Mission for the Dead

Salam Bi Javab

Salam Bi Javab (feat. Arash Raeisi & Bamdad Amini)

Whispers in Snowlight

This song appealed strongly to both of us. The supercharged emotion conveyed through a storm of many vivid details (like an imagist or concrete poem) each detail sparse and understated but diamond clear, the plucked heart not given to displays of emotion here shattered by heartbreak recollected in tranquility; the hard glittering edges of naked female vulnerability; holding a smashed mirror up to Dylan and giving the counter story to the one we usually hear. 

"You who are so good with words
And at keeping things vague
'Cause I need some of that vagueness now
It's all come back too clearly
Yes, I loved you dearly
And if you're offering me diamonds and rust
I've already paid"

plus of course the throat-throbbing Baez vocal. The two protagonists were both brilliant performers and the rapport they still had together in the 1974 rematch (Baez managing to be even cooler than Bob) after their glorious early 60s partnership is well worth looking up. Apparently she has performed the song every decade since - including a fabulous recent reinterpretation with Judy Collins (both still sound amazing) - but has decided to stop updating the "Ten Years Ago..." once she got to "Fifty Years Ago...".

Maz's first venture into finger plucking guitar.


Well, I'll be damned
Here comes your ghost again
But that's not unusual
It's just that the moon is full
And you happened to call
And here I sit
Hand on the telephone
Hearing a voice I'd known
A couple of light years ago
Heading straight for a fall
As I remember your eyes
Were bluer than robin's eggs
My poetry was lousy you said
Where are you calling from?
A booth in the midwest
Ten years ago
I bought you some cufflinks
You brought me something
We both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust
Well, you burst on the scene
Already a legend
The unwashed phenomenon
The original vagabond
You strayed into my arms
And there you stayed
Temporarily lost at sea
The Madonna was yours for free
Yes, the girl on the half-shell
Could keep you unharmed
Now I see you standing
With brown leaves falling all around
And snow in your hair
Now you're smiling out the window
Of that crummy hotel
Over Washington Square
Our breath comes out white clouds
Mingles and hangs in the air
Speaking strictly for me
We both could have died then and there
Now you're telling me
You're not nostalgic
Then give me another word for it
You who are so good with words
And at keeping things vague
'Cause I need some of that vagueness now
It's all come back too clearly
Yes, I loved you dearly
And if you're offering me diamonds and rust
I've already paid

Diamonds And Rust

Old Star, the first single from Noah Solt’s upcoming indie folk album Flight of Fallen
Leaves, is a heartfelt reflection on finding rest and clarity, inspired by the quiet wisdom of life at
sea. Through gentle, hymn-like melodies, poetic lyrics, and warm acoustic textures, the song
invites listeners to pause and reconnect with their inner luminosity.

Old Star

Nansea - Hounds

Erased

Artwork by Vladimir Kush

Written 18 years ago.... is what I'll say in ten years.

I’ve been an addict all my life long
to games I can’t win and puzzles I can’t solve
It’s been some kind of sick fascination
to find myself in impossible situations 
-
and this one is one of those
I’m a deep sea fish reaching for a desert rose
I’m a parking lot, hoping that a garden grows
I’m me and you’re you and my only way through is to divide by zero

you don’t like me much but I promise you this
if you knew me better you’d like me even less
If you could see what goes on in my thoughts
I think you’d personally lead the firing squad

but even though I wouldn’t agree
I’m so flawed, I’d assume I deserve it for something
this song just needs to be worthy of suffering 
I just want you to want something you can’t get anywhere except from me

It puts me out of sorts, but I think you’re my twin
and I ought to sue you for copyright infringement
but i’m sure at the court you’d have this winning defense:
my best is your ground floor, you do all I do and more, you’re improved at the core, so I’d best be out the door, with my obsolescence 
-
but you don’t know the thing you’ve offered
for a minute my sadness has an object
before this it hung shapeless as fog upon me
Now it’s fenced in a daydream that I can keep and smother by slow degrees
(And I guess you'd call that "sorrow laundering")

so even if it’s been in your mind
and even if there were enough time
and even if it’s true, what I swear I have seen
what you’d have to do would split you at the seams
-
it’d never be worth the risk
a dream gambled for so much less
just come clean, a daydream is all this is
some scene, from a movie we probably all saw as stupid kids

I’m sure you can tell most of this is an act
It can all go to hell, as a matter of fact
If I even thought this one could be solved
If I even thought the words could be carved
If I even thought I had something you want 
I’d ruin my life for those lottery odds.

Sorrow Laundering (Acoustic Demo)

TOMORROW

The war in Ukraine
The Earth is unleashed
Blood in the plains
Tomorrow will not come

Women in chains
Tears in chains
Children in pain
Tomorrow will not come

Boats drift
The sea that intoxicates
Boats capsize
Tomorrow will not come

People leaving
To other nations
Die in unison
Tomorrow will not come

But who can believe in a new future
And where do the songs and laughter go?
What chance do we have? Tomorrow

War at your door
The heat carries you away
The harvests are dead
Tomorrow will not come

Fear in the square
The cold that freezes you
The emotion that fades
Tomorrow will not come

But who can believe in a new future
And where do the songs and laughter go?
But what chance do we have?
Tomorrow

Demain

Durant les jours de ma vie (2)

This is an acoustic guitar version of "Uptown Girl".  I worked on a version to honor Billy Joel and to pray for him as he is working through his health challenges.

"Uptown Girl"- Billy Joel- Sanjay Paul- 6-3-2025 (Continued prayers for Billy Joel and his family)

A marriage (and we are actually married, 45 years so far) of melody and rhythm. We do folk, indie, Americana, Norfolk noir, beat poems &  ghazals. Traditional tunes with contemporary beats. Music videos  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb8wV0-DNiFs1R5G2VSytBQ
Maz lead & harmony vocals, acoustic guitar. Gaz vocals, voice, bass, drums & percussion, harmonium, recorders, lyre harp, field recordings.

Diamonds And Rust

Peacock's Tale Musical Storytelling

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