One of my favourites from all the songs I've ever written. A track from my 2014 CD, "The End of the Song". "Full of Herself" is a folk-rock ballad with a nine-piece band, and is a somewhat surrealistic look at how a relationship goes south when your lover has an un-dealt-with issue from long ago which she just cannot get past. It happens. A lot. Wrecks everything. Tragic. A salutory tale. Tommy Denander (electric guitar), Alan Morrison (acoustic guitar/lead vocal), Mikael Wikman (drums), Jonas Gunnarsson (bass), Rachel Eddy (fiddle), Jonas Öijvall (keyboard), Ylva Nilsson (cello), Lizette von Panajott & Marie Bäcke (backing vocals). Here are the full lyrics:

I looked inside the broken slide
Which skeltered down your soul
And there I saw the scenes of war
And the truth out on parole
With a trenchant sigh and a broken why
I saw your mask again
So I closed the door and I begged some more
But you never let me in

“I would if there was room”, she said
“But I have no place to spare
I’m trapped by my own circumspence
And I’m coming up for air”
Engulfed by all the jewels she found
Which never saw the light
She wrapped herself in angel dust
From the darkness of the night

Refrain:
So full of her self
No room in her heart
Left high on the shelf
Doomed right from the start

As you delved into your chessboard past
I heard the desperate cry
Of all the locusts seeking food
In the fulcrum of the lie
You act as if your heart stood still
when faced with my retort
But I now know your crutches well
From the place where they were bought

When two decades of desert death
Have parched the sheaves of growth
And twisted round the rusty scythes
Which strewed the field of hope
A torrent is the only means
To cleanse your shrivelled soul
And here I stand awash with love
To fill your aching hole

The one thing that I know you need
Will never be received:
Forgiveness from a phantom child
Is more than you believe
You’d rather build your wall of dreams
With petals dressed in time
Than realise that life moves on
Like the lines of this dark rhyme

Refrain:
So full of her self
No room in her heart
Left high on the shelf
Doomed right from the start

I thrust my spear into the crowd
Of clones within that space
I wondered why they seemed to be
Androgynously placed
With a high-pitched scream in a shattered dream
And a cloud of feathered thoughts
You threw yourself out of my arms
And by a falling star was caught

© 2013, Alan Morrison

The End of the Song

Full of Herself

Here's a track entitled "Lion's Tooth" off my album "The End of the Song". Click on the link. (Lyrics below). I wrote it as a poem when I was a young man after I saw a guy recklessly hacking his garden with a scythe when it was full of Dandelions which he presumably believed to be a "weed". It seemed to be a metaphor for the way that many naively destroy things about which they have no awareness. Decades later, I made it into this song.
Mikael Wikman (drums). Jonas Gunnarsson (bass). Alan Morrison (acoustic guitar & lead vocal). Tommy Denander (rhythm guitar). Hasse Johnzon (pedal steel guitar). Lisa Eriksson (accordion). Lizette von Panajott (backing vocal). Marie Bäcke (backing vocal).

LION'S TOOTH

The Hearless Man works his garden hard
Growing things, colours flowing from the heart
His painted canvas comes alive
Then we see in his frozen hands, a scythe
To slash the ground beneath him

Refrain:
Wasn’t ever meant at all to be this way
Need to see those yellow petals night and day
Silver seeds should spiral through the air in play
Didn’t think I’d live to see it all in grey
Didn’t think I’d live to see it all in grey

The Hearless Man works his garden hard
Growing things, cold steel cuts through yellow flower
Using knife to wield his power—
(Hear it scream) when reverence for the Source is blurred
Beauty fades beneath a broken word

Refrain:
Wasn’t ever meant at all to be this way
Need to see those yellow petals night and day
Silver seeds should spiral through the air in play
Didn’t think I’d live to see it all in grey
Didn’t think I’d live to see it all in grey

The Hearless Man works his garden hard
Growing things—
Then he’ll tear them all apart
Cannot hear all the desperate cries
When he’s in the field he’s drawn and owns with pride
Untouched by all he sees there

Refrain:
Wasn’t ever meant at all to be this way
Need to see those yellow petals night and day
Silver seeds should spiral through the air in play
Didn’t think I’d live to see it all in grey
Didn’t think I’d live to see it all in grey

The Hearless Man works his garden hard
Growing things
Yet he never heard them start

Lion's Tooth

A TRACK FOR SPRINGTIME, a folk-rock track entitled "How do they Know?" (lyrics below), from my 2010 album, "Ride my Heart", recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, with Lasse Englund and many musicians. It's about the wonder of Spring. I wrote this song after a child asked me, "How do the flowers know that it's time to come out?" What internal organic process triggers it each year? Beautiful mystery. Key instrument here is the Nykelharpa, a bowed/keyed instrument played by the 'Jimi Hendrix' of the Nykelharpa, Johan Hedin. Turn the volume up and DANCE! Players: Kjell Gustavsson (drums), Björn Lundqvist (bass), Alan Morrison (acoustic guitar, lead vocals), Ola Nyström (electric guitar), Johan Hedin (nykelharpa), Maria Blom, Alan Morrison (backing vocals). The full lyrics are below:

Breeze whispered to me
As he looked into my eyes:
“You think you see life in these things
But don’t you realise
It won’t be long before you have to
Sweep away their leaves
Petals dead and green all gone
Away nobody grieves”

[Refrain]
How do they know
That the time has come for flowers
How do they know
The time has come for leaves
How do they know
The time is ripe for colours
The time is here for bees
Time will come and time will go
On the breeze

Breeze had more to tell me
About the way that Pan
Plays his pipes to make things grow
Then turn to dust again
Spring turns into Autumn
When Summer’s clothes do fade
Winter’s naked frozenness
The seasons’ lifeless maid

[Refrain]
How do they know
That the time has come for flowers
How do they know
The time has come for leaves
How do they know
The time is ripe for colours
The time is here for bees
Time will come and time will go
On the breeze

Breeze still could not answer
Just how that icy time
Melts and clothes itself with sun
As Springtime’s golden rhyme
Solving nature’s mysteries
The shaman’s endless quest
Disappears into the breeze
As Springtime’s silent guest

[Refrain]
How do they know
That the time has come for flowers
How do they know
The time has come for leaves
How do they know
The time is ripe for colours
The time is here for bees
Time will come and time will go
On the breeze

Breeze began to bluster
Whispering no more
No one’s ever silenced me
He said his voice a roar
If I can’t convince you
That all this is by chance
A hurricane will blow you down
And wake you from your trance

[Refrain]
How do they know
That the time has come for flowers
How do they know
The time has come for leaves
How do they know
The time is ripe for colours
The time is here for bees
Time will come and time will go
On the breeze

Breeze was wild around me
Puffed with all his might
I gazed at all those leaves & flowers
And marvelled at the sight
Moving in the madness
The swaying of the trees
Telling how their time had come
They mesmerised the breeze

[Refrain]
How do they know
That the time has come for flowers
How do they know
The time has come for leaves
How do they know
The time is ripe for colours
The time is here for bees
Time will come and time will go
On the breeze


© Alan Morrison, 2010
.

How Do They Know? (full track)

"Bird of Prey or The Seamstress" is a track from my latest CD, "The End of the Song". I wrote it about a mesmerising woman I encountered (she isn't alone) who, although she could play the role of The Healer, she could also transform herself into The Destroyer. Hence, the dual title. (Sidenote: I'm still looking for one who is all Seamstress! ;-) ). Unusually, the song is in 6/8 time, which intentionally gives it a lilting ambiguity, and features a string quartet with prominent cello. Mikael Wikman (drums), Jonas Gunnarsson (bass), Tommy Denander (electric guitar), Jonas Öijvall (keyboard), Alan Morrison (acoustic guitar/lead vocal), Kerstin Svensson (1st violin), Åsa Johansson (2nd violin), Anna Gadd (viola), Ylva Nilsson (cello), Lizette von Panajott & Marie Bäcke (backing vocals). Here are the full lyrics:

You loomed with love so sweet and round
The framework of my heart
The tapestry you weaved and spun
Disguised my open scars

But scars run deep and memory long
The flesh deformed and red
With talon claws you tore them all
By something that you said

Now I’m all alone
I’m all alone again
The roses on the powder keg
With petals all gone dry

If feathers could a needle thread
Those scars would closéd be
But wings can’t mend what hands can do
Nor make their victims free

Too late I saw your swooping form
Your predatory smile
My flesh was there for you to share
And feast upon awhile

But I’m all alone
I’m all alone again
The roses on the powder keg
With petals all gone dry

I fell to earth a long hard fall
All broken by the breeze
Which roared around my grasping arms
And all that I could seize

You flew away and turned your head
And trained your eagle eye
For soaring over high terrain
Continuing to fly

So I’m all alone
I’m all alone goodbye
The roses on the powder keg
With petals all gone dry
I’m all alone 


Bird of Prey or The Seamstress

This is a song called "Just Like the Sea", from my 2010 album, "Ride my Heart". I wrote it in 2008, right after a life-changing time of love-making. The song charts the whole experience. It is, in fact, a swelling orgasm in song. A tantric tune, if you will. That's exactly how it feels when I make love. Just like the sea (whose power I revere). Tsunami.  Here are the lyrics:

When the breakers in the space
between us start to fly,
stormy times are neutralised
with pheromonal sighs.
Limpet-like across the bow
our lovers' lips will cling
to one another’s desperate kiss
and make this song to sing.

[Refrain]
Just like the sea
you ebb and flow and roll
your waves upon my hull.
Just like the sea
your pull is stronger than my soul.
Just like the sea
gives birth to hurricanes
and curtseys to the moon,
so I give myself to you
so I give myself to you

Plunging in your waters blue
I slowly start to drown;
but your hand will always come
from depths of darkness down.
Fathoming the white horse spray
you bring me to your shore
and with your silky siren voice
my body's power you lure.

Refrain

Sinking slowly submarinal
freefall magnifies;
glints of light & coloured treasures
now before my eyes.
In kaleidoscopic beams
I see your saltless smile
filling me with buoyant dreams
so dangerously wild.

Refrain

Now the tide is rising high
I surf along your waves;
such a burst of joy I feel
in all the things we crave.
Tossed around so helplessly
and by your cyclone swirled;
in centrifugal force I feel
abandoned to the world.

Refrain

Shipwrecked on your distant reefs
my harpoon found its mark.
Watery words come from my mouth
“I love you from my heart”.
Shuddering waves convulse us
and engulf me with your deep.
Then the fine dividing line
between is obsolete.

Refrain

© Alan Morrison, 2015



Just Like the Sea

This is just a 1-minute sample extract from the track "Angel Door" from my latest album, "The Key". The lyrics are below. The full album can be purchased here: https://gumroad.com/alanmorrison 

A blizzard raged outside
as roads were blocked and footpaths froze
and in that whiteness you appeared
like a disembodied rose.
I’d thrown your petals from my mind
your thorns still in my flesh;
yet here you were with all your deep
 (I came to life afresh).

Oh why can’t I close that angel door
The one you opened several years before.
Every time I try to turn the key
Somehow you find a way to get to me

I couldn’t hear your voice
and I could only see the words.
Although they didn’t say too much
there was so much more I heard.
With us there’s no such thing as old
and everything’s still new.
I could pick up where I last left off
on the wheel of love with you.

Oh why can’t I close that angel door
The one you opened several years before.
Every time I try to turn the key
Somehow you find a way to get to me

     Things take time to make rhyme
     when fear grips the heart
     Not with we; it runs free
     We flew from the start

I know you closed the gate
to where we once had flown with ease.
You say those days are over now;
I can only disagree.
You say that time’s moved on since then
and you’ve grown-up anyhow.
You always fought against the flow
and still you do so now!

Oh why can’t I close that angel door
The one you opened several years before.
Every time I try to turn the key
Somehow you find a way to get to me

I guess that is the difference
between my way of life and yours.
I live just for each moment 
as the scent of life is short.
You prefer to stay on dry land
while I wrestle with the sea.
But the silver cord between our hearts
will bind us endlessly.

Oh why can’t I close that angel door
The one you opened several years before.
Every time I try to turn the key
Somehow you find a way to get to me
Somehow you find a way to get to me

© Copyright, 2016, Alan Morrison

The Key

Angel Door (sample extract)

This is just a 1-minute sample extract of the track "Shine" from my latest album, "The Key". The lyrics are below. The full album can be purchased here: https://gumroad.com/alanmorrison 

Fear of flying comes over me
Memories of falling in space
All that air without boundaries
Making my breath hard to find

Just the look in her eye
Tells you she will fly high and she
Takes you up in the sky
No way you can go away from her
shine.................shine (shine)

How did you know hearts freeze at altitude?
How could you tell from my cries?
Flying with you melts all my fears away
Take me along for that ride

Just the look in her eye
Tells you she will fly high and she
Takes you up in the sky
No way you can go away from her
shine.................shine (shine)

     Heard they gave you a short time to live
     How our brief journey flies!
     For you showed me the meaning of give
     And I know you’ll never die… oh no…

You gave freedom unknown to me
Thought I would lose you in time
But the more free you are in my life
The more close you become

Just the look in her eye
Tells you she will fly high and she
Takes you up in the sky
No way you can go away from her
shine.................shine (shine)
                                                                                                                  © Alan Morrison, 2016

Shine (sample extract)

Here is the full track "I Gave Up Long Ago" from my latest album, "The Key". It comes straight from my heart to yours. The music changes from mono to stereo when I sing "stereo" in the first verse. Nice touch from producer, Otto Wellton, who also plays a great piano solo. I hope it speaks to you and that you enjoy it. The lyrics are below. The album can be purchased here: http://gumroad.com/alanmorrison 

They say that life is easier when one turns into two.
I wish that I could buy that in the certain way they do.
They say my sound’s in mono when it should be stereo.
But I gave up long ago

Perhaps I’m too selective — as my friends have said to me.
So I tell them it’s my duty to preserve my sanity.
Then they tell me that a poet is the perfect Romeo.
But I gave up long ago

And so I wander on alone
Tell myself it’s easy on my own
No one to mess inside my head
No fire to burn me in my bed
Oh no… Oh no…

True love is more than fashion or a model on your arm
and lovers aren’t accessories or lucky bracelet charms.
That space which lives beside me used to set my world aglow.
But I gave up long ago

So many take a lover to fulfil a selfish need
to make up for the things they lack (it’s a kind of vanity).
Friends even tried to tempt me to become a gigolo.
But I gave up long ago

There’s a yearning buried deep down in my soul.
Something’s missing from the page.
I confess I may have dug myself a hole.
Brought down the curtain on the stage.

Although it seems I’m moving like a prisoner on the run
and all I have is music with the healing of the sun,
my heart’s so full of passion that it’s set to overflow.
But I gave up long ago.

So I stagger through the minefield and I navigate the sea;
keep my head above the water while defying gravity.
There are times when I am hit by arrows fired from Cupid’s bow
But I gave up long ago

And so I wander on alone
Tell myself it’s easy on my own
No one to mess inside my head
No fire to burn me in my bed
Oh no… Oh no…

© Alan Morrison, 2016

I Gave Up Long Ago

When two people meet after a long time of not having seen each other they mutually pretend to be doing fine. Yet, each one knows the other is not being honest. So, between them, there is a vast but unfulfilled embrace waiting to happen — a virtual embrace. This song was born out of an actual experience of mine that became an important lesson for me about the need to show our true feelings at all times — to wear our hearts on our sleeves. The lyrics and musician credits are below. The full album can be purchased here: http://gumroad.com/alanmorrison 

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

She quickly looked away to keep my gaze at bay
and said her life had never been so fine.
I knew that wasn’t true but her stilted point of view
had found a home with mine.

For I am
like you I
smile for the crowd
But when I’m
alone I
shall cry out loud

Although I see your soul behind your self-control
I didn’t let you know I knew your heart.
I should have held your hand to show I understand
but my heart is so scarred.

For I have seen too much; yet I refuse a crutch.
That’s why I have this limp and stumble round
I wonder if you see right through my poetry?
I long for love profound.

For I am
like you I
smile for the crowd
But when I’m
alone I
shall cry out loud

So there we two were stood like puppets made from wood
making out we both were in our prime.
Between us in the air — unspoken but it's there:
a long embrace sublime

© Alan Morrison, 2017

Lead vocals: Alan Morrison.
Drums: Fredrik Björling.
Bass: Samuel Laxberg.
Acoustic guitar: Alan Morrison.
Upright piano, Synthesizer: Otto Wellton.
Violins: Kristina Ebbersten, Sarah Cross.
Viola: Petter Axelsson. Cello: Samuel Coppin.
Trumpet: Eirik Bernhard Steinsvik.
Cor anglais: Daniel Burstedt.
Backing vocals: Aminah Al Fakir, Linda Öst, Idde Schultz.

Virtual Embrace

"Be the Change!" was written as a riposte to John Mayer's 2006 song, "Waiting on the World to Change". Recorded in Lasse Englund's studio in Stockholm in December 2009, it was track 1 on the album "Ride my Heart". The lyrics and players are below:

You said that you're waiting for the world to change
Waiting round for something that you just can't gauge
You see so many bad men that you lose all hope
Yet you think that they'll hang themselves if they've enough rope

Be the change!
Make everything you want to see across this earth
Be the change!
Then begin to live your life for what it's worth
Be the change!
Then we'll have a brand new spirit of rebirth
Be the change! Be the change! Be the change…
In this world!

You said that you're always so misunderstood
And you'd make a contribution if you only could
The best place we can start is writing songs which burn
For only with a burning heart can people learn to...

Be the change!
Make everything you want to see across this earth
Be the change!
Then begin to live your life for what it's worth
Be the change!
Then we'll have a brand new spirit of rebirth
Be the change! Be the change! Be the change…
In this world!

The only way that evil wins is when the good
Won't dare to raise a finger like they know they should
The only way that revolution will be won
Is when we've blown our reticence to kingdom come

Be the change!
Make everything you want to see across this earth
Be the change!
Then begin to live your life for what it's worth
Be the change!
Then we'll have a brand new spirit of rebirth
Be the change! Be the change! Be the change…
In this world!

A white knight on a charger is a childhood dream
And while we wait around we'll hear the children scream
There's far more to democracy than going to vote
Against complacency we are the antidote

Be the change!
Make everything you want to see across this earth
Be the change!
Then begin to live your life for what it's worth
Be the change!
Then we'll have a brand new spirit of rebirth
Be the change! Be the change! Be the change…
In this world!

There ain't no neat placebo for our crippling fears
Going beyond passivity's the last frontier
Powerlessness is just a phoney state of mind
Making sure that no solutions we will find

Be the change!
Make everything you want to see across this earth
Be the change!
Then begin to live your life for what it's worth
Be the change!
Then we'll have a brand new spirit of rebirth
Be the change! Be the change! Be the change…
In this world!

Choose the dream you'd like to see come true right now
Drop the things which make you say "I don't know how"
Then go find someone to share your precious goal
Together we will find out how to make things whole

Be the change!
Make everything you want to see across this earth
Be the change!
Then begin to live your life for what it's worth
Be the change!
Then we'll have a brand new spirit of rebirth
Be the change! Be the change! Be the change…
In this world!

Drums: Kjell Gustavsson; Bass: Bjorn Lundqvist; Lead vocal and acoustic guitar: Alan Morrison; Electric guitar: Ola Nystrom; Keyboards: Janne Petersson; Cello Emeli Jeremias; Backing vocals: Maria Blom & Alan Morrison. 
.
.
© Alan Morrison, 2017
.

Ride My Heart

Be the Change!

Written in the days when I used to "heed the voice coming from the fateful rune". Not any more. So this is sound advice for the guys. ;-) A bit of celtic soft-rock recorded in Stockholm in 2009. From the album, "Ride my Heart". Still haunts with its riff on the Nyckelharpa - a Swedish keyed instrument played with a bow. Here are the lyrics:

Gold-winged and riding high, right into the sun.
Fly swift and touch the sky, could you be the one
Looking for love? You’ll lose your heart,
Rose-tinted young man.
Looking for love you’ll fall apart.
Turn back if you can, Turn back if you can.

Thought I saw those words.
Then I also heard
Something screaming from behind.
Didn’t sound like me;
Wish I could be free
From those voices ill-defined.

Gold-winged and riding high, right into the sun.
Fly swift and touch the sky, could you be the one
Looking for love? You’ll lose your heart,
Rose-tinted young man.
Looking for love you’ll fall apart.
Turn back if you can, Turn back if you can.

[Vocal bridge]
I’m crying out to all those players in the wings
Waiting still to have their hour
On the stage of love with all those shiny things:
Y  o  u    w  i  l  l     b  e    d  e  v  o  u  r  e  d

Gold-winged and riding high, right into the sun.
Fly swift and touch the sky, could you be the one
Looking for love? You’ll lose your heart,
Rose-tinted young man.
Looking for love you’ll fall apart.
Turn back if you can, Turn back if you can.

Searing is my sigh,
Wherefore is my why
So bedazzled still by she?
Could it surely be
Some ancient harmony
Rippling down just like the sea?

Turn Back If You Can

This is a track entitled "How Come?", from my CD, "The End of the Song". It handles the kind of feelings and mixed messages which happen when friendship between two people wants to be more than that. Mikael Wikman (drums), Jonas Gunnarsson (bass), Alan Morrison (acoustic guitar/lead vocal), Hasse Johnzon (pedal steel guitar and dobro guitar), Kerstin Svensson (1st violin), Åsa Johansson (2nd violin), Anna Gadd (viola), Ylva Nilsson (cello), Lizette von Panajott & Marie Bäcke (backing vocals). Here are the full lyrics:

“Loving friends”, you said to me,
“Is what we’ll always be”.
“Nothing more”, you emphasised
(As if to set me free).
You spoke those words as if we’d
Never crossed another line
And never seen the farthest star
On a magic carpet ride

How come you want to touch me every precious time we meet
Run your lovely fingers through my hair?
How come you say you always get an aching deep inside
(Every time you think of me in there?) [Last refrain only]
Every time you think of me in there?

Forgive me if I seem confused
I wish it wasn’t so
But when I get a message
Saying “You’re so beautiful”
Followed by another saying
“How I long for you”
I wonder if just “loving friends”
Is all we’re here to do

How come you want to touch me every precious time we meet
Run your lovely fingers through my hair?
How come you say you always get an aching deep inside
(Every time you think of me in there?) [Last refrain only]
Every time you think of me in there?

You treat me like a lover then
You tell me I’m a friend
Just what kind of message do
You think such treatment sends?
I’m pulled apart from East to West
And hung out cold to dry
When all I want for us is wings
With which to reach the sky

How come you want to touch me every precious time we meet
Run your lovely fingers through my hair?
How come you say you always get an aching deep inside
(Every time you think of me in there?) [Last refrain only]
Every time you think of me in there?

I guess a guy knows when he’s licked
And cannot do no more
To make a lover just a friend’s
Like showing him the door
To make a rose one petal less
Might not seem such a move
But taking Eros out of us
Diminishes our love

How come you want to touch me every precious time we meet
Run your lovely fingers through my hair?
How come you say you always get an aching deep inside
Every time you think of me in there?

“Loving friends”, you said to me,
“Is what we’ll always be”

© Alan Morrison, 2013/2019

How Come?

This is a track entitled "You are my September", on my 2014 CD, "The End of the Song". It is a contemporary folk song in an English style. The players are: Mikael Wikman (drums), Jonas Gunnarsson (bass), Alan Morrison (acoustic guitar/lead vocal), Jonas Öivall (harpsichord), Daniel Burstedt (cor anglais), Kerstin Svensson (1st violin), Åsa Johansson (2nd violin), Anna Gadd (viola), Ylva Nilsson (cello), Lizette von Panajott (backing vocal). Here are the full lyrics:

Every time I think of you
Some colours come to mind
Golden yellows, reds and browns
Combine in perfect rhyme
The rhythm of the leaves which fall
In patterns on the earth
Becomes the beating of my heart
A requiem rehearsed

Through mists and moisty mornings
As the year begins to die
I think I see the shape of you
(Such love unsatisfied)
For one year to the day I have
Been pining for our tree
The one with leaves cascading now
Through dreams of Autumn’s sleep

Refrain:
You are my September
My season of the fall
Springtime just a memory
Our Summer sun dissolved
Corrupted by the colours
Of saffron, blood and rust
The leaves which fall around us
Have crumbled into dust

As first frosts coat the window
And cold winds strike my soul
The season’s night plays tricks on me
And buckles Cupid’s bow
My quiver full of arrows gold
Lies useless on the ground
And in the leafless trees above
The birds don't make a sound

If I could wind the clock back
Into April's showery skies
I’d have a second chance to win
Your love before it dies
But now you chose the Autumn
And all the things that fall
While Winter’s icy fingers crack
My tarnished crystal ball
 
You are my September
My season of the fall
Springtime just a memory
Our Summer sun dissolved
Corrupted by the colours
Of saffron, blood and rust
The leaves which fall around us
Have crumbled into dust


© Alan Morrison, 2013

You are my September

This is "The Self-Awareness Song", a track from my latest album, "The Key". It speaks of the importance of authenticity in an age of artificiality. It is written in a medieval style of music (with lute, drums, bells, oboe, bassoon and strings), as this befits the subject matter, for such were the kind of subjects grappled with in the songs of earlier times. The lyrics are below. The full album can be purchased here: gumroad.com/alanmorrison

Why do we do the things we do
and say the things we say?
Why do we think along a track
which only goes one way?
Our actions and our words reveal
the source of our control —
Either hurts we suffered in the past
or purity of soul.

With eyes tight shut and ears closed
we wander in a daze.
Instead of being blind and deaf
our hearts should be ablaze!
The time has come to wake ourselves
and no more be asleep
To see things as they really are
will take a quantum leap

[Refrain]
The world that we think we see
Is only a dream.
This transient entity
is not what it seems

Why must we thrive on conflicts made
when here there should be none?
Why can’t we revel when we see
another’s works well-done?
There’s pain enough throughout our lives
without the dross we make.
In anger we will live and lose
until to love we wake.

We take positions in a patch
of ground we think is ours.
But no one owns a scrap of earth
or grass, or trees, or flowers.
And if we freely give to all
who need, we will receive.
There’s nothing for us to defend;
possession’s make-believe!

[Refrain]
The world that we think we see
Is only a dream.
This transient entity
is not what it seems

So let’s all gladly give our hearts
to ramblers in our field.
Each time we act with grudge and gall
our vanity’s revealed.
It's folly for us to engage
in any kind of war.
Our self-awareness is the key
and selflessness the door.

© Alan Morrison, 2016, 2020

The Self-Awareness Song

Alan Morrison is a writer, poet, songwriter, performer and occasional actor. Originally from the UK, Alan is a troubadour who could be found in any one of a number of European locations, having lived and worked in France, Sweden, Germany, Greece and Spain.

Everything which Alan writes is a love song in one form or another - either about actual matters of the soul or the heart, or offering a commentary on issues which affect people's lives in the world today. In whatever style he writes, Alan’s poems, songs and sonnets aim to encourage people to think, to inspire them to live, to feel and to love and even to stimulate personal change.

Creating profound, thought-provoking poems and lyrics with fine-lined melodies — coupled with an empathy for the privileges and perils of human passion — Alan creates islands of love and conscience: music from the heart for the soul.

During the past few years, Alan — as a multi-disciplinary artist — has been involved in a number of projects. In 2010, he released the CD album, “Ride my Heart” in Sweden. In the first half of 2012, he was organising performance projects in France, where he was acting in the professional theatrical production of an English theatre company as well as writing and performing the incidental music for the stage in the same production. In July 2012, he began recording his latest CD, “The End of the Song”, again in Stockholm. Containing sixteen top-class musicians playing twenty-one instruments (including a string section, cor anglais and French horn), this CD was launched in Spain in March 2014.

In October 2016, Alan launched his latest CD album, "The Key", with 14 tracks, 22 musicians playing 34 instruments, including the Stockholm Concert Orchestra. Containing many styles, ranging from "progressive pop" to medieval folk, folk-rock, alt. country and the purely lyrical, this album is Alan's consummate work, with a number of songs which are deliberately inspirational, such as the title track, "The Key". This was released at the Sodra Theatre in Stockholm in October 2016.

In March 2015, he designed and published a 200-page eBook entitled “Vagrant on the Hinterland of Time: Poems, Songs & Sonnets”, containing nearly 200 works.

As well as continuing to write many articles and poems, Alan is currently working on a didactic novel entitled "Reluctant Angels".

All the above CDs and Alan's book of poems are available from the webstore on his website. www.alan-morrison.com or directly at https://www.gumstore.com/alanmorrison . To contact Alan, go through alan@alan-morrison.com . He welcomes enquiries.

Alan Morrison

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