Validate/Consolidate

Auld Lang Synomite!

No expectations

Cowboy Junkies - No Expectations

Look At Me The Same

Recorded to 4 tracks. Mixed & mastered by Asle Helseth

Compagniet members:
Inger Lise Amundsen - vocals
Bjørn Rugaas - keyboards & backing vocal
Arne Fostvedt - drums & backing vocals
Jan Sigurd Pettersen - bass
Kjetil Weflaat - saxophone
Asle Helseth - guitar & backing vocals

Weather In My Head (D. Fagen) - Performed by Compagniet

This song is my attempt to process the wrenching incident that took place in my hometown on Memorial Day.  My hope is that real change will come from George Floyd’s murder though 2020 is seeming eerily similar to 1968.  
Tech note:  the jet plane heard in the recording was not intentional, just bad timing.  ***Updated with live drum kit 3/26/2023.***

All rights reserved June 11, 2020

Close your eyes
Til you can see it
look inside
Til you believe it 

A weight is upon us now
Digging itself a hole...
When it seems it’s beyond us now
It’s time to take control..

Free your soul
Til it confounds you
Take the time...
As it surrounds you

I see you lying there
Reaching for your last breath
Your future is dyin there
While the whole nation wept

A city cries
Beneath the skies
We gotta try 
To get it right...

Get It Right

Pick a side, what will it be
Pick a side, your choice is free
Ain’t no grey no in between
Pick a side. What will it be?

Socialist or conservatism, stay or leave
Make it your decision
Black or white, left or right
Oh pick a side

Defend your side, let me tell you how
Defend your side, do it now
Search the net, don’t validate the source
It will be the Russians or China if course
Personal attacks are gold and plenty to be found
Shout and rage at the ignorance of it all
Only you and a handful of others know we are all fools


Pick a side, what will it be
Pick a side, your choice is free
Ain’t no grey no in between
Pick a side. What will it be?

Socialist or conservatism, stay or leave
Make it your decision
Black or white, left or right
Oh pick a side

Pick a side (incredibly rough)

Recorded in Modesto, Ca. Featuring...Gibson 335 Electric Guitar solo. Harmonica solo, Hammond B3 Organ Rhythm, Godin Acoustic Guitar Rhythm, Acoustic Bass Regular, Acoustic Bass Flanging, Trap Drum set Shuffle, Percussion.

Let it fly

Let it Fly

Monalisa's Blues

Staking claims
when your freedom is not my freedom,
when freedom is only the freedom of the land robbers,
when the president is a real estate mogul ...
when all is only about staking claims ...
... all starts with a gold rush and graves remain .....

*D. Trump's grandfather was a illegal emigrant from Germany, hotel and brothel owner in Monte Cristo (boxes for the ladies)during the gold rush (1892). When Friedrich Trump and his wife wanted to be naturalized again in 1904, they were sent back to the United States because he had "avoided" military service. He fell victim to the Spanish flu. *A small historical side note, which has a multi-satirical and also very melancholic connotation regarding the present.

One should not blame anybody for his ancestors of course :-) ... but when an immigrants grandson shows his aversion against immigrants, I can't help to think about these things :-D

The photo shows an American chief.

... my "poem" & my music ......................... just some questions, just my feelings, perhaps  just simply reality.

land of the free

Learning to Fly

Learning To Fly

Open Night Gate

I have always loved this song by Robert Palmer, but I always imagined it at a slower tempo to allow the words to resonate a little more. Rather fun perfecting a perfectionist, I hope Robert doesn't mind, in fact I wish he'd come back and do the vocal. So, anyway, here's my lockdown cover, accompanied by my Valuable Friend, Rick Medlock - The King of Rhythm.

@rick-4-1 - Running around The Drums
@phil-mcwalter - Looking for certainty in The Other Stuff

JOHNNY AND MARY

Johnny's always running around
Trying to find certainty
He needs all the world to confirm
That he ain't lonely
Mary counts the walls
Knows he tires easily
Johnny thinks the world would be right
If it could buy truth from him
Mary says he changes his mind more than a woman
But she made her bed
Even when the chance was slim

Johnny says he's willing to learn
When he decides he's a fool
Johnny says he'll live anywhere
When he earns time to
Mary combs her hair
Says she should be used to it
Mary always hedges her bets
She never knows what to think
She says that he still acts like he
Is being discovered
Scared that he'll be caught
Without a second thought
Running around

Johnny feels he's wasting his breath
Trying to talk sense to her
Mary says he's lacking a real
Sense of proportion
So she combs her hair
Knows he tires easily
Johnny's always running around
Trying to find certainty
He needs all the world to confirm
That he ain't lonely
Mary counts the walls
Says she should be used to it

Johnny's always running around
Running around

© 1980 - Robert Palmer

Johnny And Mary

Johnny And Mary (Dream Remix July 2022)

JE N'EN PEUX PLUS DE T'ATTENDRE-Musical collaboration whit Karin-Maria BRUNNER-Vocal Alain GUERIN

I sent a drum loop to @Azealotrous and here is the result. Always a fun collaboration and cool final product!

Pick a side (incredibly rough)

DavidHutton