A Dustin Becker Original... Dustin Becker, Guitar, Vox and Lyrics;  John Hammink, Upright Bass

Circles 'round the Moon - Dustin Becker

Music by @user-467888932
Lyrics and vocals by @brianvaughn
Photo by Eduardo Garcia-Nieto (unsplash.com/@edugarcianieto)

"Back to the Beginning"

I'm sorry for the way I can't sit with how I feel.
I thought I could bury the parts that were bad.

Oh, the things that we try to believe...

I don't know what I believe.
I don't know what to think about me.

  These are predictable things.
  We act the same ways and nothing here changes.
  So I dissociate again.
  I don't know how to be a friend without falling apart.

We try again but we only get further down in the hole we're in.
We cut into each other's skin trying to hold onto this.
I don't blame you for the things that happened in the past,
But somehow we've got to move past it.

Sometimes it is what you think and all you can do is leave.
But where would that leave me?

  These are predictable things.
  We act the same ways and nothing here changes.
  So I dissociate again.
  I don't know how to be a friend without falling apart.

And then what would I do?
I'm afraid to lose the little things.

I guess that's life though.
You can't hold onto everyone.
It doesn't matter how hard you try.
Just give it a little time, it's almost always alright.
Don't just try to avoid any pain.
It's okay to feel something even when you feel afraid.
I wish I'd learned these things in an easier way, so they didn't hurt anyone.
I wish I knew what to say to fix this thing,
To take it back to the beginning.

Back to the Beginning (feat. TedStedt)

Shapes & Spaces

Music by @viperdrivemusic
Lyrics and vocals by @brianvaughn

"Indigo Dreams"

She's off in search of satisfaction
I know that she's never coming back
I set out in the opposite direction
Got lost as soon as she walked away

Are you happy like that?
Not knowing where you're going?
Don't be sad; at least you'll move faster on your own
Do you ever look back?
Half of the fight is knowing
All of these questions I'm asking myself but I'll never know

Looking back it was never that bad
We had the same problems everyone had
But I had my work and you had your TV
We never knew how to talk about our feelings
Eventually I guess they went away

I've been running for three years in the opposite direction
But it doesn't matter because California's got the papers
Are these mistakes that I have made or just normal scars?
Will I ever rid myself of the feeling?

I hate talking to you.
I hate having to.
I hate talking to you.

I'll take care of things like I always do.

Indigo Dreams (feat. Viperdrive)

Music by @acenthevibes
Lyrics and vocals by @brianvaughn
Photo by Javardh (unsplash.com/@_javardh_001)

"She Said"

How'd we get this way?
I'll never know
I've tried to reconstruct and think of things that I could have changed
But I think that there's no way to win that game

Given what we know about each other
What the hell was running through our heads?
I hope you're happier now
If no other good thing comes from this

You can't fix this thing by running away
The things inside always come along
There's just somethings you're always going to take
No matter where you go
You turn around, and there you are

So what were we thinking?
What was running through our heads?
I hope you're happier now
If no other good thing comes from this

Rock bottom dropped out
With no where left to turn
Throw out the thunder and the sun
And wrestle with the lessons that we've learned

The words you said bounce around in my mind
Even after all this time, I can't let them go
I hope you're happier now,
If no other good thing comes

She Said (feat. Cedric Dhaenens)

Music by @remarkableartist
Lyrics and vocals by @brianvaughn
Photo by Adrian N (unsplash.com/@anewevisual)

"You and I"

You want to know
You need to know this

Harder to look back
Damn this hindsight

Sometimes things can end before they've even started
You and I
There's no solution for a broken heart but time

I want to tell you something I know
I want to tell you
After I've thought about it, I realize I want to tell you

There's a guilt I've felt
I picked it up on my way out
I know it doesn't help you
But even so, I can't shake it

I watched you fall in and I didn't stop it

Sometimes things can end before they've even started
You and I
There's no solution for a broken heart but time

You and I (feat. Mark Miller)

Químico Juan A. Ríos 77

I was playing this for my friend Frank, in suburban Detroit in the early 1990's...upon first hearing it, he said only, "I'm smiling."  :)

I'm Smiling (2019)

Compare the difference between a song tracked straight into an interface and tracked through the Launcher.
All parts recorded exclusively with an SM57.

Mix WITH Launcher

Literally made at home, thus the genre. :)  This is a rough draft with a few audio issues, though comments welcome.

Me on Korg ESX, guitar, handpan, and MS-20 synthesizer.

patch'n'pan groove (rough draft)

Music, lyrics, and vocals by Brian Vaughn
Drums by Alex Hinson
Photo by takahiro taguchi (unsplash.com/@tak_tag)

"If I Don't"

i was hid behind the curtain
and suddenly stepped out
you were the sun behind the clouds

maybe life is falling
like me for you? no
like on the ground
i puddle and i reflect you from below
  
sometimes it's easier to be impossible than just a bit too far away
i know it's a fragile thing
like you and me, and our insecurities
but if you let me
if you let me
i plan to stay

right now the easiest thing to do would be to run away
take the secrets i still have
so i don't give them to you

the safest place that i could be now is home inside my room
but i spent 2020 doing just that
the only part that i don't regret was in september
and then into the winter
as i opened up to you

If I Don't

John Hammink is an American engineer, musician, digital artist and linguist.  

An accomplished guitarist, bassist, vocalist and songwriter, and once part of the Detroit-area hard-rock and folk scenes,  he's contributed to - and been influenced by - jazz, rock and world music ranging in origin from Appalachia (USA), Canada, Finland, Ireland, Estonia, Russia, China, Taiwan and across South America.   Currently based in Silicon Valley, as of March 2018, he completed a small tour in Columbia, Uruguay, and Wales, and in 2019 has returned briefly to Finland.

See also:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hammink

I'm Smiling (2019)

John Hammink

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