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Centennial Song: Upper School Students Write and Produce "100 Years Green And White"
By Joe Zakielarz ’20 and Reece Ratliff ’21
This article appeared in the Spring 2019 issue of the Tower Hill Bulletin
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This article appeared in the Spring 2019 issue of the Tower Hill Bulletin
Hi, I'm Joe! My music career began with piano lessons at the age of 6, and I instantly fell in love with the boundless creativity of the musical world. Since learning the piano, I’ve picked up the guitar, trombone and most recently the cajon. Over the past two years, I’ve merged my knowledge of playing instruments with a love for electronic music production, and I’ve become what the industry calls a “bedroom producer,” making electronic music on my computer. I’ve been at Tower Hill since PreK. I have a lot of school pride stemming from the amazing opportunities Tower Hill has given me over the years, so it was a no-brainer when I heard about the Centennial song contest for the first time.
I'm Reece, and I’ve been coming to Tower Hill since I was in PreK. This school has forever been a home to me and to my family, so when the Tower Hill Centennial Committee first advertised the Centennial song-writing contest, I jumped at the chance to combine my pride for Tower Hill and my passion for music. I got my first guitar when I was 2 years old, and since then, my love for music has only grown. I’ve been writing and performing music for a couple years now, and I’m very excited to announce I’ll be releasing my debut EP, I’ll Take the Fall, in spring 2019. I’m incredibly grateful that Tower Hill encourages students to explore their creativity and pursue their goals, not only in the arts, but also in academics and athletics.
I'm Reece, and I’ve been coming to Tower Hill since I was in PreK. This school has forever been a home to me and to my family, so when the Tower Hill Centennial Committee first advertised the Centennial song-writing contest, I jumped at the chance to combine my pride for Tower Hill and my passion for music. I got my first guitar when I was 2 years old, and since then, my love for music has only grown. I’ve been writing and performing music for a couple years now, and I’m very excited to announce I’ll be releasing my debut EP, I’ll Take the Fall, in spring 2019. I’m incredibly grateful that Tower Hill encourages students to explore their creativity and pursue their goals, not only in the arts, but also in academics and athletics.
100 Years Green and White came simply from a single acoustic guitar, a microphone and Joe’s laptop with drum samples downloaded from the internet. Joe reached out to Reece with four guitar chords and a couple of lyrics, which would become the hook of the song (“100 years go by…”), and the two agreed to meet a few days later to see what they could come up with for the rest of the song.
For the first verse, they did some research about Tower Hill’s humble beginnings and set out to tell the story of how everything came to be. For the second verse, they focused on some of Tower Hill’s core values, namely Multa Bene Facta, Many Things Done Well. The bridge describes one of the most important aspects of Tower Hill—the rich and vibrant community that lives within the walls of the school, as well as in the hearts of the alumni who continue to come back, year after year.
Finally, for the last breakdown of the song, Reece plays a guitar melody that riffs on the line “Gathered here in joyous union” from the Tower Hill alma mater. Though a wordless riff, it’s one of the most important and meaningful parts of the song. The incorporation of the melody that all current students and alumni know ties the song together and makes it familiar to everyone who has a connection with the school. It also signifies the transition period of the school’s Centennial and emphasizes that, even though we may be moving into another century of Green and White, there will always be certain traditions and pieces of Tower Hill’s history that will always be a part of the school’s unique culture.
After three sessions stretching over the course of a month, 100 Years Green and White came to be what it is today. Reece and Joe are incredibly honored to have created a piece of Tower Hill history and are very grateful to the Tower Hill Communications Office for their extensive work to create a meaningful video to accompany the song.
