Previously posted a single track version but I thought I'd try getting it a bit closer to how I actually envisage it. Apologies for the guitar solo if you make it to the half way point - you'll see I'm not a lead guitarist...
Previously posted a single track version to almost universal indifference - I thought I'd try getting it a bit closer to how I actually envisage it. Apologies if you make it to the half way point - you'll see I'm not a lead guitarist...
No idea about this one, it's a character portrait I suppose, maybe a bit out there. It's a very rough demo, just wondering how it comes across as a song really.
Hybrid
[Intro]
“Hybrid! You're a hybrid.
Yeah, you, you're a hybrid, hybrid.”
“Hybrid! You're a hybrid.
Yeah, you, you're a hybrid, hybrid.”
[Verse 1]
People that pass by aren’t gods or piranhas,
just snakes chasing tails for infinite mañanas.
Nothing goes wrong in my life, I sip lattes,
I sit tidily in trains, planes, restaurants and offices.
Pierce my bubble and I will curse you with utter indifference.
Some people are so rude.
[Verse 2]
“Chase that tail.” Swallow yourself eternally,
so you can get back to how you were, how you want to be.
A long way to go to travel nowhere—
another motherless bastard sent to the grave.
“Money money money.
You're not a tyrant “mate”
putting food on your plate.”
[Chorus]
Without doubt, definitely a hybrid.
“Hybrid! You're a hybrid.
Yeah, you, you're a hybrid, hybrid.”
[Verse 3]
Chatter chatter chatter—words are annoying.
I don’t understand what it is they’re conveying.
Or maybe it’s the people who speak I don’t get,
and maybe that’s because I don’t know them yet.
But every time I speak, what I mean to convey
clashes with the kind of things other people say.
Conversation: all out combat between opposing belief systems.
Truth is losing the war. Ahh fuck it, is what it is.
[Chorus]
“Hybrid! You’re a hybrid!
Yeah you! You're a hybrid! Hybrid.“
“Hybrid! You're a hybrid.
Yeah, you, you're a hybrid, hybrid.”
[Bridge]
Dimensions of shifting colour
gliding past each other like tectonic plates,
anomalies sparking like fireworks
back to nothing—
back to nothing.
[Verse 4]
I’ve got to move backwards, away from the rumbling.
There’s a cavern beneath my feet, the ground’s crumbling.
What keeps me above ground is my speedy backwards steps.
Apparently this is “MINDFULNESS.”
Constantly aware,
constantly aware of my awareness,
constantly aware of my awareness
of being constantly aware.
[Outro]
Move back, don’t peer into the chasm—
until I stop
and I’m drawn past the event horizon.
Something I'm working on, how does it come across?
Bowed Concerto Number Four
[Verse 1]
All love is a heartstring problem,
this is my bowed concerto number four.
Enough on this electric piano,
Get me my cane and put that record on.
[Chorus]
Oh I want to dance with you
into twisted depths of evolution
and spirit
where I keep secrets I don't tell myself.
[Verse 2]
I never danced much with my wife,
didn't tell her how lonely it made me feel.
Oh no, I'm not much of a dancer myself,
it's for the joy of it, is all,
[Chorus]
that's why I want to dance with you
into twisted depths of evolution
and spirit
where I keep secrets I don't tell myself.
[Post chorus]
Now I'm running, jumping, sweeping over tall buildings,
you never told me you could fly, oh why,
Ulrike, you never told me you could fly...
[Bridge]
I used to dream of a third set of rotten teeth
pushing all the old ones out of my mouth,
and now there's stilt walking houses,
I'm sailing on a bicycle through the town,
an actual sail on it, see!
Is it wrong to be so lonely and feel so free?
Oh I'm such an old fool, I must sit down.
[Interlude]
We wasted life in happiness,
it haunts my memories.
From the darkened place I came out of
I will surely crawl right back -
[Chorus]
if only I had danced with you
into twisted depths of evolution
and spirit
and told you secrets I don't tell myself,
oh no,
secrets I've lost inside myself.
Something I'm playing around with, I'm not sure at the moment if it's worth continuing, what do you think?
Bowed Concerto Number Four
Love is a heartstring problem,
my bowed concerto number four.
Enough on this electric piano,
Get me my cane and put that record on.
I want to dance with you
into twisted depths of evolution and spirit
where I keep secrets I don't tell myself
I never danced much with my wife
I didn't tell her how lonely it made me feel
Oh no I'm not much of a dancer myself
It's for the joy of it, is all.
I want to dance with you
into twisted depths of evolution and spirit
I'm running, jumping, sweeping over tall buildings,
You never told me you could fly…
I used to dream of a third set of teeth all rotten
Pushing the old ones out of my mouth
Now there's stilt walking houses
And I'm sailing on a bicycle through the town,
an actual sail on it, see.
Is it wrong to be so lonely and feel so free?
Oh I'm such a fool, I must sit down,
we were so happy, now it's only me
If only I had danced with you,
Into twisted depths of evolution and spirit,
and told you secrets I don't tell myself
but we waste our lives in happiness,
a thought that haunts my memory.
From the dark place I came out of
I will surely crawl back.
It's quite nice to do a lighter song for a change, it's just from an involuntary intake of breath when I visited my hometown at the weekend. Slightly worried it comes across a bit jumpers-for-goalposts though - what do you think?
I've posted the demo as well https://www.reddit.com/r/Songwriting/s/Gu4gx0hXK6
[Verse 1]
Park by the clocktower,
walk through the town,
not past the flats
and the sandy path down,
straight to the seafront
the way that we did
when we were kids,
you and me.
[Chorus]
Sunshine, clear weather,
walk double yellows
to spare our bare feet.
Stop by the river,
something to eat.
[Verse 2]
Through the beach car park
down at the parade,
don't know if you knew that
our great uncle never paid -
he never bought a ticket
because the land was gifted
to the people of the parish.
[Bridge]
So breathe deep, take a look
at the river, arch, and the rock
much smaller from the storms,
the arch not yet a stack,
still like the oil painting
on the front room wall,
not so different at all,
like you and me.
[Chorus]
Sunshine, clear weather,
walk double yellows
to spare our bare feet.
Stop by the river,
something to eat.
Does this come across too misty-eyed "jumpers-for-goalposts" or is it ok?
Double Yellows
[Verse 1]
Park by the clocktower,
walk through the town -
not past the flats
and the sandy path down,
straight to the seafront,
the way that we did
when we were kids,
you and me.
[Chorus]
Sunshine,
clear weather,
walk double yellows
to spare our bare feet,
stop by the river,
something to eat.
[Verse 2]
Through the beach car park
down at the parade,
don't know if you knew that
great uncle never paid -
never bought a ticket
because the land was gifted
to the community.
[Bridge/Verse 3]
Breathe deep, take a look
at the river, arch, and the rock
much smaller from the storms,
the arch not yet a stack,
still like the oil painting
on the front room wall,
not so different at all,
like you and me.
[Chorus]
Sunshine,
clear weather,
walk double yellows
to spare our bare feet,
stop by the river,
something to eat.
Park by the clocktower,
walk through the town -
not past the flats
and the sandy path down,
straight to the seafront.
The way that I did
when I lived in this town
when I was a kid.
Deep breath, take a look:
river, arch, and Chapel Rock,
smaller from the storms,
but arch not yet a stack,
like the oil painting
on the front room wall -
still there to this day,
not so different at all.
Sunshine, clear weather,
walk double yellows
to spare our bare feet.
Go to the bakers
and stop by the river
for something to eat.
Just over there,
that's where it was born -
the famous story
of that old cream horn,
seen in the window
of that very shop front.
"That cream horn there,
that's what I want."
"I don't think you'll like it."
"I definitely will."
Passed over the counter,
"Hold straight, it won't spill".
"I don't like glazed cherries".
Nan takes it off
and pops in her handbag.
"I told you", she scoffs.
"I don't like this cream".
Scooped out with her hand
and into the bag -
no bins back then Nan?
One bite of the pastry,
flaky and sweet,
"I don't like that either",
"Well, nothing to eat",
pressed in the bag
with the cherry and cream.
I guess sometimes things
aren't as good as they seem.
Something I just wrote about a trip to my home town today, not at all set in stone and very unformed, I'm just thinking about where to go with it, and wondering if it resonates as a subject
[Verse 1]
We come down to the seafront the way I did
All those years ago when I was a kid.
Not the sandy path from my sisters
but through the town,
Past the car park
where my great uncle never paid
Because the land was gifted
to the people of the parish.
[Chorus]
In sunshine and clear weather,
we walked the double yellows home
to spare our bare feet.
could be my guermantes way
Could be a madeleine
saved my day.
[Verse 2]
I take a deep breath when I see the river
and the arch and the rock,
Which is smaller now from the storms
but the arch is not yet a stack.
So it's still so very much
like the painting
that hung on our living room wall—
Really not so different at all.
[Chorus]
In sunshine and clear weather,
we walked the double yellows home
to spare our bare feet.
Could be my guermantes way,
could be a madeleine
saved my day.
I felt an affinity for this geological event when I had a bit of a build up of emotions. The Latin is kind of trying to connect to it in some way, like an evocation through deep time I guess.
Wondering how this one comes across. Just a single track recording, phone on knee type job - more interested in songwriting comments than production or performance which is obviously terrible.
In early spring by the river,
an acrid smell
of fresh-formed tyre rubber
and gas seepage
mixes with breezy pine
and Portugal in your nose.
"That's the smell" you say,
selecting the good bits
as we cut corners
of the zed-shaped path.
(A memory invoked
as I walk the path alone
reminds me to remember
that these are days
I will recall later
if I breathe them in now.)
[Verse 1]
Vinaigrette spills, dissolving all surfaces.
At the tablecloth pleats she looks down and pauses,
eyes full of crystals that turn into seas,
crook of an elbow hiding her face.
[Chorus]
She's buried in her temple fortresses,
but her ghost never hardened,
so her hand is held in sympathy.
And symmetry’s all that remains
as it rains and it rains and it rains.
[Verse 2]
The hand dryer’s angling down at her skirt
to memories of a warm breeze,
as a girl holds a hand to comfort her,
and a seven-armed saviour
from down in the deep crystal seas
[Chorus]
rises within her temple fortresses
because her ghost never hardened,
so her hand is held in sympathy.
And symmetry's all that remains
as it rains and it rains.
As it rains and it rains and it rains
[Bridge]
And as she wept chaos was blown
from between her several ears
and scattered,
and scattered.
And travelling through, you never began,
so where are you now? Forgotten but not gone.
Forgotten but not gone.
Forgotten but not gone.
[Chorus]
We stand in our temple fortresses,
but our ghosts never harden,
so hold hands in sympathy
And symmetry's all that remains
as it rains and it rains and it rains,\
and it rains and it rains and it rains,
and it rains and it rains and it rains…
Been working on this today, not sure what to call it and no music just yet< so there may be changes still...how does it come across?
[Verse 1]
Vinaigrette spills, dissolving all surfaces.
At tablecloth folds, she looks down and pauses.
Eyes full of crystals that turn into seas,
crook of an elbow hiding her face.
[Chorus]
She's buried in her temple fortresses,
but her ghost never hardened,
so her hand is held in sympathy.
And symmetry’s all that remains
as it rains and it rains and it rains.
[Verse 2]
Hand dryer angling down at her skirt
to memories of a warm breeze,
as a girl holds her hand to comfort her,
and a seven-armed saviour
from down in the deep crystal seas
[Chorus]
rises in her temple fortresses
because her ghost never hardened,
so her hand is held in sympathy.
And symmetry's all that remains
as it rains and it rains.
And it rains and it rains and it rains
[Bridge]
Travelling through, you never began.
Where are you now? Forgotten, not gone.
Forgotten not gone.
Forgotten not gone
[Chorus]
We're standing in our temple fortresses,
our ghosts never harden,
so hold hands in sympathy.
And symmetry's all that remains
as it rains and it rains and it rains,
and it rains and it rains and it rains…
I had a stone.
It was a grey stone in the shape of a heart.
There was a white seam cutting right through the middle
and it was scarred all over.
I don't know what happened to it.
I think you threw it away.
This is a moody, hypnotic little song, if you imagine it as an early PJ Harvey album track but acoustic with a fairly deep male voice it wouldn't be too far off. Not yet recorded a demo but how do the lyrics come across?
[Verse 1]
snowflakes want nothing.
No secrets or companions
in formation, flight or fate.
[Pre-chorus]
In broken sixfold symmetry
that, like agency,
unconsciously unfolds
from an icy substrate.
[Chorus]
Snowflakes want nothing.
[Verse 2]
Impersonal as thoughts
that melt unknown when caught,
[Pre-chorus]
drifting freely,
unburdened by words,
unburdened by words,
unburdened by words,
[Chorus/Reprise]
snowflakes want nothing.
No secrets or companions
in formation, flight or fate.
Impersonal as thoughts
that melt unknown when caught,
[Outro]
drifting freely,
unburdened by words.
Sort of a love letter to the sights and sounds of the Brighton seafront, and the mixing of cultures that happens there. Bad recording, I know.