I am figuratively crying right now. For real.

Improv Piano Piece

The Only One-The Black Keys Cover

Lucky Boy

Entry for Amanda Palmer's Sunday Songwriting Contest regarding the blackout in NYC this past weekend.

“Power Restored”
Music and Lyrics by Carissa Johnson

Saturday night, the midsummer lights should be blindingly bright
Traffic signs below a west side glow
Crowded lines above a timeworn road of hope

Mechanical failure now the power's been drowned
And the marquees are saying that the show can’t go on
Stores emptied out, dizzying sounds of

Civilians and millions of dreams
Strong despite the siren screams
Broadway’s still brilliant ‘cause we are resilient
Darkness can’t stop our hearts from gleaming

“Fend for yourself” they said
The blackout is stretching from
72nd street to west and beyond
You better carry the light
Because it comes from inside
You know it’s only been hiding
Here’s it’s chance to shine

Here in the middle of the city of dreams
Strong despite the dimming, so eerie
Subway cars and elevators stopped
In a swath at the center of the world

“This is not the time” they said
The blackout is stretching from
72nd street to west and beyond
You better carry the light
Because it comes from inside
You know it’s only been hiding
Here’s it’s chance to shine

Saturday night, the midsummer lights are still blindingly bright
If you close your eyes you’ll hear the cheers ring out
Dizzying sounds along the timeworn road of hope

“No light for miles” they said
The blackout is stretching from
72nd street to west and beyond
You better carry the light
Because it comes from inside
You know it’s only been hiding
Here’s it’s chance to shine

Oh can’t you see it so clearly now
The light from inside out
Power restored because darling,
You held the power all along x2
Power restored because darling,
We held the power all along x2

Power Restored

My entry for Amanda Palmers songwriting competition. 

Lyrics:
You failed us
you robbed us
you trapped us
you left us in darkness

you have become unto us
a deciever
you put darkness upon us
for years and years 
and hours and hours

what kind of power is this?
what kind of failure is this? 
what kind of bargain is this? 
what kind of devil keeps us in darkness? 
(x2)

we did this
we placed out hopes in a flawed, flawed system
we broke this
we had the power, 
but left only with failure
(x2)

What kind of power is this? 
what kind of failure is this? 
what kind of bargain is this? 
What kind of devil keeps us in darkness?

Power Failure

A song about the Manhattan Blackout written by Jade Flannery and Lewis Scott in 24 hours while very sick. We hope you like it and that you will go easy on us.

*** L Y R I C S ***
Outside on the sidewalk is a different kind of show
You give the people power when you let the power go, you know
It might not be Lincoln
But there’s no price of admission
and so…
Outside the band is swinging like a Midsummer Night’s dream
They’ve not lost their minds or spirits; they’re all singing in the streets
Take away the power and you set the power free
You see…


This is no performance it’s something real
It’s not how you act, it’s the way you feel
When all of the players are long gone
We hear them say,
The show cannot
Go on

On 63rd street all the cabbies
Stuck inside their gridlocked cars
Watching patrons getting blackout drunk
Inside the blacked-out bars
They realise that we can live our lives 
No traffic lights to tell us where to go
On the West Side there’s two neighbours in an elevator shaft 
And to break the awkward silence at the cliché they both laugh
And share a smile for the first time
Since they each moved in a life time ago.


With the lack of reception in this box
No more preconceptions the curtain drops
And now that the artifice is gone
They realise
The show cannot
Go on

Officer Kowalski, he was standing in Time Square
Until someone snuffed the lights out, now he could be anywhere
And he knows he’s West of Central Park
It all looks the same in the dark today
The 2 girls taking selfies, who don’t care what you say,
Document the intermission for tomorrow’s matinee
How will they know it happened
‘til it’s filtered through an app and on display


An LCD candle light vigil
Mourns the loss of a good Wi-fi signal
They’ve been without audience for too long
We’re sorry to say
The show cannot
Go on


The city that never sleeps is dreaming of this day
42 years ago when the curtain last fell upon this play
Tomorrow the papers will talk to the mayor
And every official who wasn’t there
While they talk of terror they miss the spark
Of a thousand people, connecting in the dark.


A Manhattan Prince and Pauper pass each other in the street
The Wall street banker tips his hat as both of their eyes meet
And then the bum, he asks to bum a light
“Well good luck finding one tonight, my friend”
Jenny Walker from the block
Stands before a stage where she can’t hear her hero talk
The band strikes up a silence and it’s deafening the crowd
They can’t hear the peace, their voices are too loud


Lo and behold without amplifier 
Her voice just another in the choir
Over the sound of her silent song
She hears the words 
‘the show cannot 
go on’

Signal returning once again but at what cost
One connection gained but so many connections lost
Turning to their phones instead of standing face to face
The lights go up, the stage is set, the actors take their place
We’re sorry to say, 
The show must go on…again

Blackout (Cue Intermission)

Somewhere Else

Music written and recorded the 2020 covid19 self-isolation.

Music and lyrics written and composed by Vatem Oliver
**Vocals, piano, synths, guitar, mixing: by Vatem Oliver
**Additional acoustic guitar: by Nathan Kelly
**Additional drum engineering, electric guitar, and co-production: by Quin Gottschalk

The Fallen

In The Quiet / Out The Lights

Only Lonely

Hello. I am Matt. I post little snippets from my musical project (Vatem Oliver) here. But a lot of the time it's me just goofin' off.
To hear my finished songs, visit my bandcamp (vatemanima.bandcamp.com) or my alternate soundcloud (soundcloud.com/vatemAnima)

Improv Piano Piece

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