Original from Debut Album, "Becker" on iTunes!
Currently known as "Beneath the Boards"

Hard Headed Love

 	  Disowned, I’m a stray with no home,
Forgotten, strangers come closer than I,
Silence echoes; She’s changed her mind, 
But still my head aches, with hard headed love.
	
	 This fever burns, Can’t sweat her out.
Fatal, Others only dull the pain,
Evermore,
Adrift, No harbor to anchor my soul.

You’re the peak too steep,
My worth never could reach,
I gave,
But got nothing, My heart’s callous, Bone dry.

	 Love gleams in her eye, then she blinks
She’s fickle, but still I’m consistent with hard headed love.	
	
I see, We don’t work, yet I toil with hope,
I must go, where her scent thins
It’s in a,
Deep slumber; I must not wake my hard headed love.

	

Hard Headed Love

Original from Debut Album, "Becker" on iTunes!

Currently known as "Beneath the Boards"

Too Much Mind

When you care enough, to swear, you hear what others think, just…
And self-conscious overheats, meets, and retreats to see a shrink, just…
Too Much Mind, Unwind and Just… Do

When Decisive spits, he quits, packs his wits, and hits the road, just…
And your brain swells, and yells, “One more thought-cell and I’ll implode,” just…
Too Much Mind, Unwind and Just… Do

Don’t oscillate,
Or Let Debate Condensate,
Make your mind evaporate and,
Don’t think, just do 


Too Much Mind

Original from Debut Album, "Becker" on iTunes!

Currently known as Beneath the Boards

Equanimity

Wrapped a seed in a dollar bill, and drilled in the ground.
For forty fortnights fortune fled and frayed.
But when that evil fruit sprout, I burned the whole thing down.

Dug my way into earth’s core, and pulled the power chord.
Clamor and Clatter kept up to chatter all day.
But when peace and quiet came, I switched on the rain.

Learn to lose what you want before what you want haunts you.

Caught a thought, I’ll trap time; stop him from running my life.
Time’s too quick; he slipped past every trick I laid.
But once I hooked him in his hasty deed, I set him free.

Tamed a comet, then laced the reigns; said fly me to the edge of space.
Whipped round Mars, weaved through stars, yet worlds away.
But when the end was near, I spoke and flew back home.

Learn to lose what you want before what you want haunts you.

Equanimity

Beneath the Boards rewrote the lyrics to the Bob Dylan original Mama You been On My Mind and played the guitar like the Jeff Buckley rendition. Becker kept the hook line of the title in the song and the first verse, but the rest of the verses he has rewritten. Lyrics:

Mama You’ve Been On My Mind-Beneath the Boards

                                     
Perhaps it is the color of the sun cut flat              
And covering the crossroads I'm standing at                                 
Or maybe it´s the weather or something like that   
But mama, you’ve been on my mind

Jagged tones cut your words, Sour Looks Spoiled your mood, left you bent,
But in your silence, I always heard “Child I’ll forget”
Now I pace the floor dreamin’ ways to repay you and repent,
Mama, you’ve been on my mind.

Even though the pathway to my woes may seem too high and narrow,
As though pestered by care, we know where I come when overrun by sorrow,
Cause I know you’d burn the day just to see me wake tomorrow,
Oh mama, you're just on my mind.

There’s power in the phrase said too much and too few
It’s just been stretched to wide to use, brought to a height no man can live up to
So I’ll bring it back to you in a line that feels sincere and true
Oh mama, you're just on my mind.

When you wake up in the mornin' mama look inside your mirror,
Smile, for you’ve done well, you’re held with deep revere.
And if doubts of your worth pour and it seems no one sees you there, 
Remember your son has you on his mind.


Mama You've Been on My Mind-Beneath the Boards

This a Recreation of the M. Ward Song "Requiem" retitled "A Tribute" I have dedicated this to my Father who is still living. The Lyrics are much the same except that I have altered the nostalgic feeling for someone that has passed, to a present eternal praise. Musically, I've added guitar nuances and licks in between verses that redirect the feeling of the piece. But the melody is the same. I hope you enjoy my Father's Day present. Here are the Lyrics:

A Tribute 
                                                                                     
Well he storms with his feet                                              
And he claps with his hands                                       
He summons all of his joy when he laughs               
It suffers all of his joy when he cries                      
                                                                              
And sometimes when he moves into talking       
Man he can rattle all day long                                     
He is a good man forever on

Well in war he is a tiger
When it’s over like a dove
He summons all of his strength in the climb
It suffers all of his strength in the fall

And sometimes when he moves into fighting
Man he can fight with you all night long
He is a good man forever on 
He puts his trust in a higher power
He holds his power like a holy grail
He summons all of his faith in the lifting
It suffers all of his faith in the fail

His heart is stronger than a heavy metal bullet
And that's why I dedicate this song.
He is a good man forever on

His heart is stronger than a heavy metal bullet
And that's why I dedicate this song
He is a good man forever on


A Tribute

What If

Stretched thin, Fate wins, it wove our hearts with a looming qualm, we should skip on
To speed time, move seas aside, could quiet our cries, but odds hold strong, we should skip on

But what’s this? Surely it ends in a mess, so what’s this, another of Fate’s jests, surely it ends, oh what’s this?
This “What If” crawling inside my chest, leaving a wishful twitch, oh what’s this?
This Silver Lining racing round my crest, causing a “Hopeful” glitch, oh what this?

It’s an early spring, under winter’s reign; you’re a surprise escape from my reticent ways
It’s a newborn bird attempting a wide open rift; you’re my cause to leap, to keep chasing this “What If”

Not too fast
Hope is Fate’s comic relief, a ploy whose joy is brief, a reason thief
A misleading motif, pressing to reach for a hollow belief, a reason thief

But when words warm your lips, this cynic craze subsides; I see no odd too tough to grind
You excavate these ruins, a relic feeling has been found, I’m even dizzy when you’re far cause those you know are around.
Often I’m socially grazing, nervously searching to relate; with you I’m at rest; I’ve come to the right place
Your face shimmers in my darkest depths; I’ve skipped death to keep chasing you, this “What If”


What If

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"If It Fails" was submitted to 2020 The Great American Song Contest in the instrumental category. Winners will be posted in 2021.

Original guitar instrumental titled "If It Fails." Composed and performed by Beneath The Boards. Produced, recorded, edited, and mixed by  Beneath The Boards. Two nature audio files, one of a brook (running water) and another of birds chirping were downloaded from Freesound.org from the CC0 Category identified both as Public Domain. I edited these audio files with to fit the format of my song.

Brook (Running Water) link: https://freesound.org/people/Nox_Sound/sounds/465619/

Birds Chirping link: https://freesound.org/people/vdr3/sounds/393704/

If It Fails

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Lyrics Below:

"Sudden" was submitted to the 2020 American Songwriting Contest. Winners will be posted in 2021.

Original Song titled "Sudden." Composed, performed, and lyrically written by Beneath The Boards. All instruments heard were composed and performed by Beneath The Boards. The timbales, marimbas, and voices in the intro were performed through playing VI (virtual instruments through my qwertykeyboard. The rest of the instruments and lead vocal were performed acoustically, organically. This song was produced, recorded, edited, and mixed by Beneath The Boards.

Lyrics:

Sudden

Dalia terracotta
Sculpted from arcilla
Ancient worlds live in your eyes

Your tongue shakes like maracas
Mine taps straight like congas
Yet when our rhythms speak they synchronize

Mixed well like a salsa
Your mind feeds mi cabeza
Nourishes my heart and hungers rise

Search keenly to connect
Expect you did not
Good songs end too soon
But glad we sang the same tune

On Wakah-kan ceiba
Must have bloomed on the same rama
For it seems what we find, had once been found

When brave I lift mi cara
Stare into your belleza
Humbled by its heat look back at the ground

As I fly mi boca
Your ears are despierta
Thoughts land safe, and don’t spin round and round.

Kin smiles are tough to sketch
Who shaded yours just right?
Good songs end too soon
But glad we sang the same tune

Sailing throughout a boundless gray
Casting, reeling in disarray
Suddenly jumped in a brighter day

Brighter day, Brighter day

Sudden

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Lyrics Below:

This version of "What If" was submitted to the 2020 (ISC) International Songwriting Competition under the category (AAA) Adult Album Alternative. Winners will be posted in 2021.

"What If" is an original written about the ambivalent, vying feelings about pursing a relationship that has the overpowering probability of it being unable to occur or continue for long term. One side of my feelings are skeptical and encourage me to abandon my pursuit, while the other side recalls the pleasure and admiration of the love I am pursuing and encourages me to keep chasing my, "What If."

Instrumental and lyrical compositions were composed by Beneath The Boards. All instruments and vocals heard were performed organically and acoustically; virtual instruments were not performed in this song. Percussive sounds were performed on various objects around my house. Recording, editing, mixing, and production were all implemented by me, Beneath The Boards.

Lyrics:

                                                     What If                             

Stretched thin, Fate wins, it wove our hearts with a looming qualm, we should skip on
To speed time, move seas aside, could quiet our cries, but odds hold strong, we should skip on

But what’s this? Surely it ends in a mess, so what’s this, another of Fate’s jests?
What’s this? Surely it ends, what’s this?

This “What If” crawling inside my chest, leaving a wishful twitch, oh what’s this?
This Silver Lining racing round my crest, causing a “Hopeful” glitch, oh what this; oh what this?

It’s an early spring, under winter’s reign; you’re my surprise escape from my reticent ways
It’s a newborn bird attempting a wide open rift; you’re my cause to leap, to keep chasing this “What If”

Not too fast
Hope is Fate’s comic relief, a ploy whose joy is brief, a reason thief
A misleading motif, pressing to reach for a hollow belief, a reason thief; a reason thief

But when words warm your lips, this cynic craze subsides; I see no odd too tough to grind
You excavate these ruins, a relic feeling has been found,
 I’m even dizzy when you’re far ‘cause those you know are around.

Often I’m socially grazing, nervously searching to relate; with you I’m at rest; I’ve come to the right place
Your face shimmers in my darkest depths; I’ve skipped death to keep chasing you, my “What If”

What If- Album Version

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Lyrics Below:

"Something Heard Before" was submitted to the 2020 (ISC) International Songwriting Competition under the category Folk/Singer-Songwriter. Winners will be posted in 2021.

"Something Heard Before" is a forlorn, though moderately fast conducted original, depicting the expression of discouragement, inadequacy, weariness, disappointment, shame, guilt, loneliness, rejection, cynicism, apathy, listlessness, despondency, and the rising inability to experience sensations, such as pleasure, despite the affirmations of competence and accomplishment. The title represents, the disheartened understanding that even the content of the song's expression is hackneyed; therefore naming the song "Something Heard Before" is suitable. Metaphorically, this song embodies the image of a frown drooping lower behind a smile as the upward curve rises higher. It's the broken pieces of a person, rubbing their sharp edges together, trying to hold together, behind their sheen, confident capsule. 

Instrumental and lyrical compositions were composed by Beneath The Boards. All instruments and vocals heard were performed organically and acoustically; virtual instruments were not performed in this song. Percussive sounds were performed on various objects around my house. Recording, editing, mixing, and production were all implemented by me, Beneath The Boards.

Lyrics:

                                          Something Heard Before					

Exiled to the edge 
Possessing foreign woes
No one wants to hear
Or seems to know

Drenched in mistakes 
Pouring from the dam 
That continues to break
Flooding hearts at stake

Behind competence, confidence
That winks I can
I’m Just a broken man

Lost in listlessness
Took a wrong turn 
At achieve and impress
Now every goal’s a view to miss

Drilled a hole of fear
Sliding in are 
Pleasure and care, from below 
Looking up with a scornful stare
Behind accomplishments, compliments
That raise my triumphant hand
I’m just a broken man

I’m just a broken man

Something Heard Before

Beneath the Board's music portrays both humanity's sense of dissatisfaction and its ability to overcome. He belts out the words of both the wounded and the healer captivating the listener with his honest expression of every sentiment. His raw soulful voice is backed by a variety of acoustic guitar styling influenced by Spanish and Arabic cultures as well as American Rock & Blues.
Using a combination of "old soul" wisdom and a youthful appetite for hope, Becker is on a poetic journey to understand and be understood.