Sweaters

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Brother
I'm just looking forward
To the day when superheroes
Will stop dressing like total Jerks
And do casual Friday

Then they will be free to
Join us on the highway
Throwing rocks at passing cars 
Like normal

People
It's just a way of saying
Sweaters
Now I feel reassured 

'Cause the Children
Of the horror movies
Have teamed up with Jesus
Eating pizza, tasting wine
I have to say that at least the spaghetti are good

Heroes
When will you dress casual?
Sweaters
Tied around your neck
Ankles
We all need to see them
Therefore, never wear a sock

Just tap your finger regularly on your throat
In order to perfectly imitate an autotune
Yes, you'll have to sing, but there so much more
Do you think my statements about gender don't count?
Have a look at the stats: they're impressing
Autotune, coupled with some controversial statements about sexuality
Is a terrific recipe for success
Just last week, I autotuned my way as the keynote speaker
At a Christian meeting about the dictatorship of gender ideology
It was so great

Brother,
Do you think that Batman
Will become a Christian weirdo
Autotuning while he prays
Like all those

People
You know what I'm saying
Sweaters 
Tied around their neck
Heroes
It's time to dress casual
Heroes
Autotune this

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Composed, performed and produced by Jacopo Costa
Cover image by Ilaria De Bona (https://www.instagram.com/miss.ilaria/)

Sweaters (Demo)

Page 46

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I think I'm going to take a bath, and go read in the yard
Spring came early, everything's blooming
The neighbor's cat climbed the apple tree, over there
It will soon take a nap, while I fight with this crossword I can't solve
The solution's not on page 46

The solution's not on page 46
Better look on your bookshelf to find a mirror or a key
The solution's not on page 46
'Singing in the Rain' on TV
I'll have a cup of tea

If it rains I'll bake a cake that we can eat with tea
Let's watch 'Singing in the Rain'
When it's cold these old movies are just the best
For the rest, I will just forget about the problems I can't solve
The solution's not on page 46

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Composed, performed, and produced by Jacopo Costa
Cover picture by Ilaria De Bona (https://www.instagram.com/miss.ilaria/)

Page 46 (Demo)

Fun of Me


The way you keep a straight face
While making fun of all of us, in your state of grace
Well, it's just amazing
You hide a smile, and you wait
'Cause you just found the red flag, the right bait
That will drive me crazy

I would like, in every song, to have a line saying
'Oh, good friend of mine!'
But then, well, it would sound cheesy

Your eyes would turn from side to side
Your jokes can bring together, yet, they can divide
Is this some game you're playing
You raise your hand, solemnly swear
That this is not a travesty, that you were there
And you keep on saying

'I know you worship policemen.
I mean, any kind of law-enforcement figure:
Whether a sergeant, lieutenant or a food inspector
And please don't forget the school janitors.
Of course, they're enforcing the law: they're dressed in a uniform
That's not my point, it is yours, you uniform fetishist.
Should I mention the priests?
Even though you repeat the catchphrases you learnt from your atheist liberal friends,
I just happen to know all of your kinky phantasies
About being an altar boy.
There's no need to deny,
Everybody has inner needs, and these are yours.
Don't be such a prude: 
You shouldn't hide your devotion
For the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church,
And the purification you get in confessing your sins to your favorite priest,
Or school janitor.'

We'll have a laugh at this routine
That you've been playing since we both were seventeen
Adding more made-up details
You'll hug me close, I'll play along
A PC version of you would be just so wrong
So tell that joke again

Let's see what twist you're coming up with this time
Your audience waits like babies for nursery rhymes
So come on, make fun of me
I realize I'm glad to be your sidekick
Anything goes, yes, all the jokes, even if sick
So come on, make fun of me
I would like, in every song, to have a line saying
'Oh, good friend of mine'
So come on, make fun of me

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Composed, performed, and produced by Jacopo Costa

Fun Of Me (demo)

Home recorded demo (mixed with headphones).Better if you listen to it with headphones
Composed, produced, and performed by Jacopo Costa.
Cover picture by Ilaria De Bona (https://www.instagram.com/miss.ilaria/).
Very little prerecorded stuff (only the very boring things to play) but a lot of programming in order to have different electronic effects "following" the structure of the song. 


- LYRICS -

Today's his turn to pick up the children 
The house's a mess, but he'll clean on Sunday 
'Cause now the deadlines are getting closer 
He has to save time for the side projects 

You got to run when you're a pro 

The ritual dance of his career planning 
Is getting hectic, but getting results 
And he realizes that sacrifices 
And even losses cannot be avoided 

You're not thin-skinned when you're a pro 

When you're a pro like him 
You get a life like his 
People don't get just how hard it gets 
What can be jeopardized 
Isn't he right? 
Well, of course, he's polarized 
Is there a choice 
No, he's not trapped in his own shifting patterns 

Here's the thing, when you're a pro 
You do just like him, he doesn't look back 
And stop and wonder if it was worth it 
And even if so, the answer is yes 
Could you come up with some better options? 

No room for doubts when you're a pro 

Last week he could not catch up with his friends 
Sometimes for pros, that's the price to pay 
But he's not complaining, he knows what's at stake 
And wishes people could just understand 

It's a hard life 
That's because 

When you're a pro like him 
You get a life like his 
People don't get just how hard it gets 
What can be jeopardized 
Isn't he right? 
Well, of course, he's polarized 
Is there a choice 
No, he's not...


Copyright Jacopo Costa 2020

When You're A Pro (Demo)

Home recorded demo (mixed with headphones) - Better if you listen to it with headphones
Composed, produced, and performed by Jacopo Costa
Cover picture by Ilaria De Bona (https://www.instagram.com/miss.ilaria/).


- LYRICS -

So I guess you can call it a revolution 
But not of that kind 
You see, my man, we keep going around 
Going around and eventually 
We are back at the starting point 

And you've arrived there, man 
Way over twice 
As a child, as an adult 
And now you are older 
And still, you are amazed by the landscape 
- and rightly so - 
As you see a path there 

And yes, we are ascending 
It's a spiral, it's a vortex 
Whirling up our endless childhood 

So I guess you can call it (whirling up) 
But not of that kind 
You see, my man (it's a vortex) 
And eventually (we are ascending) 

And you've arrived there, man 
Way over twice 
As a child, as an adult 
And now you are older 
And still, you are amazed by the landscape 
- and rightly so - 
As you see a path there 
Through the idle orbits


Copyright Jacopo Costa 2020

Through The Idle Orbits (Demo)

It's a home recording, which I mixed on my headphones. 
I also recommend listening with headphones


- Demons - 

Edgy Robert, 
Did you fall or did you jump? 
Doesn't matter anyway 
You're too good for the elites, yet not middle of the road 

Tender Nick, 
Safe between your parents' walls 
Breakfast tea with your guitar 
You would rather rest in silence than keep trying to be heard 

You're a teacher 
You're a demon 

Cheerful Brian, 
While you sing your tunes to god 
The teen-agers go away 
Do you think Randy will come, with his warm and simple smile? 

Starry Syd, 
Just arrived from far away 
And you left before we knew 
Life is passing through your silence, life has slipped away from you 

Stubborn Frank, 
You keep going, no matter what 
On your side you are alone 
On your dying bed you know that nobody's going to care 

You're a teacher 
You're a demon


Composed, performed, and produced by Jacopo Costa
Cover art by Ilaria De Bona (https://www.instagram.com/miss.ilaria/)

Demons (Demo)

It's a home recording, which I mixed on my headphones. 
I also recommend listening with headphones.

Picture by Ilaria de Bona (https://www.instagram.com/miss.ilaria/?hl=it)


- Clear-Colored Boulders - 

We should do that: get on the road and go
With some savings, I could buy myself a van
Then equip it with everything we need

You know, in Spain there are parts of the land that look just like a desert
We could learn the language, then do what we want for a living
I was told in those wastelands 
There are huge blocks of clear-colored stone
Like the ones that I see when I'm sleepy and tired

I can't move them
Despite the effort
In fact, they are moving
They are trying to make me move
In vain
I don't know where these clear-colored boulders end
And where my limbs begin

To get on the road...
It would be nice, but at what cost?


Composed, performed, and produced by Jacopo Costa

Clear-Colored Boulders (Demo)

New demo, as usual mixed with headphones, so I recommend also listening with headphones.

Picture by Ilaria de Bona (www.instagram.com/miss.ilaria/?hl=it)

A simple yet complex song. For the main riff, I used an a cappella excerpt of a song I recorded with my band Loomings a couple of years ago, but I twitched a lot with it: while the original version sounded ethereal, here I made it quite obsessive and alienated...
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- Lyrics -  

After a long time, I can’t tell how, 
I found myself in the old man’s place 
But I felt lost, it was different now:  

Had any light left for outer space 
I think it would not have been so dark 
And dark as well was the old man’s face.  

With swollen eyes, like a dog who barks 
The old man shouted "What do you want? 
I don’t need your know-it-all remarks."  

"I had to know if the fear that haunts 
My thoughts is true, if I will give up" 
Said I, "to these dire, obnoxious taunts, 

 If I’ll become like you". He stood up 
And said "You deny what’s in plain sight 
But one las time, let me show you up."  

A river flowed by, in the night 
We sailed across the water, and then 
He began to perform a strange rite:  

Planted an oar in the sand, again 
He shouted words I could not discern 
Pointing here, pointing there, with much strain.  

"Once you've crossed the river, no return" 
He said, "No return once you have seen
These truth", so I looked around, concerned.  

There was nothing, so, "What do you mean?" 
I said, "There's no truth here, just your fear, 
Madness, and the shadow of what you’ve been"  

He turned away, and I was in tears, 
He looked like smoke, but without a fire: 
I tried to hug him, he disappeared.  

Lost the hope for him, not the desire.    
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Composed, performed, and produced by Jacopo Costa

The Old Man's Place

Sonnet

The intimate talks we have in the bed
After, before, or without making love
Releasing the mask of everyday life
Are like war breezes of innocent truth

But it's not really about what we might say
Fragmented chronicles, daily routines
Enduring fantasies, scheduled anxieties
No, our love is about the way we share

Yes, we are common people, as we feel
This communion, yet I wouldn't say we are
Normal, as norms are not really our thing

All those nightly talks, with their truthful silences
That I couldn't share with no one but you
Unweaving the fragile thread that we're made of

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Composed, performed, and produced by Jacopo Costa
Cover image by Ilaria De Bona (https://www.instagram.com/miss.ilaria/)

Sonnet (demo)

December 

The wooden gate was broken
I can't remember why
Somebody put a patch
On it, I don't know when

Grandma, you were there when it was done

Since then it hasn't changed
And yet, when closed and opened
It blinks with smooth distraction
Over our distracted life

Grandma, you will mention it somehow

Now winter's cold has frozen
Its wood-on-wood surface
December's silence framing
A picture of forgotten
Troubles forever to be
There, unheeded, heedless

Grandma, I will keep it in my heart

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Composed, performed, and produced by Jacopo Costa 
Cover image by Ilaria De Bona (www.instagram.com/miss.ilaria/)

December (Demo)

Electroacoustic songwriter and one-man-band

Bandcamp - https://jacopocosta.bandcamp.com
Facebook - www.facebook.com/jacopo.costa.84/
Instagram - jacopocosta.music