Music
LIVING-ROOM VIDEO #39: “Fathomless”
🔥LIVING-ROOM VIDEO #39: “Fathomless”🔥. There is a nautical meaning to the word “fathomless”; but this song carries the metaphorical sense, as explained in the video. (See you there). In my head, there is a light band, string quartet and cor anglais. Definitely one for the next album! 😉 Here are the lyrics:
I’ve always swum to the bed of the sea;
have no desire just to skim.
Somehow the pull of the deep conquers me:
Love living out on a limb. Read the rest of this entry »
Holy Fools: Prophetic Elements in Music
PROLOGUE: Music Mimics Spirit
In so many ways, music mimics spirit. In the realm of the arts, the manner in which music works is surely the nearest that one can get to spirit within this 3-D fallen world. With what we call music, in common with all sound, invisible vibrations are generated in the air which imperceptibly glide from the source to the human ear. But when what we call “notes” are struck harmonically, what we call music ensues. But where is that music in the air? Just grooving around in the ether waiting to connect with you! Within the confines of artistic expression, that is as near to spiritual communication that one can get; and it enters you at a level beneath your ordinary consciousness, which is why it can have a damning or enlightening effect, depending on what kind of music it is and how open (or vulnerable) you are to receiving it. Read the rest of this entry »
Five-Letter Word (a riddle song)
[If you think you know the answers to the 2 riddles in the song below, send me an email to nakedtroubadour@gmail.com and if you are correct I will send you a free download link to one of my music albums!]
It shines in the shadows;
it shines where the sun shines least.
It lights up the basement
and the feeding grounds of the beast.
You can always see it coming
and run from its rays, if you please. Read the rest of this entry »
LIVING-ROOM VIDEO #38: “My Friend Called Pain”
LIVING-ROOM VIDEO #38: “My Friend Called Pain”: Newly-written song about my recent extended experience of pain and how I came to terms with it. I befriended it! More details in the video. On my next album (recorded in Athens? 😉 ), this will have The Big Treatment, complete with orchestra. Here are the lyrics:
When first she came to touch me as a thorn deep down inside,
I saw her as an enemy — an assailant of my mind.
But little did I realise when first we met that way
that she’d become a treasured vintage wine. Read the rest of this entry »
Independence Day Freedom Rap [lyrics]
My ears prick up when I hear the phrase “The Land of the Free”;
it neatly rhymes inside my head with “raw hypocrisy”.
Now that’s a perfect lyric-line which needs to be hard spat
by cowboys who have long outgrown their huge ten-gallon hats.
To celebrate their “freedom” on the 4th day of July
is an insult to those mill-i-ons of Indians who died
by the violence of the screwed-up men who rifled through their lands.
The country then was built with their cold blood upon its hands.
Freedom (chain-gang) freedom rap.
Verbal (tic-toc) acrobats.
Twisting (boom-bang) history
Tricking (bitch-slap) you and me Read the rest of this entry »
LIVING-ROOM VIDEO #37: “Blue-Eyed, Green-Eyed Girl”
LIVING-ROOM VIDEO #37: “Blue-Eyed, Green-Eyed Girl”. This is a metaphor-laden tale of no-holds-barred love. A lyrical ballad in folk (rock) style, in which you need to let the metaphors wash over you in order to grasp them; for this is from my soul to yours. You can listen to the song by clicking above. Here are the full lyrics: Read the rest of this entry »
Living-Room Video #36: “Impervious”
LIVING-ROOM VIDEO #36: “Impervious”. This is a song which I wrote yesterday. It is in a folk style with shades of early music influence. It deserves a lute, shawm, treble (alto) recorder, and viols as accompaniment. The first 4 verses are addressed to the forces of darkness, while the last verse is addressed to the audience. I hope it makes sense to you. Here are the lyrics: Read the rest of this entry »
Living-Room Video #35: “The Wallflower Song”
LIVING-ROOM VIDEO #35: “The Wallflower Song”. Here’s a song I’ve just completed. Only rehearsed it twice, so it’s rough! 🙂 It sums up what it’s like trying to be real in a predominantly fake world. I’m sure that many of you will be able to identify. Recorded here with a cheap webcam and acoustic guitar, it really needs the “big” treatment, with full band and orchestra. That will have to wait till the next album! 😉 Here are the lyrics: Read the rest of this entry »
Mahler’s Epic Resurrection Symphony
WHEN HE WAS 28 YEARS OLD, Gustav Mahler began writing his second symphony, known as the “Resurrection Symphony”. It had its first performance in 1895 in Berlin, when Mahler was 35 years old, with Mahler himself conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Scored for a huge orchestra and male/female choir (it also has an offstage mini-orchestra), it lasts around 90 minutes. Apparently, it was voted the fifth-greatest symphony of all time in a survey of conductors carried out in 2016 by the BBC Music Magazine. (Mahler’s 9th was voted the 4th greatest, just behind Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony!). Just for your interest, the entire top ten symphonies of all time in this conductors’ vote were as follows: Read the rest of this entry »
“Virtual Embrace” (from my album, “The Key”)
The relationship one has with one’s songs is always interesting, as each contains a little piece of one’s heart. But there are some which have a special place in there. Out of the 300 or so songs which I’ve written over the years, “Virtual Embrace”, is still in my top five personal favourites. I was so happy in the studio when it got the treatment it needed from producer, Otto Wellton (who also played the very tasteful piano part), and the arrangement for the Stockholm Concert Orchestra (oh, those sweet, sweet strings!) by their director, Johan Ahlin, and that “submarine” bass from Samuel Laxberg. The song recounts an occasion when I met an old friend after many years and we each pretended that we were happy when we weren’t. “How are you?” Pause. “Fine”. Familiar scene. But between us there was a virtual embrace which awaited fulfilment. A snapshot of truth. Please click on the link above to listen. Here are the lyrics:
She looked me in the eye and said “My dreams are satisfied”
but something else was screaming from inside.
The smile upon her face didn’t match her mournful gaze —
I saw through her disguise Read the rest of this entry »
The Naked Troubadour 