being his "15 Presents." But for a person who doesn't know that fact, or if you suspend that knowledge, like I tried to do, I can see the "15 Presents" as a coming of age tune, where he is singing about turning 16 and becoming a man. Thus, the 15 presents can be 15 years moving by so quickly. So, in this interpretation, "sad to see it all go by so fast" can been seen as how quickly our lives move forward, leaving behind a childhood.

This was just another way of viewing this bitter sweet tune. From the way I look at most of Venice's songs, they can be interpreted in a multitude of ways. That's what makes a great lyric!

[Lynn]

To Mark, Michael, Matt, Nick and Roy,

This song really gets under my skin.
It is a strong example of what the sum of a couple things can be!

The ever fascinating tibre of Marks voice (it has so many variations!)
The subtle sound of the additional keyboards, guitars and bass.
And what really distinguishes this song from other songs on PST:
The trumpet parts! Interfering with the guitars. How I love that!
So very very contributive to the atmosphere.

Perfectly balanced if you ask me!

Lots of Love, Lynn.

[Sanne Veneman]

Nice take John. I had not thought in this way but it is really funny you do.

[lia kinnet-abts]

referring to my thread = lia’s and katrien’s OPINION about PST =
http://www.venicetalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2756

one of my "hammerhits" =


:thumbsup: :thumbsup: Fifteen Presents :thumbsup: :thumbsup: = Mark = a tribute to his great childhood (cfr “Running home”) = a beautiful touching moving movie with such an incredible disarming lyric = the nice sweet memories of the so well cherished past and so warmly, tenderly, melancholically, nostalgically and resignedly sung by the youngest of this large family … his deep love and gratitude towards his parents, sisters and brothers …. is it by accident number 13 on this album ?
“fifteen presents wrapped up in the past” = what a most wonderful and incredible touching comparison and description of his family … a wonderful present to them !

“sad to see it all go by so fast … it all ended too soon “
well, thinking this over, there’s such a difference in age between the youngest and the oldest in a large family … and I came to the conclusion that this is a little bit unfair towards the youngest kids = the oldest enjoyed their parents love, full health and strength and one each others company soooo much longer … most of the time this all ends before the youngest has completely grown up …

such an IMPRESSIONISTIC atmosphere =
-the slow tic tac rhythm = time in slow motion
-keyboard’s creating that hazy fog of the past
-trumpet & keyboards = like voices = accentuating lyric / mood
-wonderful guitar – such a great percussion … and those twinkling little bells (in Kipp’s part )
oh yes ! we can smell the “chocolate cake” too ...

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: thank for this most wonderful song, Mark !!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

:love: love, lia & katrien :love:

[cat_one_andonly]

Loved to have had a bigger family. These memoriesongs make me somewhat sad. It's a bit like the line "ce n'est pas le temps qui passe mais nous" = it's not the times that pass but us.

Love the guitar solo and of course Mark's voice. Thanks for sharing!!