Michael Price is a composer, producer, arranger and award-winning music edi… Read Full Bio ↴Michael Price is a composer, producer, arranger and award-winning music editor. He writes in full orchestral and electronic and contemporary idioms, and is an experienced producer, arranger and programmer, having worked on more than 30 major studio pictures. On 31 March 2014 he was interviewed at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BAFTA Conversations with Screen Composers season.

Michael’s music career began with the Tonmeister course at Surrey University, where he won the PRS composition prize in 1990. After writing a number of scores for contemporary dance, he became Musical Director of DNA Dance and Music, whose projects included the arts council funded chamber opera “All the Garden Gold”, based on the life of William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

Following work as a dancer for contemporary houses, Michael's first film work was in 1996, when he was invited by Michael Kamen to orchestrate and program electronic sounds for the Paramount film EVENT HORIZON. This led to a 5-year working relationship encompassing a number of film scores in London, LA and Prague, and concerts in Berlin, New York, San Francisco and Geneva. Following the production of the score to BAND OF BROTHERS, Michael was approached to music edit on The Fellowship of the Ring for New Line Cinema.

In addition to composing for Zentropa's "Dommeren" and Slingshot Studios’ Sugarhouse he scored 2 documentaries for famous producer and director Alfonso Cuarón; The Possibility of Hope, and Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine, both in 2007. Michael met Cuaron when he scored additional music for the Academy Award winning feature Children of Men, working with Cuaron as music editor.

Michael has also worked with fellow composer David Arnold, with whom he has written and arranged on a number of projects, including Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz and Sherlock, the BBC television series created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, that premiered on BBC1 on 25 July 2010.

Prior to work as a composer, Michael worked as a music editor with films including Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Richard Curtis’ Love Actually, Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason and Nanny McPhee. As a music editor, Michael has been nominated for 4 MPSE Golden Reel Awards, winning in 2001 for The Fellowship Of The Ring.

Michael also composed the score for the film Wild Target, a romantic comedy directed by Jonathan Lynn and starring Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Martin Freeman, Rupert Everett and Rupert Grint. This commission followed Michael’s score for Wild Child, Working Title’s teen film released in the UK in 2009.

Fan Bay
Michael Price Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Is this a holy thing to see
In a rich and fruitful land
Babes reduced to misery
Fed with cold and usurous hand?

Is that trembling cry a song?
Can it be a song of joy?
cnd so many children poor?

It is a land of poverty!

cnd their sun does never shine
cnd their fields are bleak and bare
cnd their ways are filled with thorns
It is eternal winter there

For where-e'er the sun does shine
cnd where-e'er the rain does fall

Babe can never hunger
Nor poverty the mind appall

Overall Meaning

In the lyrics of Michael Price's "Fan Bay," he poignantly questions the juxtaposition of witnessing a purportedly blessed and wealthy land where innocent children are deprived and suffering. The first stanza raises the moral dilemma of whether such a sight, where children are subjected to misery and neglect by those meant to care for them, can truly be considered holy or divine. The stark imagery of babes reduced to misery and being fed with a cold and usurious hand underscores the harsh contrast between abundance and deprivation in this scene.

The second stanza delves deeper into the emotional response evoked by this distressing scene, questioning if the trembling cries of these suffering children could somehow be construed as a song of joy. Price provokes the listener to consider the societal norms that allow for such widespread poverty amidst plenty. By highlighting the sheer number of poor children in this supposedly wealthy land, Price emphasizes the collective nature of this systemic issue, challenging the perceived prosperity that conceals underlying hardships.

The third stanza continues to paint a bleak picture of the desolate conditions in this land of poverty. The description of a place where the sun never shines, fields remain barren, and thorns line the ways, evokes a sense of perpetual despair and hopelessness. The metaphor of eternal winter conveys a sense of unyielding hardship and deprivation that plagues both the physical and emotional landscapes of this place, further emphasizing the relentless nature of the poverty depicted.

In the concluding stanza, Price introduces a glimmer of hope amidst the pervasive gloom by suggesting that in areas where the sun shines and rain falls, hunger and poverty do not prevail. This assertion serves as a stark contrast to the preceding descriptions of a barren and desolate land, hinting at the possibility of change and redemption when essential resources are provided. The assertion that babes will no longer hunger and poverty will not afflict the mind in these favorable conditions offers a ray of optimism in an otherwise somber contemplation of social inequality and neglect. Overall, "Fan Bay" stands as a poignant reflection on the stark disparities between prosperity and poverty, urging listeners to confront the harsh realities faced by marginalized communities.

Line by Line Meaning

Is this a holy thing to see
Is it morally acceptable to witness this

In a rich and fruitful land
In a country with abundant resources

Babes reduced to misery
Children suffering greatly

Fed with cold and usurous hand?
Being poorly cared for and exploited

Is that trembling cry a song?
Is that desperate plea a form of expression?

Can it be a song of joy?
Could it possibly convey happiness?

cnd so many children poor?
And such a high number of impoverished kids?

It is a land of poverty!
This place is characterized by lack and need!

cnd their sun does never shine
And their sun never seems to bring warmth

cnd their fields are bleak and bare
And their fields are desolate and empty

cnd their ways are filled with thorns
And their paths are full of obstacles