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

"Hard Times Come Again No More" (sometimes, "Hard Times") is an American parlor song written by Stephen Foster (in stamp) in 1854
The first audio recording was a wax cylinder by the Edison Manufacturing Company in 1905.
In my version I sing and play guitars and mandolins (Napolitan and Octave). I produced this at my home wirh Band in a Box and Reaper.
Laulun on kirjoittanut Stephen Foster (postimerkissä) 1984. Se äänitettiin ensi kerran 1905 Edisonin vahasylinteritallentimelle.
Versiossani laulan ja soitan kitaroita sekä mandoliineja (napolilainen ja oktaavi). Tuotin tämän kotonani Band in a Boxilla ja Reaperilla.

Hard Times Come Again No More (Stephen Foster 1854)

Je suis l'auteur compositeur de cette chanson.
Les arrangements ont été faits à partir de Band-in-a-Box (contrebasse, guitare, mandoline) et de Suno AI (voix, violon, violoncelle).

Chaque personne est un iceberg
Dont on ne voit que le haut
Chacun se complimentant
Sur la forme de son chapeau
Entre confiance et méfiance
Savoir sur quel pied l’on danse

Qu’en est-il de leurs abysses
Tout au fond de l’Atlantique
Doit-on quand même s’y risquer
A l’instar du Titanic
Entre confiance et méfiance
Peut-on compter sur la chance

L’expérience et l’intuition 
Seront les meilleurs radars
Prévenant la collision
Avant qu’il ne soit trop tard
Entre confiance et méfiance
Il faut sortir sa balance

Entre confiance et méfiance

Kitchin Sync

R.W. Davis: Lyrics
Me: Music, arrangement, mix, master, vocals, harmonies, BGVs, guitar break
Freepik.com: Graphic


A Forge, A Waitress and a Jukebox Song

Sons of Thunder

Janice Merritt: vocals, percussion and arrangement
Peter Fulham: guitar rhythm, fills and solos
Bud Merritt: lyrics, arrangement, mix/mastering & photo

NO TURNAROUND 
Intro 

Verse 1

I always wanted to be your safe full of treasures 

But you never tried to learn my combination

The numbers on that dial were oh so simple 

Why didn’t  you find trying it a sweet temptation?

	Chorus

	So I’m gonna travel a single lane for a while

	Leaving’s all that matters not where I’m bound

	Don’t wanna roundabout just need a straight line 

	No side roads and damn sure no turnaround

Verse 2

The credits are rolling ‘n there’s no backing up

My Mama told me hearts are made to be broken

They’re  all going to leave you sooner or later

Maybe that’s why you left so many words unspoken 

	Repeat Chorus

Solo

Bridge 

You used to tell me what you wanted to be

But wanting to be and being ain’t the same for me

	Repeat Chorus

Outro

No Turnaround

This is a mystical song, because of its lyrics and used instruments, like a cello, strings and conga's. A touch of Rock and a cool lead guitar. It is in the key of G, 95 bpm.

Confusing Times
(c) HwBerkhout, 11102025

Verse 1
In the nighttime I lie awake
And the morning brings no conclusion
That’s the hard part - when all feels fake
Oh, I’m still chasing a true solution

Verse 2
No, not what you call better
That doesn't matter much to me
No, that doesn't matter

Chorus 1 (confusion)
C1/ Oh... it’s the morning where I have to start
I wonder why my thoughts won’t break
You saw me staring - a lonely card?
Oh, my mind is a silent lake

Verse 3
There’s a time when I go walking
Maybe truth is somewhere near
And there's a time for me talking
But no answers do appear

Verse 4
No, don’t leave me in that corner
Don’t just turn away
Oh I - I’m in the rain all day

Chorus 2 (doubt)
C2/ And... it’s around noon where I fall apart
I wonder if my heart will ache
You saw me dreaming - a wounded heart
Oh, my mind’s a shadowed lake

Chorus 3 (longing)
C3/ But... it’s the evening where I see your face
I wonder if it’s just a mistake
You see me reaching - through empty space
Oh, my mind’s a trembling lake

Solo

Verse 5
We kept our promise to laugh every day.
And enjoy all the good old songs.
It ain't me and it ain't you, no way
But sadness comes, to life it belongs

Chorus 4 (acceptance)
C4/ But... in the morning that I start to climb
I wonder what the dawn will take
You see me rising - for one more time
Oh, my heart is a clearing lake

Chorus 5 (peace)
C5/ And now... It feels I'm living in a confusing time
I wonder where the light will break
But you see me smiling - my soul aligned
Oh, my mind is now a shining lake

Confusing Times

No One Knows the Blues Like Me
By David Snyder

V1

I don't need the rain 
To make me feel my pain 
Lord knows I been crying 
In the bright sunshine 
Don't need to be in Memphis 
Or Chicago South side 
Or down at the crossroads
In a Mississippi Delta tide
Cause my blues knows every city 
And my blues is certified

PC

See I got mine from the devil 
In a crossfire hurricane 
I've been bad to so many womens 
I only got myself to blame 
And I can't even look in the mirror 
And it’s a dirty rotten shame


CH

Good Lord I'll sing the chorus 
And I need y'all folks to see 
That I lost my soul 
While I was breaking hearts 
From sea to shining sea
And there ain't no one in Chicago 
Or even in hell 
That I can see
No one knows the blues like me
Aw naw child
No one knows the blues like me
 
Music and lyrics copyright 2025 
by David Snyder
ASCAP/Day of Faith Records
David Snyder: Guitars and Vocals, additional instrumentation, mixing, production, mastering

NO ONE KNOWS THE BLUES LIKE ME

Eleven (or 10)

Just me letting off a little steam.

I am playing the lead guitar and via my breath a nd keyboard controller the Swam flute. Band-in-a-Box is supplying the balance of the tracks using my sound sources.

Warning - there is some dissonance in this song.  It was intentional. 

City Nights

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