Much more than splendid !!!  .... superb production too

Love this one Joe! It does come across like your younger self finding yourself.

Love the chorus Joe! Thought provoking song!

aw nice one great track good job.🎶👍😎👌

Sounds ..vocal.. really good! …🌍☮︎👍🐞🍀2024

2024 Recent Songs

As each November approaches I try to make my own little Remembrance-time tribute.  Seems more relevant as each year passes...

Following the huffing and puffing empire lunacy in the summer of 1914, the next four years would see 40 million casualties, half of them deaths and of those, half were civilian.  

40 million.

40 million tales of poignancy, pain, grief and human tragedy, through times that can often seem littered with coincidence, symmetries …. bookends and mirrors.

In the Military Cemetery of St Symphorien near Mons rests John Parr.  At only five foot three inches and several years under age he (amazingly) managed to enlist in 1912 - hoping to see the world, and get the advertised “two square meals” a day.  He was the first British Army casualty, killed in the battle of Mons aged just 17, his body left behind, fate unknown until much later in the conflict;  the army unable to answer his mother’s letters of enquiry about her “silent” son.

By pure coincidence, John lies just a few yards from the last British soldier to die in the great war.  George Ellison served for four long years including at the same first battle of Mons as John, and most of the famously grinding, attritional infantry battles of the conflict.  His working life bookended by military service, George had first enlisted in 1902, leaving the army in 1912, just as John joined, he became a coal miner, re-enlisting at the outbreak of war to dig mud not coal and fight from trenches he helped excavate.  George was killed just 90 minutes before the armistice took effect at 11:00 on the 11th day of the 11th month.  The futility of the conflict was cruelly illustrated by the fact that George’s war had started and ended at exactly the same place, Mons in Belgium.  They had literally gone nowhere.

As a postscript to progress since "the war to end all wars" the human race is currently reckoned to be engaged in 7 major wars, 15 significant ongoing conflicts and 21 “minor” conflicts (the latter defined as up to "only” 1000 deaths per year).  By way of another macabre bookend, the longest of these has been going on, unbelievably, since the year .... 1918.

As always, this simple ballad is offered as a live one mic one take effort - please excuse the fluffs and gaffes.
_______________________

Bookends and Mirrors

Sun turned cold ‘cross every sky in the summer of ‘14
The Good Lord shook his head, and he placed it in his hands
Braided declarations flying, whose like was never seen
Lunatics in feathers stockpiled lead, bagged their sand.
Slapstick Mephistopheles, unleashing of his flame
Spiral minds lobotomised in the waltz of the insane
Simple lives unknowing of the mud that would become
A mirror in the resting place of two Holy Mother’s sons.

Signed the line, five years young, fingers crossed behind his back
Chance to see the world, grab a future, two square meals.
At 17, John’s angels sung, first to fall in dawn’s attack
Abandoned and forgotten, deaf to all his ma’s appeals.
Never knew the miner, his bookend pal to be
Fighting down the line, many battles that he’d see
Full four years in trenches, George’s hell lived through them all
Cruelty was smiling wide at England’s last to fall.

In service time they travelled nowhere, nothing to achieve
Embracing 40 million weeping mothers left to grieve
The crime of puffing chest bravado beggared to believe
Hall of mirrors seeping others’ blood of the innocent naive.

Now John and George lie facing each to seek their mirrored peace
Raise my eyes and brim a tear for the lessons never learned
Pray God, don’t ever let them know man’s insanity but increased
The war to end all wars a mere sequel oft’ returned 
By comedies of leathered fools stuck on infinite repeat
Bemedalled and bejewelled, they prosecute their moral defeat
But here, on sallow turf twixt heroes, broken mirror in my broken hand
Met by my own broken eyes, I still fail to understand.
_________
Photo by Michael Yuan on Unsplash

Bookends and Mirrors

Subterranean air flows and echoes can beautifully bend and distort sounds (and conversations). Riding the 'tube', 'underground', 'metro' or 'subway' systems is a fascination for some (myself included), for some a mystery and for some an onerous necessity.

Track: 3 track saxophone conversations / clarinet background

Image c/o Pinterest: graphic of London's Piccadilly Circus Undergound station tunnels (1989).

Underground Voices

Please visit the following link and listen to the latest collaborated version.
https://soundcloud.com/david-marconi-917184705/a-shade-of-blue-revisited-collaboration?si=f76ff153884b45738e4f2c6cbd97742d&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Just me having a little fun playing the blues.
Guitar instrumental by David Marconi

Aroused from Slumber

A Shade of Blue - Legacy Demo Version

A song I wrote back in the 90's (recently added a bridge and tweaked some of the lyrics)  when I was younger and moving cross country quite a few times for work.  Moved from Philadelphia to St. Louis to Los Angles to Seattle to New York  (all in a 4 year period) with all my worldly possessions in stuffed into a Honda CRX.

Don't Know What Tomorrow Will Bring

Heavily (heavenly) grooving stuff, great work from my friend Hendrik aka https://soundcloud.com/cosmic-ratzzz
"Some old guys shaking there Bones, yeeeaaarrrr! Thanks to the big Fish Orchester" quote Hendrik !
Oh, I forgot, the flute, that's me :-) ... all else Mr Ratzzz !

Some OGs in Town / Lunatics 127 / Cosmic Ratzzz & joerxworx

Sea monkey’s are just brine shrimp 
Easier to take care of than a pet chimp
You just buy a kit and that’s pretty much it
Much less work than a cat a dog or a pony
But those pictures that they put on the box are definitely phony

Sometimes it feels like we’re just a bunch of sea monkeys living in a jar
Living on this great big rock orbiting a star
We pray to God for assistance but what if he’s just a little boy
And this world that we live on is just his latest toy

What if we’re living in some kid’s jar and the sun is a lightbulb
It’s not really a star
What if every time the human race takes it on the chin
There’s some kid looking down staring with a silly grin

Eight billion humans on the planet earth and we’re all trying to get by
I wonder if those sea monkeys knew the truth would they still even try

Did he sprinkle some eggs in the water and wait for the fun to begin
Did he watch he watch us fight our wars and root for the good guys to win
When the black death raged in the thirteenth century and good  people started to die
And he saw all that pain and and suffering
did it ever make him cry

Eight billion humans on the planet earth and we’re all trying to get by
I wonder if those sea monkeys knew the truth would they still even try

Eight billion humans on the planet earth and we’re all trying to get by
I wonder if those sea monkeys knew the truth would they still even try

Sea monkey’s are just brine shrimp 
Easier to take care of than a pet chimp
You just buy a kit and that’s pretty much it
You just buy a kit and that’s pretty much it

Sea Monkeys In A Jar

Original music by : FPMORONSTUDIO/Francois Pierre Morin  musicians composer INDIE.

FORGIVE ME

'true love' 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3B2inkus95/

I want to give you everything that you deserve.
Although I haven't anything, I have a way with words.
Oh darling won't you come on over and sit next to me.
You can talk about your day, hon, as I'll gently massage your feet. 

I want your love and everything that accompanies.
I'll give you all the love you'll need. I want you to believe
in a love so deep that you can feel it right through to your bones.
And it makes you complete and feel like you are comfortable at home. 

True love.

true love

If you feel like you’re getting old way before your time
And you’re shouting at kids to get off your lawn
And you’re sitting around just doing time
And you’re always complaining about how the good old days were so much better. Maybe you should take a journey to the past. 

The average human  lifespan in 1901 was 46.3
If you'd been around way back then, you'd be history.
If you lived in 1800 your dentist didn’t use Novocain
He  just drilled holes in your teeth while you tried to ignore the pain

If humans are still around in 2093
They’ll be thinking that that the here and now was the place to be 
I guess it’s human nature to think that the past was great
When you’re living in the present there’s so much you can hate

You could ride a bike with a banana seat with no helmet to protect your brain. You didn’t need to go through a metal detector before you got on a plane.

You could smoke cigarettes at work while sitting at your desk
And it didn't matter if your coworkers found the smell grotesque.

They say that if human’s destroy themselves 
The cockroaches will survive
They’ll evolve and gain intelligence and without us they will thrive
And someday they’ll look back to the days when they were sprayed by humans with raid
And they’ll think those were the good old days we had it made

People out there longing for the days when we didn’t have consumer protection
Whenever something went wrong they just chalked it up to natural selection
They say those were the good old days cause at least we were free.
They say those were the good old days cause at least we were free.

Good Old Days ?

Glühwürmchen 
wo immer du bist
Glühwürmchen 
wo immer du bist🪲

Firefly
wherever you are
Firefly
wherever you are🔥🪰

37°

Firefly (Ambient Remix)

Dedicated to my mother. 

💛🙏 May Grace Embrace You 🙏💛

→ https://soundcloud.com/tilman-fricke/awakeningofspring

📍 🎧 Best listened to with studio headphones (to hear orchestral panorama)  🎧📍
Slightly revised on 11 March 2024.

For Symphonic Orchestra.
Instrumentation List:

Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Cor Anglais
Clarinet (B Flat)
Bassoon
Horn (F)
Trumpet (B Flat)
Bass Trombone
Tuba
Timpani
Harp
Percussion (Triangle, Crash Cymbal)
Violin I
Violin II
Viola
Violoncello
Double Bass

Written in winter 2023/2024.
Engraved in Dorico Pro 5.
Performed solely by Noteperformer 4 plug-in.
Original composition: © 2024 by Tilman Fricke. All rights reserved.

May Grace Embrace You – Dedicated to my mother. Orchestra, Op. 12.1.4, Winter 2023/2024

I’m a two legged no solicitation sign
I don’t need to buy your stuff
I’m doing just fine
I’m not interested in hearing about your pitch
I don’t care if you say you can make me rich
I’m not interested in buying what you’re selling
There’s something fishy that I’m smelling
They say there’s a sucker born every minute
This feels like a scam and I’m not stepping in it

All these people out there interested in
Selling things, I’m not buying
But every single day even when I say no,
they keep right on trying

My phone numbers on the do not call list
but the telemarketers can’t seem to resist
They call me at work 
They call me at home
What I really want is to be left alone
I’m on my exercise bike and I hear the door bell
There’s a guy out there with something to sell
I’m covered in sweat and I’m breathing hard
And he wants to hand me his business card

All these people out there interested in
Selling things, I’m not buying
But every single day even when I say no,
they keep right on trying

I just want to stream videos on my phone
Don’t need those spam calls please leave me alone
I just want to stream videos on my phone
Don’t need those spam calls please leave me alone

They say your car warranties about to expire
And the price of repairs keeps getting higher
you can give your credit card over the phone
To a random stranger from the comfort of home
These infomercials on your TV
They tell you how great your life can be
For just four easy payments you can buy a new blender
You can make fruit smoothies to recover from a bender.

All these people out there interested in
Selling things, I’m not buying
But every single day even when I say no,
they keep right on trying

I just want to stream videos on my phone
Don’t need those spam calls please leave me alone
I just want to stream videos on my phone
Don’t need those spam calls please leave me alone

No Solicitation Song

Elvis in the 1970’s in his jumpsuit and his cape.
Some say he didn’t really die he just decided to escape.
Over the year’s there’ve been sightings like Bigfoot and UFO’s.
Of Elvis shopping at Walmart dressed in ordinary clothes.

They say it’s good to be king – but sometimes maybe it’s not.
When you’re coasting on your past glory and now, you’re lukewarm instead of hot.

If Elvis was still alive, he’d be approaching the century mark.
He’d be a tired old hound dog - would he still be able to bark.
If he put on a pair of blue sued shoes and he tried to shake his hips.
And he strummed his guitar on a street corner would people give him any tips.

They say it’s good to be king – but sometimes maybe it’s not
When you’re coasting on your past glory and now, you’re lukewarm instead of hot
There’s day’s when you feel like you’re trapped in a routine 
And you’re going through the motions and you want to start fresh and clean.

Somewhere between 1968 and 1977 Elvis took a detour and he ended up in Heaven.
It’s  nice to imagine that maybe he was sick of sick and tired of all that fame.
And one day he just decided to retire from playng the game.

If he sang that song love me tender would it till make the young women swoon.
Or would they stare at him with curiosity like at the zoo when  you see a baboon.
If he put on the  black leather costume that he wore in 1968 
And he played the same set list would people still think he was so great?

Elvis in Black leather in 1968 strumming his guitar he looked so good
And his voice was really great.
At the top of his game in perfect form he could have stopped right then
He could have walked away - still would have still been a rock and roll legend

They say it’s good to be king – but sometimes maybe it’s not
When you’re coasting on your past glory and now, you’re lukewarm instead of hot.
They say it’s good to be king – but sometimes maybe it’s not
When you’re coasting on your past glory and now, you’re lukewarm instead of hot

Lukewarm King

Hamonica / Mixing / Mastering by: https://soundcloud.com/remnant60

Acoustic Guitar: Yours truly.

Nathaniel Ehrnman / Remnant60 - Seasons Medley (Mar. 2024)

Like a Jedi in Star Wars, I sense a disruption.
That suddenly you’re immune to my seduction. 
I don’t need a Yoda to tell that me something’s wrong.
Like superman and Lois - now I feel like Clark Kent
I don’t know where the passion went.
I wish that life was as simple as a comic book story.

I used to be your superhero but now I’m just another zero
Don’t know how things ended up this way

Don’t need Spidey sense to tell me something’s wrong.
You’re transmitting signals - I’m receiving them very strong.
Like Superman and Kryptonite something doesn’t feel right.
Wish we could go back to the way things used to be.

Like Batman and Robin, we made a good team 
But suddenly we just ran out of steam.
And I’m searching for your bat signal but all I see is dark skyLike the incredible hulk after he transforms back
Like David Banner I feel out of whack
My clothes aren’t in tatters, but it feels like my heart is shredded

I used to be your superhero but now I’m just another zero
Don’t know how things ended up this way.
I used to be your superhero but now I’m just another zero
Don’t know how things ended up this way

I Used To Be Your Superhero

Galileo's telescopic observation of the moons of Jupiter orbiting the planet  was a black swan moment for the Church's earth centred view of the universe. As ever those whose long held beliefs were challenged by the facts did not react well. Plus ca change.

But Still it Moves (John Stone)

Galileo Galileii stood before the court 
Accused of breaking sacred law
In what he said and what he thought  
They told him God had made us the centre of all things
The earth stood still, The universe
revolves around in perfect spheres and rings.

But he had seen the moons of Jupiter
Sailing through the void
And knew at once religious law
Had forever been destroyed
The power of observation
Proved the earth went round the sun
And we were not the centre of all things
as we were told we had become.

The Bishops and the Cardinals
Were outraged by the thought
That places held by God and man
Were not what they had always taught,
They forced a recantation of his controversial views
But as they dragged him from the court
He cried,“But still it moves”

Still it moves, Still it moves
But still the earth goes round the sun
Whatever you can make me say
A truth once known can’t be undone
So forget your old religions
And new ideologies
Truth is truth and only truth will I let speak to me
And still it moves… 

We’d like to think we’ve come some way 
Since those unenlightened days
But look around and count the things 
you know but are afraid to say 
In pain of media pile-ons 
And News that’s always fake 
And Those who are inclined to say 
That hate is truth and truth is hate 

It may not seem important  
But it still seems plain to me 
If you’re not allowed to speak the truth 
Then you’re no longer free 
So when they try to shout you down 
With the crazy things they say 
Remember Galileo
When he once dared to say
Still it moves…

But Still It Moves

Songs with a twinge of humor (and some a bit more serious) recorded using Logic Pro 11.  I used to do open mics many years ago but SoundCloud is a lot more fun. 
I welcome your comments and enjoy listening to all the great music on SoundCloud. 
All songs are originals and copyrighted.

Don't Know What Tomorrow Will Bring

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