Music For Older People (myself Included)

One minute things are going fine
But life can turn on a dime
Every day you roll the dice
And sometimes you find yourself on thin ice

You go for a routine medical check
And they find something you didn’t expect
You’ve been eating healthy food you take a daily jog
Now you’re wondering if you’ll outlive your dog

You’ve been working so hard for all these years
 but what do you have to show for it
All these things you bought but what do you have to show for it

Some people spend their lives accumulating wealth
But what’s the point of money if you don’t have your health

It’s nice to set some long term goals and think about your future days
But sometimes you need to take a step back and make sure you’re on the right highway

You’re hanging by a thread that you used to think was a thick rope
Your road was very flat but now you’re climbing a steep slope

You get up in the morning and you go to work 
You get up in the morning an you go to work
You get up in the morning and you go to work
Five days a week

You’ve been working so hard for all these years
but what do you have to show for it
All these things you bought but what do you have to show for it


You wake up every morning  go  about your day
Sometimes you wonder if it’s goanna be okay
You try to take it one day at a time
Some days are bad others are fine

Incidental finding, life threw you a curve
You're driving down the highway and you're trying not to swerve.
Incidental finding, life threw  you a curve
You're driving down the highway and you're trying not to swerve.

Incidental Finding

You’ve been thinking about those good old days when the future was a blank slate
And all those choices that you made that got you to this current state
If you could go back in time and give yourself some advice
Instead of choosing the safe path, maybe you should have rolled the dice

Time can pass so quickly
But in the moment, it feels slow
And then one day you ask yourself
Where did all that time go
You can dip your toes in the water 
And slowly easy your body in
Or you can walk up to the edge 
And jump in and swim

Those were your salad days but now your lettuce is wilted
You lost your mojo somewhere along the way
You tell yourself you can’t go back you’re goanna keep on marching forward
And somehow, it’s all goanna turn out okay

You can go through life agitated and tightly wound
You can live your life like a dog trapped in a pound
You can wake up every morning and do the same thing you did the day before
Or you can look at yourself in the mirror and say you’re not goanna take it anymore

You’re heading down the road towards an unpleasant destination
And you’re searching for a way to change your situation
You can dip your toes in the water and slowly easy your body in
Or you can walk up to the edge and  jump in and swim

Those were your salad days but now your lettuce is wilted
You lost your mojo somewhere along the way
You tell yourself you can’t go back you’re goanna keep on marching forward
And somehow, it’s all goanna turn out okay
Those were your salad days but now your lettuce is wilted
You lost your mojo somewhere along the way
You tell yourself you can’t go back you’re goanna keep on marching forward
And somehow, it’s all goanna turn out okay
Here’s hoping  that tomorrow’s goanna be a better day.

Salad Days

Copyright 2025 Joe Stroffolino 
***
Vocals, Strumming and picking tracks (Taylor 114ce): Joe Stroffolino
Additional Picking Track: Native Instruments Sunburst Guitar
Bass, Drums and Keys: Toontrack EZ Bass, EZ drummer and EZ Keys
Fiddle: PG Music Real track (viola)
Recorded using Logic Pro 11 and mastered with Ozone 11
***
All those times when you tried to play at the at top of your game
lately your enthusiasm’s starting to wane
You’ve been trying so hard to re-ignite that fire in your belly
lately your resolve, it’s turning into jelly 
You've been trying to be the best that you can be
but maybe you’ve been barking up the wrong tree
if your Spidey sense starts to tingle, maybe it’s a sign 
that you should open up the curtains and let in some sunshine
Sometimes you need to listen to your inner voice
Every morning that you wake up you still have a choice 
You’ve been swinging for a home run, but you can’t even seem to get to first base
You feel stuck like a rat in a race, like one of those monkey’s they shot into outer space
There’s days when it feels like you’re hanging by the end of your rope
And you struggling so hard to find a solution so you can cope
if your Spidey sense starts to tingle, maybe it’s a sign 
that you should open up the curtains and let in some sunshine
Sometimes you need to listen to your inner voice
Every morning that you wake up you still have a choice 
You try to make it through each day and sometimes you feel like the missing link
White knuckling your way through all the changes, trying not to be the first to blink
People doing things fast with AI that you're sure would take you several weeks
But you swear you’re going keep doing things the old-fashioned way with your luddite techniques
Your life is like a river that’s constantly flowing, 
You get swept along by the current You’re never sure where it’s going
Sometimes it feels like you’re playing a game of musical chairs
You’re afraid that when the music stops, you’ll be the one whose left standing there

If your Spidey sense starts to tingle, maybe it’s a sign 
that you should open up the curtains and let in some sunshine
Sometimes you need to listen to your inner voice
Every morning that you wake up you still have a choice

All Those Times

So, your weight keeps going up and your motivation keeps down.
Situations that used to make you smile, lately they make you frown.
The pants that used feel comfortable, now feel too tight.
You used to be a lover but now you just want to fight.
You feel like the human version of a caterpillar, who went into a cocoon
And when you emerged, you were singing a different tune
Maybe you should take a look around at all those people worse off than you.
You should count your blessings and be thankful you don’t have to walk a mile in their shoes.
Try to find the silver lining in those situations where you constantly complain
Try to be part of the solution instead of yanking on everyone's chain.
Everywhere you go you pontificate about all the things that you hate.
You reminisce about the good old days but back then you were complaining too.
Every year those new year’s resolutions, they quickly come and go.
They disappear as fast as the springtime melts the snow.
You wish you could join the circus to escape your current life.
But the circus had to close down cause they were concerned about animal rights.
You want to get your mojo back. You’ve fallen in a crack.
You’re like a cockroach lying upside down wigging your little legs and you can’t roll over
Maybe you should take a look around at all those people worse off than you.
You should count your blessings and be thankful you don’t have to walk a mile in their shoes.
Try to find the silver lining in those situations where you constantly complain
Try to be part of the solution instead of yanking on everyone's chain.
You’ve turned into the person that you swore you’d never become
Every day you become more of a curmudgeon

Curmudgeon

Cover art:  Taylor 114ce and my Peloton

Eating lots of cheese and hotdogs, eating lots of cake. and pie
I wish that I could switch to arugula and beets so I could be a more healthy guy.
It seems like everywhere I look; I see a delicious high calorie treat
But I only have one stomach and there's so much food to eat.
There's a Peloton in my basement, I need to go down there
Cause I. don't like how I look in my underwear
Why can't losing weight be as easy as losing hair.
I step into Starbucks for black coffee and walk out with hot chocolate and a muffin. Sometimes I feel like a teddy bear who's been filled with too much stuffing 
I tell myself that for lunch I'll have a side salad, and I'll skip the dressing but the more that I think about it it starts to feel depressing
there's the peloton in my basement I need to go down there.

If God said to Adam if you eat that fruit, you won't look good in your birthday suit, would he have taken a bite?  Based on my experience I don't think so.
If Moses led his people to the promised land and they found a place where desert was banned, would they have stayed there?  Based on my experience I don't think so.
There’s a Peloton in my basement. I need to go down there. 
I chew on my celery stick and I wish I was eating a French fry and I sip from my bottle of water but I'd rather be drinking a Mai Tai 
every day when I put on my clothes my pants feel a little bit tighter and every time when I step on the scale I realize I'm not getting lighter
There's a Peloton in my basement, I need to go down there
Cause I don't like how I look in my underwear
Why can't losing weight be as easy as losing hair.
Why is the food that tastes the best so unhealthy it's not fair.

Peloton in My Basement 2025 version

Carl from the Beautiful dark wrote a song today titled "Baldy Patty" and  it inspired me to write my own personal a song about baldness.  I started to lose my hair in my early twenties, and for awhile it bothered me and then one day, I decided to shave my head and I have never looked back. And now so many years have passed that I have been bald longer than I had hair. 
***
Guitar (two strumming tracks) Taylor 114CE 
Organ (playing my midi keyboard using the Logic Pro Organ plug in)
Strings (playing my midi keyboard using Native Instruments strings)
Piano: EZ Keys 2 (Indie Pop (tweed))
Drums (EZ Drummer 3)
Bass (PG Music Midi track with sounds from Native instruments Rickenbacker)
***
My hair’s falling out and I don’t know what to do.
My hair’s falling out, and I’m singing this song to you.

I’ve got hair on my fingers; I’ve got hair on my neck.  
I’ve got on my toes, I’ve got hair on my chest.  
But the one place I want it, it keeps falling out.  
My hair’s falling out and I don’t know what to do.

I shaved my head until the top of my skull was shiny
And I know it’s counterintuitive but I’m no longer bald and whiny.
When you’re young, you assume that you’ll always have hair
And then when you start to lose it, you think it’s not fair
Sampson in the bible when he lost his hair, he became so weak
But that guy on the bottle of mister clean is definitely no geek

I’ve got hair on my fingers; I’ve got hair on my neck.  
I’ve got hair on my toes; I’ve got hair on my chest.  
But where it’s missing on the top of my head, I no longer care one bit.
Because now when it comes to baldness, I don’t give a shit

My Hair's Falling Out

I have been using a CPAP machine for several months.  I am sleeping much better and I decided to take a stab at writing a song about it.  
***
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is a common treatment for obstructive sleep apnea. A CPAP machine uses a hose connected to a mask or nosepiece to deliver constant and steady air pressure to help you breathe while you sleep.
***
Copyright 2025
Vocals, Lyrics and Chords: Joe Stroffolino
Guitars:  Joe Stroffolino: Taylor 114ce (two guitar strumming tracks) and Fender Squire Picking track
Drums:  Programmed using EZ drummer 3
Bass:  Pg Music Midi track with .vst sound from Native instruments Rickenbacker
Organ: Joe Stroffolino: Playing Midi Keyboard with vintage B3 Organ sound from Logic Pro
***
Cover art:  Real (Non-AI) Photo of a Halloween Skeleton wearing my actual CPAP mask  (I was going to take a picture of me wearing the mask but believe it or not, the skeleton looks more attractive) 
****
CPAP Lyrics: 
I was snoring, so I had a sleep study, and they gave me a CPAP machine
It took a bit of getting used to, it was uncomfortable at first, but now it’s part of my nightly routine
When I first put on that CPAP mask, I tried to pretend I was like Darth Vader, part man and part machine, but actually I look more l like Jason in that hockey mask on Friday the thirteenth
The doctor said if I don’t wear that mask, I’ll be gasping for breath all night long and I know I’d better keep wearing it, if I want my heart and brain to stay strong.  I just wish I looked a little bit more sexy while I was wearing it.
Every night when I go to bed I wear a mask that covers my mouth and my nose and on the top of my head, connected to the mask, there’s a big, long hose.
They say when it comes to romance, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover 
 But something about that CPAP mask makes me thinks it’s goanna be hard to find myself a new lover.
The doctor said if I don’t wear that mask, I’ll be gasping for breath all night long and I know I’d better keep wearing it, if I want my heart and brain to stay strong. I just wish I looked a little bit more sexy while I was wearing it.
Sometime you gotta try to put things in perspective
Sometimes you gotta try to be a little bit more objective
Sometimes you just gotta put function over form
Sometimes you gotta be willing to deviate from the norm
The doctor said if I don’t wear that mask, I’ll be gasping for breath all night long and I know I’d better keep wearing it, if I want my heart and brain to stay strong.
I know it’s very important to follow all the proper medical advice and I have every intention to keep using my CPAP device.  I just wish I looked a little bit more sexy while I was wearing it.

CPAP

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.