Crazy story, nice song, simple & very effective arrangement (sometimes less is more :)

so powerful and full of craftsmanship! great work!

Loving your writing, and a beautiful feel to this!

A song I like right from the first notes, and a fine lyric as icing on the cake.

Love that cool vocal Adam....and this is so well arranged!

Like the guitar and vocal performances very much! Rich indie sound and production. Great job!

Great tune Adam! Catchy guitar riff! The lyrics are cool and dark! Great job on the vox! I dig everything about this tune! Well done, as always my friend!

Now that is saying it! In word and sound... in song.

An ode to the guy that got his digital chastity belt held for ransom.

Lyrics:
Hey confiner, I don't want you anymore. 
Bits of plastic, pools of blood across the floor. 
Dissapointed, betrayed by one more commodore
What a waste of digital privilege on the floor

Lockdown. Delighted by the scourge of depravity
Gun drawn. Desperate to be out of a Dump Truck reality

Why'd I take up this unhealthy specialy?
All I wanted was just some warm captivity
Cold and lonely, an IRC nativity
Now I'm leavin', who's to write my tragedy?

Lockdown. Delighted by the scourge of depravity
Gun drawn. Desperate to be out of a Dump Truck reality

Bad Cellmate

Janine Levinson: voice, vocal melody, words, painting https://soundcloud.com/janinelevinson

Jonathan Beckenstein: initial music, instruments, mix

Guys like you as tough as nails give my heart a fluster
Gettin’ right up on me baby with the swagger and the bluster
And when I catch my breath again, I remember you're protectin’
That beatin’ thing inside your chest that's worried about rejection

Sometimes we girls don’t understand the beating heart inside of a man
Understand he's a man

I wanna tell you I’m in on the joke but you got that shield of pride
And the highest degree of security for that tender part inside
I'm ‘onna tell you something else: When your heart starts to pitch and moan
The feelin's kind of undermined when you know you’re not alone

Sometimes we girls don’t understand the beating heart inside of a man
Understand he's a man
He’s a man

You show the world what you want them to see
But you’re real: you feel, you bleed
So darlin’ in the dark wee hours
You can share your pain with me
Share your pain with me
You can share your pain

Guys like you so full of bluff give my tender heart a shudder
Rough and roll and showing off and melting me like butter
But you aren’t fooling me you know, and while I’m tight against your armor
I promise you I will protect the secret that you harbor

I’m gonna try to understand
The beating heart inside of a man
Understand, he’s a man

Girls Don't Understand (with Janine Levinson)

LYRICS:

It's time to begin believing
Everything's gonna be alright
It's time to begin believing
Everything's gonna be alright
Got the feeling this mercy
Gonna give me a peace of mind
Got the feeling this mercy
Gonna give me a peace of mind
Gonna give me a peace of mind
Lalalalalala
Lalalalalalala

The mind can break
The heart can ache
You can push it aside
A tincture of sunshine
Put the shadows away

Put the shadows away
Put the shadows away

When you are mistaken
I'm reflected a thousand times
When you are mistaken
I'm reflected a thousand times
Like a lifeline, your sunshine
It's the battle in your mind
With no reprieve, no virtue
If you give in another night
You'll be running out of time
Lalalalalala
Lalalalalalala

The mind can break
The heart can ache
You can wipe it out
A tincture of sunshine
Put the shadows away

Put the shadows away
Put the shadows away

All you ever do
Circles back around to you
And all you'll ever be
Will be enough for me
A pinhole of sunlight
Piercing through the rain

I want to feel again
I want to laugh again
I want to live again
I want to love again

The mind can break
The heart can ache
And you can pull it through
Wait out the tempest
A beacon in your eyes

Often come a surprise
Sunshine and butterflies
The dawn of a new day
It puts the shadows away

Modifier

Mr. Churchill hatches a brilliant plan
He springloads the package and licks the stamp
Drops the box in the post slot lights a cigar
Decorates Hitler's face and ends the war

The captain is widely known for his hilarious tricks
A fish pail balanced on the top of a doorframe for kicks
He's got a box that'll blow the top off Mr. Dick
But Ishmael opens it first and gets glistered quick

Glitter bomb son
Better run if you got on
Glitter bomb gonna cause all your littler problems

Mr. McAllister is writing his doctoral thesis about
the physics of a million tiny shiny bits exploding out
of a box two burglars are tying to pinch
The board awards him a cheese pizza 
and a tenured professorship

Glitter bomb hun
Better run if you got one
Glitter bomb gonna solve all your little problems

Glitter Bomb

This Time of Year 
Janine Levinson 2021

Backing vocals, twinkle, exotic musical decoration: @phil-mcwalter
Song, vocals, keys, drums, bass, bee: Janine Levinson

This Time of Year

This time of year, you know 
Bugs of all types, you know
Six legged, eight legged, grown in a petri dish

This time of year you know
Bees of all stripes they go
All of them searching for nectar and perfect bliss

This time of year 
All kinda girls
Real or fictitious or dressed up in prison clothes

Over the wall they go 
Out on the lam ya know
Looking for your faces exactly like yours you know 
And I’m looking at you

This time of year you know 
Two or three years ago
You told me not to write songs about you, you know

I’ve got to tell you though
You’re the best guy I know
You’ll have to put up with songs ‘til you die you know
And I’ll write them for you

This time of year you know
Bugs of all types, you know
Creepers and crawlers -- bacteria probably

Put on their Sunday hats
Strut around town they go
Looking for someone exactly like you ya know
Just like you

This Time Of Year - with Phil McWalter

How To Lie With Statistics.  2021 Janine Levinson

You take the bottom
You take the top
You take the middle
And add them up
Then you divide
So everyone is average

And then you talk 
About it all
You make it so
You smooth it out
If you don't speak
Don't say the word
Then it won't be

May it never be

The sound of the word makes you average
And when you say the word it makes you average
And time will see what becomes of me
'Cause I don't believe in average

And so you speak
You speak the word
Then everyone is indistinct
The twenty-four, the ninety-three
The thirty-five, the seventeen

And not a one will hear his name
But instead will stand in line
And just because the world is round
Will join their hands and always rhyme

The sound of the word makes you average
And when you say the word it makes you average
And time will see what becomes of me
'Cause I don't believe the averages

Average things in a special design
Special things in an average design
Some times in your life, in your lifetime
Special things in a special design

You take the bottom
You take the top
You take the middle
You add them up
Then you divide
So everyone is average

And then you talk 
About it all
And wonder what
What can it mean
To then divide 
To find the mean
Of ninety five and seventeen

The sound of the word makes you average
When you say the word it makes you average
I don't believe in average

How to Lie with Statistics

I am grateful that Steve entrusted me with the wonderful guitar track that became this song. It was a real pleasure to write and sing over his fine playing.  I was apprehensive when he suggested we publish my first rough vocal, no fx and all, but then Steve did some mastering and blessed the tune with his lovely deep voice on the chorus parts. and I must say, I love how it came out!  Thank you for listening.

You Might Know Better

Music, Backing Vocals - Steve Vercelloni @Steve-vercelloni

I’ve got secret apprehensions
Things I think that I don’t mention
But I say you know best for me

I’ve heard lies that I won’t swallow
Rules that I don’t want to follow
But I say they’re okay with me

‘Cause you might know better
You might know better

I’ve been told that I’m a handful
But you don’t seem to notice so
I know that you’re the man for me

Must be times I’m unappealing
Times I’m bouncing off the ceiling
But you’re right there for all of me

And you make me better
You make me better

I’ve got secret apprehensions
Things I think that I don’t mention
But I say you know best for me

I’ve heard lies that I won’t swallow
Rules that I don’t want to follow
But I say they’re okay with me

‘Cause you might know better
You might know better
You might know best

You Might Know Better - with Steve Vercelloni  (first of three)

You Make the Grey Skies Blue

This is the second in a set of three tunes with the talented Steve Vercelloni https://soundcloud.com/steve-vercelloni 

Steve was nice enough to send over three really delightful guitar tracks. I did quick demo versions of vocals on all of them, and we decided we liked all three just the way they were, rough and raw. Steve added his nifty low vocals, mastered them, and here they are!

Steve Vercelloni - music and backing vocals, mastering
Janine Levinson - Vocals, lyrics

You Make the Grey Skies Blue

What’s the purpose of the night
Just to make it so I can’t see you 
What’s the purpose of the dawn
It just takes away the dark my eyes were getting used to
What’s the reason for my thoughts
They just make my heart feel so confused
What the devil’s going on
How come nothing goes the way I think it’s supposed to
    
I’m just confused
I’m so confused
And I need you
 
What’s the reason for your smile
It’s so disarming and I’m thinking
I could never even tell
If it’s persuasion or the real thing
But you clear the clouds
And bring the blue
You take the grey
And you make the grey sky blue
You make the grey skies blue
You make the grey skies blue

You Make The Grey Skies Blue - with Steve Vercelloni (second of three)

It's mostly wonderful, getting older. 

2023 Janine Levinson
Mixed and mastered by Russ @russell-sinfield, who brings songs to life
#ChaosCookhouse

I Thought I Knew        

The world is upside down                   
The secrets that I never knew
On my bedroom ceiling
 
The world is inside out 
Seams are on the outside
It’s a real confusing feeling
        
A mushroom is a mushroom    
That is something everybody knows
But what if when you woke up very early in the morning 
Your mushroom was a toadstool     
Your bluebird was a pointed rock?
A dog bite was a diamond 
And your cancer was a smile?
 
Oh yeah, I knew it all            
But suddenly I’m learning 
After sixty years of knowing

I never knew that much          
It’s a real peculiar feeling
And I don’t know where it’s  going      
    
A matchbox is a matchbox
That is something everybody knows 
But what if then you stayed up very late into the evening and 
Your matchbox was a carpet flying you right through the ceiling?
A trail of fire behind you as you wish the world goodbye?

I thought I knew 
I thought I knew

What if they were untrue                   
The stories I’ve been telling that had sounded so appealing?
 And every word was false
A blanket made of fiction
It’s a real confusing feeling

A mushroom is a mushroom
That is something everybody knows
But what if when you woke up very early in the morning 
Your mushroom was tomorrow    
Your fingers were a pigeon
Your secrets were a fairy tale and everyone was gone?

What if a different song was playing all along?

I thought I knew 
I thought I knew

I Thought I Knew - Mixed and Mastered by Russ

Jason Steen (https://soundcloud.com/dyslexic-soul) asked to collaborate on a Magnetic Fields cover with Josie and me. We brainstormed a bit and came up with this idea; Jason and I have both recorded reggae-inspired tracks and this felt like a natural fit. He knocked the framework out beautifully in nothing flat, and I spent the next few weeks trying out some additional instrumental embellishments and getting Josie's parts recorded. The mix came together beautifully in Jason's capable hands over the past few days. 

Jason Steen (https://soundcloud.com/dyslexic-soul) - Guitar, bass, programmed drums, vocals, keys
Josie - vocals, trombone
Dan - mandolin, trumpet, hand percussion, kalimba, harmonica, whistle, melodica

Produced, edited, mixed & mastered by Jason Steen
Words and music by the wonderful Stephin Merritt, https://soundcloud.com/themagneticfields

Original song can be heard at https://soundcloud.com/themagneticfields/the-book-of-love-1

Book Of Love (with Dyslexic Soul and my daughter)

Just a guy in the Columbus, Ohio area that write songs.  It keeps me from committing suicide...

Bad Cellmate

Adam The Story

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Non Sapiens

Jonathan Beckenstein

Dyslexic Soul

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