James Higgins vocals
Alfredo De Pietra arranging, guitars. mixing
Backing tracks: Band-in-a-Box

Jealous Guy (Bryan Ferry cover)

Alfredo De Pietra Guitars, Guitar Synth, mixing
James Higgins Vocals

Slave To Love (Bryan Ferry cover)

Alfredo De Pietra: arranging, guitars
James Higgins: vocals

This Masquerade (George Benson/Leon Russel Cover)

Oh Yeah (Laurent Bardainne cover)

"Serenade to a cuckoo" was composed in 1964 by Rahsaah Roland Kirk ("I Talk With The Spirits" the name of the album), but became famous after the cover Jethro Tull made of the tune in 1968 ("This Was").

This time, apart from the backing tracks (bass-drums-piano) that I've made as usual with Band-in-a-Box 2023, I've used a Washburn J6 archtop guitar. For the flute part I've used a Godin ACS-SA with a Roland GR-55 guitar synth. Recorded with my Tascam DP-24SD.

Serenade To A Cuckoo (Rahsaah Roland Kirk cover)

Arrangement & acoustic guitar: Alfredo De Pietra
Vocals: James Higgins
***
All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for the daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head, I wanna drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles, it's a very, very
Mad world, mad world
Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy birthday, happy birthday
And I feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
"Hello, teacher! Tell me, what's my lesson?"
Look right through me, look right through me
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles, it's a very, very
Mad world, mad world
Enlarging your world
Mad world
***

Intorno a me ci sono visi familiari
Luoghi consumati, visi consumati
È luminoso ed è presto per le loro gare giornaliere
Non vanno da nessuna parte, non vanno da nessuna parte.
E le loro lacrime riempiono i loro occhiali
Nessuna espressione, nessuna espressione
Nascondo la mia testa, voglio affogare la mia tristezza
Non domani, non domani.

E lo trovo piuttosto divertente Lo trovo piuttosto triste
I sogni nei quali sto morendo
Sono i migliori che io abbia mai avuto
Trovo difficile dirtelo
Perché è difficile da accettare
Quando le persone corrono in cerchio
È un mondo davvero, davvero folle, mondo folle

I bambini che aspettano il giorno in cui si sentiranno bene
Buon compleanno, buon compleanno.
Mi sento nel modo in cui ogni bambino dovrebbe sentirsi
Siediti e ascolta, siediti e ascolta.
Sono andato a scuola ed ero molto nervoso
Nessuno mi conosceva, nessuno mi conosceva
Buongiorno maestra, mi dica qual è la mia lezione,
Guardami dentro, guardami dentro

E lo trovo piuttosto divertente
Lo trovo piuttosto triste
I sogni nei quali sto morendo Sono i migliori che io abbia mai avuto
Trovo difficile dirtelo
Perché è difficile da accettare
Quando le persone corrono in cerchio
È un mondo davvero, davvero folle, mondo folle
Ampliando il tuo mondo
Folle mondo

Mad World (Tears for Fears cover)

The story behind the song:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Raglan_Road

Vocals: James Higgins
Guitars: myself
Cello, harp, bass & drums: Band-in-a-Box 2023
Irish band (fiddle, Irish low whistle & uilleann pipes): Kontakt libraries driven by my Jamstik guitar/midi controller.

On Raglan Road of an autumn day I saw her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue
I saw the danger, and I passed along the enchanted way
And I said, let grief be a fallen leaf at the dawning of the day

On Grafton Street in November we tripped lightly along the ledge
Of the deep ravine where can be seen the worth of passion's pledge
The Queen of Hearts still making tarts and I not making hay
Oh, I loved too much and by such by such is happiness thrown away

I gave her gifts of the mind, I gave her the secret sign
That's known to the artists who have known the true gods of sound and stone
And word and tint without stint for I gave her poems to say
With her own name there and her own dark hair like clouds over fields of May

On a quiet street where old ghosts meet, I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly, my reason must allow
That I had loved not as I should a creature made of clay
When the angel woos the play, he'd lose his wings at the dawning of the day

Italiano:

Sulla Raglan Road in un giorno d’autunno
la vidi per la prima volta e seppi
che i suoi capelli scuri avrebbero tessuto
una trappola, di cui un giorno mi sarei pentito,
vidi il pericolo e tuttavia m’incamminai
per il Viale degli Incanti
e dissi “Il dolore sarà una foglia caduta
al sorgere del  giorno”
II
Su Grafton Street a Novembre
ci fermammo spensierati sulla sporgenza
di un profondo burrone da dove si poteva scorgere
il valore di una passione promessa,
la Regina di Cuori ancora faceva le crostate 
e io non coglievo la mela;
oh ho amato troppo e per questo e quest’altro
la felicità è andata sprecata
III
Le diedi i doni della mente
le diedi il segno segreto che è riconosciuto
dagli artisti che hanno conosciuto
i veri dei del suono e della pietra,
e non mi limitai alla parola e alla tinta,
perché le diedi le poesie da recitare
là con il suo nome proprio
e i suoi capelli scuri
come nuvole sopra i campi di Maggio
IV
Sul “Viale del Tramonto” dove i vecchi fantasmi
si incontrano, la vedo camminare ora,
si allontana da me più in fretta di quanto io riesca
a pensare di non aver amato come avrei dovuto,
una creatura d’argilla;
quando l’angelo ama la terra
perderà le sue ali allo spuntare del giorno

On Raglan Road

Acquarello (Toquinho cover)

This tune was inspired by one of those news stories that, due to their daily repetition and uniformity, end up becoming routine: the landings of immigrants on the island of Lampedusa.

The island of Lampedusa, located south of Sicily, has been for years the landing point for tens of thousands of desperate people trying to escape from war, hunger and misery, attempting to reach this way the European continent. However, many are the ones who often die drowned, aboard overcrowded and dilapidated rubber dinghies and boats. Nevertheless, it is also a beautiful island, a paradise for tourists captivated by a splendid and unspoiled sea. It is, therefore, a demonstration of how, depending on the perspective, a heavenly place can easily become a hellish one.

Therefore, it is a composition based on the contrasts between sweet, dreamy, almost idyllic sounds, and harsh, dark, menacing tones, like the sea can be.

This composition is dedicated to the victims of despair and to the heroes who, silently and daily, strive to save human lives.

For once, I believe that the video I created for this occasion is important in order to explain better the meaning of the piece.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRhYIkXhf3o

Hell In Paradise

Ovunque Proteggi (Vinicio Capossela cover)

Charlie Gormley: vocals

The Island (Paul Brady)

They say the skies of Lebanon are burning.
Those mighty cedars bleeding in the heat.
They're showing pictures on the television.
Women and children dying in the street
And we're still at it in our own place.
Still trying to reach the future through the past.
Still trying to carve tomorrow from a tombstone...

Chorus

But Hey! Don't listen to me!.
This wasn't meant to be no sad song.
We've heard too much of that before.
Right now I only want to be here with you.
Till the morning dew comes falling.
I want to take you to the island.
And trace your footprints in the sand.
And in the evening when the sun goes down
We'll make love to the sound of the ocean

They're raising banners over by the markets
Whitewashing slogans on the shipyard walls
Witchdoctors praying for a mighty showdown
No way our holy flag is gonna fall
Up here we sacrifice our children
To feed the worn-out dreams of yesterday
And teach them dying will lead us into glory...

But Hey! Don't listen to me!.
This wasn't meant to be no sad song.
We've heard too much of that before.
Right now I only want to be here with you.
Till the morning dew comes falling.
I want to take you to the island.
And trace your footprints in the sand.
And in the evening when the sun goes down
We'll make love to the sound of the ocean

Now I know us plain folks don't see all the story.
And I know this peace and love's just copping out.
And I guess these young boys dying in the ditches.
Is just what being free is all about.
And how this twisted wreckage down on main street.
Will bring us all together in the end.
And we'll go marching down the road to freedom....
Freedom

The Island (Paul Brady cover)

By far the most popular Christmas Carol in Italy.

No idea if it's someway known outside of Italy

Only acoustic guitar

Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle (traditional Italian Christmas Carol) arranged for acoustic guitar

The March Of The King Of The Snowmen

vocals: James Higgins

Green Fields Of France (Eric Bogle)

Oh how do you do, young Willy McBride
Do you mind if I sit here down beside your graveside
And rest for a while 'neath the warm summer sun
I've been walking all day, and I'm nearly done
And I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
When you joined the great fallen in 1916
Well I hope you died quick
And I hope you died clean
Oh Willy McBride, was is it slow and obscene

Did they beat the drums slowly?
Did they play the fife lowly?
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down?
Did the band play the Last Post in chorus?
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined
And though you died back in 1916
To that loyal heart you're forever nineteen
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Forever enshrined behind some old glass pane
In an old photograph torn, tattered, and stained
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame

Did they beat the drums slowly?
Did they play the fife lowly?
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down?
Did the band play the Last Post in chorus?
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

The sun shining down on these green fields of France
The warm wind blows gently and the red poppies dance
The trenches have vanished long under the plow
No gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now
But here in this graveyard that's still no man's land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man
And a whole generation were butchered and damned

Did they beat the drums slowly?
Did they play the fife lowly?
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down?
Did the band play the Last Post in chorus?
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

And I can't help but wonder oh Willy McBride
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause?
Did you really believe that this war would end wars?
Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing and dying it was all done in vain
Oh Willy McBride it all happened again
And again, and again, and again, and again

Did they beat the drums slowly?
Did they play the fife lowly?
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down?
Did the band play the Last Post in chorus?
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

Green Fields Of France (Eric Bogle cover)

Magma

Charlie Gormley: vocals

Paddy's Lamentation

Well it's by the hush, me boys, and sure that's to hold your noise
And listen to poor Paddy's sad narration
I was by hunger pressed, and in poverty distressed
So I took a thought I'd leave the Irish nation

Well I sold me ass and cow, my little pigs and sow
My little plot of land I soon did part with
And me sweetheart Bid McGee, I'm afraid I'll never see
For I left her there that morning broken-hearted

Here's to you boys, now take my advice
To America I'll have ye's not be going
There is nothing here but war, where the murderin' cannons roar
And I wish I was at home in dear old Dublin

Well meself and a hundred more, to America sailed o'er
Our fortunes to be made [sic] we were thinkin'
When we got to Yankee land, they shoved a gun into our hands
Saying "Paddy, you must go and fight for Lincoln"

General Meagher to us he said, if you get shot or lose your head
Every murdered soul of youse will get a pension
Well meself I lost me leg, they gave me a wooden peg,
And by God this is the truth to you I mention

Here's to you boys, now take my advice
To America I'll have ye's not be going
There is nothing here but war, where the murderin' cannons roar
And I wish I was at home in dear old Dublin

Well I think meself in luck, if I get fed on Indian buck
And old Ireland is the country I delight in
With the devil, I do say, it's curse Americay
For I think I've had enough of your hard fightin'

Here's to you boys, now take my advice
To America I'll have ye's not be going
There is nothing here but war, where the murderin' cannons roar
And I wish I was at home in dear old Dublin

Paddy's Lamentation (Irish traditional)

James Higgins vocals; Alfredo De Pietra guitar; backing tracks Band-in-a-Box

This Is What You Are (Mario Biondi cover)

James Higgins: vocals

Teardrop (Massive Attack)

Love, love is a verb
Love is a doing word
Fearless on my breath
Gentle impulsion
Shakes me, makes me lighter
Fearless on my breath
Teardrop on the fire
Fearless on my breath

Night, night of matter
Black flowers blossom
Fearless on my breath
Black flowers blossom
Fearless on my breath
Teardrop on the fire
Fearless on my

Water is my eye
Most faithful mirror
Fearless on my breath
Teardrop on the fire
Of a confession
Fearless on my breath
Most faithful mirror
Fearless on my breath
Teardrop on the fire
Fearless on my breath

It's tumbling down (as in love falling apart)
It's tumbling down (as in love falling apart)

Teardrop (Newton Faulkner/Massive Attack cover)

Taking Us Over to the Other Side

(Words & Music: James Higgins; arrangement: Alfredo De Pietra)

there's a boat that's sailing on the morning tide
and it's hold is deep and it's deck is wide
and it's taking us to the other side
i just hope to god that we all survive
and it's taking us over to the other side
well we've paid the piper and the captain too
and we're sharing quarters with the cabin crew
and we'll step on shore in a week or two
if we don't drop dead with the spanish flu
and it's taking us over to the other side
where all men are equal in the eyes of god
where men are free to live their dreams
a place where we can live in peace
where we can hold our heads up high
and it's taking us over to the other side
well we're crosing over the deep blue sea
and the fog's so thick that i cannot see
and i'm stood in bilge up to my knees
and i hope to god that we'll soon be free

Taking Us Over To The Other Side

Breezin'  (George Benson cover)

How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (Bee Gees/Al Green cover)

Miss Sarajevo (U2/B. Eno/L. Pavarotti cover)

Thursday's Child (David Bowie cover)

guitar: Yamaha SA2200

drums-bass-piano: BIAB realtracks

brass section:  Godin Freeway -> Fishman TriplePlay-> (specialized) Kontakt library

Moanin' (Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers cover)

Indian music is a long time passion, for me...

Rajastan

Drums: BIAB
Bass: Ibanez GSR180 -> Kemper
2 Electric pianos, trumpet & celesta -> Godin ACS SA -> Roland GR-55 guitar synth
Guitar: Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster -> Kemper

Recorded on the Tascam DP-24SD

Soft Weed Factor (Soft Machine cover)

Alfredo De Pietra: guitars, arrangement
James Higgins: vocals

Directly From My Heart To You (Little Richard)

Berimbau (Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 cover)

Last Train Home (Pat Metheny cover)

Roma Capoccia (Antonello Venditti cover)

Guitars: Yamaha SA2200; Godin Freeway SA (-> Roland GR-55 guitar synth)
Backing tracks: Band-in-a-Box

Are You Going With Me? (Pat Metheny cover)

guitars & arrangement: Alfredo De Pietra
vocals: James Higgins

Railroad Worksong

Working on a railroad for a dollar a day
Working on a railroad for a dollar a day
Working on a railroad good buddy for a dollar a day
Got to get my money gotta get my pay

Take this hammer take it to the captain
Take this hammer take it to the captain
Take this hammer good buddy take it to the captain
Tell him I'm gone tell him I'm gone

If he asks you was I running
If he asks you was I running
If he asks you good buddy was I running
Tell him I was flying tell him I was flying

If he asks you was I laughing
If he asks you was I laughing
If he asks you good buddy was I laughing
Tell him I was crying tell him I was crying

This old hammer rings like silver
This old hammer rings like silver
This old hammer good buddy rings like silver
Shine like gold buddy and it shine like gold

Working on a railroad for a dollar a day
Working on a railroad for a dollar a day
Working on a railroad good buddy for a dollar a day
Got to get my money gotta get my pay
Got to get my money gotta get my pay
Got to get my money gotta get my pay

Railroad Worksong (Notting Hillbillies cover)

Alfredo De Pietra: guitar
James Higgins: vocals

Jamaica Farewell
by Erving Burgess

Down the way where the nights are gay
And the sun shines daily on the mountain top
I took a trip on a sailing ship
And when I reached Jamaica I made a stop

CHORUS:
But I'm sad to say, I'm on my way
Won't be back for many a day
My heart is down, my head is turning around
I had to leave a little girl in Kingston town

Sounds of laughter everywhere
And the dancing girls swaying to and fro
I must declare that my heart is there
Though I've been from Maine to Mexico

CHORUS

Down at the market you can hear
Ladies cry out while on their head they bear
Ackie rice and salt fish is nice
And the rum is good any time of year

CHORUS
CHORUS

Jamaica Farewell (Harry Belafonte cover)

Going home - theme from "The Local Hero" (Mark Knopfler cover)

Born in 1955 in Potenza, Italy, lives in Palermo, Sicily, since 1972.
General practitioner (family doctor), amateur guitar player and home recordist.

Thanks for listening!

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