Fairytale Forest Pt. 3

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

This is an old traditional Malagasy song,
we did for you 

Kitana on vocals 
Rina on piano

Mifankatiava ihany
Raha mbola velona aina
Tsy misy toy izany ny mampifaly saina

Ny maty efa lasa
Tsy azontsika antsoina
Isika no mikasa
Ny ratsy hadinoina re

Ny maty efa lasa
Tsy azontsika antsoina
Isika no mikasa
Ny ratsy hadinoina

Koa raha tsy fotoana ela
No hipetrahana eto
Andeha re
Andeha re mba hifamela
Andeha hifamela mba tsy harahin-tsento
Mba tsy harahin-tsento
Andeha re(Andeha re)
Mba hifamela
Mba tsy arahin-tsento

tranlation:
Let’s love one another
While we are still alive
There’s nothing more joyful than that for the soul

The dead are already gone
We can no longer call them back
It’s up to us now
To let go of the wrongs

The dead are already gone
We can no longer call them back
It’s up to us now
To let go of the wrongs

So if our time here
Is not for long
Let us go
Let us go and forgive each other
Let us forgive, so no sorrow remains
So no sorrow remains
Let us go (Let us go)
To forgive
So sorrow won’t follow

Cover Solika - Mifankatiava ihany | by Kitana and Rina

Cast of characters:
The Beautiful Dark -- @thebeautifuldark -- Carl — acoustic guitar, vocals, lyrics, and compostion
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken -- drums
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen– Tom Anderson custom T electric guitar, production, mix, and mastering
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – Warwick fretless four-string bass, and Roland organ
Llanpsych -- @llanpsych -- Tez – Fender Stratocaster electric guitrar, mix, and production
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark – triangle, and ancillary vocals

This song began when Carl, who is always making connections on the Cloud, was inspired to write a song about our bandmate, Mark. As you can tell from his lyrics, Carl shares our appreciation and respect for our resident Canadian singer and multi instrumentalist. So, when he had the chords worked out on his acoustic guitar, and a great vocal track, he recorded them and started a project, to which the rest of Eclectic Collective were invited.
  First up to bat was Ken, laying in his always clever, essential beat for the rest of us to work with. Stephen was the next person to lay down a track, which was his essential, but subtle electric rhythm track. Later, after it was almost done, he also added a fiery solo in the firt part of the ending section. Josh came along right after Stephen, laying down his signature fretless bass. He also added the organ shortly after, as well. Tez entered the fray next, adding the lightning, Gilmore-esque final solo in the end section. 
  We considered what to do with this song for a minute, too. The thought was whether to present it to Mark as a gift, or to include him in the mix. We decided to go with the latter, and he added the awesome vocalizations towards the end, as well as some cool triangle.
  Once we had it in the bag, we turned it over to Stephen for the production, mix, and mastering, which he always does in a very pro manner.
  This is our second of hopefully many songs with Carl. If you have good music on your page, there's a good chance that he'll hit you up to collaborate. Like the moon, he's everywhere, and he's a damn fine collaborator, too. We hope you enjoy hearing this as much as we enjoyed creating it.
Carl also wanted to share this message about Mark, as well.
  "This song is written for our Canadian friend Mark. Mark is a pivotal member of the Eclectic Collective who as a band and equally Mark as an individual I'm discovering are phenomenal to work with. I was particularly struck how multiple generations of Mark's family enjoy music and creating together. Thanks for your music man. You really do show a unique approach and I look forward to making more really enjoyable songs like this one with you buddy. In my head lyrically Mark is whoever you focus the love on. Rock and Real!" ----TBD

Original lyrics by The Beautiful Dark:
You are the Mark
Mister Lark
Pedigree Bark
Stunning musical stark
Meet Mistermark

From Wondr to Bossa
All from I' Spy
Projecting your best
Proud human melody cry

May 2019
Maybe some fear became esteem
Soft bands in garage channel a way
Internal dreams in sound found light this day

So Dad was a seed
Kudos big man
You do good breed
In music we learn with proper concern
I think now you found Josh the EC

So onto Collective
You expand their perspective
With you and your music
Now Earth gets more fuses
Because of your music
It's a better blue ball
I know I certainly love hearing Marks call

We pressed the remote
We having those jams
Let's get it on and get more brain tan
We singing to clan
Wham bam thank you man

Miss No Mark (Eclectic Collective with The Beautiful Dark)

Guitar, vocals, arrangement - Lizzie Taypen
Photo - Dunavon Woods - Lizzie Pentland
Recorded early this morning on my phone, a simple take when it was quiet.
I am finding it quite difficult to play my guitar now because of my arthritis, so  good to play a little. 
Happy Solstice to all of you!!

She moved through the fair ( Trad Cover)

👉🏼🎶🎹🎛⁂©All Rights Reserved 07-2025
©Composition, Keyboardist, Percussion, Multi-Synths, FX, Creator: Lady ElectroTrek
***

Looking Further Into You

Flling In Deeper

Falling In Deeper

.... band rehearsal / jam, rec. 27.06.2025 with Zoom H1n // www.youtube.com/@dephaze
dePhaze: AdmassD ... Groovebox,Vocals, Percussion // Biff Debris .... Guitar, Electronics, FX //
Marc Kirschvink ..... Bass // Ali Blue ... Drums // joerxworx ... Saxophone
... Relaxed start to a long night, finger exercise without sequencer and looper :-)

dePhaze // Latin Jam // live recording

This song was written by Craig Pate in 1987 - He sang all the vocals and played all the instruments with the exception of Lead Guitar which I played. It's a great retro hard rock song with that heavy rock guitar sound that I love! No A.I. cheating here guys, instruments are actually played!  WOW! 🤯 We really need to bring back hard driving guitars and lead guitars in music. I remixed the song and added an outro section during the credits from another song of mine called "Lady Green" recorded in 2017 for the my album "Vulcan Mind Meld".  

VIDEO - https://youtu.be/Sd0A0hKgbps

The video was originally produced in 2022 but I added several little bits and pieces here and there and added some sound effects like a Theremin at the end. Overall the video has been enhanced for your viewing pleasure! I was still getting used to making videos back then so keep that in mind while watching it. It drops this weekend! It was a really fun track to record and I thank Craig for giving me the lead guitar part and for letting me produce the video. So break out some stale popcorn and enjoy your favorite beverage or what have you and enjoy the ride of your life!  Oh and don't forget to CRANK IT UP! Thanks & Enjoy! 👍😎✌🏼🤘

“RIDE OF YOUR LIFE”
 
HEADING OUT TONIGHT,     
READY TO TAKE FLIGHT,    
GOT A FEELIN’ THIS COULD BE THE ONE,    
WON’T TAKE IT LAYIN’ DOWN,    
GET YOUR FEET OFF THE GROUND,   
SO LONG TO FOOLISH PRIDE,   
WE’RE GONNA TAKE YOU FOR THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE,
     
SIMPLE AS CAN BE,    
LET YOURSELF GO FREE,    
GET YOUR FEELIN’ IF IT TAKES ALL NIGHT,  
DON’T GO AND LET US DOWN,     
CAN’T FLY HIGH WITH A FROWN, 
                      
[LEAD]

HEADING OUT TONIGHT,           
READY TO TAKE FLIGHT,      
GOT A FEELIN’ THIS COULD BE THE ONE,     
WON’T TAKE IT LAYIN’ DOWN,     
GET YOUR FEET OFF THE GROUND,   
SO LONG TO FOOLISH PRIDE,   
WE’RE GONNA TAKE YOU FOR THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE.

BY CRAIG PATE © 1987

"RIDE OF YOUR LIFE" (2025 Remix) [VIDEO - https://youtu.be/Sd0A0hKgbps]

This is a fun little experimental jam that I got started and then looped in STONERJAZZ @user-911083679. It had been a little while since I collaborated with him-- it's always a blast and stretches my creativity in new directions!

Bassfingers

This is an alternate version of this song which was originally released by The Eclectic Collective in October of 2024. Thank you for giving it another listen!! 

Cast of Characters:

Cgmaness – @user-419254289-15129531 – Chris – bass, guitar, synth, main drums, percussion, composition, production and mix

TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen–  electric sitar

Llanpsych-- @llanpsych -- Tez – electric guitar

J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ-- organ and electric piano

K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken– percussion, additional drums

Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 – traditional gourd form body sitar and lap steel



New String Theory (The Eclectic Collective) - alternate mix to the original

Special thanks to Marty for his cappella ....

https://soundcloud.com/mkandersson1982/marty-andersson-from-the-archives-liberation-spoken-word

Lyrics: 

Our bodies are enslaved, but our minds and our spirits do not have to be. Do not fear thinking outside what is considered normal, do not fear to think unlike your peers. If they judge you, let them; their opinions are of ill importance; what matters is your heart, what matters is the truth. This physical existence is but only a short chapter in the epic tale of you and I; a tale that connects us all and stretches throughout eternity.

As your lives are spent working day in and day out to reach the a-typical material goals, ask yourself in a deeper sense: are you happy? Do you know true happiness? Or do you merely find comfort within the confines of societal boundaries because it is safer to follow the majority?

Liberate your spirit; even if it means being criticised, even if it means being considered abnormal;

 everyone has the right and/or power to be themselves, we just need to break free from the shackles of fear which hold us back from revealing what is behind the mask.

LIBERATION. 🎧

"Magic is what we do. Music is how we do it." -- Jerry Garcia

Welcome to my page, my peers, associates, friends, and musical family. I'm a lifelong, multi-instrumentalist musician who records prolifically and joyfully. You'll hear me play guitar, bass (regular four string, and four and five string fretless), mandolin, banjo, keys (piano, organ, synth), lap slide, sitar, and sing on my recordings here. I've been in a few dozen bands in my life, playing everything from bluegrass, jazz, rock, jam band, reggae, funk, afrobeat, Middle Eastern, traditional Irish, singer/songwriter, pop/covers, to experimental/avant garde. 
  Since I found SoundCloud a couple years ago, I've found many talented, creative people with whom to create music. However, in the summer of '23 I formed a band called The Eclectic Collective with some of my favorite musicians I've met through here. It started as a loose collective of musicians and coalesced into a core group of musicians who find other musicians with whom we'd like to make music, then run their songs through our process, and in effect add a full band. That core of The Eclectic Collective includes Tez (Llanpsych), J.J. Terrel, Ken (K2 and the Three), Stephen (Texmex Shaman), Chris (cgmaness), and Mark (mistermark). A couple of other musicians are frequent collaborators, as well, including Artur of Surfers Like Us, and Steve Vervaet of Steve's World. More recently, we've been joined by Carl of The Beautiful Dark fame. 
  The magic of music is amplified exponentially by each person adding to it. So, we really try to add our sorcery all kinds of music from all kinds of artists. Sometimes, we keep it within the group, but a lot of what we do is collaboration with other artists. Therefore these days, 100% of what I do is collaboration, within the group or with other artists on the side.
  I, and we, are also available for hire if you have a song or lyrics and you really want to add bigger instrumentation or a band and good production to it. 
  A small sampling of the artists whom I consider primary influences, and whom you will hear coming through my fingers include Phish, The Flaming Lips, The Grateful Dead, Radiohead, Rye Cooder, Steve Earle, Miles Davis, Fela Kuti, Arcade Fire, Mikey Dread, Yellowman, Purpleman, The Meditations, Michigan and Smiley, Lee Perry, Dillinger, Django Reinhardt, Impossible Recording Machine, The Allman Bros Band, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Bela Fleck, Les Claypool, Sam Bush, David Grissman, John Prine, Talking Heads, Beastie Boys, MMW, Moe., Morphine, Ween, Steve Lukather, Michael McDonald, John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, John Scofield, Victor Wooten,  Cannonball Adderly, Thelonious Monk, Flea, Parliament Funkadelic,  Frank Zappa, Prince Paul, Pete Rock, Thievery Corporation, Amon Tobin, Chet Baker, Joao Gilberto, Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto, Carol Kaye, Tame Impala, Mumford and Sons, Japanese Breakfast, LCD Soundsystem, Beach House, Sean Lennon, and Billy Strings, but of course there are many more. I also really like and am influenced by traditional Iranian, Palestinian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Sudanese, Mauritian, Somalian, Egyptian, West African, and Syrian music. I welcome anyone who plays non-western music to contact me for a collaboration, too.
 I'm overjoyed to have found my community on SoundCloud. This is a truly unique forum where everyone is sincerely trying to build each other up. The profoundly supportive and positive SoundCloud community has really opened up an exciting new world of collaboration for me. That is the main reason I'm in the Cloud, actually, to connect with other musicians and make music that I enjoy listening to, and hopefully others do, as well. I am ALWAYS looking to collaborate with interesting musicians, mostly though BandLab, which is where I record almost exclusively. It's a solid, free digital audio workstation hub where you can share recording projects, even if it's not where you make your recordings.
  Everything I do is live instrumental, not programmed, and using no computer beyond my phone. That's not to say that I would be opposed to using that kind of tool, it's just not my preferred medium with which to paint. If you like my music, please share it. If you want to collaborate, my BandLab handle is @bingo_pajama. Feel free to contact me at cornbreadband@hotmail.com, as well, even if you aren't on BandLab.
  If your music is primarily AI, please don't come around my page, as I'm not at all interested in complimenting a machine.
  Here's a link to music I've recorded live with a group of musicians here in Pittsburgh called The Northumberland Street Ramblers.
Check out The Northumberland Street Ramblers on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/fU4Me

Miss No Mark (Eclectic Collective with The Beautiful Dark)

Entheogenic Psychonaut (Josh Clary)