Last year I collaborated with Linda de Bruijn & Heloise Kirby and we wrote this Christmas song. Producer Steve Wilson from The Jump Room made this lovely arrangement in which he has used my old demo voice in a wonderful way! Enjoy!

Lyrics: So many games to play
When we wake up on Christmas Day   
Make a row of angels fly
Take snowflakes from the sky
Let cold air fill our lungs
Like it did when we were young
Oh, to go back in time once more   
That’s all I’m wishing for.

My December dream is coming true
Christmas time is better with you
Kiss me gently in the snow
You’ll make my winter heart glow

We’re getting ready for tonight
You look splendid in candlelight
Who can resist the mistletoe
While silent night is on the radio
Stars shining after heavy clouds
Illuminating Santa’s route
The best times are coming once more
That’s all I’m wishing for

My December dream is coming true
Christmas time is better with you
Kiss me gently in the snow
You’ll make my winter heart glow

Oh it's so good to have you home again

December Dreams - Anouk Balins/Linda de Bruijn/Heloise Kriby

My take on christmas, Whiskey & Angels 🙂

(Lyrics below)

Voice - Anouk Balins
Guitar - Johan Fransen
Bass - Kees van Leeuwen
Drums - John Kakiay
Keys - Joep van Leeuwen

Arrangement:
André van den Bunt – Bunt Studio’s Utrecht

Beeld:
www.pexels.com

Montage:
Remco Uri -Uri Media Productions Almere

Foto: Claudia Kamergorodski

© 2023 - InnerCircle Records

Lyrics: Whiskey & Angels

I hear the jangly music, bells & chimes of the slot machine
My sleeves are soaking wet with beer
spilled on the bar I lean on
The ice cubes jingle like bells as I stir my glass
I'm gonna drink until the sun shines
And Christmas is gone

I try to forget what I keep remembering
That all the good I had is but a memory
I look at the bartender & he knows what I mean
I'm gonna drink until the sun shines
And Christmas is gone

The smell of fresh baked cookies
While sitting by the fireplace
Listening to the silent night, Glory Halleluja
Is now replaced by the stench of piss and alcohol
And I'm hearing some generic Rock 'n roll

The gambler hit the jackpot
Falling coins like salvation bells
My head down so low I see my hair float in beer
Damn, that's gonna smell
Tomorrow I'll wash away my sins and a new life begins
But until then I'm gonna drink until Christmas is gone
I'm gonna drink until I see the angels
They'll carry me home, carry me home

Whiskey & Angels - Anouk Balins

Voice - Anouk Balins
Guitar - Johan Fransen
Bass - Kees van Leeuwen
Drums - John Kakiay
Keys - Joep van Leeuwen

Arrangement:
André van den Bunt – Bunt Studio’s Utrecht

© 2023 - InnerCircle Records

Lyrics:

So you got plenty of plans
You got so many words
You want put in a poem, a story, a song
That needs to be heard

You can watch from afar
And see the others succeed ... or fail
There's no difference between them & you
The devil is in the details


	It's tenacity, actively, with certainty, continuously
	The tragedy & the comedy, write it down


		Let's just show up and see what happens now
		Let's just show up and see what happens now
		You can run, you can hide  F
		You can let it all slide if you think that's alright
		But just show and see what happens now
		

You think you're not good enough
You think there too much to learn
You tell yourself it's better to stay cold
When there's a chance that you get burned

It's tenacity .....
That's the way things change

Let's just show up - Anouk Balins

Voice - Anouk Balins
Guitar - Johan Fransen
Bass - Kees van Leeuwen
Drums - John Kakiay
Keys & strings - Joep van Leeuwen

Arrangement:
André van den Bunt – Bunt Studio’s Utrecht

© 2023 - InnerCircle Records

Lyrics:

Clara was the nanny, still a child herself
For three years she took care of the boy
Together they were quite alone
So I made my temporary home
Inside her beautiful soul
	There I soothed her worrying heart
	To be the lullaby that made him stop crying

The parents moved back and Clara moved on
For years the boy forgot about being loved
He grew up an angry child
So to end it all he walked away
And in the desert sand he lay
	There I crept into the deepest of his soul
	To surround him with the soothing sound that makes him whole again

		He stood up and went to live a happy life
		Wrote some famous books, had some kids, a lovely wife
		But he kept wondering about the moment in the sand
		The music that he felt, out of the blue he felt loved again

Years gone by, by chance they meet
Old Clara recognizes the boy
'It's really you', she said
You're the only child I ever had
Let me sing for you once more
	And when she takes him by his hands
	She starts humming me and suddenly he understands

I'll be here for years to come
Like I was in years gone by
And now you are also part
Of the memory of a melody

The memory of a melody - Anouk Balins

Voice - Anouk Balins
Guitar - Johan Fransen
Bass - Kees van Leeuwen
Drums - John Kakiay
Keys - Joep van Leeuwen

Arrangement:
André van den Bunt – Bunt Studio’s Utrecht

© 2023 - InnerCircle Records

Lyrics:

Sometimes the day may seem a little bit too gray
I'll bathe you in light
You see me dance & hear me singing in the rain
And here's the reason why

	Long time ago a friend told me
	Her brother said to her
	He heard a wise man say
	That all you gotta do
	When you feel blue you sing
	Jompiedompiedo ....

Sometimes the day may seem to lack a bit of rhyme
I give you this song
Just sing & dance when clouds keep blocking out the sun
This will make you shine

	Long time ago a friend told me
	Her brother said to her
	He heard a wise man say
	That all you gotta do
	When you feel blue you sing
	Jompiedompiedo ....

So now you try and let us sing together now
It's going to be allright

	Jompiedompiedo ....

So shine your light and let us sing together now
It's going to be allright

Jompiedompiedo - Anouk Balins

Voice - Anouk Balins
Guitar - Johan Fransen
Bass - Kees van Leeuwen
Drums - John Kakiay
Keys - Joep van Leeuwen

Arrangement:
André van den Bunt – Bunt Studio’s Utrecht

© 2023 - InnerCircle Records

Lyrics:

They sit on that bench, same time every day
He quietly makes sure that she is okay
He brushes her hair gently out of her face
She's not aware that he cares

	Then that moment of clarity
	She says: I know you, I think
 	He looks at her and he gives her his little wink

		And then there's that smile again
		That sparkle in her eyes again
 		And he recognizes the girl she was before
            

He's humming her song while stroking her hand
His silent tear drops in the sand
He points at the birds but she doesn't see
She's not aware but he cares

		Cause then there's that smile again
		That sparkle in her eyes again
		And he recognizes the girl she was before
            

He's stroking her hand while humming her song, hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Humming her song - Anouk Balins

A song I wrote about my sickness and coming the end of my times. 'It's okay'.
Little anecdote: 'Kloris & Roosje' appears as a small wink to my grandfather & grandmother Nouwen: when we used to visit or stayed there and one or two flies flew around, they were always called Kloris & Roosje. Only much later did I find out that they are actual figures from Dutch literature and fortunately Kloris & Roosje also belong together in literature, since the play is called: 'The wedding of Kloris & Roosje' :-D

English lyrics:

It's okay

Now that the doctor has spoken
The cards have been shuffled
I just have to deal with it
I don't want to live in despair
So I gather my courage
And whatever happens: it's okay

I will continue to seize the days
I'll put the roses in my hat
Until I'm gone
I live my adventures
And I keep my courage up
And whatever happens: it makes sense

To each his own path, to each his own way
One is lucky, the other unlucky
It is what it is, the end begins somewhere
One lives long, the other short
Death ensures that there is life
Like the sun & moon, Yin & Yang, Kloris & Roosje

I will continue to seize the days
I'll put the roses in my hat
And it's okay

Het is goed - Anouk Balins

Songwriter, melody maker, former singer (sickness took my voice)

Anouk Balins

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