Nice lghthearted song, rocks along and the story is good, as is the performance(s), I like that. :)

Nice, clear, and funny! Never had that misfortunate experience.

Gosh, it's heartbreaking, and tremendously funny, Joe. Thankfully four years of Anglican choir school left me with post traumatic amnesia.

This had me cracking up and wincing in equal measure 😳💀 You’ve captured the trauma, absurdity, and weird dark comedy of it all so vividly, it’s like stand up set to music, but you’re clearly singing from actual experience, which makes it hit harder 🎭 That “eight years of hard time” line should be on a T-shirt. I could see this performed live with people laughing and then slowly realizing they still need therapy 💢 The toaster popped up halfway through and said, “This one’s crispy and Catholic, just like childhood repression” 🔪 The grater cackled and shouted, “OH YES, TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE MILK AND THE SHOES” 🧊 The ice dispenser blinked twice and muttered, “I wasn’t ready for the emotional whiplash, but I respect the honesty” Absolutely deranged in the best way, and way too real. Bravo, you survived and made art out of it 🖤

A more contemplative feel to this song. Like it. Excellent lyrics as ever.

Thankfully I never had to experience Catholic School, but did experience a few kickings.

Songs with a twinge of humor (and some a bit more serious).

Joe Stroffolino - Joe on the Edge

Fairytale Forest Pt. 3

Copyright 2024 Joe Stroffolino

Lots of people moving to the state of AZ
The desert seems like a nice a nice place to be
The only problem is there’s not enough H20
One day you’ll turn the tap and it’s not gonna flow
The climate keeps getting drier every single year
I guess we’ll have to take fewer showers and drink more beer

If you can’t stand the heat maybe you should get out of the kitchen
Maybe this isn’t the right place for you.
The sun up in the sky is 93 million miles away
But it feels a lot closer on a hot Arizona day

There’s not enough snowpack on the mountains up high
They say the Colorado river’s running dry
They’re ripping up lawns, replacing them with rocks
Instead of going barefoot, you walk around in crocs
The polar glaciers are melting in to the sea
I wish that they could scoop up an iceberg and drop it down on me

If you can’t stand the heat maybe you should get out of the kitchen
Maybe this isn’t the right place for you

Most of the rain falls in the summer
Monsoon season can be a real bummer
You get a big dust storm, they call it a haboob
You can watch scary videos on You Tube
You’ll be driving and suddenly you can’t see
You gotta make sure you don’t crash into a cactus or a tree

If you can’t stand the heat maybe you should get out of the kitchen
Maybe this isn’t the right place for you

A long time a ago, it must have been tough without air conditioning
People just had to sit around all day moaning and bitching 
Now the biggest thing we complain about is our high electric bill
As we lie on the couch watching Netflix enjoying the comfortable chill

If you can’t stand the heat maybe you should get out of the kitchen
Maybe this isn’t the right place for you
The sun up in the sky is 93 million miles away
But it feels a lot closer on a hot Arizona day

Can't Stand the Heat

Cast of Characters:
Joe Stroffolino-- @joseph-stroffolino -- Taylor 114ce acoustic guitar, main vocals, harmony vocals, lyrics, composition
Llanpsych -- @llanpsych -- Tez – Fender HSS Telecaster electric guitar
TexMex Shaman–@texmex-shaman –Stephen– Tom Anderson Custom T electric guitar, mix, mastering, and production
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark – piano
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara -–Ken–drums
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)–@josh-clary-1 –- four string Fender Precision Bass with a plectrum

This song began as one of Joe's catchy, lyrically centered songs, which he wrote on his acoustic guitar, and filled in with VST instruments. He came up with the lyrics by sharing ideas with fellow SoundCloud musician Michele Ansani, who began the thought process of a song about becoming a musician.
Knowing that Josh is a fan of his work, Joe offered this song to him in hopes that he'd share it with the rest of the band. Of course, Josh jumped at the opportunity to work on his song, and immediately shared it with the rest of the group.
Ken went to work first, adding his driving, excting drums. Josh was having a hard time coming up with a good bass line for it, until Ken suggested that he use the power of the 1/8 note to propel it. Tez was up next with his clever fills you hear throughout the first half of the song. Stephen came along right after and matched Tez's energy for the guitar fills in the second half of the song.
It was still missing a solo in the designated spot, though, so Mark stepped up with his innovative piano solo you hear in the middle. If it sounds a little mechanical, that's because he's using an arpeggiator to achieve the effect. We thought it sounded good in a song about AI, though.
Once all the parts were dialed in, and Joe had gotten all his vocals tuned up, we asked one of our resident pros, Stephen, to mix it for us. He did that and mastered it, too, expertly, as always.
This is the first song we've ever done with Joe, and don't expect it to be the last. We all really enjoyed putting together, in no small part because Joe is such a competent, receptive, and gracious collaborator. We all hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Lyrics by Michele Ansani and Joe Stroffolino
Music by Joe Stroffolino (@joseph-stroffolino)

When I was thirteen I picked up my first guitar
it was my mother's, it only had one nylon string
I tried to play it like a rock star
I learned to play the Coca-Cola jingle
So I could teach the world to sing
When I was fourteen, I put on six new strings
I learned to play Beatles, I learned a Bob Dylan song
I sounded out of tune but I tried to carry on
At fifteen I wrote my first original tune
So bad it sounded like it might have been written by a baboon
When I was sixteen, I got a new guitar for my birthday
The metal strings sawed through my fingers
But I continued to play
And the calluses formed and every day I learned a brand new chord
I was obsessed with that guitar and I never grew bored.
I wrote songs every day and most of them were a mess
But I believed that through hard work, I could achieve success
Malcom Gladwell wrote a book that said it takes ten thousand hours
To become and expert at your craft
But now all it takes is two commands and an enter
And in two minutes you have ten versions of the same damn new song,
You just have to choose the type
folk, rock, rap, pop, metal, jazz, trap or blues.
You don't even need to write the lyrics,
your push a few buttons let the AI choose.

And people will think your songs are great even though you didn’t write or play a single note.
When I was 20, I did my first concert, it was time
it occurred in a village square
there were four cats all friends of mine
I was still using the plectrum and sometimes I got the chords wrong
at thirty I finally wrote what I thought was a decent song
It had a very well thought out structure

AI Sucks - Eclectic Collective

Music and Lyrics Copyright 2025 Joe Stroffolino
Vocals Joe Stroffolino
Guitar's: Fender Squire picking track  and Taylor 114ce strumming track Joe Stroffolino
Violin and Bass PG Music real tracks
Drums EZ drummer 3
Piano Logic Pro Session Player track 

All these people who claim they were abducted by alien UFO’s
They say they took them up onto the spaceship and examined them from head to toe.
Most people think those stories are made up, but what if they’re actually true
It kind of makes you wonder what motivates those aliens to do the things they do
If I ever get abducted by aliens from outer space, I think I might ask if I could hitch a ride off this crazy place. 
People who believe we couldn’t have built the pyramids without alien assistance
There’s days when I can’t find my car keys without lots of searching and persistence. 
Maybe we’re just 2 legged creatures and the earth’s an exotic alien zoo. 
And they come here on safari to see what we’re up to
If I ever get abducted by aliens from outer space, I think I might ask if I could hitch a ride off this crazy place. 
Even if they don’t consider me to be much better than a trained monkey
I could play my guitar to cheer them up whenever they feel grumpy.
They say the speed of light is as fast as you can possibly go
Maybe those aliens have access to information we don’t know
Maybe they just look at us in the same way scientists study bugs
They read the work of our most brilliant minds and they just shrug
Maybe someday if we start World War three, they’ll stop the missiles from firing
Or maybe they’ll just let us blow ourselves up because they find our behavior so tiring
Maybe someday if they think we’re ready, they’ll land a spaceship in times square
And although they’re usually naked, they’ll put on some underwear
If I ever get abducted by aliens from outer space, I think I might ask if I could hitch a ride off this crazy place. 
Even if they don’t consider me to be much better than a trained monkey
I could play my guitar to cheer them up whenever they feel grumpy.
There's days on earth when it feels like it might be kind of nice to get away
And getting abducted by aliens just might be okay.

If I Ever Get Abducted

Link to video where I tell the story behind the song : https://youtu.be/cilXaNM0IoI?si=IbBwc2wlxYTwoADH 


In Catholic school, whenever I misbehaved, the nuns used to pull my hair.
If I could go back in time and do it all again, I’d gab some clippers and shave my head bare.
I did eight years of hard time in Catholic school
I was never the kid who was considered cool
Eight straight years of Catholic School and somehow, I survived
Eight straight years of Catholic School.  Thank God I’m still alive  
My first-grade teacher was a nun, who if you’re penmanship was sloppy
She’d make you take all your books and stand there holding them in the back of the room.
She was like a witch except instead of a pointy hat she wore a habit
She carried a crucifix instead of broom.
I did eight years of hard time in Catholic School
I was never the kid who was considered cool
The cafeteria food tasted horrible, but I had to eat it
I had to wash it down with milk that was warm and sour
I’d try to fold my plate in half and throw it away, but the nuns would catch me and make me eat it
It’s like they had this secret food wasting detection superpower
Every year your birthday, it was customary for the kids in the recess yard,
To grab you and kick you and punch you for every year of your age.
I still have flashbacks of a girl with pointy hard black shoes kicking me really hard in my rib cage.
My fifth-grade teacher Sister Margaret she’d been teaching for way too long
It was time for her to retire but they let her teach another year and that was wrong
She had long grey whiskers growing out of her chin
She’d sit at her desk and trim them with of scissors and you sure as hell better not grin
She’d tell cautionary tales about innocent kids who got into cars strangers
She seemed to enjoy describing all the bloody graphic details of the danger.
I did eight years of hard time in Catholic school
I was never the kid who was considered cool
Eight straight years of Catholic School and somehow, I survived
Eight straight years of Catholic School.  Thank God I’m still alive

Catholic School

Lyndon B. Johnson - ”If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/lbj-convince-the-lowest-white-man/

John Philpot Curran, "The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.
https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/respectfully-quoted/john-philpot-curran-17501817-2/

Patrick Henry - Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/patrick.asp#:~:text=Is%20life%20so%20dear%2C%20or,liberty%20or%20give%20me%20death!

No Surrender

Now convince the lowest man that he's better
And he won't even notice you're picking his pocket
Hell, give him someone to look down on
And he'll empty his pockets for you

If ya wanna be free, live your life own way 
Then eternal vigilance is the price ya pay
Cause  Servitude is the consequence
If you’re too damn complacent  

No surrender, to the powers that be
No surrender, to autocracy
No surrender, no surrender 

It’s a lie, It’s a lie, It’s a lie
It’s a crime, It’s a crime, It’s a crime
Of the time, of the time, of the time
It’s a low down stinking lying crime of the time.

Is life so dear or peace so sweet
To be purchased at the price of slavery 
Some will bend the knee and kiss the ring
For me I say let freedom ring 

If ya wanna be free, live your life own way 
Then eternal vigilance is the price ya pay
Cause servitude is the consequence
If you’re too damn complacent 

No surrender, to the powers that be
No surrender, to autocracy
No surrender, to the chains of tyranny

No surrender, to the powers that be
No surrender, to a wanna be king
No surrender, no surrender

NoSurrender

Art and Miles
By David Husted

Vs
How much more now is enough
the body turning home
passions and the red, red dust
You and wonder roam

Far more grace than we can see
often so deceived
To give, to give to give away
And find where tender lays

Miles 
It's miles and miles away
Smile
We're gonna find another way

Ch
We were larks whistling, 
soaring with our wings  
The memories fade, but the love remains 
We were fine art, a masterpiece 

We were larks whistling, 
soaring with our wings  
The memories fade, but the love remains 
We were fine art, a masterpiece 

We were larks whistling, 
soaring with our wings  
The memories fade, but the love remains 
We were fine art, a masterpiece 

Pre Vs
{instr}

Vs
Miles 
It's miles and miles away
Smile
We're gonna find another way

Miles 
It's miles and miles away
Smile
We're gonna find another way

Outro
How much more now is enough
the body turning home
passions and the red, red dust
You and wonder roam

Art and Miles

DRUMAX No. 63 // XAYMACA // Musical Greetings From The South-West
@docfritz // All Musical Stuff, Drums & Percussion, Artwork, Mix & Production
@joerxworx // Completely Relaxed Alto Sax
© 2025 | DRUMAX PROJECT | All Rights Reserved

DRUMAX No 63 // XAYMACA

Inspired by William Walton's Bagatelle No.3.   It is 4am on stage, the club is vacant but loving these acoustics.
Compare: https://youtu.be/9_RsORGkVF8

Bagatelle Acoustics

Cast of Characters:
Steve's Planet -- @steve-vervaet — Steve -- acoustic guitar, vocals, lyrics, and composition
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara -–Ken–drums
Llanpsych -- @llanpsych -- Tez – Fender Stratocaster electric guitar
Mistrermark -- @user-432503709 — Mark — organ 
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)–@josh-clary-1 –- four string fretless Warwick bass and Roland electric piano and organ
TexMex Shaman–@texmex-shaman –Stephen– mix, mastering, and production
  
This song began with Steve, who wrote it on his guitar and sang it, before sharing it with Eclectic Collective about half a year ago, back in the fall. Always grateful to Steve for sharing his amazing music with us, we kept it alive even though it had stalled out on us for whatever reason. 
  We had a decent skeleton from our original go at it, but decided to scrap it, and start fresh. Ken, being the one who actually revived it, added his solid drums first, providing for a groovy foundation. Tez came next, surprisingly, adding his hooky guitar fills throughout. Mark hopped on shortly after, adding the organ you hear coming in around the 2:00 mark. Josh took his turn after that, even though it was only a couple of days between, by adding his fretless bass to complete the rhythm section. He also, in the same recording session, added the electric piano you hear throughout, as well as the organ in the first half. 
  Once it was in the can, we asked Stephen to mix it for us, in his always professional manner. 
  We all love working on Steve's songs, and admire him as a musician, singer, and songwriter. This makes almost a half dozen songs on which the EC has collaborated with Steve, and we're sure to add many more. We hope you enjoy listening to this song as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Original lyrics by Steve's Planet

Please Come Home (Eclectic Collective with Steve's Planet)

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

Hey everyone!
This track, Asteroids (The Original Was Better), started when I heard Beating Edge’s chiptune tune RND and got inspired to write some lyrics about the classic arcade game Asteroids. I added my acoustic guitar and vocals on top and sent it over to the band.
They liked it so much they decided to jump in and make a second part with a more rock vibe using the same musical base. We put both parts together into one track, starting with a fun spoken intro, a little vocal line to bridge the two sections, and finishing off with a hilarious outro.
It was a really cool collab and I’m stoked for you all to hear it!

Music by: Beating Edge
Lyrics by: Tom (Beating Edge) and Joe Stroffolino
Performed by: Beating Edge and Joe Stroffolino
Acoustic guitar (Taylor 114ce) by: Joe Stroffolino
Vocals performed by: Joe Stroffolino and Tom (Beating Edge)
At the moment, this track is exclusively available on SoundCloud.
Released on June 6, 2025.
©2025 Beating Edge and Joe Stroffolino

Lyrics:

[Spoken Intro]
Joe: Wow! This is a really cool Arcade!
Tom: Yeah!
Joe: Hey, check it out! Is that an Asteroids game over there?
Tom: Oh, wow!
Joe: I haven't seen that in like that forever!
Tom: That's definitely Asteroids! Let's play a game!
Mary (with a sore throat 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣): Oh yeah! Let's play Asteroids!

-->Joe

I used to play asteroids in the 1980’s
I liked to blow up rocks in outer space
The flying saucers would attack me
At an ever-increasing pace

I stumbled across an old vintage arcade the other day
I hadn’t played Asteroids in a long time
I popped a quarter into that old machine
And I watched my score start to climb

I watched my score start to climb
I watched my score start to climb
I watched my score start to climb

Time goes by so quickly
and playing that game really took me back
To those days when my future was unwritten
And I hadn’t gone so far down my current track

Pushing those buttons so fast and furiously
Standing in front of that arcade machine
Blowing up all those asteroids
On that black and white video screen

Blowing up all those asteroids
On that video screen
Blowing up all those asteroids
On that video screen

For a couple of minutes, I forgot about the present
I was back floating in outer space
Breaking big rocks into small rocks
I had a a big smile on my face

And then it was time for me to go
Cause I had errands that I needed to run
But that old video game
I sure had a lot of fun

It's not over yet

-->Tom

Just a single screen, all black and white
The whole room's dark except the TV's light
Rotate and thrust, it wasn't much
No one had seen a thing like this before

Now there's a 3D holographic thing
That no one plays, 'cause nobody can afford
With a visor on, your body's gone
It's kinda fun, but the original was better

We used to play all day, late at night
For the high score, it was do or die
No one knew what a quarter was worth
No one knew what the future had in store

Now there's a 3D holographic thing
That no one plays, 'cause nobody can afford
With a visor on, your body's gone
It's kinda fun, but the original was better

The original was better
The original was better
The original was better
The original was better

Now there's a 3D holographic thing
That no one plays, 'cause nobody can afford
With a visor on, your body's gone
It's kinda fun, but the original was better

[Spoken Outro]
Someone who wants to stay anonymous 😂: That was a lot of fun!

Asteroids (The Original Was Better) - Beating Edge & Joe Stroffolino

Waiting to heal from the past. The future awaits.

I'll Be Waiting

A song about Jesus' return and whether or not I want to go

If I fly

I don’t need another fight in the kitchen,
Don’t need another sorry I don’t mean.
Truth is, girl, I’ve been slippin’,
Blamin’ you when it’s all on me.
I pour whiskey like it’s water,
Light a smoke just to kill the time.
Tell myself I’ll try tomorrow,
But tomorrow never shows up right.
Guess I’m better off lonely, than breakin’ your heart,
I’d rather take the blame than tear us apart.
It ain’t fair, but it’s all I know—
To push away the one I hold close.
You loved me good, but I can’t stay sober,
I’m the reason love keeps gettin’ colder.
Baby, don’t wait on me…
I’m better off lonely.
Your mama said I got a good heart,
But a good heart don’t fix my ways.
Every time you try to save me,
I just dig a deeper grave.
It’s not that I don’t want forever,
It’s that I can’t give it to ya straight.
I keep runnin’ from the mirror,
And losin’ every race I chase.
Guess I’m better off lonely, than breakin’ your heart,
I’d rather take the blame than tear us apart.
It ain’t fair, but it’s all I know—
To push away the one I hold close.
You loved me good, but I can’t stay sober,
I’m the reason love keeps gettin’ colder.
Baby, don’t wait on me…
I’m better off lonely.
One day I might find my way,
But tonight I’ll just drive and fade.
You deserve a man who ain’t
Always fallin’ on his face.
Guess I’m better off lonely, than breakin’ your heart,
I’d rather take the blame than tear us apart.
It ain’t fair, but it’s all I know—
To push away the one I hold close.
You loved me good, but I can’t stay sober,
I’m the reason love keeps gettin’ colder.
Baby, don’t wait on me…
I’m better off lonely.
Yeah, I’m better off lonely.
Better off lonely…
Than hurtin’ you again.


Better Off Lonely

Songs with a twinge of humor (and some a bit more serious).  
I do not use AI to create my songs. 
Recently I have had the urge to pick up my guitars (Taylor 114ce and Fender Squire) and I have been trying to use more guitar in my songs.  
My go to .vst plug ins are  EZkeys 2, EZ Bass and  EZ drummer 3) and my DAW is Logic Pro 11. 
I welcome your comments and enjoy listening to all the great music on SoundCloud. 
All songs are originals and copyrighted.

🔗https://ffm.bio/beatingedge
🙌Welcome (back) to the (Beating) Edge! 
👉We are an eclectic band that blends elements of electronic dance, metal, pop, punk, rock, synth wave and more to create a unique and engaging sound (..🎧 listen and decide for yourself… if you're ready for the journey)! Our identities are top-secret, forgive us, we're a bunch of very shy aliens🛸 (4 males 💁🏻‍♂️🙎‍♂️🙋🏼‍♂️🦸🏼‍♂️ and 1 female🙅‍♀️, the guitarist/backup singer). Our earthly names (and nicknames) are Tom ("Lucifer" - lead vocals and occasional keyboards/guitar), Mary ("Vampira" or just "V" - guitarist and backing vocals), Mauro ("Maux" - keyboards, piano, synths and winds), Davide ("Dave", "Quiet D" or just "D" - bass and synth bass), and Valerio ("Brad", drums and percussions). And you definitely DON'T want to know the origin of some of our nicknames!😅
Enjoy the music!😉

The label BE Melody and the recording/production studio BE Studios are owned by Beating Edge and are © 2024-25.
© 2024–2025 Beating Edge. All songs, lyrics, artworks, and videos are owned by Beating Edge. All rights reserved.

Catholic School

Joe Stroffolino

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