Wow, Andrew. This is a great tune. Love that bass and guitar.

I wrote and did my first recording of this song back in May 2023 - but I wasn't quite happy with it - I have difficulty singing any note longer than a minim without going on tangents, so I decided recently to give my vocal vulnerabilities a few tweaks. The lesson here is you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear! Despite this, I enjoyed writing a song with long-held notes which is abnormal for me.

The idea for the song originated with the first line ... 'If I [mumble] [mumble] [mumble], refine me', so the rest of the verses became an exercise in finding words rhyming with 'remind' and overlaying these on melodic variations of the first line. Lastly, because the verses describe external intervention, it became natural to write a chorus recognising the person. The guitar riff (if we call it that) gave some busyness to sit underneath the long notes in the chorus - something I realised a few years back - if one instrument/voice is busy, often another instrument/voice will be less so in order that each has their own space.

Refine me

Si une chanteuse de jazz (autre qu'artificielle) veut s'approprier cette ballade jazz dont je suis l'auteur compositeur, cela serait avec plaisir !
Les arrangements ont été faits avec Band-in-a-Box sauf le saxo qui provient de Suno AI.

La Victoire de Samothrace
Est figée, bien à sa place
Mais elle a la tête ailleurs
Son esprit est migrateur
A quoi bon lui serviraient ses ailes 
Si elle ne pouvait se faire la belle

Lorsque, la nuit, un Apollon de pierre
L’invite à le rejoindre sur Cythère
Comment pourrait-elle rester de marbre
Alors, elle décolle dans les ténèbres

La Victoire de Samothrace,
Au matin, reprend sa place
Met en veille son petit coeur
Et attend les visiteurs
A quoi bon lui serviraient ses ailes 
Si elle ne pouvait se faire la belle

La Victoire de Samothrace

La Victoire de Samothrace (maquette avec voix IA)

This is about the kind of secrets you don't wish to have and can't tell anybody (lighthearted)
Key: E, temp 95 bpm


My secrets
(c) HWBerkhout 2025

I can't help it.  I can't tell them
Will you ever understand?
I must hide them, no one likes them
I call them 'my secrets'.

The secrets in my life, who likes to hear them?
So they stay mine forever
You don't get it if I share them
They will blow your mind

Chorus
No, I don't want them, I don't need them
But they are mine, much too long
No, I can't take it, I don't need them
It's because I'm not that strong

I once shared them with a girlfriend
Within a week that ended
I have mentioned them in a letter
Which still hasn't been sent

Chorus
No, I don't want them, I don't need them
But they are mine, much too long
No, I don't take it, I don't need them
It's because I'm not that strong

Solo

Chorus 2x
Oh, I don't want them, I don't need them
But they are mine, much too long
No, I can't take it, I don't need them
It's because I'm not that strong

No, I don't want them, I don't need them
But they are mine, much too long
No, I can't take it, I don't need them
I know, I'm not so strong...

My Secrets

Open Door

The heart's an open door. 
Nothing here but space.
Behind us is eternity.
beneath us, no floor
Whichever way we stare
Before us lies infinity.

We were born for these times
We can skip along timelines
Survivor through trials
We’ve battled denials
And we recognize the signs
We were born for these times

The heart's an open window.
A curtain in the breeze.
Pixie dust scattered spritely
always in the flow
Transparent crystal glass
Moon glowing brightly.
Star shining rightly.

OpenDoor

You are sitting in a lawn chair, feet in the sand, drink in your hand, watching the ocean waves come to shore, and listening to the birds chirping. A short distance behind you is a tiki bar where a few local musicians are playing. The music is so good it seems like the breeze is in tune with the song. This is Paradise Island.

I am playing my nylon string guitar and via my keyboard controller the marimba. Band-in-a-Box is supplying the balance of the tracks using my sound sources.

FYI - Some listeners were expecting a song like this on my previous song, Phantasy Island, and were shocked that it wasn't.  Thus I though that I should redeem myself ASAP! 

Paradise Island

Early Fall

Young Days Waltz(Instrumental Demo Ver.)

若さのままに -Young Days Waltz-
（作詞　玉田剛士　作曲　足立成樹）

駅前の店に 並んだ薔薇
甘やかな香り
理性(こころ)の水面が 揺らめく初夏(なつ)
あの娘が振り向く

ポニーテール揺らしながら
浮かれ気味に口ずさんでる
「ワルツ フォー デビイ」

若さは罪だね
言葉もなく 君に見とれてる


君が選んだのは 翡翠(ジェイド)のブローチ
バースデーのギフト
双子座の君と蟹座の僕
涼やかなSchool Days

いつの間にか時が過ぎて
二度とここに戻れなくても
忘れないよ

瑞々しい声と
ひたむきな瞳 甘やかな香り
若さは罪だね
狂おしいほど 君に見とれてる

若さのままに -Young Days Waltz-

Another scandal another war
   The news reminds us we're not special anymore
   My own horizon, just a barren sea
   There ain't much colour  besides black and grey and green

   Another road ahead, another place to grow 
   Watching all the stories come and go
   They package up the wonder, sell the dream 
   There ain't much colour besides black and grey and green

    The war within was meant to be   
    Lost somewhere but I began to see
    The script is old, the actors   change
    But we’re still stuck on the same  old stage

     Instrumental 

   The world keeps turning, a tired old machine,
   It sounds so loud, but feels the same.
   Each hopeful promise, it starts to wear thin
   Another ending, before we begin.

   The war within was meant to be   
   Lost somewhere but I began to see
   The script is old, the actors   change
   But we’re still stuck on the same  old stage

  Another scandal another war
  The news reminds us we're not special anymore
  Another scandal another war
  The news reminds us we're not special anymore



The War Within

Je suis l'auteur/compositeur/arrangeur de cette chanson.
La voix a été générée avec Suno AI.
Si un vrai interprète éprouve l'envie d'interpréter ce titre, je suis partant !

Le manouche aux doigts d'or
n'est pas du genre bavard
mais pourtant il adore
faire parler sa guitare.
Avec son médiator,
il raconte des histoires.
Guidées par les accords,
ses notes savent émouvoir.
Quand ses yeux s'illuminent,
c'est alors qu'il partage,
sur ses cordes Argentine,
le plus beau des voyages.
Au carrefour des rêveurs,
on trouve du réconfort
dans le jeu enchanteur
du manouche aux doigts d'or. 

Le manouche aux doigts d'or
vient souvent dans ce bar.
C’est ici qu’il adore 
jouer de la guitare.
Il y retrouve toujours
ses compagnons de jeu.
Avec ce monde autour,
Il sait mettre le feu.
Et là, il s’évapore
dans des cieux si précieux 
que l’on devine alors
en lisant dans ses yeux.
Au carrefour des rêveurs,
on trouve du réconfort
dans le jeu enchanteur
du manouche aux doigts d'or. 



Le manouche aux doigts d'or

When Air India Flight 171 crashed shortly after take-off on June 12, 2025, 260 people died and with them their dreams.
Among them was the Joshi family. The family was on their way to a new life together. Father Prateek Joshi had already been working as a radiologist at Derby University Hospital in England for four years. Now his family and wife Komi Vyas, also a doctor, were to join him. He had traveled back to India to accompany his wife and children on the flight to London. Daughter Miraya was eight years old, the twins Nakul and Pradyut five. Just before take-off, they took a cheerful selfie for their loved ones. It was to be one of the saddest photos ever...
This song was inspired by the fate of this family and is also dedicated to the Joshi family.
But the song is also intended to encourage all those who want to change their lives for the better and are not afraid to take risks.

BETWEEN HOPE AND HEAVEN
Music & Lyrics: A. MELZER & DJ LEKICH

[Verse 1]
They packed their bags in the midnight glow
Left the town they used to know
A small house on a dusty lane
A life’s struggle, endless strain
They’re gonna leave the pain, put the future on the line

[Verse 2]
With his wife and his kids in tow
He whispered, „Loves, now it’s time to go“
A one-way ticket, dreams held tight
Gonna chase these stars through the endless night
Feels so right with the future on the line

[Chorus]
Between hope and heaven
They’re gonna find their way
They’re gonna leave behind the shadows of yesterday
With hearts so heavy, but spirits high
Gonna take to the clouds, and together they’ll fly
And make their way to where their futures lies
Between hope and heaven

[Verse 3]
The old life fades as the engines roar
A world unseen on that distant shore
His little girl clutches his hand
Eyes wide with wonder for the promised land
She understands the future’s on the line

[Bridge]
And so in life it comes to this
You take a chance, you take a risk
An angel’s touch or a devil’s kiss
And hope and heaven is all there is


SOUND GUARDIANS are:

ANDREAS MELZER - Music, Lyrics, Production, Artwork and Mix

DJ LEKICH - Vocals, BGV's, Music and Lyrics

MARTY STRAUB - Bass

SHIGEKI ADACHI - Strings accompaniment

WOLFGANG MELZER - All Solo Guitars & Fill Ins

BETWEEN HOPE AND HEAVEN
Music & Lyrics by Andreas Melzer & Dj Lekich
©2025 by SOUND GUARDIANS

Between Hope And Heaven

BETWEEN HOPE AND HEAVEN by SOUND GUARDIANS

I've been a guitarist since the age of 15 and writing songs since then, albeit more prolifically since 2000. I prefer strong melodies and to borrow chords to move outside of the diatonic. Usually, the song mix contains my vocals, guitars and sometimes bass, with drums, keys and other instruments auto-generated. The tracks uploaded in my Soundcloud are attempts to 'illustrate' the idea and sound I imagined when writing the songs. At best, the quality of recordings are demo quality. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!

Refine me

Andrew of the antipodes

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