Album Number 5

℗ © Copyright Ian Stokes. All Rights Reserved
Recorded, mixed and mastered in Logic. 
Guitar played: Taylor 714CE in standard tuning (Capo 2nd Fret)
Photography: Thanks go to Nigel and Libby Hume at Hume Photography.
Lyrics:
Maybe one day I’ll go sailing
Out on the big blue sea
Where the fishes swim around, going up and down 
Like a fish …….was meant to be

What a lovely way to spend the day 
Just being out there afloat 
And oh what joy to shout ahoy
From the deck of a sailing boat 

Sailing along in the sunshine
Just me and the ocean breeze
Then across the bay I’d make my way
Back home in time for tea

Steady as you go
Steady as you go   

Maybe one day I’ll go sailing 
Out on the big blue sea 
Along the coast I could make the most
Of the nautical scenery

What a lovely way to spend a day 
Just being out there afloat 
See a smugglers cove or a treasure trove
From the deck of a sailing boat 

Sailing along in the sunshine
Just me and the ocean breeze
Then across the bay I’d make my way
Back home in time for tea

Steady as you go
Steady as you go

Steady As You Go

℗© Copyright Ian Stokes. All Rights Reserved
Recorded, mixed and mastered in Logic.
Guitar played: Taylor 714CE in standard tuning 
Photography: Thanks go to Nigel and Libby Hume at Hume Photography.
Song Notes and Lyrics:
This song imagines one of those occasions when you by chance find yourself in a place where there is some great live music that somehow just seems right.....
Lyrics:
Somewhere in New York City
Or was it down in New Orleans 
Could have been in San Francisco
Or maybe it was all a dream
I was walking by an old blues bar-room 
When I heard somebody playing with some style
So I bought myself an ice cold beer
And listened for a while

Looked like he’d lived a whole life-time
Beard gone silver grey
The people in the place seemed spellbound
Happy just to hear him play
At home on stage under the spotlight 
Keeping time with his heel on the floor
I bought myself another beer
I stayed and Iistened some more 

He wore a fine silk waistcoat
Jacket on the back of his seat
Hat pulled down to his cheekbone
Boots tapping out that beat

He played until the bar-room closed
Right sound right time right place
He walked off into the night
With his old leather guitar case
Never knew his name
Don’t even know if he still plays
But I’ll picture that stage and hear that sound
For the rest…of my days

He wore a fine silk waistcoat
Jacket on the back of his seat
Hat pulled down to his cheekbone
Boots tapping out that beat

Fine Silk Waistcoat

℗ © Copyright 2024 Ian Stokes. All Rights Reserved
Recorded, mixed and mastered in Logic.
Guitar played: Taylor 714CE in standard tuning
Photography: 
Thanks go to Nigel and Libby Hume at Hume Photography.
SONG NOTES AND LYRICS: 
It's nice to be recording again with a view to completing my 5th Solo album over the next few months. I decided to go with just guitar and vocals for this song, which I think best reflects the lyrics. For those interested in how I record my acoustic guitar, I have used a slightly different technique for this song, using a blend of stereo small diaphragm microphones, together with Direct Input from my Taylor electro-acoustic guitar, played through a mixer into my audio interface. Hope you like it.

LYRICS:
I watch the dawn approaching 
The earth beneath my feet 
Spins in all it’s silence 
To the sound ….. of my heart beat

And over the horizon
These colours fill the skies 
I breathe in this morning air
Thankful for my eyes 

For I am but a fellow traveller
As we circle round the sun
For all this life we ever know 
We travel all as one

I watch the dusk approaching
The earth beneath my feet 
Spins into the moonlight 
To the sound ….of my heart beat

And I gaze up in wonder 
Beyond these starlit skies 
I breathe in this cool night air
Thankful for my eyes 

For I am but a fellow traveller
As we circle round the sun
For all this life we ever know 
We travel all as one

The Sound of My Heart Beat

The Sound Of My Heart Beat

℗ © Copyright 2024 Ian Stokes. All Rights Reserved
Recorded, mixed and mastered in Logic.
Guitar played: Taylor 714CE in standard tuning (capo 3rd fret)
Photography:
Thanks go to Nigel and Libby Hume at Hume Photography.
SONG NOTES AND LYRICS:
Let the rain come down 
Take this river to the sea
Let the rain come down
Take this river to the sea
Way out here
Just the rain and the river and me

Let the rain come down 
The things this old river has seen 
Let the rain come down 
The things this old river has seen
Way out here
It’s just the rain and the river me

From the top of this hill 
How this river flows
Doing what a river does 
What a river knows 
Let the rain come down 
Take the river where the river goes 

Let the rain come down 
What will be will be 
Let the rain come down 
What will be will be 
Way out here
Just the rain and the river and me

The Rain and The River and Me

℗ © Copyright Ian Stokes. All Rights Reserved
Recorded, mixed and mastered using Logic.
Guitars played: Taylor 714CE in DADGAD tuning (Capo 9th Fret)
Photography: Thanks go to Nigel and Libby Hume at Hume Photography.
SONG NOTES:
This song reflects my growing awareness of the incomprehensible nature of a star in the sky, which has captivated the imagination of humanity since the dawn of time. All that amazing energy, captured in a little word of just three letters, the sun. 
LYRICS:
Such a little word “the sun”
With all its mystery 
Yet, without the sun my friend
Where oh where would we be?

With colours that glisten and dance all around
As far as the eye can see 
Without the sun tell me my friend
Where oh where would we be 

For who can say how it does what it does 
Painting the sky so blue
As pretty a picture as I’ve ever seen
Oh the things the sun can do

The years come and go like the ocean tide
But is time ever what it seems?
Without the sun, tell me my friend
Where oh where would we be?

Chorus

A Little Word

Thank you for visiting my Soundcloud page. 
It's great to connect with so many talented musicians here on Soundcloud! On this page you'll find my original songs (including 5 albums) and acoustic guitar instrumentals (including 2 EP's), together with various notes about guitars played, tunings, recording etc.

Musical influences for me have been many and varied including for example Bert Jansch, John Martyn, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Mark Knopfler, BB King, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Fairport Convention, Paul Simon,  JJ Cale, Eric Clapton, Colin Hay and John Mayer.

Hope you enjoy listening to my music.

Photography: Thanks go to Nigel and Libby Hume at Hume Photography.