Marking my third collaboration with gifted pianist Debra Buesking, what an honor and treat to have her add her piano magic to a tune I wrote some 25 years ago on a warm summer evening in Colorado.  The Godin guitar seemed the perfect voice to express the warmth and intimacy of a summer evening reverie, and Debra's piano the perfect accompaniment, like two friends enjoying a glass of wine.  Hear more of Debra's fine compositions and arrangements @debra_buesking.

One Summer Night, A Reverie, with Debra Buesking, piano

Quietude in the midst of chaos, confusion, uncertainty, and restlessness; Seagull captures an Eden-like vision of tranquility and reflection.  It also came with a surprise he kept securely under his hat; I would be joined in the collaboration with him by two of my favorite SC artists, Ed Cunningham and Dan-t, masters of their genre. I didn't know until he unveiled the finished product.  My approach turned out to be "less is more" so I show up to the party fashionably late at just past the 2:00 mark, but what a lovely party...and vision.  I hope you think so too. Seagull also gave sight to the sound which can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxFYED8OEeQ Hear more fine music from these maestros:
Seagull @farout-music-studio
Ed @westtracksmusic
Dan-t @dan-t-3
Photo credit; Dan-t

The Quietude (Seagull, Ed Cunningham, Dan-t, David Dunham)

What began as a collaboration with Debra Buesking has expanded to include the wonderful vocal talent of Paolo Pieraccini (@mayadog).  His singing, especially in Italian, gives the song a sweet, emotional intimacy and urgency.  A lovely honor to have him grace our song with his talent. Hear more fine music on his profile and Debbie's too @debra_buesking. 
Lyrics in Italian and English:
Dimmi dove sei
Torno a casa e non ti trovo più
Le tue calze sopra il letto
Sempre accesa la TV

Non dimentico
Le tue promesse in bilico
e le domeniche
Sempre spese solo dove decidi tu
Forse ho il cuore troppo piccolo
Per lasciarti la tua libertà
casca il mondo
quando te ne vai

Mille baci e poi
All’improvviso il vuoto fra di noi
Non so perché rimango appeso qui
Il tuo canto mi ha ingannato
e come Ulisse mi salverò
Ma poi ricadrò
nella tua tela ancora

Sei sparita ormai
irraggiungibile
ma è sicuro io ti troverò per dirti che
che non mi arrendo e voglio solo te
Puoi scommetterci
Vorrei sentire ancora i brividi
Mentre stringo la tua mano
per non lasciarti più
………………..
Chissà dove sei

Tell me where you are
I come home and I can't find you anymore
Your socks over the bed
Still on the TV

I do not forget
Your promises in the balance
and Sundays
Always spending only where you decide
Maybe my heart is too small
To leave you your freedom
the world falls
when are you leaving

A thousand kisses and then
Suddenly the void between us
I don't know why I'm hanging here
Your singing deceived me
and like Ulysses I will save myself
But then I'll fall back
in your web again

You're gone now
unattainable
but it's sure I'll find you to tell you that
that I'm not giving up and I just want you
you can bet
I wish I could still feel the chills
As I hold your hand
not to leave you anymore
……………… ..
Who knows where you are

Easy To Please (featuring Paolo; vocal) Debbie; Piano, David; Guitar

Some songs are just meant to be.  In the earliest days of this song's creation, I came to a juncture that was make or break.  Stepping back, giving it some distance, molding it a bit more, it became a keeper, and one that was well received in its first posting over two years ago.  Debbie added her magic a year ago and its reception and audience grew even more.  Now Bix has added his superb vocal talent to take the song to even greater heights.  Have a listen and fly with us as the angels bear us up on their wings.  Hear more of Bix's great songs @user-432405235-236877019
and Debra Buesking's superb piano @debra_buesking

FLY (HE WILL LIFT YOU UP)
Music: David Dunham/Debra Buesking
Lyrics: Bix Bixler
Aaaah….fly with me
Let the angels
Bear you up
To meet Him
When He comes

Hear the angels
Hear them singing
God’s celestial song

He will lift you up
To rise with Him
On high
And drink His cup
Of love….

We’ll fly……
To meet Him
In the air
And sing
The angel’s song

We’ll fly……
To meet Him
In the air
And sing
The angel’s song

Let the angels
Bear you up
To meet Him
When He comes

Hear the angels
Hear them singing
God’s celestial song

He will lift you up
To rise with Him
On high
And drink His cup
Of love…..

We’ll fly……
To meet Him
In the air
And sing
The angel’s song

We’ll fly……
To meet Him
In the air
And sing
The angel’s song

Let the angels
Bear you up
To meet Him
When He comes

Hear the angels
Hear them singing
God’s celestial song…

FLY (Bix, Debbie Buesking, David Dunham)

The track picture is a common sight in the canyons of Colorado, and probably all of the Rocky Mountain states.  The sun can be shining while driving in the canyon, but miles ahead there could have been a torrential rainstorm that triggered a flash flood and it is coming...quickly.  You literally have to abandon your vehicle and climb the canyon wall or get washed away.  
The sign and song are metaphorical as well.  When flash floods of circumstance happen in our lives, we must seek higher ground so as not to be washed away in the emotional maelstrom.  Such was the case with Pat and his cancer diagnosis twenty months ago, and with my good friend and collaborator Elmer Stone who unexpectedly lost his beloved wife Bonnie a few days ago.  They are seeking and finding higher ground in their faith, families, and friends.  
A big thank you to Pat for sending me the "ditty" a while back but recently rediscovered that serves as the "higher ground" in the song.

Climb To Higher Ground with Pat Howell, Mandolin (In honor of Pat Howell and Elmer Stone)

This is what happens when you let an ace producer get hold of a track; he transforms it:)  The song was originally dedicated to my son-in-law Marshall who is a law and order type of guy.  Special thanks to Seagull @farout-music-studio for taking what started as a jam session with superb guitarist Curtis Gremmel and elevated to celestial heights with a little help from Clara.  
An additional note: we just come to learn that "Space Marshals" was a popular video game eight years ago and apparently still is given the large number of listens.  I'm not a "gamer" but appreciate all who are who have given this music a listen:)

Space Marshal (Curtis, David, and Seagull)

Seagull surprised me with this lovely song as a gift for my 70th birthday, featuring his playing on acoustic guitar, and likening our friendship and musical comradery to a "walk in the morning dew".  I was beyond honored:)  Then the thought occurred to him, "what if Ed, Dan, Peter, and David joined me on my walk?"  Peter's words set the stage comparing our friendship (and lasting friendship in general) to fine gold "hewn from so much more than mere common ground"  Ed's gorgeous electric guitar defines the melody, Dan's synths and Clara's vocals add depth and emotion, and I get to decorate an already beautiful production in the left and right channels.  It is now a magnificent 70th birthday gift, enriched by my musical bond and friendship with these fine artists, and one I want to share with you dear listener.  Be blessed as you walk with us "in the morning dew":) 
More of their amazing music can be found here:
Seagull: @farout-music-studio
Peter: soundcloud.com/user-264930040/tracks
Dan-DT: @dan-t-3
Ed Cunningham: @westtracksmusic
Seagull has also created a lovely video to celebrate our walk together and invite you to join us there: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDbapIXADdg
Peter's introductory poem:
A tempered bond of ether gold forged from trust in seeming kin
Blenched of ore hewn from so much more than mere common ground
Metallicised, a like of kind that cannot tarnish, ne’er to rust, it’s strength, atomic, set within
And so my grateful thoughts are due, my friend, to you, as one where empathy is ever found
To crystallise a state of mind as if from walks in morning dew as bright new days begin.

A Walk In Morning Dew (Seagull, Ed Cunningham, Dan-DT, Peter, and David)

A few months before my dear friend and collaborator Pat Howell passed away, he shared a chord progression with me (heard at the beginning) that became the song's foundation and wanted to see if I could make something of it.  I fleshed out the progression into a song, but by then he had become too ill to help me finish it.  The song languished for months and then I thought maybe Seagull could finish the thought Pat and I started.  His additions were superb and not only completed the song, but a weave of friendship that started with Pat's inspiration. Rest in peace my friend, and thank you dear Seagull for making our initial weavings a reality.
Hear more of Seagull's finely crafted music @farout-music-studio

Weave Of Friendship

This is a follow-up posting of a wonderful collaboration Dan-T had invited Debra and I to contribute to.  Dan had posted it well over a year ago as a backing track to a dramatic French Fantasy production.  With his kind permission after the delay of a year, I wanted to post this as a celebration of a different kind of drama--life awakening from a long winter sleep. Dan's synths are sweeping and epic, Debbie's playing is measured and elegant like the words in a fine poem.  The Requinto guitar has a sweet voice sounding a bit like a Celtic harp to round out the production.  Hear more of Dan's French Fantasy (French Fantastic:) @dan-t-3, and Debbie's superb and poetic playing @debra_buesking.

Awakenings; Dan-T, Debra Buesking, David Dunham

Celtic music is a paradox; in a minor key such as this piece, it tends to be melancholy, yet in its melancholia it can lift the spirit to heavenly realms where noble and reflective thoughts reside.  It is Debbie's and mine fondest hope this Lament lifts your spirits:) A huge thank you to Debbie for gracing this piece with her playing. Hear more of her beautiful music @debra_buesking.

Celtic Lament (Debra Buesking; Piano and Synths, David; Guitar)

Some people touch your life in unexpected and unprecedented ways.  Such was the case with a little red-headed girl, maybe seven years old, but in every way a ministering and guardian angel to her daddy who was going through a very rough patch in his life and never wavered in her devotion to him.  Maddie, this one's for you. You blessed my heart beyond words. 
A very special thank you to Axel Menningen for loving this song and lavishing his musical gifts on the arrangements.  He offered me two versions and loving them both, I asked him to publish the other mix on his profile. This is a kind of "Irish Pub" version of the song, smaller and more intimate.  The bigger, symphonic version is on his profile.  I encourage you to give it a listen as well as his other fine compositions @axel-m-501052973
Axel also produced a beautiful and touching tribute to Maddie on his Youtube channel; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGuDhSgMauo
Thank you my friend, words fail me.

Ginger Angel (with a lovely arrangement by Axel Menningen)

The fourth song of our summer series "We Can Solve Most Things If We Talk" is a hymn to Hope.  It is the enduring attribute of mankind to be able to think beyond the most painful circumstances and imagine a better life and a better world.  Peter is not just a fine writer of melody and lyrics, but a very able and eloquent guitarist and vocalist.  Oddrun graces this song with her angelic voice as if she were Hope itself, and in duet they give the song wings.  Seagull's synths, bass, and mix are ever sure and seamless, a true labor of love.
Music, Lyrics, Guitars & Vocals; Our dear poet Peter, soundcloud.com/user-264930040/tracks
Vocals; Soundcloud's most wonderful voice; Oddrun, @oddrun-eikli
Compilation and mix by visionary producer; Seagull, @farout-music-studio

Will you Raise Your Right Hand?

Peter
Can you number the circle’s rim, each point on a list?
Enumerate the air, simply cupping of your hands
Freedom lantern’s falling dim in honesty’s fading mist
But will you raise your right hand, when hope makes its stand?

Oddrun
Can you census the clouds, in a ledger of the sky
Set out in a single line each and every grain of sand
When the despot weaves his thieving lies will you stand idly by
Or will you raise your right hand, when hope makes its stand?

Peter & Oddrun
Can you audit every atom, in a volume for the shelf
Each uniquely named, indexed on demand
Does the mirror only fathom, a shallow of your self
Or will you raise your right hand, when hope makes its stand?

Oddrun & Peter
Can you detail every shimmered light on a canvas of the stars
A snapshot of the cosmos as at light speed it expands
Will you document but passive shame in the volumes of your pale memoirs
Or will you raise your right hand, when hope makes its stand?

Oddrun & Peter
Can you hoist the flag of humankind above the crass material world
Crush the armies of greed, their legions to disband
When the shining banner of grace is finally unfurled
Did you raise your right hand, when hope made its stand?

Hopeful Man--Will You Raise Your Right Hand (Peter, Oddrun, and Seagull)

We conclude our Summer Series on a hopeful note and a glimpse into the future.  Mankind has finally found that it can accept the differences that divide us, share the bounty between us, and become a vast community governed by faith, hope, and love. How did such a thing come about?  We collectively took a step back from the brink of self-annihilation by realizing "we solve most things if we talk".  
Ironically, this was the most complex song of the five to put together,  We all had an idea of how we wanted it to turn out, and thanks to Seagull and a lot of talking between us behind the scenes, we came to consensus and a final version.  Our little band is proof "we can solve most things if we talk":)  It has been an honor to work with each of you: 
Music composition, 1st guitar (center), bass, synths, mix and production; Seagull, @farout-music-studio
Right & Left Guitar; Our wonderful guitarist; David, @david-dunhamuser589535203
Lyrics & Vocals; Our dear poet Peter, soundcloud.com/user-264930040/tracks
Vocals and harmonies; Soundcloud's most wonderful voice; Oddrun, @oddrun-eikli
And the key phrase at the end; The lovely little Finley, 7 years old.

We Solve Most Things If We Talk

Summer rain finds my face, splashing through my smile
Thunder rumbles fall away, storm is phasing through
Peace of mind is on the case, misery is in denial,
Yesterday’s squally day, tomorrow’s skies are azure blue.

Dreams of history’s tension gladly start to ease
Gripping claws of lunacy finally shun the past
Seems things turned out badly for hunger and disease
Slipping towards unity, laying down the guns at last.

Call my neighbour as my friend, our meanings line as one
Colour, gods and politics accepted as they are
Mutualities to defend no conflict clouds our shining sun
Consideration and respect, a communal repertoire

Mother Mary called today
Handed me a flower stalk
Kissed my worries clean away
We solve most things if we talk.

Need as might we understand equality’s a bed of lies
Celebrate uniqueness as a cast of human thread
Day and night, hand in hand, no polity compromise
Learning from our weakness past, focused on the light ahead.

Mother Mary spoke today
Led me on a learning walk
Eased my troubles on the way
We solve most things if we talk.

Mother Mary sang today
Left me with a simple thought
The wisest heads will simply say
We solve most things if we talk.
"We Solve Most Things If We Talk"

Contented Man (Seagull, Oddrun, Peter, David)

What a delightful surprise to be invited to collaborate with fine Italian composer and producer Michele Ansani.  His work is both penetrating and reflective as he provides a musical canvas for spoken verse. 
The words recited by me are verses from one of the most famous poems by one of the greatest Italian poets of the 20th century, Eugenio Montale. They are taken from the collection entitled ‘Ossi di seppia’ ('The Bones of Cuttlefish'), published in Italy in 1925, and several times translated into English (alone or together with other works by Montale).
One is first struck by the movements between minor and major keys.  It mirrors the soul caught between hope and despair sometimes in the same moment.  The conflict is not new being as old as mankind, but with the prevalence of social media, it gains a spotlight as never before.
Lyrics by Eugenio Montale
Music, piano, and electronic strings by Michele Ansani
Voice and acoustic guitar: David Dunham
Photo by Peter Zajfrid, "Moody Morning"
Please visit Michele's excellent profile; @soundcloud.com/michele-ansani

Lyrics (ENGLISH / ORIGINAL ITALIAN)
Perhaps one morning going alone in the air of glass,
Arid, looking back, I shall see, with the terror
Of a drunken man, the making of a miracle:
Nothingness at my shoulders, the void behind me.

Then as on a screen, suddenly, trees, houses, hills
Will assemble themselves for the usual deception.
But it will be too late; and I shall go on, quiet,
With my secret, among the men who do not turn.

Forse un mattino andando in un’aria di vetro,
arida, rivolgendomi, vedrò compirsi il miracolo:
il nulla alle mie spalle, il vuoto dietro
di me, con un terrore di ubriaco.

Poi come s’uno schermo, s’accamperanno di gitto
alberi case colli per l’inganno consueto.
Ma sarà troppo tardi; ed io me ne andrò zitto
tra gli uomini che non si voltano, col mio segreto.

Perhaps One Morning (M. Ansani, D. Dunham)

The Tattooed Lady had a secret life found only in her dreams; she is much younger, has a family and a lovely home.  She is not the center of attention being stared at, hearing the stunned gasps of onlookers, a carnival side show on the move from town to another.  She sleeps sweetly and dreams deeply.
A very special thank you to Elmer Stone for letting me use a portion of his metal-inspired song "Tattooed Lady" which inspired my adding a dream sequence to his electric metal riffs.  A big thank you also to my dear friend Seagull for his sharing my vision of the song bringing Clara into the mix as the dreaming Lady, his final production touches, and his fantastic AI track art.

Dream Of The Tattooed Lady (Elmer Stone, Seagull, Clara, David)

The first cold winds of Autumn arrived last evening and with them a time of reflection. If Spring is the season of "Hello", surely Autumn is the season of "Goodbye".  The farewells can be bittersweet, whether to a fragrant garden or fragrant friendship, but the bitter lasts only a moment but the sweet remains in our remembering.
A special thank you to Debbie for gracing my efforts with her playing--she makes all things beautiful:) Hear more of her lovely music @debra_buesking.

Bittersweet Goodbye (Debra Buesking; Piano, David; Godin Guitar)

With a world in turmoil, love is still the supreme binding force that keeps our hearts united.  Seagull created a dynamic and theatrical piece focusing on love primarily within a family, but is easily projected outward to the larger family of fellow countrymen, and ultimately to a family of nations, but it first begins in the nuclear family, "our capital of the future".
It's always an honor to contribute to Seagull's vision with all the playing ability I possess.  Hear more of his finely crafted music @farout-music-studio.

Forever United Hearts (Seagull and David)

I see him each morning, hair askew, face needing to be mowed with an electric razor, a face wrinkled and weathered by experience and decisions good and bad.  None the less, I am thankful he is looking back at me; I'm still alive and thankful to have another day.  
Peter's poetic meditation begins like a prayer and becomes deeply introspective into how life has changed the man looking back at him.  His initial inspiration was Arvo Part's "Spiegel im Spiegel" but for this reflective journey, he asked pianist Debra Buesking to accompany him which she does  with great feeling and eloquence.  I come into the picture as the one invited to bring them together for a memorable moment, a great honor and a labor of love for two of my favorite Soundcloud artists.  More of Peter's thoughtful music and spoken word can be found @https://soundcloud.com/user-264930040/tracks, and more of Debbie's beautiful playing can be found @debra_buesking.

Some Words for Mr. Part:

Dear God, just look at the state of you - what the hell happened?
Did time do that all by itself?
Chiselled and scraped with gentle, temporal strength?
Yesterdays now patterned well with telling tales of wear and tear.
Always took such good care that you ticked every health kick box
But all the ticks collect their tocks, bundling up the time we thought was
dangling spare.
And wrinkly skin comes out to play, crafting plots with crumpled neurons
badly frayed, and
Liver spots about the edges worn of happy recollections,
Waltzed away, invisible to the swinging of that penduled clock.
Take your eyes off it for just a minute and you’ve lost a day,
And then a decade’s worth of wry reflections,
Lovingly to fold them up and let them lie in memory’s pocket.
Those lines that contour of your brow, a biography of creases now
And all cut down so very deep.
Each epidermal void crevasse life’s stylus tracks a scratching past
Evinces of a record no mortal hard re-format could delete.
And of your eyes, sallow yellowed at the margins, framed by corvid feet
Rigid-set to well outlast whatever bargained span of life your good Lord
deems replete.
As if your face lampoons of age itself, wrecked and bent
Of scars that trace minutiae, carved in master sculptors’ stone
And none too soon, for just that task and that alone, recording compressed
of the past..
We both know well which ones are smiles and which the pain that heaven
sent,
The former few, soft of the flesh, the many others sunk unto the very bone,
The harshest welt of any sole upon the universal cobbler’s last.
But does it help to so reflect, or but to hurry time’s neglect?
Of such consideration circles wrapped in worry tearing down
All edifice of self respect, the towering pit of pity comes once more to town,
Parades a circus fine of talents, self deprecating jestered clowns
And galloping horses all the while stampede about the rounded ropes
Vespered peace forever sought, just out of reach, concedes of futile, now
confounded hopes.
So what of forward self projection, folding the creases back behind
And out of sight to speculation on future solaced peace of mind?
Perhaps again the crashing wall of fast reality, solid bricked
Determines upward focus but to fall, as if to gravity’s grounded truth
Tricked of consequential solitude, rimed of age, aching of the aged sick
No respite there nor rectitude as once you found in torrid youth.
But perhaps I’m speaking out of turn and out of place,
For though your memories sear and burn as if to carbonise some
worthwhile trace of validity
On that unholy visage lit by lives lived long before….
It matters not and changes nought, not a jot nor yet a thought
For you and I know better than to seek a settled score from comment fair
After all, you are I, staring back at me from the mirror mounted there.

Inspired By Mr. Pärt's "Spiegels" (Peter, Debra Buesking, David; final production)

I wrote this forty years ago as part of the "Scenes of St. Francis" small-town song anthology and thought it might be fun to post as fall is winding down but before the Christmas season gets into full swing.  St. Francis, Kansas is a little prairie town nestled in a shallow river valley and has an abundance of trees, mostly cottonwoods, but a few hardwoods that stand out especially in the fall. And with the trees was an abundance of squirrels always playing chase or hide and seek when they weren't getting into mischief.  They needed a song, and with my daughters being so young, I wanted to make it in the form of a children's song that they could sing along to.  As adult women, they still like to sing along when they hear it which is a good thing since my own singing voice has largely depleted with age.  But it is a nice reminder that once upon a time I could sing:) Rescued and remixed from an old but faithful cassette tape.

Squirrel Song lyrics:
Hop, skip, and jump, and away they go,
Haven't got a care in the world.
Playing hide and seek 'round an old tree trunk,
I'm talking 'bout my friend the squirrel.

Gathering nuts is a way of life,
But even they know when to play,
And though winter's coming before too long,
They still live life day by day.
Chorus:
Just let their antics entertain you,
From a high-wire act to a tree-top stunt or two,
There's not a dull moment when you see them around,
There's fun wherever they're found.

Instrumental hums then repeat chorus

Hop, skip, and jump, and away they go,
They have something we need to learn;
That a happy life is made of work and play
When each one gets a turn.

Squirrel Song (from Scenes of St. Francis)

A beautiful and reflective song on what might have been, but still affirms the resilience and eternality of love.  In the context of love, time stands still.
Perhaps it is in the smallest things that we see the greatest and perhaps also the most beautiful.
Beautiful Poem & Narration - Peter; soundcloud.com/user-264930040/tracks
Lovely Right Guitar - David; @david-dunhamuser589535203
Music, Guitars, Mix & Production - Seagull; @farout-music-studio

Silent Drops

I wonder, peering through the slipping drops - are you still there?
Do you still feel? Do you still care? Do you still, live?

And are your eyes still that mystic crystal sallowed pastel green?
How much of one lifetime would it ever take to just forgive,
lift the screen that crashed between us, seemly forty thousand years ago?

Ah, what might have been?
A parallel universe could hold our children, old by now, of course.
Kids of their own. And probably divorced.
Ah what the hell, there’s next to no chance that it would have worked out anyday.

You and I.
Separate ways.
You with your fabulous soft green eyes.
Me with nothing healing left to say, empty vespers, hollow, echo.
Wistful whispers, hushed and hint of tints of wettest blue.
But dear God I loved you so...... Still do.

Silent Drops (Seagull, Peter, David)

A brief reflection on what needs to be a Christmas gift to our planet, our environment, and ultimately ourselves and future generations.
 
Beautiful Poem & Vocals/Narration - Peter; soundcloud.com/user-264930040/tracks
Lovely Left Guitar - David; @david-dunhamuser589535203
Music, Mix & Production - Seagull; @farout-music-studio

Slowly Time Running Out

A clear black light has painted out the stars tonight.
A tear-prismed rainbow wells in my eyes.
I’m clinging to my dead rose,
Shuffling down these broken roads,
With no end in sight, no will left to fight.

A long black cloud veiled through the moonlight, where,
The softest requiem prayer is lost in the air.
As a spadeful of dirt,
Hits the casket of hurt,
To bury my cares and inter our despair.

When the sands of time are shifting no more,
I’ll stand behind, with those left on the shore.
And as Jerusalem compels
Peals of leather muffled bells
Will chill to the core with their funereal score.

Slowly Time Running Out

We wanted to finish our trio of songs, and our gift to our Soundcloud family, on a lovely and upbeat note of hope; hope for humanity, hope for the world we call home, and hope for our destiny as a human race.  The ultimate theme of Christmas is redemption and hope, and with that thought, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas:)

Beautiful Poem & Narration - Peter; soundcloud.com/user-264930040/tracks
Lovely Left & Center Guitar and Narration - David; @david-dunhamuser589535203
Guitars, Music, Mix, Narration & Production - Seagull; @farout-music-studio

The Lost Path

Peter:
Stumbling down, falling from the path
Wondering what the future holds
Crumbling in the aftermath
The Easterlies bring winter’s cold
Pushing upwards, clamber back
We won’t concede to darkness clouds
Our trajectory is back on track
For a society with head held proud

David:
Won’t concede our children’s hopes
To nuclear weapon isotopes
Christmas calling from the bells
To drag us back from human hells
We won’t concede our freedom’s joy
By falling for the devil’s ploy
With a chain of hands across the land
We refute his vile demands

Seagull:
We lost our way in yesterdays
Seems we found the wilderness
But sanity will find a way
To build afresh and fix the mess
Reconstruct and laser cast
Shine the light with focused beam
Illumination clear at last
To reignite the human dream

Peter:
Won’t consign future’s child
To living in a world defiled
Christmas calling from the bells
Will reinforce what truth foretells
We won’t concede our freedom’s sun
But send despot evil on the run
A chain of hands, conviction wins
To lead us to the path again

Won’t concede to culture thieves
Who twist the truth that we believe
Our heritage is what we are
Leads us home when we stray too far
Returns us to the path we lost
Saves us suffering folly’s cost
Warms within, and strength imparts
To the burnished bonds of a Christmas family heart

The Lost Path (Peter, Seagull, David)

A diminutive woman in her 7th decade, Laurie is a dynamo of personality and energy living an outsized life as she still works, loves to travel, and when home, playing in our church band as a guitarist and sharing music as a multi-instrumentalist.  She is also a personal hero in how she powered through chemo, invasive surgery, then radiation to arrest the progress of a rare cancer.  She would tell you it was by the Grace of God, but I would quickly add He worked in concert with her faith and "joie de vivre" of which she has an abundance.  Not knowing what to give her for her birthday and Christmas (a month apart), I gave her a song with her band nickname as the title.  For you, "Laurie Lou" my dear friend, guitar sister, and bandmate:)

Laurie Lou

With the fall of the Assad regime, Syria is once again thrust into the international spotlight as new leadership takes hold promising much while its citizens took to the streets celebrating the ousting of Assad and now wait hopefully for positive change.  The country has been in a civil war of unspeakable cruelty since 2011. The swift changes have been on Peter's heart through the holiday season. It is a country, a land, and a culture that is deeply rooted in history going back over 10 millennia.  In many ways it is a cradle of Western civilization but its people are at a contemporary crossroads wanting what we have; peace, prosperity, civility, and freedom to determine their destiny as a nation.  This song addresses that hope, the first release of the year for our little international ensemble.  
Lyric, narration/singing - Peter the poet - @soundcloud.com/user-264930040/tracks
Lovely left & right guitar - David D - @david-dunhamuser589535203
Music, guitar, mix & production - Seagull - @farout-music-studio

Mother Syria

Hold my hand up to the sun to reach this smouldered rubble
Lift my eyes again with little patience left in trust
Assad years, father and son, each the devil’s double
Gassed and burned my cradle nation to blood-soaked mental dust

With his face alight the new guy’s mission, pure, sent from heaven
Promises truth, gold, light and god in his virgin presidential pledge
In the dead of night autocracy voted AK47
New boots crush freedom’s fingertips, as they’re clinging to the ledge

Mother Syria at the crossroads, will your ancient beauty shine,
That cradled understanding of things earthly and divine?

Mother Syria at the crossroads, will your ancient beauty shine,
Or should we prepare the palliatives for your sectarian decline?

Mother Syria at the crossroads, will your ancient beauty shine,
On the path of sane humanity or on diabolos’ design?

Mother Syria will you renounce the suicide bomber’s blast?
Maybe seek out peace at last?

Mother Syria (Seagull, Peter, David)

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)

Rain...too little of it and there is drought, too much of it and there are deadly, destructive floods, just the right amount and the earth flourishes; crops grow, gardens bloom, our spirits are refreshed and encouraged.  This song begs the questions; are mankind's plans, philosophies, charitable endeavors, or selfish goals like the rain that can benefit mankind or destroy it?  Do novel ideas work for the moral structure of humanity or is the ancient wisdom better? There are no easy answers to the questions Peter asks in the lyrics, but they are questions we should consider as we see the world aflame--which is another blessing of rain, it can put out fires.
Lyric/poem, singing and narration - Peter The Poet: @ soundcloud.com/user-264930040/tracks
Beautiful guitars left/right - David: @david-dunhamuser589535203
Music, e-guitar, mix, and masterful production - Seagull: @farout-music-studio
The gorgeous female voice: Clara Sorace.

Rain
And so it rains
Will it wash away tomorrow’s hopes,
Leave us stranded in our yesterdays
Clinging to the fraying ropes
Swinging helplessly in vain

And yet it rains
Both the means to life or drowning death
Spilling ‘cross the flooding plains
Sucking out the terminal breath
Forever and again

I stand here naked, cold and blue
Stripped of pride and freedom too
Aspirations drained, subdued
As heaven’s cloudbursts purge me through

And still it rains
Will it cleanse, refresh, renew the truth
Sanitise and ease the pain
Or launder filthy failure’s proof
To try and hide the liar’s stain

And it will rain
While lunatics still yield the whip
Indoctrination’s game remains
The crass politico’s iron grip
Will euthanise our children’s brains

……and so it rains

Rain (with Conny, Peter And David)

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)

March is such a "two-faced" month in the northern latitudes, it can caress with a kiss of sunlit warmth, or slap the face with high winds and freezing temperatures--maybe in the same day!  It is so fickle these "ides of March" which Shakespeare told us to beware of.  The mood and playing of this song came upon me like one of those Ides, riffing on something much more mellow, when I randomly strummed an E major chord, then again with more force, then faster, stronger...I had to capture the moment, but like March weather, you can't be angry all the time, and so the caress of the Cordoba nylon. You might ask what the mellow riffing sounded like I was first practicing on--wait for it:)

Two-Faced (An Ode to March)  David Dunham, Acoustic Guitars

It seems that each season has its own "perfume of mystery".  In a typical Texas panhandle spring, it is Lilac and Russian Olive that perfume the air.  In the deep South, Magnolias are hypnotically fragrant.  In summer it is the fresh, petrichor air after a rainstorm, or a newly-mown field of hay.  In the fall there is a pungency of fallen leaves as they are raked into piles, and as the days grow cooler, smoke from a fireplace during an evening walk. It is an odor that grows stronger and crisper as winter sets in and the sweet scent of pine with the setting up of Christmas trees.  Dan wanted to capture this "perfume of mystery" with his unique composing and keyboard skills and invited me to come along. Thank you my friend for inviting me.  Hear more of Dan's beautiful and unique "French Fantasy" music @dan-t-3.

Like A Perfume Of Mystery (DAN-DT; composer, keyboards, David; guitars)

A while back fine guitarist @devin-locke inspired me to revisit some of the early Miles Davis' recordings which are brilliant jazz masterpieces.  I wanted to try my hand at the style and have Devin join me if he felt so inclined.  He hasn't yet, but may do so in the future:) Anyway, a little tribute to a master...

Miles And Miles To Go

I am a finger-style guitarist living on the Texas high plains.  At the core of my music is melody that is inspired and informed by my Christian faith, family, friends, and countless influences through the years from the great composers, to jazz, folk, rock, Latin, Celtic, and the many fine musicians I have come to love on the Cloud, some I have been privileged to collaborate with.  Thanks for stopping by to have a listen. Comments are always welcome. Feel free to click on the picture of any track to learn more about it.

David Dunham

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