I am with Mr. C. And you are a fountain. It just seems to flow from you.

Love the smooth, acoustic feel and lovely chords. The insanely catchy melody is pretty special too :)

You capture such melodic gold Dag, gorgeous!

You have a talent for boiling music down to the essentials.

wonderful sincere love song. really moving

Today we are mostly musing on hocus pocus and adding a little cereal box religion to taste.

In the never ending universe
Nothing there at all
Unaware yet dreaming
You'll hear me call

Though you don't remember
You've been here before
Time without a number
Rooms without a door

Take this gift and treasure it
A blend of pleasure and pain
You'll have no way to measure it
Before you're coming round again

Crying as you enter
I whisper in your ear
Live long and prosper
On this new frontier

As your light is fading
Life is on the wane
Have no fear of darkness
You'll be coming round again

Take this gift and treasure it
A blend of pleasure and pain
You'll have no way to measure it
Before you're coming round again

The Doorman

Ban'ei racing is a type of horse racing in which racehorses compete for strength and speed while pulling a sled. It is also sometimes called "horse pulling".
Currently, the only publicly managed (local) horse racing in Japan is "Ban'ei horse racing" sponsored by Obihiro City, Hokkaido, and it is the only form of horse racing in the world.
"Ban'ei horses" (heavy breeding horses, also called "banba"), which have been used since ancient times mainly as farm horses and weigh around 800-1200 kg, pull iron sleds carrying jockeys and heavy loads, and compete in strength, speed, endurance, and jockey technique on a separate 200-meter straight course with two obstacles (small trapezoidal hills).


Horse-drawn sleigh race on snow

Come What May

Between writing sermons as a small-town pastor, I was also engaged in writing songs, some you have heard in my "Scenes of St. Francis". This particular song came to me after reading an article about love and marriage--ministers do a lot of reading for sermon preparation--but this one knocked me a bit sideways.  Turns out men on average will fall in love between five and seven times before meeting their wife, and then 1-1/2 times afterward!  This song is about the 1-1/2 times afterward, a little different kind of love song for Valentine's Day. 
I have sat on the text and melody for over forty years but thought I better do something before time overtook it as it had overtaken my singing voice.  I heard Axel sing in his magnificent song with Sarah Paradise-Brown "What We Still Feel" and felt he could give the song the vocal it needed, an international voice of "everyman".  When he received the guitar parts he set to work on it and gave the song a stunningly beautiful orchestral setting as well.  Thank you dear Axel for lavishing your vocal and orchestral skills on a song that needed both. I am deeply honored and indebted.  Hear more of Axel's beautiful music @axel-m-501052973.
"Faithful and True" lyrics:

I recall the day I said "I do",
I never thought that I could love anyone
Like I love you,
But of late I'm really not so sure
That the promises we made can hold
Us together as we both grow older
With each day.
Is it possible for love to endure?
Chorus:
But I've made up my mind.
I've made my choice,
This feeling will pass but never the voice,
That tells me I must remain,
Faithful and true.

Bridge:
It doesn't stop the pain of admitting what can never be,
But if love has any meaning it is found in trust,
And not in what we feel.

Instrumental break...

Repeat bridge:

There's a sadness as I say farewell
To a love that promised more than I could ever tell,
Or at least that is the way it seemed
To a man who found himself in love
With another 'till he counted the cost of fantasy.
It was more than he ever dreamed.

Repeat chorus and end.

Faithful And True (David Dunham with Axel Menningen)

Zephyrus abducted and then married the nymph Chloris, transforming her into a goddess: Flora.
The portrait of Flora, together with the scene of the abduction, is depicted in one of the masterpieces of Renaissance art: ‘Primavera’, by Sandro Botticelli (Uffizi Gallery, Florence).

I wrote this song when I was in high school (which means in the mid-70s), so I guess the naivety of the lyrics and the simplicity of the original melody are understandable. Francess (@pianofran : you all know her) worked beautifully on that melody (the archeological version of the song had a definitely different rhythm); we weren't planning to revive the song (the idea was to produce a purely instrumental piece), but the beauty of this piano arpeggio motivated me to give it a try. And so I sang it.
Of course, my gratitude goes to Francess for the magnificent work she has done on this my old music! 🙏

Lyrics (ENG / ITA)

You live in the leaves
of your fears
like a snowdrop
that can never bloom
Sad mechanisms
your tears and your smiles
seek the courage
to break the enchantment

But the wizard who imprisoned you
With golden bracelets
cannot stop the wind
that ruffles your thoughts
and only in little moments
incredulous and light
you imagine that time
listens to your breath

Already the leaves are falling
of your fears
and the wind disperses them
among thousands of plains
Your new smile
like fountain water
chases in the streets
other gazes and new lives

The sky is a hawk
and air a bee
the waters together dance
in your soft fingers
of perfumed musk
you will carry them with you
never more shall you pass
where they still shade
cold, dark bushes

----

Vivi tra le foglie
delle tue paure
come un bucaneve
che non potrà mai fiorire
Tristi meccanismi
i tuoi pianti e i tuoi sorrisi
cercano il coraggio
di spezzare il sortilegio

Ma il mago che ti imprigionò
con braccialetti d'oro
non può fermare il vento
che ti spettina i pensieri
e solo in brevi attimi
incredula e leggera
ti immagini che il tempo
ascolti il tuo respiro

Già cadono le foglie
delle tue paure
e il vento le disperde
fra migliaia di pianure
Il tuo nuovo sorriso
come acqua di fontana
rincorre nelle strade
altri sguardi e nuove vite

Il cielo è un falco
e l'aria un'ape
le acque insieme danzano
nelle tue dita morbide
di muschio profumato
li porterai insieme a te
mai più dovrai passare
là dove ancora ombreggiano
cespugli freddi e scuri

----

Lyrics: Michele Ansani
Music: Michele Ansani & Francess Harris
Piano: Francess Harris
Vocals and arrangement: Michele Ansani
Composed by Ansani & Harris (1976-2025)
Posted on SoundCloud: 2025, February 14

Flora [with Francess Harris] *

Copyright 2025 Joe Stroffolino
Lyrics:
Some people say these are the best of times, Other people say times are bad.  But don’t you know it’s always a good time when you’re around.
You always have something good to say, even on the most miserable day.

All it take is a smile from you and they sky turns from grey to blue
You’re a ray of sunshine, busting  through the clouds.
You make me turn up the music play it loud


Play it loud, you make me turn up the music play it loud.
Play it loud, you make me turn up the music play it loud.
You make me turn up the music play it loud.

Some people say this town has seen better days
 but everything looks good to me
Cause don’t you know that when you’re by my side, that’s the only place I want to be.  
Every time I see your beautiful face, I know I’m living in the right place

All it take is a smile from you and they sky turns from grey to blue
You’re a ray of sunshine, busting  through the clouds.
You make me turn up the music play it loud

Play it loud, you make me turn up the music play it loud.
Play it loud, you make me turn up the music play it loud.
You make me turn up the music play it loud.

All it take is a smile from you and they sky turns from grey to blue
You’re a ray of sunshine, busting  through the clouds.
You make me turn up the music play it loud
You make me turn up the music, Turn up the music, Turn up the music play it loud.

Guitar (Taylor 114ce) 2 tracks (1 strumming and 1 picking) (played by me)
Vocals (Sung by me)
Bass (PG Music Real track)
Drums (EZ Drummer 3)

All It Takes Is A Smile - New Guitar version

Now into my seventh decade of living, and celebrating my fiftieth anniversary this month as a guitar player (I should play better than do;), I wanted to drop this "little ditty" as my attempt to keep up with the likes of Bill Liggett (@soundcloud.com/greenfleamusic/tracks) and other notable players on this fine platform.  Actually it's an attempt to keep up with myself, seeing if I can still play what I learned 40-plus years ago, in the case of this song, the introductory licks I learned from a very fine Kansas City lounge musician, Mark Bell in 1979.  For those keeping score, you may remember it from the song "This Motel Room" by Jimmy Buffet--a fun and clever song that details the many nights touring musicians have to endure staying in motel rooms.  I took the initial licks heard throughout the song and built an independent melody line around it, half blues ditty, half musical joke, with a serious moment (you know I have to have one of those:), all with the hope of bringing a smile.  I'm proud to say I can still play it, and maybe, just maybe a little better now than then:)  Bill, just don't ask me to play it live;)

A Little Ditty (David, solo guitar)

LYRIC VIDEO :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlcw1ud7BXo
This is a song that came to me quite in Full on the evening of Christmas Day 2024 which was also the First Nite of Hanukkah 2024 at just around 11pm, Just like Magic. 
~ I do believe my beautiful late Mom may have had something to do with it ~ I've never had a song write itself practically in entirety so easily ~ Hope It Brings Hope ~~ & Yes ~ Magic !  
© 2025

The City of Magically

annabel lee cover.wav

自分にとっての数直線上の−方向の全ての季節に歌を書く気持ちで作りました。右でも前でもなく、左であり後ろである——そんな感覚をずっと自分自身に抱いていました。そして何か特定の出来事があるわけではなくても、なんとなく「置いてきてしまったな」とか「置いて行かれてしまったな」と思うことがあります。そういった意味を込めて「左後」、英語だと”left behind”という言葉をつけました。 音楽を通して鍵をかけて箱に入れていた記憶を並べて、それらが確かにそこにあったことを覚えていたいと思います。そしてそれらが誰かの左後の季節に重なったら、とても嬉しく思います。
I created this album as if I were writing songs for all the seasons on the negative side of my own number line — not to the right or forward, but to the left and behind. I have always carried that feeling within myself. Even when there isn’t a specific event, there are moments when I find myself thinking, “I’ve left something behind,” or “I’ve been left behind.” That’s why I chose the title “左後” (Left Behind). Through music, I wanted to line up the memories I had locked away in boxes and kept hidden, and to remember that they truly existed. If these songs overlap with someone else’s own "left behind seasons," I would be truly happy.

Come What May

Dag Olav Hermundstad

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