Lyrics and music written by me.
Vocals and bass by me.
Guitar: Charlie Villiers
Guitar:  Dave Toolan
Drums: Jim Sanders

This Is Only The Beginning

Lyrics and music written by me.
Vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, piano, beats and synths by me.
Guitar: Charlie Villiers
Guitar:  Dave Toolan

It’s A Privilege

Take Me Out Dancing Tonight

Rambles

She’s got me believing
The dreams that we’re weaving
Are the lifeblood of the theatre

She’s booking hotels
And cooking up spells
it’s a rich tapestry

There’s nothing I have
That I wouldn’t give
And there’s nowhere that I’d rather be

cept with you love…
When you were 23 (!)

She’s harsh and she’s humble
she’s the Queen of my jungle,
n’you know, she’s my religion 

She opened my eyes 
to the tangle of lies
that I tell to myself

And there’s things that I wish
I never said
And things I’m reluctant to share

but she only
Ever shows me
that she cares

La da da da...under the tree
La da da da… just you and me

We’re making mistakes
We push til it breaks
So many regrets
And this place is a mess
But we’re trying our best!

We sat at the table
And there we were able to
Talk like it was the old days

That it’s not what you got
Or what’s taken away
… for a while anyway

Then the parcel arrived 
and that’s when she cried
“This isn't who i really am

This is
what is 
happening to me”

I sometimes imagine
On the odd occasion
That I could disappear

I wouldn’t look back
And I wouldn’t even pack
I’d just run - run and run

But I hear her voice 
calling me back
singing love will find a way

and I’m running
and she’s with me 
all the way - and I’m not astray

We’re making mistakes
We push til it breaks
So many regrets
And this place is a mess
But we’re trying our best!

We pick at the corners
And pull at the patches
And worry, it’s all for nothing 

don’t pretend 
you’re immune to this stuff
cos your not – no one is

Cos there’s still the abyss 
at the back of the stage
And there’s nothing that you can do

cept surrender
And lend a helping hand
You know what to do…

(try your best)

We’re Trying Our Best

Like A Tree

I wrote and performed the music

Mike Weedon and I wrote the lyrics together, and Mike sang.

Leichtenstein

Some lovely subtle harmonica added by Jonny Rabbs, everything else is me.

~Lyrics~
The glow of the stereo
As we float through the dark
Spirits on merry-go-rounds
We’re making no mark
As we’re swept along
In the channels of the night
In the darkness… we can hide

A finger
Draws a figure
In the condensation
A flicker
In the mirror
And the lights go out
There’s no escape
For the lost sensation
The power of self-belief
And the power of self-doubt

You can’t beat them
And you can’t join them
You can’t change
You are who you are
You can’t control it
The world is the way that it is
Accept it
Or don’t
It makes no difference
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t
Don’t you think?

We’re meaningless specks
And we’re hung up on sex
And I just can’t be sure 
If the thoughts in my head
Are really my own
Or if I’m just a battleground
Or a station
Or an outline of a town

Meaningless Specks

Vocals, acoustic guitar and bass by me.
Guitar: Charlie Villiers
Guitar:  Dave Toolan
Harmonica: Jonny Rabbs
Drums: Jim Sanders
Lyrics and music written by me.

~Lyrics~
I found myself on the precipice
I close my eyes and start to sway
And everybody has been been reaching out
And I just push them away

I didn’t even push
I disconnected
I just gave up on life

I don’t return your calls
So you don’t call me anymore
Don’t even want you to

Leave me alone…
Please don’t.

I found myself on the bass again
So good to be so ‘back at home’
And through the music we embrace our friends
What some might call simpatico

Feels like I’m home and dry
But I’m not better yet
There will be ups and downs

At parties on the beach
I could be so far out of reach
You don’t know what to do

Leave me alone…
Please don’t.

Leave Me Alone (Please Don’t)

Music written and performed by me.

Lyrics written by Mike Weedon and me.

Vocals by Mike Weedon.

All About The Love

Make It Real (I Paint The Picture)

You're searching for the signs
shifting patterns in the skies
do you feel invisible
inner sparks
to divine the miracles
of the heart?

Your secret power's underground
nothing flowers all year round
abide in patient yearnings in between

What the reeper sows and the dreamer grieves
will decompose like fallen leaves
arise from latent stirrings to be seen

the lights turning green

We Ride At Dawn

Song written by me, and I’m singing and playing the bass… and I added a bit of piano&synth at the start.

Guitars: Dave Toolan, Charlie Villiers, and Leon Carter
Harmonica: Johnny Rabbs
Drums: David Carter

Lighter Than The Air

Written by me
Acoustic guitar and singing by me.

Harmonica: Jonny Rabbs
Bass: Leon Carter
Drums: David Carter
Guitars: Dave Toolan and Charlie Villiers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joan had a heart of stone
She was prone to moan and groan
Into a crone, she had grown
because Joan was all alone

Jude, he posted a nude
and it was viewed by a prude
She thought it rude and so she sued
and poor Jude, well he got screwed

[chorus]
And if you strip away the layers and look down deep inside,
you'll see that Jude is just the same as you & I
He's got a soul that's like a cherry on a sticky bun
Yeah, Jude can be a lot of fun!

June, she wooed a tycoon 
She made him swoon under the moon 
On the honeymoon, on the first afternoon
She found her groom was a complete buffoon!

Lee became a she 
He changed his name to Emily 
She got the third degree from her family 
And the bourgeois said, "Where you gonna pee?!"

[chorus]
And if you strip away the layers and look down deep inside,
you'll see that she is just the same as you & I
She's got a soul that's like a cherry on a sticky bun
Emily can be a lot of fun!

Nel took her clientele 
to the hotel just for a spell 
where she would sell, she's such a pretty belle 
And then tell them all farewell

Frank, he drank and drank
his clothes were rank and his hair was lank
I think he drank to try and blank
out how low he'd sank

chorus]
And if you strip away the layers and look down deep inside,
you'll see that Frank is just the same as you & I
He's got a soul that's like a cherry on a sticky bun
Yeah, Frank can be a lot of fun!

Virge was on the verge
He felt the urge to submerge
There was a surge as the bodies merged
I hope that Virge will re-emerge

Tess was a big success
She’d always dress with such finesse
Every caress, she would assess
And process, like a game of chess

May would pray and pray
So as not to stray from the saintly way
To her dismay what she thought was ballet
Was cabaret and terribly risqué 

etc

Cherry

Just me, the ipad, acoustic guitar and headphones… 
Simple folky tune, bit celtic maybe, quite a sad song I think…

Rosie Rose

Listening back now it’s such a toe-curlingly pitiful song I’m tempted to take it down out of embarrassment, but that’s where I was at, and it was cathartic to express… we can all be thoroughly pathetic and sorry for ourselves at times right?

I Need A New Job

Words and music written by me. Dave Toolan and Leon Carter are on guitar, David Carter’s on drums, and I’m on the acoustic and the bass, and singing.

~Lyrics~
By the light of the moon, I finished the rum
And drifted off, listening to a distant drum
The moon was in the window as I lay on my bed
Dreaming with it beaming down into my sleepy head
  In my dream
  Everybody’s having fun
  In my dream
  Yeah, the moon is a drum ( rat-tat- tat-tat)

When I awoke, so clear in my mind,
The dream gathering, so perfectly defined.
A party in the woods, everybody had come
And overhead, the banner said, ‘The Moon is a Drum’
  And we dance
  Under starry skies above 
  And we dance
  And we fill our hearts with love

And the DJ’s on a roll mixing techno and soul
Psychedelic drum and bass, and rock and roll
Everyone’s smiling, and dancing around,
Bobbing and a jigging to that transcendental sound!
  In my dream
  You’re dancing with my mum
  In my dream
  The moon is a drum

The last thing I remember was singing this song
We were jamming round the fire, beneath the silver gong
And in a meditative flow, it rolled off your tongue,
“If saucepan-lids are cymbals, then the moon is a drum…”

And so, if dreaming can provide 
inspiration or a guide,
let’s take a little ride into the countryside
Round the fire in the forest 
Or a speaker in the glade
Dancing to the honest moonlight serenade
  We’ll be free 
  Under starry skies above 
  we’ll be free
  To fill our hearts with love

The Moon is a Drum

Into The Light

Jam with David Carter on drums, Dave Toolan and Leon Carter on guitars, and me on bass. A little editing and added my vocals.

~lyrics~
Feel it coming, there’s a gathering of elements 
Humanity is brooding, like it’s heavily pregnant 
Brewing with anonymous, ominous developments 
Looming up on us, with promise and malevolence

As the Planets align, the worm will surely turn
The old paradigms will tumble and burn
You sense something coming but you don’t know what it is
Rising, on the horizon
Crystallising, it’s an uprising
It’s a new dawn
We will be reborn

Metamorphosis 

Like Sodom and Gomorra, we’re rotten to the core
The forgotten and downtrodden, won’t endure it anymore
Gonna rise in rebellion and overthrow
The Machiavellian status quo

Inside every outcast a vigilante stirs
The overlooked underclass the new saboteurs
Tyrannical overlords, who’s wealth is obscene…
Roll out the guillotine!

Metamorphosis 

Maybe the truth is I’m just projecting
my troubles and struggles and inner strife
Onto a world that’s like a mirror reflecting
The decay and disarray in my own life

I need to strike out in a new direction
Reinvent and rearrange
A crucifixion and a resurrection 
I am the revolution, and I am the change

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis

A fun little song I wrote for Tan, and had a little jam on.
Leon Carter is on the drums, Charlie Villiers and Dave Toolan are on guitars and I’m singing and playing bass.

Naturally Tan

This one’s just for you
No-one else can hear me
So stop what you’re doing and
listen carefully 

Listen to the voice
The voice inside your heart and soul
You’ve got to chase your dreams now
Before you get too old

Don’t let the fear of failure (or the fear of success)
fill your life with regret
Soon you’ll be standing there
looking back

No-one’s gonna ever know
if you don’t 
let it show
or anything

You gotta have a go
blow by blow
in a flow
of energy
of energy

Are you bitter and unfit
digging in a pit
even though you know you’re going to fall in it?
And it ain’t no joke
And it ain’t no joke

Can you look me in the eye
and tell me that you try?
Wrestle with the devil or you’ll make me cry
And it ain’t no joke
And it ain’t no joke

Go down deep, you know you want it bad enough
You know if you make the sacrifice
You can make it alright
You need the courage to fight
You need the passion, the grit, and a little bit of luck

Take control
And set your soul ablaze
Brave the wave
And hold the lion’s gaze
Yes my friend
it all depends on you…
Yeah you.

This One’s Just For You Now

Walking back to the tents, arm in arm with David and Anna (pictured), we started all singing together… David kind of beatboxing, and Anna singing flowing ‘stream of consciousness’ stuff… I quickly got my phone out and caught a snippet…
…I’ve added a few layers and effects, and tried making a kind of d&b tune seeing as it was Shindig.

Shindig 3am

Coming out of lockdown song. 
Leon Carter on drums, Charlie Villiers on bass, Dave Toolan on guitar, and I’m on the acoustic and singing.

… her response;
“More like - music is your mistress!”

Priceless!


The Song Going Round In My Head

A curious little ditty… tail-end of a jam, with me singing and playing acoustic guitar, Charlie Villiers on electric, and Leon Carter adding a little smattering of drums and backing vocals. I added the bass afterwards, and resisted the temptation to add anything else!

…although… if I had some bongos…!!!

Going Back

Features a sound clip of excellent young UK comedian Finlay Christie, who I enjoyed seeing at the Komedia a couple of months ago.

I Just Want My Phone

The painting is ‘The Course of Empire’ by Thomas Cole (1801 – 1848).

Say a prayer and don’t despair about the cost of living crisis 
Cos life’s not fair and they don’t care about the rising prices 
The millionaires and billionaires wield their wicked powers
they own the shares, they don’t pay the fares, they’re not working longer hours

  They contaminate, discriminate, and revel in their sleaze 
  the permafrost is lost, but we still have the wage freeze 

the bankers are all bigots, experts in exploitation 
oil tankers and their frigates reeking eco-devastation
while we reimburse the nurses with the joy of food banks 
and the curse of empty purses and our hollow huge thanks

  You’ll find that it’s impossible to get paid any less
  can’t save no money saving lives for the NHS

The CEOs who freely chose to bolster their careers 
They’re mosquitoes in tuxedos bloodsucking profiteers 
who smoke cigars with glowing hearts, toasting market forces  
They’re Oligarchs, they’re greedy sharks, they’re feeding on the corpses

  The ambulance abandoned us, so now we need a hearse
  Yes the times they are a-changing… but they’re changing for the worse

I blame the vloggers and the bloggers, I don’t “like” and I don’t “subscribe”
All that scrolling and a trolling, through soundbites and diatribes
and we fixate on the clickbait that seems to be hell-bent 
on dictating that the content fuels our discontent 

        All the species being ghosted, wiped out like dinosaurs
        While we’re busy being offended, and fighting culture wars

Shopaholic fashionistas with their selfies and their memes 
And reams of influencers beat us senseless by extremes
it’s a trash-bag full of hashtags, rubbish flowing in our streams
algorithms causing schisms and addiction to our screens

        We’re the masters of our destiny, but it isn’t as it seems 
        Who’s pushing who’s buttons? Are we slaves to the machines?

Narcissistic mystics with their conspiracy theories
Going viral in a spiral of Netflix mini series
And woeful social media, where profiles are a deepfake
It’s a form of schizophrenia, like a hollywood remake

      We make a virtue of our vanity, embracing the absurd
      with virtual reality, to replace the real world

Cost Of Living Crisis

Nice groove from a jam…
…with Leon Carter on the drums, Dave Toolan and Charlie Villiers on the guitars, and myself on the bass and singing.

The lyrics are some excerpts from this rambling notepad poem I wrote;

Your Soul

So, how do you see your soul?
Can you put it into words?
A spoonful of honey from the gods?
Or a germ? or a thirst?
Is your soul a magic bean inside a biscuit tin?
Or a ‘pass the parcel’ mystery delight, waiting deep within?
Or simply a church candle flickering in the night?
Or is it like a mint imperial; round, smooth and white?
Is it wrapped in paper, hidden in a drawer?
Or more like a snowdrop on the forest floor?
Perhaps a shiny pearl inside an oyster shell…
Or the piece of grit at the centre of the pearl?!
Or is it a lotus flower in the middle of the pond?
A golden nugget, a lightbulb, or a daisy?
Treasure, buried beneath a giant redwood tree?
Is it a tea-light in an old jam jar, on the bookshelf?
Is it the water in a glass, or the glass itself?
A penny in a pudding or a fountain in a square?
The cherry on the bun? … or do you think there’s nothing there?

And does it remain constant, or how does it change?
Does it tarnish? Does it spoil?
Does it rust? Does it stain?
Does it radiate and deplete?
Could it be your body heat?
Does it mature like wine, or does it grow?
Or does it dim and diminish, does it corrode?
Is it impervious and unwavering?
Is it needy and long suffering? 
Is it passive and detached?
Or does it get dented and scratched?

Does it start out as a blank canvas, onto which you paint?
Does it get corrupted, when once it was a saint?
A block of marble you chisel and carve,
Into a marvellous work of art?
Or a fire ignited by a heavenly spark?
To sometimes smoulder and sometimes blaze?
Does it age, over the years, just like a face?
Does it feed on love received?
And wither if deprived?
Needing just a splash of water or a hug to be revived?

Do we all have the same soul?
‘A universal soul’ shared out within us all?

The same life-force, pure at the core
Of every singer, nurse, salesman, junky, tourist, whore?
Every Christian, Muslim, Jew, and Buddhist…
Pagan, Sikh, Scientologist, and Druid?
Every pusher, every addict
Every guard, and every convict?

Even every chicken, and even every fox?
Even the sewer rats and the sparrow-hawks?
And the ants and the plants?
What about the worms and the germs?

Could our deepest inner-selves 
All be one and the same?
If I had lived 
The life you’ve lived
Would I be just the same?

Careful as you choose your metaphor
Your essence to describe
You can make yourself believe anything
You’ll believe your own lies

Words in jest or bravado, or in false modesty
May cast the dye, and shape your mould
When your story is being told…

So how do you see your soul?
Answers please, in the comments below?!

Your Soul

Mostly just me playing about, but there's a bit of Charlie Villiers' guitar in there too, notably giving the outro a little touch of class.

~Lyrics~
We were sitting in your back garden 
Clouds were drifting across the sky 
You turned to me and smiled
I think you had a tear in your eye
And then taking my hand you whispered,
“When I get this high,
I sometimes get the feeling I might be just about to die!”

Then with a shrug of your shoulders 
You told us about the butterflies
That there’s no way of them knowing
That their wings look like eyes
And if you consider the caterpillar
It’ll come as no surprise
Just how very little we all know about our lives

[Chorus]
Baby you kill me, all night long
Baby you’re killing it all night…

Later on that evening
the sun was streaming through the trees
You have to just surrender to life
At moments like these
We were kicking through the fallen leaves
In the pale winter sun
And though I tried to hide it, I always knew this day would come

I recall the very moment 
You didn’t even hesitate
It was written in the heavens
And written all over your face
But the storm is in the distance
The sky is a luminous pink
You can lead me like a horse to water…

[Chorus]
🎸 🤩

Baby You Kill Me

So on this one we have Jim Sanders on the drums, Dave Toolan and Charlie Villiers on guitar, and myself on the bass and singing (it’s Dave you can hear adding some lovely high harmonies here and there as well). I wrote the music and words. As usual it was recorded just with the ipad on a shelf in the corner, hopefully you get the jist.

~Lyrics~
I’ve been running around all day
From London Bridge to Grand Parade
And the one thing that spurs me on
A promised land where I belong

A band of legends in my mind
The most esteemed and much maligned
And I thought I was alone
To think I nearly stayed at home

You were the one with the rueful smile
I was the one who could run a mile
It’s all coming back to me now
Your joie de vie is infectious
So carefree that it’s reckless
Ha, it’s all coming back to me now

Music and dancing, and the joy of laughing
And crashing through the decades as we fell
We took a moment right there on the floor
To marvel at the evening’s carousel

And I know I might only say it when I’m drunk
but it’s true never the less
I love you with all my heart and soul
And there’s only one thing that really breaks my heart
…my biggest regret…
I just wish we saw each other more.

All Coming Back To Me Now

Bit of a mixed bag of styles and genres…
consistently amateur and homemade though… and just for the fun of it!

Half the songs here are just me noodling away on my own… (using garageband on my ipad, headphones, and a couple of cheap old guitars).

…the other half are recorded during very occasional jam sessions with some lovely talented old friends, who bring my song ideas to life, spontaneously, having never heard them before.

hope you enjoy a song or two,

Kelvin

Some stuff spilling over into https://soundcloud.com/kelvin-and-friends-2

Kelvin and friends

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