2023/5/10

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parabola

Dollar General

Zero Sum Game

This tune burns... slowly...

An instrumental Jazz Rock tune based on a basic structure of a typical Blues progression, up until the mid section, which goes into a more Spanisch / Middle Eastern feel. I hope you'll enjoy!

-Dan

Music written, arranged, recorded and mixed by Dan van den Berg, July 2023
Guitars, bass and drum programming by Dan van den Berg
Guitar: Charvel Pro-Mod DK24 HSH 2PT CM Mahogany Natural
Bass: Fender Performer Jazz Bass
Guitars recorded with AmpliTube
Music mixed and mastered in AURIA PRO
Cover art in Midjourney AI by Dan van den Berg

Slow Burn | Dan van den Berg

Instrumental and Mix by Garddwr Porffor: https://soundcloud.com/garddwrporffor
Vocals, Vocal melody, Lyrics by Nadia Selvaggi


What Are We?

Divinity's breath --
a shadow appearing
in early morn's lucid dreams
Where unseen gods
plant their symbols and serpentry

​In you and me

Our lost history
that keeps us bound by
the spells of powers unseen
Our imaginations --
the empty halls
painted with hues of agony

What are we?

Our captured souls --
their source of power
Our hands and minds --
their energy
And for their gods
we are the sacrifice,
their offering

​W​e were once free

In a fallen world of illusion
the living dead shield themselves
from beauty and truth
Beguiled and hypnotized
by the chimeras of demons
they cling to their slavery

​Too blind to see

Shaping our thoughts and actions 
with their dark ancient craft
A faceless persuasion 
lights the path to unconsciousness

What Are We? by Garddwr Porffor & Nadia Selvaggi

Open E Blues

neon lights

劣等生。　

見えないものに　怯えてる日々に
どこへ向かい歩けばいいと言うの
恐れはいつも　ここに在って
立ち向かう事も　出来やしないって

揺れる木々　喧騒です
また明日　ほら嘘つき

時は流れて　今も変わらず
嘘に嘘重ねる日々で
夢を歌えど　夢に敗れて
涙流す日々と劣等生

見えないものに怯えてる　僕は
どこへ向かい歩けば良いと言うの
誰かの影に　隠れては　いつも
笑ってただ　涙をのんで　

揺れる心　劣等感
明日なら　ほら嘘つき

時は流れて　今も変わらず
嘘に嘘重ねる日々で
夢を歌えど　夢に敗れて
涙流す　日々と劣等生

心 虚空　喧騒です
喧騒に落ちた　一点です
いつも　心喧騒です
明日なら　言えるかな

時は流れて　今も変わらず
嘘を塗り続ける現状です
夢を歌えど　夢は遥かに
涙　溺れそうな　現状です

時は流れる　明日も変わらず
僕を　乗せて走り続けるよ
いつかもし　いつか僕が
変われる時が来たら 笑って

劣等生[DEMO]

** Discussing the Menu ** 

Discussing the menu will never nourish our bodies. 
Shall we stop talking for a while?
Just point your finger to show me where the meal is,
and I'll go and feed myself. 

Yes, I know...
Pointing fingers can be rude.
But that's collateral damage of a basic cognitive activity.
For many words we use, pointing precedes meaning. 
We can point at the sea and say: "Look! The sea!" 
And thus we can assign names to the beasts, the trees and the stars. 
That's the miracle of pointing. 
Somehow we understand that we are naming a thousand  things, 
not giving a thousand names to the stupid pointing finger.

And thus, as we understand each other, 
we are both edified while rejoicing together.
Joy is the secret prize of sharing,
a prize beyond words or the ringing sound of bells.
A wordless no bell prize.   

And there's so much more to understand
than the things we can perceive 
with our feeble ears and naked eyes...
Did you know?
Gobi camels shed tears
when they are sung 
ancient Mongolian lullabies.

Discussing The Menu (Based on Yann Kifer's Bella track)

"Finding Home" is the prelude to "Dreaming of Home" composed in ternary form and so named for its wandering key signature.

Finding Home

Unwetterwarnung

너에게 특별한 것을 찾아보렴....

Walk On Night Seasand

Born in Virginia, raised in Maryland; survivor of an alcoholic  family; graduated High School and Union Carpenters Apprenticeship; a student of Algebra, a student of Life, a  brown belt Samurai Chess Player; gave up clarinet in 2nd grade because he was too young to understand;  gave up French class 5 years later because he could not speak the language; turned down Ms. Maria Blautzig for the Sadie Hawkins Dance because she had turned  down his request earlier in the school year; walked out of typing class on day one, hell HOUR one, because he could not handle the stress of it;  walked out of Oklahoma State University because he really needed help at that point and did not know how to ask for it, so ‘tear it all down and blow it up’ seemed to be the only way to find any; experienced the deepest loneliness of his entire life to date out on that highway, with no direction anywhere.  He has worked as a ditch digger, a grass cutter, a TV Guide door to door salesman; he has been a farm worker, carpenters’ helper, apprentice, a Journeyman carpenter in Local 132, a Home Improvement contractor and a Facilities Maintenance Engineer.  He has passed up more opportunities than cars on a freight train; he has hitchhiked, hobo’ed and walked across tens of thousands of miles of America's roadways, and a few in Canada, for good measure.

By virtue of  a chance encounter one snowy January night in 1993, when he met and eventually married the revolutionary communist, aspiring novelist, multi instrumentalist soprano and as yet unheralded expert at fitting leftovers into the refrigerator, the  beguiling, and sumptuous Ms. Juliana; this union subsequently created the talented, smart, bubbly, and eye-catching Ms. Sophia, she of the musical pipes.
Mr Higgins first picked up the guitar at age 23, the harmonica at 57, and wrote his first book at age 5, or 6. It shall remain forever unpublished, as the only handwritten master of it is lost to the dustbin of history.


Numerous of the photos here are by my friend Charles Steck, who recently unexpectedly passed away. Thank you so much Charles, we are missing you .


Thank you for listening to my music.  Voting link for Distrokid/Spotify playlisting
https://distrokid.com/spotlight/brianhiggins/vote/


How it works

Anyone (not just DistroKid members) can listen & vote on their favorites. Songs with the most votes will be added to a big DistroKid Spotify playlist. Playlists are updated each week, and votes are reset to zero.

I put Si Beag Si Mor up for voting on this week. 
Thank you for your support!
Brian


I have mastered most of my tunes with SoundCloud

Open E Blues

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