🕯️🎶❤️🎶👍🍻😊🤜🤛

Very pretty! Just a guitar and a little bass. Simply. Great!

This is a lovely song Graham , nice use of maj7 chords !

Word's and Music - Graham Williams
An acoustic/stripped down version of this song originally released in time for Valentine's Day last year. (https://soundcloud.com/graham_j_williams/when-you-say-graham-williams) A couple of additional percussive elements have been added together with a new, subtle, acoustic bass line.

When You Say... (Acoustic Version)

idea from the book El Sicario...por favor excuse some of  my beginner Spanish mispronunciations and I am sure grammatical errors....unpolished it is , lo siento

Sicario Blues (La Plata o Plomo)

La plata o plomo                                       
The silver or lead                                       
He's talking in Spanish                              
Got a gun at your head                              
Mas o menos, Señor                               
It's the Sicario blues                                   

He loves his mama
El ama a su madre
Got to bury your body first
Before he takes her to church on Sunday
Mas o menos, can't you see it
His Sicario blues

Lately, he's been wondering                       
Just whose side he's on                             
No quiere una guerra                                 
All these loaded guns                                
Sure, he's got some money                        
El dinero es grosso                                   
pero las manos, sus manos                             
Se han ensuciado                                     

La plata o plomo 
The silver or lead 
He'd rather be in Iceland
In a nice warm feather bed 
Mas o menos por favor
Those Sicario blues

Sooner or later, he'll be coming around 
Juarez, Tijuana, he'll be hunting you down
Su corazón es duro 
And your alibi is soft 
You're the last one on his list of names
Before he's running off

La plata o plomo 
The silver or lead 
El hijo de Dios 
Gonna put you straight to bed 
Si claro, mi amigo 
Tiene el Sicario blues
Es verdad amigos 
No escaping those Sicario blues







Plata o Plomo (Sicario Blues)

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)

A song from 'way back when' newly recorded for Valentine's Day.

Words & Music - Graham Williams
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar & Bass - Graham Williams
Percussion & Strings - Cubase

Artwork inspired by Keith Haring.

Another Love Song

sound to send

Cast of Characters:
Cgmaness – @user-419254289-15129531 – Chris – acoustic guitar, drums, lyrics, vocals, and composition
J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ-- organ and piano
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 – four string fretless bass
This song started all the way back in October, when Chris came up with lyrics and a vocal melody to go over his acoustic guitar composition. He also added the drum beat that carries it along, and contrasts Josh's bass part, which he added next. JJ came along shortly after and added his twinkling piano and ambiance thickening organ. 
  We had all these parts down, but for some reason this sat on the shelf for a few months. Finally we decided to dust it off. Chris mixed it for us expertly, as always, and we decided to put a ribbon on it. 
 This is an example of Chris's brilliant songwriting, shared with a couple of other musicians who are mutual admirers of his work. This is also a trio within the Eclectic Collective family, as we sometimes do side projects with different iterations of the group. We all hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed creating it.  
  
Original lyrics by cgmaness:

Let the night tuck you under,
When you feel you can't go on.
When you want to be happy,
I will be what you want...
And, it's you that makes me happy.
When I'm down on my bad sign.
Washing out all the tie-dye from the blue sky.

Let the Night (Eclectic Collective)

still messing around with this thing. it sounds like Elder to me. i did not intend that, but i'm ok with it. i love Elder. this thing means facing up to what you have to do. the old west analogy of the last stand came to mind so i wrote it that way. 

drag iron

A complete re-recording in the key played live. It was one of those recordings that sounded really messy. Dropping the fader on the acoustic guitar I'd started the whole thing off with revealed a different direction highlighting case and drums. It's about females who stand up for the community against arrogance and male chauvinism and I see them in my work environment - this song is about them..

Miss Rocket Launcher

Hey hey you this Joan of Arc - Miss Rocket Launcher
Love you sending into space – those flying saucers
Your eyes they dart and sense corrosion
You’re leaning forward in silky motion
You know who is fit to govern
For those who aren’t they get concussion
Your elbows dent the seats of power
Your rocket roars it’s getting louder

Hey hey you Sister of Mercy – Miss Rocket Launcher
Love it that they’re on your mind – the poor and poorer
When you sense their exploitation
Your voice it cracks and lips are brazen
I’d hate to be your target right then
A volley gone to crack their heads
We’re hungry like Cohen’s Partisan
We’ll force ‘em to the stones and hear the doors slam 

Room dust scatters as your strident voice rises
Tables go silent as you render the kaisers

Hey hey you this Mother Theresa – Miss Rocket Launcher
Can feel the warmth inside of you – and getting warmer
When they wallow in their greed
You let one go and make em all flee
I’m feeling for the hem of your gown
The reverent touch the best to be found
I know that you will win in the end
And sharing it with you – what a send

Ms Rocket Launcher

Can’t chase the days
They’re gone
You can find out what is left of you
trading your ways
for a life of gratitude
send her this song
before the train leaves out of Berney Arms

Play to this paltry rhyme
Stay near the edge of time
Tides of tears still drying
Fear so cold, melt the ice with fire

The glow
Of that darkened window
Save my soul
For the haunted kingdom
Hear the train, once again, my babe
Wring the nape of all that God creates

Hear the train once, again, my babe
Wring the nape of all that God creates

Element

Funny how often it happens.  

The (always rather uncomfortable) global status quo is disrupted as a stone of change plops into the pond of life, and from the ripples in the political ecosystem, tensions rise, international welcome mats are quietly pulled in and the nationalistic tub-thumping begins, always led by those with least to lose.   The language of politics shifts from the diplomatic to the pugilistic, and before you know where you are "leaders" keen to ride the opportunistic wave start eyeing up tracts of land, peoples and resources that don’t belong to them.  Bizarre, sham alliances are enacted to justify or enable ridiculously short term lunatic, greed-driven objectives, and eventually, even sensible folk start changing the way they behave - puffed out chests, strange salutes, - and ultimately start changing the way they dress and appear in public - comedic logo'd hats, odd moustaches,  funny trousers, armbands and the like.  Ah, probably just a European thing…

Anyhoo - only one way to counter the playground bully, and that is to laugh at him.  So I thought I’d quickly murder this lovely old 1927 classic of Frank Stokes and Dan Sane “Mr Crump Don’t Like It”.  I know they won’t mind.  (Especially the marvelously named Mr. Sane…..)

Check out the fabulous original here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g326DgRahxc

Pick up the guitar tab from Steve James' brilliant "Fingerstyle Blue Songbook"

As a great human being once sang, "When will we ever learn?  When will we ever learn?"

Thanks for dropping by: go peacefully, and with an inner smile.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Mr. Trump Don’t Like It

Mr. Trump don’t like it, he won’t have it here.
Mr. Trump don’t like it, he won’t have it here..…no sir…
Mr. Trump don’t like it, won’t have it here,
Got a bee in his bonnet ‘bout Volodymyr
Mr. Trump don’t like it, he won’t have it here…..maybe Greenland….

Well he loves his tariffs, fair trade such a pain
Well he loves his tariffs, fair trade such a pain… likes to deal…
But he won’t make America great again 
By beating up innocent sweet Ukraine
Ah he loves his tariffs, fair trade such a pain.…. Here come da boys…..

He’s coming down on Europe, loves his new pal Vlad…hey - what’s not to like?
He’s coming down on Europe, loves his new pal Vlad
He’s coming down on Europe, loves his new pal Vlad
The only true love he ever had
He’s coming down on Europe, loves his new pal Vlad….ah, such lovely couple….

Mr Trump  Don’t Like It

An exploration of the world's dark and imperfect heart.  Will probably be sung increasingly better as I get older.  

Seven Days

First of all thanks for dropping in on my page.
I sing, write songs and play rhythm guitar. I'm trying to learn a bit of bass. People tell me I've got a reasonable voice and I have a liking for melody. As I make my way with multi-track home recording, I'm hoping the the end result will be greater than the sum of the parts!
So again, thanks for dropping by. Hopefully you will take a listen to some of my songs and if you like what you hear, it would be great if you could leave a comment.

When You Say... (Acoustic Version)

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