1. The Music
The Sea Withdrew is the 43rd song in my Free Background Music series. It is a quiet and gentle piano instrumental that switches between major and minor keys. The song was played on Korg M50 Synth. The composition was inspired by all the problems we have been facing during 2020. It has a sad and somber feel, but includes key changes to major keys in order to show a feeling of hope. The song starts in the key of C minor and ends in C major.
As with the other songs in the Background Music series, this instrumental work can be used for free in non-commercial projects and in YouTube monetized videos (that are otherwise non-commercial in nature) as long as credit is provided (‘music by longzijun’). For more information about the terms and conditions for using the music, you can refer to the detailed Terms of Use.
1.1 Download Links
- MP3 file 320 kbps, 48 khz (Box)
- MP3 file 320 kbps, 48 khz (Google Drive)
- MP3 file 320 kbps, 48 khz (OneDrive)
- WAV file (Google Drive)
- WAV file (OneDrive)
1.2 Credits
Music, photos and videos footage by longzijun.
1.3 Related Songs in the Series
2. About the Photos and Video
I took the video footage and photos in and around an area I lived in for a few years—Wu Kai Sha, which is in Hong Kong’s New Territories. The main beach there faces west, so it is a good place for sunset watching. On clear and hot summer days, when there are a few clouds in the sky, sunsets can be beautiful, especially once the sun drops below the mountains and sunlight reflects off the clouds onto the water. I’ve posted two articles featuring those photos:
The street art pieces are in a strange location. They are painted on the side of an overpass and can only be viewed from a narrow highway maintenance path, so almost no one knows they exist. The Highways Department paints over them every couple of years and then a new series of paintings appears. For more information about street art in Hong Kong, I have a few pages:
- Hong Kong Street Art
- Hong Kong Walls 2018 (Part 1): on my art blog
- Hong Kong Walls 2021 (Part 2): on my art blog
Regarding the photos of the abandoned van, I have a series of similar photos—objects that have been discarded in the borderlands between the urban and countryside areas of Hong Kong: Abandoned Things. It is the third series featured on this page: Photo Series: Between City and Countryside.
Though I have a dog, I like cats, so if I encounter any while wandering around, I will snap a photo.
3. About the Title
The title is from the last line of a poem by Emily Dickinson.
By the Sea
I started early, took my dog
And visited the sea
The mermaids in the basement
Came out to look at me
And frigates in the upper floor
Extended hempen hands
Presuming me to be a mouse
Aground, upon the sands
But no man moved me till the tide
Went past my simple shoe
And past my apron and my belt
And past my bodice too
And made as he would eat me up
As wholly as a dew
Upon a dandelion’s sleeve
And then I started too
And he — he followed close behind
I felt his silver heel
Upon my ankle, — then my shoes
Would overflow with pearl
Until we met the solid town
No man he seemed to know
And bowing with a mighty look
At me, the sea withdrew
More Music
- Read: Terms of Use
- See: List of All Songs
- Preview: Background Music Tracks 1-23
- Preview: Background Music Tracks 23-44
- Preview: Short Instrumental Themes for Intros and Credits
Return to Music
Longzijun 
Music is the art of arranging sounds in time through the elements of melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre