The good news: it is fantastic! The bad news: you may stop now, there is no way you'll ever be able to top this!

nice strings, nice arrangement, great sound! knopfler like solo! great!

(Free WAV Download available here under '••• More'; and eventually as part of my next BandCamp solo album)

Greetings my wonderful SC friends. I hope you’re enjoying October as much as I am. I adore all the -ember and -ober months. As seasons go, this is my happy space. It’s a great time to reflect, and a great time to reset.

Creatively speaking, this song caused a peculiar reaction I wasn’t expecting; enough to make it the topic for my liner notes. The reaction was... nostalgia. The world instruments made me pine for the experiences of my Scottish (clan Mackay) ancestors. And some of my other synth choices sparked happy feelings of being a teenager in the 80s. 

Even now, I’m strangely comforted by this song (a sort of mother’s love/lullaby effect). It makes me yearn for what I imagine to be easier, simpler times… and I couldn’t be more wrong. 

I know my Scottish ancestors had quite a brutal and destructive history. And if I’m really being honest with myself, I never expected to survive the Cold War in the 80s. In fact, I actually adopted a very dystopian view of the world because of it. So why do I (or any of us) have such a strong desire to return to ‘the good old days’, when almost all evidence points to those times being worse for the majority of us?

I’m reading a book right now that puts all of this into sharp perspective. It’s called ‘Enlightenment Now’ (by Steven Pinker); and it has less to do with being enlightened, and more to do with using reasoning to help us rummage through the inaccuracies stored in our minds. I’ll be the first to admit… I struggle with a lot of the concepts (because my ego loves the drama of believing it’s all going to hell). But truthfully, we have never seen a time when so many people were experiencing such a decent quality of life, and Steven has the analytics to prove it. For example:

On the topic of life…. The average human lifespan is now 71.4 years. In the 1700s it was 35.

On the topic of sustenance… Premodern Europe suffered famines every few decades. The typical diet in France in the 1700s was comparable to Rwanda in 1965 (the most malnourished nation for that year). Today, India’s billion people get an average of 2,400 calories a day. Hunger hasn’t disappeared entirely. But it’s nothing like what our ancestors experienced.

On the topic of wealth… the average preindustrial European was fortunate to own a quality garment only a few times in their lives. And it was not uncommon for clothing to be stolen off a dead body during an epidemic… thus continuing to spread the epidemic. Now we have to store our winter clothes to make room in the closet for our summer attire. And we order these items on our smart phones, to be delivered tomorrow.

On the topic of equal rights… Consider Michelle Obama’s quote from the 2016 National Democratic Convention, “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.” That is a hopeful indicator of how far we’ve come toward achieving racial equality. And there are people still alive today who were born before women had the right to vote. Now women can run for President. Another great indicator we are heading in the right direction. We definitely have a long way to go. But again, it is much better than it was.

These are some of the simplest examples pulled from the book. If you need a booster shot of positivity, I highly recommend it. It’s one of the best researched, most logically presented perspectives I’ve encountered in a while; and it is unapologetically hopeful. It reminds us… the ‘good old days’ weren’t really that good; and the best days are now. So let’s focus on what we need to do next, and maybe park those fond (but faulty) memories.

I hope you enjoyed my latest musical offering, ‘Nostalgia’. :)

Vox Populi

Nostalgia

Korg N364 Workstation
Yamaha Saxophone
Monterey Guitar
A bit of faffing.

Marmalade: Best Before 10-Nov-21

Mendicante di Flavio Pozzaglio Compositore Autore

Mendicante

This track written in the dance style of New Jack Swing, Funk, R&B and hip-hop from the 1980s & 1990s. Incorporating a lively rhythm bed with sultry female vocal harmonies with a complementing lively brass and string section.

Celebrate

Spotify

Legacy track. Took me a while to find this one, I was looking specifically for it to give it some modern treatment.

I also tried to transcribe the lyrics, but I couldn't figure all of them out, so for now I will not post the lyrics. Maybe later.

more From the Vaults

Really That Divine

Copyright Nat Daniels 2022

Improv on piano..  I blame my "cousin" Jack (Daniels)...

A Shimmer In The Glass

Have you seen the "Green Comet" which is currently passing our sun and our planet. My wife and I were lucky enough to see it late one night with binoculars last week. It has been 50,000 years since it last passed. And those who saw it then were the people we call Nehandertals.

An incredible amount has happened on our planet and with humanity, since then. But how do you describe this immense time perspective, and humanity's possible "development"?

There was only one person I could turn to, and that is our superb and eminent soundcloud poet, Peter. With incredible accuracy, he describes the "development" of humanity in this long period, with a poem and a reading that is excellent. Just as he did in the trilogies we presented here, which he helped to create in recent months. ;))

I thank you with all my heart Peter, for your cheerful soul, helpfulness and friendship. ;)

Seagull

You can find more of Peter's wonderful poetry and music here: https://soundcloud.com/user-264930040

Peter´s lyrics

Remember Me?

Hey, remember me? Your old green comet friend up here?
We've met before, a while ago it seems, when last I passed your azure sphere.
Though blue and green should ne'er be seen, or so the saying goes

I thought I'd drop on by again, shoot the breeze, in my orbital throes.
As you were then, so “primitive” is how you now refer
You might, my friend, look again, and hasty prejudice defer.
While yours of past did best with least let's view your present kind

Of daily slaughter West to East springs foremost to the tender mind.
Is this advancement? Cultured fine? High ethics by the penny?
More like the smouldered scent of the anti-personnel mine
So catastrophic for so many.

Your ancient tribe-lets bonded well, familial of cares
Evolved to this despondent hell of risible despairs.
In much, much less than fifty thousand of your years.

Just like you, nice, oh so “modern” human race, slipping ever slowly under,
I'm cold as ice, cold of face, and in my vast ellipse, I shallow wonder,

As I trace my flare in this vacuum of black
Will you still be there, when I next visit back?

Remember Me, The Green Comet - Peter & Seagull

you will be Heard

Electroacoustic Music 2023

Headphones recommended

Albireo

Auteur : Ze Scott (https://soundcloud.com/jerome-scotto-di-vettimo)
Compositeurs : Ze Scott & Bribinvoile (https://soundcloud.com/bribinvoile)

Crédit photo : Stéphane Badoud / Le Journal du Nord de l'île (https://www.jdnio.com/)

Paroles : 

Et je reviens toujours au crépuscule
Comme les vagues lentes viennent et reculent

Même océan, mêmes étoiles
Mêmes coques de noix au fond avec leurs voiles

Je suis gardien d’une tour d’un bout de monde
Fouettée par les bras sortant des eaux profondes

La brume avance, la lune brille avec peine
Lorsque la houle et les vents se déchainent

Le seul repère sur un plan agité 
Rassure les marins gorgés d’humidité

Que m’est-il arrivé, c’est bien ma chance
Une bourrasque m’a fait basculer, je pense

On a oublié jusqu’à mon existence
Et toujours je veille sur la lumière intense

Au point du jour, rempli d’embruns salés
Je descendrai les marches et m’évanouirai
Prendre mon repos diurne sous les galets

Gardien d'une tour d'un bout de terre

Gardien D'une Tour D'un Bout De Monde

I  have taken to walking these back roads in the sun
Watching from the river as my mind comes undone
And in a far off country
My true love sings our song

I have taken to calling out the names on the graveyard stones
They breathe again for a moment no longer just dirt and bones
And every name has a story
Every soul strives to be born

I'll lift my face to the sky
Look for me in the morning
I will be lifted by and by
I can feel the world turning
I can feel the world turning

I have taken words you gave me as you gently slipped away
I whisper will you save me before the ending of the day
But I'm not the man you made me
From the cold, idle clay

I have taken to waking to the sound of no one there
Just the distant roll of thunder, rain's promise in the air
And far outside my window
The futures silent stare

I Have Taken To Walking

Alan Walker

Recent comments

NeilConnor

Blue Return

Jambrains

NeilConnor

Related tracks