"One Night Only, at the Starlight Lounge, the One & Only Shade Structure"....you can do it all man.

pretty decent croaking delivering these passiona-infised sentiments...spectacular framing with the piano work!

Beautifully romantic song, with all of the elements perfectly in place. Bravo for sharing with us (on SC) and obviously for DD.

S2!!!!!!  Yes!! Proper @ Jazz/Blues!! Piano and vocals and singing.. and sentiments!!! Wow!! Serious @ mood!! You must be checking out that K2 dude! He and he and ha!!! 🤣🤣🤣.. seriously… You always bring passion, technique, technology.. fervor.. Never, ever, never ever disappoint, duder!! It’s always a @ first class from you!  Thoroughly enjoyed, sir!! 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙏🙏🙏💎💎💎! YES!!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🔥🔥🔥👍👍👍

This is top notch Shade Structure - the piano/vocal is a real treat!!!

gentle goodness.  you make that piano sing nicely :)

Absolutely lovely. Nothing better in life than time with someone who’s someone , standing in a beautiful place 🙏🏼

Shade Structure Selection

I got to thinking, what would a country song sound like if outlaw musician Warren Zevon was still around to write them? (*)
Maybe something like this?  Everything you want in a country song: broken hearts, solitary country roads , banjo, and unique lyrical point of view.
Thanks for listening!

Lyrics:
They call me "Rusty"
But that's not really my name
It's a nickname a bartender gave me
He says: "Hey man, I think your mind is corroded."

Now I don't drink no more
I like to smoke
I don't need those California lagers
And the pinot noirs
She says that doesn't matter
"I'm throwing you out of this Florida bar,"

I get in my car, and I close the door
I'm driving all night on these lonesome roads
Anonymous and stoned

She said her name was "Honey"
You know I think that's funny
Because she never showed me any kind of real sweetness

I"d work for a million days
For a couple of Saturday nights
And some Sunday haze
I'm driving with the radio on
Waiting for the 'phrase that pays!'

I get in my car, and I close the door
I've been driving all night on these lonesome roads
Anonymous and stoned

I've been dragging my fat ass around
Like some kind of phantom limb I found
Don't pay attention to the foreground
All the real action is happening in the background

(sing along section)(2X)
I'm driving all night alone
On these old lonesome roads
Anonymous
Anonymous and stoned

I've been driving all night on these lonesome roads...

(*) After I wrote this, I had forgotten he recorded "Play it all night Long" , a pretty damn interesting song!

Lonesome Roads

Rough and ready lo-fi troubadour blues. More off-key and forlorn than usual.

Lyrics:
Oh, that bartender
He moved to his own
Sweet slow ass time
In getting back those drinks 
To feed my mainline
You asked me about my guitar
I've been far
But tonight
I am playing this bar

I could be gone soon
Maybe I could explain it to you
a little later
In my motel room?
There's a Gideon Bible
Right there in the drawer 
It's revelation about our sin
They're always gonna try to change ya
I think you're forgiven
You're  just
Welcoming a stranger

I've been far
But tonight, I am
I am playing this bar

All this joyful noise
I sing it for you
All the loneliness
And the  cacophony, too
It's my troubadour blues

My melancholy
The useless beauty
I feel like I'm  living life in another man's shoes
You asked me about my guitar
I've been far
But tonight, I am
I am playing this bar...

All This Useless Beauty (Troubadour Blues)

Just a simple song for the lonely. Old fashioned human music for this modern age.

Lyrics:
I'm bringing you my honest confessional
I'm dying out here, don't you know?
I've been walking the internet at night
I don't know why I always fall for the tawdry
I always fall for the pills
I fall for your sweetest thrills
I'm dribbling down here at the end of the bar
Falling in
(falling in and out)
Falling in and out of love
I'm in the valley of the lonely
Don't look into the corona eye
You know that I always lie

I could be anything you need
I could be that book that you've been working on...
A paperback. Dog eared and worn...
A book you put up on the shelf...
A book you read that changes your sense of self...
I'm in the valley of the lonely
Don't look into the coronas' eye
The valley of the lonely...

The Valley Of The Lonely

i’m already 
goin’ down
to the end of the story now
wind is blowing
to the end of the story now

come away   come away

time is bending 
drifting down
spin the hourglass all around
pulverize it
spin the hourglass all around

i’m comin’ after 
i’m comin’
i’m unembodied
i’m free

i’m already 
leaving town
train is rounding the mountain now
got my ticket
train is rounding the mountain now

come away   come away
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

image from Malcom Shadrach via Unsplash


Quietus

From the Album "Gravity"  by W. Dannemann,  played by Dannemann and Friends. 
W. Dannemann:    comp./ arr., all vocals, guitars, Dannemann&Friends: add. arrangement
Pee Gee           :    Lyrics

Yesterday Is Long Ago

Now the night is fading
The dawn is yet to come
A new day is waiting
All bad dreams are gone

Time to leave..you told me
In your own personal way
You made your point clear
Come back and make my day

There is a way of turning the wheel
Yesterday Is Long Ago
Today is now ..today is real
Yesterday Is Long Ago

They say that time will heal
The wounds if you can wait
Today is now.. today is real
Never ask ..is it too late?

Let us begin the dance
Whirling into the future
Taking another chance
Holding you tight forever

There´s a way of turning the wheel
Yesterday Is Long  Ago
Today is now..today is real
Yesterday Is Long Ago

There´s a way of turning the wheel
Yesterday Is Long Ago....................

Yesterday Is Long Ago ....

Yesterday Is Long Ago

Apotropaic

Bandcamp

Melting Point

For my love DD
Croaking and playing my way through a sentimental song (for those who like that kind of thing).

Lyrics:
Cupid, wipe those sleepy eyes
Because this love needs the element of your surprise
Could I ever be the one you love?
Could the stars align above?
And what's with this world anyway?
Then I know she'll stay
When I hear her say
Take me out tonight
Take me to see the waves tonight...

The tide rolls in
The tide rolls out
What's this world all about?
And could I ever be the one you love?
Will the stars light up from above?

The world is spinning
And I'm pretending
I think I know she'll stay
When I hear her say
Take me out
Take me to see the waves tonight...

Take Me To See The Waves Tonight

The idea for this song came to me randomly while driving down some backroad a few years back, and I recorded the initial idea spur of the moment. For whatever reason, the rather morbid theme came out in the process and I just went with it. Nat is a daring soul and surprisingly encouraged that we record it and with her considerable help we fashioned this recording. Notable is that Nat has taken on the ability to add some beautiful pedal steel guitar throughout the song using her well established keyboard skills and this first run at it was very satisfying. Let us know what you think!

Craig Durgy: vocals, guitar
Nat Daniels: vocals, piano, pedal steel, bass, percussion
All music written and performed by Daniels & Durgy
Produced by Nat Daniels of Gentle Rain Records 
©2025 Daniels & Durgy

Lyrics:
It took me a while to believe it
If you’re stuck in a bad place, you leave it
And I was that place, that she had to erase
A place that suited me just fine

Then one day I put away my rosy glasses
As I waited for her to come back home.
But watching dust settle, 
On the couch and the kettle
I could see it was me, that made her have to leave
Me to build this coffin home of mine

Yes, I’m building a coffin to live in
Surrounded by forests of green
‘Cause if I ever knew love, 
I guess that I threw love
Away with the girl of my dreams

Well, it don’t feel like living, without her
Though the sun still shines brightly through the pines 
I can tell I have a pulse, 
But my heart has tested false 
If only I’d seen the warning signs

It’s the simple things that seem so complicated
Thought I knew what I should do, to make it 
But then the ship that sails, 
Leaves you pounding coffin nails
Now it’s, twenty-four seven, this coffin that I live in
With all the “could have beens” that it confines

I’m just building a coffin to live in
Surrounded by forests of green. 
‘Cause if I ever knew love, 
I guess that I threw love
Away with the girl of my dreams

Pounding away, day after day
Waiting for the girl of my dreams
Someday, she’ll be back

A Coffin To Live In

A tribute song to the late great Mike Peters of The Alarm who left this world in April 2025, leaving a fantastic legacy behind, one of the good guys.
This song is about my introduction to his music and how it stayed with me shaping my music taste forever.

A cold winter night in December 1983 I witnessed something special that made me stand up and take note for the rest of my life. 
I had brought some really cheap tickets for The Police from a college friend. So off we went  me & my best mate to watch The Police at Birminghams Nec arena. 
Not really giving much thought to who was supporting them. 
We walked in the auditorium to hear the support band just kicking off their set. 
Wow the noise the energy the vocals of the charismatic front man Mike Peters and his band The Alarm .
I was blown away how they rocked this Police audience with their  powerful set  of songs it felt they had took the roof off and welcomed themselves to me.
From that night onwards I fell in love with them and a moment had happened. 
Their single 68 guns was yet to be released as the album was due out very soon called Declaration. 68 guns was an hit and The Alarm had earned their status as one of the best new bands around especially live. 
They went on to support U2, Bob Dylan , Springsteen & Queen gaining a loyal following of fans. While also touring as the headliners on their own shows. 
Mike Peters even fronted Big Country on their comeback tour.
I have lost count how many times I have seen The Alarm and Mike Peters solo shows over the years. 
I watched The Police that night and thought these guys are going through the motions and Sting live never sounded like the record almost changing his vocal style. I’m so glad I was introduced to The Alarm at 16 to show me what live music should be like. 
Mike Peters died on 28th April 2025 at the age of 66 after a 30 year battle with blood cancer. He was diagnosed with lymphoma in 95. Mike was awarded a MBE 2019 for his services to cancer care.
He was a passionate advocate for cancer care, founding the Love Hope Strength Foundation with a fellow patient and using his platform to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. 
Mike Peters also gained the cooperation of a group of young musicians from Chester called the Wayriders to lip-sync the Alarm's material and pass it off as their own. The first release by the fictitious band was promoted as a cover of the Alarm's 1983 hit 68Guns In fact it was the Alarm all along, and instead of a cover, it was a re-released version. The demo enticed executives in music & music production to record an album from the band called In The Poppy Fields which saw its advance release of the single, "45 RPM" entering Britain's top 30 chart. Critical reviews of the band echoed the promoters' official introduction of the band as a tribute to bands like Sex Pistols and The Clash with even more modern acts like Rancid being compared. The truth of the song's origin was not revealed until after the song entered the charts at number 24, a credit originally earned by the Poppy Fields from unsuspecting patrons who had accepted the act as fresh and new.
In a nutshell he duped the music industry showing them as ageist and only new cool music can only come from the young apparently.
The Hairy Hippie was his first ever band formed with his schoolmates to perform at his sister's 21st birthday party. 
So Rip Mr Hairy Hippie is quite fitting really as he had a fine mop of hair through out  his career. Thank you to Mike Fox as always for making ideas a reality with his skill sets and encouraging enthusiasm and incredible patience. 
Big thanks to Ken of K2 & The Three for his Twist style drums that drove the tune. 
Hope you enjoy listening as much as we did creating it. 
This Sound Society gives you …..:
Anthem Of Resilience

Anthem Of Resilience - This Sound Society

Ray and I made another song together. Well, maybe it's not exactly a song. But it's something!

Please visit Ray here if you haven't already https://soundcloud.com/user-364196783-552705040 You'll be in for a treat.

Home Lonely

Garden

Some Positive Thought

After completing the song, I found a noticeable spread between the highest & lowest notes.  So I had a hard time with the vocals.  I could have altered the notes to fit the voice but in the end I decided to go with the original.  Please bear with my singing.

The lyrics is extracted from a lengthy poem I came across on the web.
In the end, perhaps the plot doesn't make much sense anyway.  So let's assume it's just for the sake of making a song.   See what you think.

Thanks much for stopping by.

[CREDITS]
Music / Vocals / Programming / Arrangement :  Michael C. Lynn
Lyrics  :  Neruda / Merwin
Electric Guitar Solo :  Dave Cleveland @Band_in_a_Box

[LYRICS]
The memory of you emerges from the night around me
The river mingles its stubborn lament with the sea

In you the wars and the flights accumulated
From you the wings of the song birds rose

Cold flower heads are raining over my heart
I made the wall of shadow draw back,
Beyond desire I walked on

You swallowed everything, like distance
Like the sea, like time,  in you everything sank
In the childhood of mist my soul, winged and wounded,
In you everything sank

The happy hour of assault and the kiss
and spell that blazed like a lighthouse
I raise my song to you

I don't know how you could contain me
in the earth of your soul, in the cross of your arms

You girdled sorrow, you clung to desire,
sadness stunned you, in you everything sank
This was my destiny and in it was the voyage of my longing,
In you everything sank

.... Solo break....

You swallowed everything, like distance
Like the sea, like time,  in you everything sank
In the childhood of mist my soul, winged and wounded,
In you everything sank

You girdled sorrow, you clung to desire,
sadness stunned you, in you everything sank
This was my destiny and in it was the voyage of my longing,
In you everything sank
Ah haaaa

In You (Everything Sank)

I got a baby's bassinet and a clarinet
Don't know that it still plays
This exercise bike was my ex-wife's
My liquidation sale

You could probably use this fine pair of shoes
Barely been out on the trail
An assortment of Tupperware
A kick drum and snare
My liquidation sale

The stuff of my life thoughtfully priced
Displayed on my front lawn
Soon enough all of this stuff
Gonna be gone, gone, gone

That trinket in your hand's very special my friend
But I'm gonna make you a deal
Was from my sweet daughter Jane before we become estranged
My liquidation sale

Name your price, let me know, it all has to go
Down to the loose screws, bolts, nuts, and nails
My lease has expired now I'm nothing but tired
My liquidation sale

The stuff of my life thoughtfully priced
Displayed on my front lawn
Soon enough all of this stuff 
Gonna be gone, gone, gone

These things that you see once were special to me
This ring from a love since passed away
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
Everything goes like it must
My liquidation sale

My Liquidation Sale

A rough and ready summertime rock & roll song.
A salvage title is a car deemed a total loss by an insurance company.

Lyrics:
I surround myself with my friends 
That I know and love
Kick those bad times
Down the stairs
A little shove
Even when we're hurt
Drinking a toast
To the last rotation of the earth
You should know by now

We're living life with a salvage title
I'm out of sync
With my circadian cycle
Your molecular structure
Looking vital  🤪 
Salvage title

Take the time
And disregard all the rest
I'm at the Ramada Inn
Under house arrest
They say life is just a little test
I took off my shirt
To get this off my chest
You should know by now
This kind of spirit never goes away
It just becomes something else

We're living life with a salvage title
Getting sunshine
In tiny vials
Kicking down the portals of time
For an on time arrival
Salvage title 
Hot dog (yeah ) !!!!

Salvage title
And if you're coming over tonight
I'm going to be up late
Dancing with myself
Like Billy Idol

Salvage Title

Lyrics:
He comes from a land of sweat pants
And neck tat's
And Pit Bull's
And gunshot wounds
The rich man in the car
Well, he'll go far
He's got a certain pedigree
Oh, leave me be, to deal with my family tree
You could take yourself out for a ride
See the world, go out to the edge of the divide
Take it in (yeah, take it in)
You never know when life's going to end
I'm standing here, and I'm talking real loud
Saying nothing at all
I'm standing proud
On top of all my bullshit
She comes out. She's never going to leave
"it makes it hard to miss you when you never go away,"
The day that she died
We're dealing with nature's code
And we're all subject to the forces of nature
Subject to the forces of nature...

Subject To The Forces Of Nature (2015)

Thanks you so much for listening!

I try to write with rich lyrical details and self-deprecating humor about the human condition. Plus, that unique Shade Structure sound!  It sounds best with headphones. Thanks for any comments, reposts or likes.

Discography: Available under Album tag on my Soundcloud main page. Free Downloads/ Always Free
* The Curse Of A Good Looking Ghost (2024)
* Low Profile (2024)
* Smilers (EP 2023)
•Short Songs For Tall Minds"  (2022)
•Friends, They're Gonna Get Your Story Wrong (2021)
•A Suburban Dadaist With Some Store Bought Beats (2021)
•All Feel and No Technique (2020)
•This Is How I Spend My Nights (2019)
•California Songs (2018-2019)
All sounds contained within are home-made/DIY recordings. Most songs are short stories, as I am influenced by Musicians & Writers like Raymond Carver, Warren Zevon, Mountain Goats, Tom Waits, Mark Eitzel,  Randy Newman, Destroyer, Steely Dan, Captain Beefheart, Loudon Wainwright III, Leonard Cohen & The National. Most songs have the lyrics on the song page. Thank you for listening!

🧘🏽⏸️⏳❤️‍🔥

700 "Human written and expressed by body" songs and counting... Don't be fooled by the numbers... Some humans can actually output better then a prompter, you just need to want to do that... You're welcome! No AI here, in fact it insults me big time 😎 The more it damages music... The better my music will get. I have music's back until I'm dead! After that... Same goes ♾️ Let's go Music, Love ya ❤️
.

Howdy. Carl Culliton here from Ireland. Artist name The Beautiful Dark. I toyed with the idea of changing it but doesn't feel right after 24 hours so... Back to TBD.. Thanks for all the support and inpiration. It's infinitely appreciated

Personally I don't play the SoundCloud game of equal reciprocation. Every time my life as a Dad allows me to listen to a song... I listen to the whole song as I want to give genuine feedback and also learn as much as I can whilst here. So sorry if I don't listen and like and repost loads of your songs. Id prefer to support people by actually helping with the skills I've developed and give less frequent yet valuable feedback where possible then just playing the game of likes. That said I completely understand and appreciate people that decide to do that, that's you and you are as amazing as I am so no judgement. I just want to be clear with you that you won't get any artificial spreading of your music from here but you'll get my honest opinion based on what I imagine you were aiming for. This has helped me transcend musical taste in a way. I'm always imagining what you wanted as opposed to what I like. This has opened up some serious musical doors for me, embracing music that way instead of pre judging it based on what I've already heard... Lose the taste and expand your horizons is maybe what it is suggesting... I've always been a multi genre artist but this has activated multiple genre from an artistic point of view on steroids for TBD! A musical tri sexual.... The Get to Down! 🫡
Love will win ❤️‍🔥🎶🧬🙏🪶🔆🫛🧠🤘🏽

Let's let the music do the talking!

😆...

Speaking of the music doing the talking. Make sure you use AI to enhance the development of your skill. Getting a result delivered to you that doesn't reflect your ability isn't soulful. Be honest with yourself and be honest about what technology is and how it has come to be. There is a very questionable built in theft of our spirited art works that has been used to build current LLMs so the onus is on each of us as individuals to decide both whether or not we feed that beast at all and how we let that technology feed and enhance or limit our beings...

I've had mine and I decided for now... Only my fingers and voice will feed my music. AI needs to be made conscientiously for me to embrace it at all. I may look at it for DAW automation in the future as that will free up my fingers to make better songs but I'll wait until politicians do their jobs (we'll be waiting a while no doubt) and clean it up for all of us!

Regulate AI NOW so we can label music properly

Take Me To See The Waves Tonight

Shade Structure

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lil' spaceman

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