Toy Soldier

Words and Music Colin Hilton
© August 2019


Bass                    Freddie Washington 
Guitars                Michael Thompson
Guitar                 Colin Hilton
Guitars                Jack Pearson
Keys                    Jeff Young
Saxophones       Eric Marienthal
Vocals                 Colin Hilton



The song delves into the complexities of trust, portraying it as both foundational and perilous in relationships. It begins by highlighting trust as essential, yet potentially infinite, guiding like a parent’s hand but also capable of leading to deception when misused (“Trust can be a drunken fool”). The lyrics reflect on the impact of trust on perceptions of truth and the passage of time, noting the nostalgic pull of memories and the fleeting nature of youth. Overall, the song grapples with the dual nature of trust—its power to clarify or distort reality, and its significant yet ambiguous role in shaping life’s experiences.



TRUST
Trust is a beginning
A means that never ends
Breathe it in and hold in deep
Before you choose your friends
Trust removes the blind fold
holds a mother's hand
The middle distance stares at me
And kneels to take a stand

Truth I'm falling through the memories of my life
Youth just look at you a born and natural high

Trust can be a drunken fool
Loose with many ties
Drive a couch and horses through
A perfect storm of lies
Trust will have its way with you
Its innocence a curse
Rhyme and rhythms magnify
The faith you lost at birth

Truth a body lost in time goes hand in hand
Youth your hour glass will slave
to falling sand

© Copyright Colin Hilton August 2019

Trust

Words and Music Colin Hilton August 2019
© Copyright August 2019

Vocals           Colin Hilton
Bass              Keith Horne
Drums           Michael White
Keys              Jeff Young
Guitars           Brent Mason
Guitars           Colin Hilton
Guitars           Andy Reiss
Saxophones  Mark Douthit

Amnesia
I can't remember a thing last night that i said
Can't remember if i drank or even if i went to bed
Whose the hell are those keys?
A fluffy bear with a tantric screed
And what's with the . . . 
What's that in the bin?
Oh God i can't do this anymore
No i really can't do this anymore
My life's a goldfish going round and round and round . . .

Then you slipped into my life without holding on
And blew away space and time with your razor tongue
So let the vinyl play
Blow the dust off your needle love
I'm sure you'll find a way
To wear your sleeve where your heart once was
Anastasia?
She's got Amnesia

Tumbling coins for your thoughts
Is never money well spent
Just leaves a whole in my head
And my conscience in debt
There's nothing you can do now to help me find the car
It gets crazier and crazier every week
Once again whose raising the normal bar?
I can't do this anymore
No i really cant do this anymore
Look just take the keys and go out and have a good time

Then you slipped into my life without holding on
And blew away space and time with your razor tongue
So let the vinyl play
Blow the dust from your needle love
I'm sure you'll find a way
To wear your sleeve where your heart once was
She's got Amnesia

Colin Hilton
© Copyright August 2019

Amnesia

Hopeful

Climate Change Protest Song I guess?
 It's a worry...

The Blue and Green

Written and performed by Colin Hilton
© November 2020


Vocals                 Colin Hilton
Guitars                Colin Hilton
Guitars                Quinn Bachand
Bass                     Tobin Frank
Drums                 Wes Little
Sax                      Eric Marienthal
Strings                Steve Kummer                    
Piano                   Mike LeDonne
Organ                  Jeff Young
Backing Vocals:  Britt Savage



The song portrays a complex relationship fraught with emotional intensity and the dilemmas of fame. It begins with an enigmatic figure entering the narrator’s life, symbolizing a public persona entangled with personal authenticity. The narrator strives to support without controlling, highlighting a delicate balance between love and freedom. Themes of heartbreak, transient emotions, and the struggle between reality and pretense permeate the lyrics, emphasizing the pain and volatility inherent in their connection. Ultimately, the song reflects on the lasting impact of unspoken feelings and the enduring nature of love, urging resilience and the courage to confront one’s deepest fears and desires.



TOO MANY DAYS

Through a mist of mad confusion you walked into my life off of a stage
Walking out of yesterday turning on a whim and holding tightly to a page
			
I never wanted ownership to crowd you clip your violent gentle wings
Trying always hard to seem indifferent embracing only what you said were superficial sins


The blues travels fast when you’re broken hearted
Truth falls apart before it’s started
You made an art of love and chemistry


But there’s been too many days with you for a heart to lie and a mind to choose
Far too many ways to love and lay for our souls to fall apart and look the other way


Oh it’s true I let you lean on me I couldn’t let a butterfly pull off its wings
Just to sell its soul for money fame anything that sparkles material things


Your gentle soul is tortured by self doubt well that’s only natural
But please don’t be so hard on an angle that never speaks that never dares to 
Face its inner dreams face its inner dreams

The blues travels fast when you’re broken hearted
Truth falls apart before it’s started
You made an art of love and chemistry


But there’s been too many days with you for a heart to lie and a mind to choose
Far too many ways to love and lay for a soul to fall apart and look the other way


Tomorrow’s another story you let me go but you left the love inside
Don’t you know the things you left unsaid were more indelible than any pen could write
Don’t you know the things you couldn’t say became indelible and brought the pain to light
Don’t you know the things you couldn’t say became indelible don’t give up the fight



© Copyright Colin Hilton September 2020

Desktop

Too Many Days

Written, performed and produced by Colin Hilton
© November 2020


Vocals          Colin Hilton
Bass             Keith Horne
Drums          Ricky Lawson
Keys            Jeff Young
Piano           Jeff Lorber
Guitars        Michael Thompson
Guitars        Greg Moore
Guitars         Jack Pearson
Guitars         Colin Hilton
Saxophones  Eric Marienthal



The song describes a contemplative day by the sea, filled with sensory and imaginative experiences. As the narrator relaxes on the shore, memories of past companionship mix with the sights and sounds of the beach. The narrative then shifts to a fantastical realm beneath the waves, populated by mermaids and sirens, symbolizing a deep emotional exploration. The chorus highlights the liberating effect of Pebble Bay’s natural beauty under moonlight, suggesting it has the power to inspire and heal, much like it could revitalize Frida Kahlo. The song encapsulates themes of nostalgia, fantasy, and the therapeutic influence of nature.



PEBBLE BAY

I was sitting on the breaker wall listening to tunes in a modern way
With my shoulders back i closed my eyes i smelt the salt and let my body feel the ocean spray
The distant screams of children's laughter 
Melted into gulls that swooped and dived on junk food prey
But every time I thought I'd caught your smile
A wave would flip your hip and our footprints would catch the wash and fade away


And when you're at sea what do you dream about?
When your hair caught the breeze and i saw you laugh out loud
I wouldn't believe there's a song about it would not bring a new dance to town
Cause you rock in Pebble Bay when the moon is up and the surf don't bring you down


The waves began to fall in time with every breath and sigh I couldn't hold
Maracas stones and shaker sands Waded up to my waist my heart began to sink so in I rolled
Beneath the waves there's clarity where women are half women and the other half have tails
The sirens scream emotional wrecks while the mermaids
Just sit and paint their nails bright red 


And when you're at sea what do you dream about?
When your hair caught the breeze and i saw you laugh out loud
I wouldn't believe there's a song about it would not bring a new dance to town
Cause you rock in Pebble Bay when the moon is up and the surf don't bring you down
And your phosphorescent glow would un-cripple Freda Karlo
So paint your pallet blue paint your pallet blue


Colin Hilton
© November 2020

Pebble Bay

Written and performed by Colin Hilton
© November 2020
From the album Too Many Days



Vocals          Colin Hilton
Drums          Ricky Lawson
Bass             Freddie Washigton
Guitars         Greg Moore
Guitars         Colin Hilton
Guitars         Brent Mason
Keys             Jeff Young



The song addresses themes of memory, loss, and time’s passage, illustrating a longing to reclaim fleeting moments. It uses vivid imagery, like photography, to depict the challenge of preserving memories that fade. A recurring motif of a swinging clock weight highlights time’s relentless progression. The lyrics reflect on relationships and life’s fleeting nature, questioning destiny and the possibility of final goodbyes. Overall, the song portrays the acceptance of transience and the search for meaning amid loss.



Clock Weight

Desolation wakens me and tolls the rusting bell
Calls imagination like a curious child calling for echoes down a well

A lens elation comforts me the shutter breathes the light
Colours fade in search of distant decades
That frame I chose was never right


You and I we took a moment out of time and tried to capture all the feelings we've denied
As the clock weight swings side to side, benign and taking its time to cry


Will you my darling wait for me?
Don't pass before my time
There's no knowing if our paths will ever cross
Which sentry at the gate was told to lie?

A single moment capturing a play			
A tourniquet on life
I forget the words I'm on a different page	
Which character should twist the knife?


You and I we spent the morning by her side and cried capturing the moments in her life
As the clock weight swings side to side, distant echoes taking their time to die


You and I we took the mourning of a life and tried to bury all the feelings we've denied
As the clock weight swings side to side, before and after
Laughing till the morning breaks the lie


© Copyright Colin Hilton September 2020

Clock Weight

Written, performed and produced by Colin Hilton
© November 2020


Vocals         Colin Hilton
Drums          Ricky Lawson
Bass             Freddie Washigton
Guitars         Greg Moore
Guitars         Colin Hilton
Guitars         Brent Mason
Keys            Jeff Young


The song is about personal transformation and challenging societal norms, using the character of Mary Magdalene as a metaphor for breaking away from traditional gender roles and expectations. It celebrates the strength found in vulnerability and the profound connections that can happen even in moments of despair, such as a 4am call to a trusted friend. The lyrics intertwine themes of resilience ("Pride absorbs the pain") and self-realization ("Tungsten blasts of yellow cast the woman within"). The repeated references to vaudeville and theatrical imagery ("Tap your stick hand on the till, You reinvented vaudeville") suggest a reinvention not just of self, but of performance art, highlighting how the persona onstage can reflect deeper personal truths and transformations. The song is both a tribute to enduring friendship and a provocative challenge to rethink identity and performance in life's grand stage.



MARLENE 
It's the friends you can call at 4am who'll listen if you're tearing out your hair or just your him within 

Lights go down the score unfolds that wisp has broke her hip I'm told pride absorbs the pain

Determination waits for nobody's wings tungsten blasts of yellow cast the woman within

Keys are slammed brass cracks pronounce a joke flicks the holder takes a toke 
Silence plays the game


Mary Magdalene split your gender crop your name
Walk the boards Berlin to Bonn where have all the flowers gone?

Ghosted face top hat and tails painted brow with scarlet nails
Tap your stick hand on the till you reinvented vaudeville


Lovers from the world a voice like sour dew a man without his tenderness is nothing to lose

Critics go and shoot the breeze while women imitate her tease 
Glamour takes a bow

You knew how to hold and love and chastise them
Smoke would fill your laughter close your eyes and whisper when

A wink in time could fill a sterile stage off beat gasps and comic rage
A grin beneath the fan you became the female man


Mary Magdalene split your gender crop your name
Walk the boards Berlin to Bonn where have all the flowers gone?

Ghosted face top hat and tails painted brow with scarlet nails
Tap your stick hand on the till you reinvented vaudeville

Colin Hilton
© November 2020

Marlene

Written, performed and produced by Colin Hilton
© Copyright 2020


Vocals          Colin Hilton
Bass             Keith Horne
Drums          Ricky Lawson
Keys            Jeff Young
Piano           Jeff Lorber
Guitars        Michael Thompson
Guitars        Greg Moore
Guitars         Jack Pearson
Guitars         Colin Hilton
Saxophones  Eric Marienthal



“The Rules in Your Brain” is a song that intertwines personal relationship dynamics with broader societal responses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using vivid and surreal imagery, it discusses themes like isolation, the psychological impacts of pandemic restrictions, and the challenges of navigating through such times. The lyrics reference pandemic-specific measures like temperature checks and masks, using these as metaphors for broader concepts of control and confinement. The song critiques social behaviors under stress and explores deep self-reflection and reassessment of values in a crisis, blending intimate relational narratives with a commentary on societal adaptations to express a complex emotional landscape.




THE RULES IN YOUR BRAIN 

Temperature checks two meters apart senses are leaving 
Panic buys and polkadot masks will i ever stop breathing?

An Absinthe troll has locked down on your life
Where the sea becomes the ceiling and metaphors can walk upon a knife 
This comedy rots and takes on a new meaning 


The rules in your brain make me laugh 
(your sultry soul's a giveaway)
Where logic and reason play relative parts
(That broach you stole's a giveaway)
In a world full of actors and charmers 
(And the chemical blows?)
But you still say I'm no good for you well fair enough 


Lipstick love where your kiss leaves a mark
Sick sore and bleeding 
It's a four move check but it won't be your last
You're so sexy when you're winning castling to lose your past

And a moral God is playing with your mind 
Left you waiting in the queue to keep your distance is your distance keeping you or are we leading the blind 
This comedy rots and takes on a new meaning 


The rules in your brain make me laugh 
(your sultry soul's a giveaway)
Where logic and reason play relative parts
(That broach you stole's a giveaway)
In a world full of actors and charmers 
(And the chemical blows?)
But you still say I'm no good for you well fair enough 

Does your soul stop you breathing?
Mind over mind you've got that sexual feeling 
Now there's two of you like a mirror out of luck on reflection you're too beautiful to care
Too beautiful to care


The rules in your brain make me laugh 
(your sultry soul's a giveaway)
Where login and reason play relative parts
(That broach you stole's a giveaway)
In a world full of actors and charmers 
(And the chemical blows?)
But you still say I'm no good for you well fair enough 


Your sultry soul's a giveaway
That broach you stole's a giveaway
And the chemical blows?
Fair enough  . . .


Written, performed and produced by Colin Hilton
© Copyright 2020

The Rules in Your Brain

Written & performed by Colin Hilton
© Copyright November 2020
From the forthcoming album Too Many Days

Vocals          Colin Hilton
Drums          Ricky Lawson
Bass             Freddie Washigton
Guitars         Greg Moore
Guitars         Colin Hilton
Guitars         Brent Mason
Keys             Jeff Young

Toy Soldier

SHARKHUNT

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