A song about freedom, dedicated to "Eva".
This song was co-written with my brother, Sion.
Check out our duo, Lo-fi Jones.

Eva Forever Demo

Eva Forever (Demo)

Nes i creu'r cân yma gyda Sal Maguire yn 2021 ar gyfer y ddisgyblion blwyddyn dau yn Ysgol Y Foryd, Mae Cinmel, fel rhan o'r Cynllun Ysgolion Creadigol Arweiniol. Mae'r cân yn son am greadur chwedlonol oedd yn byw yn yr Afon Conwy cyn iddo chael ei symyd yn erbyn ei ddyminiadau i Lyn Ffonnon Las (Glaslyn) ar y Wyddfa.

I wrote this song with Sal Maguire in 2021 for the pupils of Ysgol Y Foryd, North Wales, as part of the Lead Creative Schools program. The song is sings about a legendary river monster who lived in the River Conwy before being forcibly removed to Llyn Ffynnon Las (Glaslyn) on Snowdon.

Afanc translates as beaver. So it was a monster beaver. As the story goes, the monster beaver was causing floods, so the villagers and farmers got angry. They devised a plan to trick the afanc out of its pool, and then they put chains on it and pulled it all the way to a lake on Snowdon and throw it in with the help of 'local ledgend' Huw Gadarn's strongest oxen.

In reality, the beavers were falsly blamed for flooding, and were hunted to extinciton. We all know that the real reason for flooding is high rainfall + deforestation + too much tarmac + building on flood plains + land getting over compacted due to over-industrialised agriculture. In fact, beavers mitigate flooding by creating dams upsteam which can help regulate the water level further down. In doing so, they created localised flooding, which no doubt annoyed the land owners upsteam. In an extreme weather event, the beaver's dam, like a human dam, can occasionally break and cause flash flooding. So that's why the beavers got blamed for flooding.

Geiriau: Liam Rickard; Sal Maguire
Cherddoriaeth a chynhyrchiad: Liam Rickard
Lleisiau ychwanegol: Ysgol Y Foryd Blwyddyn 2 a Miss Smedly

Diolch o'r galon i Yasmin Smedly am trefnu'r cyfle hon!

Yr Afanc

Written by Ysgol Y Foryd year 2 with Mr Blewog and Miss Smedley in spring 2021. Recorded & produced by Mr Blewog. Cover art by Tallulah.
Part of my work as a Creative Practitioner in the Lead Creative Schools initiative / Ysgolion Creadigol Arweiniol, funded by the Welsh Arts Council.

Mr Blewog feat. Ysgol Y Foryd - Lets Get This Party Started

An international collaboration between Indian Classical musicians, Aakriti Bhatt (vocals) and Maneesh Rawat (tabla), and Welsh pan-global-alt-pop-artist, Worldwide Welshman (guitar, synths, production) "इंडो - West – सहयोगी (Indo-West Collaboratives)" present their own arrangement of two compositions in Raag Yaman.

The first bandish (compostion), "Tori Jaaun re Jaaun re", from the Dilli Gharana tradition (of the Delhi region), is a song of love and gratitude for one's mentor, romantic partner, good friend, or family member. This is followed by a Tarana composed by Vidushi Kaushiki Chakraborty. A tarana is a type of vocal composition in Hindustani classical music that uses nonsense syllables which are most likely derived from Persian and Arabic.

Bhatt and Rawat recorded the vocals, tabla, tampura and swarmandal in Harmony Studio, New Delhi, and Rickard recorded the guitars & synths in Temporal Comet Studios, East London.

Lyrics & interpretation:

Tori jaun re jaun re balihari...
Tori Pyari si suratpe balma re 
jaun re jaun re balihari...

"oh my dear, you are my affectionate, your face is so beautiful and I feel so much positivity after seeing you that I just want to see you all the time. Your presence makes the ambience very nice, I feel so good when you are present in front of me"

Kush Rang ke mai bal bal jaun...
Charan me sheesh Jhukaun

"my dear mentor, I cannot explain how special you are to me. I just put my head on your feet"

Tana dir tanaum tana dir na...
Tana dir tanaum tana dim tana dir na...
Tana dim tana dere na
Na dir tada ni tadir tadani tadir tana na 
Tana dir tanaum tana dim tana dir na......

***

Diolch yn fawr iawn i Subodh Pandey, our manager, who invited us to be part of this international collaboration and brought us together over video link in spring 2021.

Many thanks also to our sponsors, Asia-Europe Foundation, for their support via the Mobility First! grant: https://mobilityfirst.asef.org

Credits

Bandish (Composition) - Tori Jaaun re Jaaun re
Originally written and composed by Dilli Gharana

Tarana
Composed by Vidushi Kaushiki Chakraborty

Performed & arranged by:-

Liam Rickard (Wales)
Aakriti Bhatt (India)
Maneesh Rawat (India)

Produced by Liam Rickard

Recorded in Harmony Studio, New Delhi, & Temporal Comet Studio, London

Tori Jaaun re Jaaun re

Fersiwn Liam ag Ailsa o'r gân waseilio poblogaidd, Cyfri'r Geifr. Yn ôl  Casgliad Y Werin Cymru (2016), cafodd y cân yma ei chasglu yn 1799 yng Nghaernarfon gan David Thomas a.k.a. Dafydd Ddu Eryri.

Rydan ni wedi neud fersiwn yn y cywair lleiaf.

****

Liam and Ailsa's version of the popular Welsh wassailing song, 'Cyfri'r Geifr'(Counting Goats). According to People's Collection Wales (2016), the song was first recorded in 1799 and was collected in Caernarfon by David Thomas a.k.a. Dafydd Ddu Eryri.

We made a minor version!

Casgliad Y Werin Cymru / People's Collection Wales(2016). Available at: https://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/501697

Oes Gafr Eto? (feat. Ailsa Mair Fox)

Waltz with me darling waltz with me my love,
waltz with me sweetheart we're floating above
all of the death and destruction below,
If we were to fall and die no one would know

Waltz with my darling, waltz with me my girl,
let's dance to the airport and fly round the world,
you laugh but I'm serious, one of these days,
we'll earn enough to escape from this place,

leave all this carnage and violence,
defy all those who wish to silence us

Hide with me darling hide with me my dear,
don't talk to loud or they might overhear,
all of the secrets my heart says to you  
when will they leave us to live as we choose?

Run with me darling, lets set ourselves free
leave our fraught,  dissected community
one of these days we'll be happy again,
away from this tragedy, hardship and pain 
    
but my love how could we

leave our community burning,
only the memories returning, if we
left all this carnage and violence,
who'd stand up to those who silence
us


Liam Rickard - guitar & voice
Ailsa Mair - cello & voice
Nicolas Davalan - double bass
Recorded, mixed & mastered in Our Lady Studio, Borth, by Mike West

Words & music by Liam S Rickard, 2014

Waltz With Me Darling (2023)

Waltz With Me Darling (2023 version, featuring Ailsa Mair)

A live medley of Hindi songs: Chandini, O Meri chandini by (?), Disco Diwane - Nazia Hassan, Jai Ho! - AR Rahman

Indian Medley @ Conwy Folk Club

Annwyl gyfeillion,

Here's a song I wrote after a conversation I had in the pub with a coursemate about the seemingly never-ending retrofit project that she and her husband were undertaking to improve the energy efficiency of their flat.

It was first performed at the Centre for Alternative Technology in May 2023.
I dedicate this song to all the green builders out there!

Lyrics:
Retrofit, retrofit
We’ve gotta retrofit for the planet
We’re gonna retrofit our leaky house
So we gutted it and we had to move out

But it costs so much and it takes so long
And goes on and on and its still not done
Now it’s all gone wrong and we’re still living with your parents

All our friends, are flying away on holiday
I want to go to Japan
But I don’t think that’s right in the current context
All our friends are flying away to Africa
I want to go with them
But I don’t think I can given the situation


Retrofit, retrofit
We’ve gotta do our bit for the planet
But its all gone wrong its all covered in mould
and it takes so long and we’re getting old

We used hemp-lime here and some perlite there,
We mixed straw and clay with fine horse hair
We had to lose space on the inside or extend the eaves,
When will it be done so I can go home please 

All our friends, are flying away on holiday
I want to go to Taiwan
But I don’t think I ought to in the current context
All our friends are flying away to America
I want to go with them
But I don’t think I can given the situation

I just just want to lounge ‘round in my lounge again,
Watching documentaries
And thinking about our next holiday to Barmouth
All my friends are flying away to India
I want to go to Goa!
But I don’t think that would be appropriate right now

Retrofit, retrofit, Retrofit, retrofit,
Retrofit, retrofit, Retrofit, retrofit

We’ve gotta Retrofit the neighbourhood
With cultivation spaces for home-grown food
Retrofit the energy system
With closed-loop geothermal district heating

Retrofit the cars and trains
Make garden features from old aeroplanes
Retrofit the container ships
And proper recycling for microchips

We used straw-clay render and sheep’s wool batts
But it got too damp and the moths ate that
We wanted wood-fibre but the builders said
They didn’t know what that was, so they used plastic instead

All our friends, are flying away on holiday
I’d love to go to Thailand
But I don’t think I should in the current climate
All our friends are flying away to Singapor
I want to go with them
But I don’t think I can given the current crisis
I can go wherever I want so easily
But some people like me,
Are adrift on the sea in a crowded dingy

Retrofit, retrofit,
Retrofit, retrofit
Retrofit, retrofit,
Retrofit

Credits:
Liam S Rickard - Composition, lyrics, vocals, guitar, piano
Ffion Aynsley - backing vocals, percussion
Michael Ekeghasi - backing vocals, percussion
Archibald Schwartz Marmaduke - bass
Rolando Bertrand Ruiz - drums
Ben MacCoed - trumpet
David Spivack - saxophone

Recorded, mixed & mastered in Our Lady Studio, Borth, by Mike West

Blog post about the song: https://worldwidewelshman.weebly.com/blog
Further information: https://worldwidewelshman.weebly.com/retrofit-2023.html
Smartlink: https://ffm.to/retrofit

Retrofit

Naughty Magic SImon yn chwarae "Dwi isio latte", wedi cael ei recordio yn y Shilo, Cwm Penmachno (rough mix). Y band ydi Sion Rickard (accordion), Liam Rickard (gitar, llais), Tom Williams (drumiau), Dafydd Evans (gitar trydan), a Gareth Williams (bas).

Dwi isio Latte (un-mastered studio recording)

King Rickard the Liam-heart with Timestealers, remixed by Liam to include radio snippets and a bit of the "Señorita let me go! Havana rooftop performance"

Señorita let me go! (medium wave remix)

Perhaps best described as 'the melancholic warblings of a singer-songwriter.' This is one of the first tracks I made using multi-tracking software (cubase). I pretty much made it up as I went along I think, based on a few chords and some words that just came to me randomly (as far as I remember). The lyrics are probably nonsense, but maybe you can draw some meaning from them. Its what some might call a 'nice song'.

Key Search

We made this backing track in Adams bedroom in Summer 2013 just before we left Nottingham. Eventually we will record Paul doing the lead vocals, but in the meantime I decided to record rough vocals on my laptop. Adam- Drums, Liam - voclas, Keyboard & Charango, Nick - Bass, Paul Guitar.

Domestic - Liam's Rough demo version (with Timestealers)

Featuring Joe Woods from Jay Sunaway, recorded live in his flat.

Community Garden Draft 1

The new christmas single from Liam Rickard a.k.a Worldwide Welshman
"Happy Christmas from our Factory in Yiwu"
This song is based on a Guardian article I read in December 2014. 

Liam S Rickard - guitar, vocals, English lyrics
Cloud Yun Wan - author of Chinese lyrics
Ciara Rickard & Joseph Woods - backing vocals
Adam Brown - drums
Nick Wood - bass
Giusy Cancellara - violin
Benjamin Zoll - Trombone
Eddy Spirt - mix & master
 
Lyrics:
My eyes are filled with a thousand glittering stars,
a million little red coated white bearded men,
tiny fluffy blond white children with wings,
Five thousand spiky polystyrene things
 
And of course, the baubles and LEDs,
such beauty to to adorn your plastic tree,
the most pretty plastic items that there's ever been
for competitive prices like you've never seen.
 
Happy Christmas from our factory in Yiwu
Happy Christmas from our factory in Yiwu
You've got a colourful Christmas tree,
I've got some money for my family
 
一遍又一遍 – Yībiàn yòu yībiàn – again and again
一天又一天 – Yītiān yòu yītiān – day after day
我没有时间 – Wǒ méiyǒu shíjiān – I do not have time
也没有思念 – Yě méiyǒu sīniàn – no thoughts
 
一遍又一遍
dip it in the glue
一天又一天
put it in glitter machine
我没有时间
hang it up and then
也没有思念
we'll do it all again!
 
Happy Christmas from our factory in Yiwu
Happy Christmas from our factory in Yiwu
You've got a colourful Christmas tree,
I've got some money for my family
 
Its all about give and take in this big bad world
you give me money, I give you most of my time
making pretty plastic items that you really need
for competitive prices like you've never seen.
(dumping toxins in the river planting rubbish in the trees)?
 
Yībiàn yòu yībiàn,
ten face masks a day
Yītiān yòu yītiān,
engulfed in christmas dust
Wǒ méiyǒu shíjiān,
in my hair and on my hands
Yě méiyǒu sīniàn,
how is this crap in demand?
 
Jingle bells, Christmas elves,
making fat white bearded men
Jingle bells, Christmas sells,
Some with a saxophone,
No one knows, no one knows,
tidings of comfort and joy,
Plastic toys, plastic toys,
Who is this baby in a cowshe-e-e-d?
 
一遍又一遍
we could do it in our sleep
一天又一天
if they'd let us have some sleep
我没有时间
I'll stay for just another year
也没有思念
then I'm getting out of here!
 
Happy Christmas from our factory in Yiwu
Happy Christmas from our factory in Yiwu
You've got a colourful Christmas tree,
I've got some money for my family
 
Jingle bells, Christmas elves
Jingle bells, Christmas sells
Jingle bells, Christmas elves
Jingle bells, Christmas sells.

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2014/dec/19/santas-real-workshop-the-town-in-china-that-makes-the-worlds-christmas-decorations

Jingle Bells, Christmas Sells

Christmas in Yiwu

Christmas In Yiwu

Recorded live at The Bunker, Pazin, Istria, Croatia, during the Trad-in-Etno mini folk marathon, January 2018.

Easy to be happy in Pazin

Easy To Be Happy (in Pazin)

Can gwerin cymraeg wedi ei recordio yn Algiers ar 14/09/18 yn ty Amine, gyda geirau arabaidd gan Yousra.

A welsh folk song recorded in Algiers after the Ethno Algeria 2018 festival, with arabic words by Yousra.

Liam Rickard (Cymru) & Yousra Chatila (Algeria) - vocals and arrangment
Pau Baiges (Catalonia) - accordion
Amine Zidane (Algeria) - bass, engineering & production
Oussama Ayadi (Alger)- clay pot tabla

Ar Lan Y Môr yn Alger

Ar Lan Y Môr yn Alger - Liam Rickard & Yousra Chatila

Recorded live in London on 19.01.18, featuring Joseph Woods, Anna McAndrew, the awesome WWW London lineup, and I'm pretty sure my sister was onstage with us too at some point...

Check out the full album here: https://worldwidewelshman.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-is-like-a-crazy-goat

Mixed by Francesco Carrer, mastered by Tom Williams

Community Garden (live at Balabam)

Given the current environmental crisis, crazy despotic leaders, war-mongers, global inequality, now would seem the ideal time to release a protest song, a peace song, a lets-change-the world song...so in keeping with the trend of modern pop music, I decided to release a frivolous party tune with no message whatsoever.
"Senorita Let Me Go" is not about Brexit or the environment, or someone downtrodden, battling against the forces of inequality & oppression...
"Don't you think the lyrics are a bit crap," I asked my brother? "I mean, it doesn't really have any meaning..."
He said, "No Liam, its about a drunk married man getting seduced on the dancefloor by a Spanish-speaking lady"
I wrote the song nearly ten years ago in North Wales, and I used to sing it with my band Timestealers back in Nottingham.

Señorita Let Me Go!

Señorita Let Me Go! (Single Version)

Cancion por nuestra tiempo.
Letras:

El mundo está como una cabra
El mundo está muy loco
El mundo tiene mucha tristeza
Aún asi,
Todos vivimos la fiesta

Muchos de nosotros no entendemos qué es la verdad
¿estamos siendo manipulados?
¿dónde está nuestro amor por la vida y la humanidad?

El mundo está como una cabra...

¿cuándo comprenderemos la realidad?
No podemos continuar así
¿donde está nuestro amor por la madre tierra?

El mundo está como una cabra,
El mundo esta muy loco
El mundo tiene mucha tristeza,
El mudo tiene, muchas problemas.
Our lives are sometimes so sad and tragic
So many days wasted and pointless
I often feel like I should do something
Trapped in hedonism
The end of civilization

El Mundo Está Como Una Cabra

Waltz with me Darling by Liam-S-Rickard, summer 2014

Waltz with me darling waltz with me my love,
waltz with me sweetheart we're floating above
all of the death and destruction below, if
we were to fall and die no one would know

waltz with my darling waltz with me my girl, lets
dance to the airport and fly round the world
you laugh but I'm serious, one of these days,
we'll earn enough to escape from this place,

leave all this carnage and violence,
defy all those who wish to silence us

Hide with me darling hide with me my dear,
don't talk to loud or they might overhear,
all of the secrets my heart says to you  
when will they leave us to live as we choose?

Run with me darling, lets set ourselves free
leave our fraught,  dissected community
one of these days we'll be happy again
away from this tragedy, hardship and pain 
 
but my love how could we

leave our community burning,
only the memories returning, if we
left all this carnage and violence,
who'd stand up to those who silence
us

Waltz With Me Darling

Waltz With Me Darling (2018 version)

Stinging Nettles (live)

Last Party (live)

Do exercise eat healthy food and maybe take up mindfulness or yoga,
Stop wallowing in self-defeat and look up pleasing pictures of pagodas
sometimes you feel really grim like an old crumbly wall you need a plaster
well drink a cup of herbal tea and hopefully feel less defeated after

Its easy to be happy when you're happy but when you're sad its harder...

inside you feel broken like a plate on the cold stone floor of your dungeon
your heart is beating like a drug fuelled rave, inside a cave into which you're plunging
beside a lake you see the shapes of all the people that at some point you insulted
and out from the darkness come all your past mistakes and back in time you're catapulted

It's east to be happy...
mae'n hawdd I bod yn hapus pan ti'n hapus, ond pan ti'n drist mae'n anoddach

e facile esser felice se sei felice, e piu difficile se sei triste

Easy To Be Happy (Italy version)

Easy To Be Happy (Italy Version)

Das ist meine song auf Deutsch.

Ich liebe Deutschland, es funktioniert so gut
Ich liebe Deutschland, da für ziehe ich mein Hut
Ich liebe Tübingen, Tübingen ist sehr schön
ich liebe Tübingen, Sofia hier Leben

Ich liebe Sofia, Sofia ist sehr schön,
Ich liebe Sofia aber Sofia ist vergeben

Ich mag diese Kunst, ich mag diese Stadt,
Ich mag diese Frau, aber diese Frau ist vergeben
Ich habe eine Gitarre, ich habe einen Mützer,
ich möchte Sofia aber Sofia ist vergeben!

Ich liebe Sofia...

So I came back to Tübingen thought that by now I'd freed my heart,
but when I saw you standing there outside the Supermarkt,
I know that feeling never left, you're still with him, I'm still bereft,
and when you play accordion I wish that I was your treble cleft,
now I'm dreaming about you as I lie in your spare room,
when you smile and touch my arm I feel over the moon,
now I'm sitting here with Cedric drinking beer in the sun,
and a Russian girl comes up to us, "alter Schwede, she's the one!"

Ich liebe Alexandra, Alexandra ist sehr schön
Ich liebe Alexandra, sie tanzt einen sexy Forro
Ich liebe Alexandra, Alexandra ist sehr schön
Ich liebe Alexandra aber sie ist auch vergeben!

Ich Liebe Sofia (Sofia ist vergeben) - Live At Festival of Jim

I wish I was a goldfish so I could forget yesterday
I wish I was a goldfish so I could swim my troubles away
How I wish I was a flower, so you could look at me for hours, and maybe put me in your hair
How I wish I was a shower, baby, so I could wash away your sorrows and your cares
I wish I was a goldfish so I could forget yesterday
How I wish I was the rain so I could dance upon your skin
How I wish I was a masterpiece that coes from deep within
how I wish I was a table but not at your family dinner 
'cause people shouting and throwing soup at each other is not my idea of fun

Goldfish (feat. Jilly Lukkesen)

Just because I've got a beard and a poncho, everybody’s trying to sell me drugs
just because I like to wear multicoloured clothing people ask me where they can buy some drugs
Just because I play the guitar
people get offended that I haven't got a light 
sometimes I seem as high as the stars
I guess that it must be, brain chemistry 
just because I wear an Andean jumper,
people don’t believe me that I don’t want any Green,
just because I look a bit like Che Guevara
people ask me the way to the Cuban Embassy

Each to their own, lalalala, each to their own lalalala
each to their own lalalala, each to their own

Just because I've got a beard and a poncho, everybody’s trying to sell me drugs
it happens almost every time I go outside at night
just because I've got long hair
people think its funny to call me Jesus
they see the sandals and they just can't help it
I guess that it must be, brain chemistry
Each to their own...

do do do do do… 

Just because I've got a beard and a poncho, everybody's trying to to sell me drugs
Just because I like to wear multicoloured clothing people ask me if I sell LSD
Just because I'm wearing a rucksack,
strangers kindly ask me if I'd like something to eat,
I've never tried hallucinogenics
I guess that it must be, brain chemistry
Each to their own….

The band:
Liam Rickard – guitar, vocals, bandleader
Jonas Malfliet – accordion
Cedric Avelon – bass 
Joachim Thys – saxophone 
Ray Rivieros - Trumpet 
Antoon Kindekens – drums
Ammar Alkhalidi – darbuka
Jonas Leuther – cowbell & perc
Maya McCourt - cello
Lauren Spicely – violin
Angelika Hudler – violn
Lotte Remmen – violin
Mart Flecijn – violin
Michael Ekeghasi – backing vocals
Hannah Boer – backing vocals
Sion Rickard – backing vocals
Mira Heller – backing vocals
Moa Norrsell Fahlander – backing vocals
Luna Ersahin – backing vocals
Jilly Lukkesen – backing vocals
Ana Maria Ramirez Bautista – backing vocals
Marek Matas – backing vocals

Recorded at approximately 00:20 on 1.1.20 (Belgian Niewjaar)

New Year Orchestra

Beard & a Poncho - live in Ghent

Beard & A Poncho - Live In Ghent

我 喜 欢 你 的 头 发哎哟 你 很 漂 亮
Wǒ xǐhuan nǐ de tóufǎ, āiyō Nǐ hěn piàoliang
(I like your hair, oh my, you're very pretty)
我 喜 欢 你 的 头 发 你 很 漂 亮
Wǒ xǐhuan nǐ de tóufǎ, Nǐ hěn piàoliang

我 喜 欢 你 的 头 发 哎哟 很 高 兴 见 到 你
Wǒ xǐhuan nǐ de tóufǎ, āiyō, Hěn gāoxìng jiàn dào nǐ
(I like your hair, oh my, nice to meet you)
我 爱 你 姑 娘 你 很 漂 亮
Wǒ ài nǐ, gū niáng Nǐ hěn piàoliang
(I love you, girl, you're very pretty)

我 喜 欢 你的 头 发 哎哟 我 爱 你
Wǒ xǐhuan nǐ de tóufǎ, āiyō, wǒ ài nǐ
(I like your hair, oh my, I love you)
我 爱 你 姑 娘 你 让 我 的 心 爆 炸
Wǒ ài nǐ,gū niáng, nǐ ràng wǒ de xīn bàozhà
(I love you, girl, you make my heart explode)

我 喜 欢 你 的 头 发 我 喜 欢 你 的 头 发
Wǒ xǐhuan nǐ de tóufǎ, Wǒ xǐhuan nǐ de tóufǎ,
我 爱 你 姑 娘 你 很 漂 亮
Wǒ ài nǐ, gū niáng Nǐ hěn piàoliang

All I know in Mandarin is how to chat you up,
now I have got nothing more to say

Music, Lyrics & arrangement by Liam S Rickard
Featuring Muqi Li on zheng (Chinese zither)

Produced by Francesco Carrer & Liam Rickard
Mixed by Francesco Carrer at DSI studios, London.
Mastered by Tom Williams

Liam S Rickard - guitar & vocals
Muqi Li - guzheng
Giusy Cancellara - violin
Adam Brown - drums
Nick Wood - bass
Ciara Rickard - backing vocals
Rebecca Swinn - backing vocals

Wǒ Xǐ Huān Nǐ De Tóu Fà 我喜欢你的头发 (I like your Hair)

Jingle Bells, Christmas Elves

Song For September

I updated the lyrics to one of my songs for the lockdown, and called up some friends, and we made a video...

Liam S Rickard - vocals & acoustic guitar (N.Wales)
Luke Fabia - trumpet (London)
David Matthew Gray - trombone (Newcastle)
Ernie Martin - electric guitar (London)
Michael Mather - drums (Newcastle)
Adam Sams - bass (Newcastle)
Hannah Boer - backing vocals (Amsterdam)
Alice Morita - backing vocals (London)
Sam Pascall - backing vocals (London)
Ciara Rickard - backing vocals (N.Wales)

Music & lyrics by Liam S Rickard, addtional parts by the band
mixed in Llanfairfechan by Tom Williams
mastered by CloudBounce

Community Garden (lockdown Version)

Do exercise eat healthy food and maybe take up mindfulness or yoga
Stop wallowing in self defeat and look up pleasing pictures of pagodas
Sometimes you feel really grim like an old crumbly wall you need a plaster
Well drink a cup of herbal tea and hopefully feel less defeated after

Its easy to be happy when you're happy but when you're sad its harder

Inside you feel broken like a plate on the cold stone floor of your dungeon
Your heart is beating like a drug fueled rave inside a cave into which you're plunging
Beside a lake you see the shapes of all the people that at some point you insulted, accidentally!
and out from the darkness come all your past mistakes and back in time you're catapulted, ONE TWO THREE FOUR...

Its easy to be happy when you're happy but when you're sad its harder

Mae'n hawdd I bod yn hapus pan ti'n hapus ond pan ti'n drist mae'n anoddach

Tis makkelijk com blij te zijn als te blij bent, maar als je triest bent is't lastig

On helppoo olla iloinen kun oot iloinen, mut kun et oo sen on vaikeampaa

Lahko je biti srecen ko si srecen žalostnim je tezje

خیلی راحته بخندی وقتی شادی، ولی وقتی غم داری سخته

Froh zu sein ist einfach wenn du froh bist, doch traurig ist es schwerer

Khushi hai kaafi aasaan, jab tum ho khush, par jab udaas hai vo mushkil

É fácil ser feliz quando está feliz, mais difícil quando está triste

Akassoneyaalé ning kontani kouwo laata kontaano kang, Bari aka diming né ning akolyata

Ch‘hal sahla tkoun khelwi ki tkoun khelwi, ki tez‘af chwiya s3iba

C'est facile d'être content quand t’es content, mais quand t’es triste c'est plus dur

Credits:
Liam Rickard - songwriter, producer, guitar, vocals (English, Welsh & French)
Luke Fabia - trumpet, brass arrangement
Ben Zoll - composer of chorus brass melody

Michael Mather - electric drum kit
Adam Sams - bass
David Matthew Gray - trombone & shaker
Ernie Martin - electric guitar, backing vocals
Mira Heller - English vocals, ahhs, Flute
Cristóbal Araya Altamirano - sax
Hannah Boer - shaker

Jilly Lukkesen - English & Dutch vocals
Sreekanth Hariharan - English & Hindi vocals
Sukoon Bablani - English & Hindi vocals
Vilma Talvitie & Sam Kar - vocals
Linde Janssens - ahh & Dutch vocals
Sophie Gillitzer, Blanche Marguerite, Judith Fürstenbert - backing ahhs & German vocals
Cédric Avelon - English & French gang vocals
Siôn Rickard - Welsh vocals
Nasim Ramezani - Persian vocals
Jaleh Hz - Persian vocals
Meena (with Sukoon) - Hindi vocals
Jacinta & Sam Pereira - Portuguese vocals
Alice Morita & Sam Pascall - Brazilian vocals
Fabouly Diebate - Mandingue vocals
Islem Boulile - Algerian vocals
Yousra Chatila - Algerian vocals
Worldwide Welshman's Truške Performance, Floating Castle On The Road 2019 (Slovenian vocals sample)

Tom Williams - mix & master

Easy To Be Happy (lockdown version)

This song was written in Brussels 15th March 2020. Belgium had just gone into lockdown; my bus to back to London was booked for that evening and Lore would fly back to Estonia the following morning.

I returned to Belgium in September to play a concert, and spent a month living in Ghent. The band and I recorded this song on the 23rd of October, with a second lockdown looming, and just two days before my train back to the UK. Hannelore recorded her part in Estonia and sent it to us over WIFI and fibreoptic cables.

Lyrics:

Empty bars and empty cafes
Cinemas without a soul
Schools are closed, kids are delighted
I guess it's time to go back home

So see you after quarantine
I'll be back I promise
assuming that I don't die
see you after quarantine
when the world goes back to normal once again

Chinese restaurants are closing
I guess it's worse than I first thought
Climate change was bad enough
now a pandemic steals our jobs!

So see you after quarantine
I'll be back I promise, assuming that I don't die
So see you after quarantine
unless my bus is cancelled, and I get stuck in Belgium!

Stuck in Belgium, stuck in Belgium, that's where I wanna be
Stuck in Belgium, stuck in Belgium living at my friend's place, for free
Stuck in Belgium, stuck in Belgium, that's where I wanna be
Stuck in Belgium, stuck in Belgium, wouldn't be so bad, for me

See you after quarantine
I'll be back I promise, assuming that I don't die
see you after quarantine
when the world goes back to normal...

Stuck in Belgium, stuck in Belgium!

Written by Liam S Rickard (vocal & guitar) & Hannelore Karmel (vocal), arranged by the band:
Alex Dardenne - bass, backing vocal
Antoon Kindekens - drums, gang vocal
Jonas Malfliet - piano, gang vocal
Lotte Remmen - violin, backing vocal
Joachim Thys - sax, backing vocal

Engineered by Jonas Malfliet
Mixed by Alex Dardenne (additional vocal mixing in verse 2 by Sion Rickard)
Mastered by Pieter De Wagter (EQuuS)

See You After Quarantine

Singer-songwriter, artist, folk singer, producer, comedian and green building student from Betws-y-Coed, now based in Machynlleth. Worldwide Welshman sometimes performs with an imaginary band, and sometimes with a real band. A multi-lingual mixture of tragic-comic, party-bangers and melancholy moments, delighting audiences from North Wales to North Africa since about 2007.
*****
Canwr, cerddor, gyfansoddwr, arlunydd, a digrifwr o Fetws-y-coed, sydd bellach yn byw ym Machynlleth yw Liam Rickard (a.k.a. Worldwide Welshman).
Mae Rickard yn perfformio gyda band dychmygol neu gyda band go iawn. Gyda'i chymysgedd amlieithog o tragi-comic parti-bangars ac eiliadau o melancoli, mae Rickard a'i griw (yn cynnwys sawl cyn-fandiau) wedi bod yn diddanu cynulleidfaoedd ar draws Ewrop i gyd ers 2007.

Worldwide Welshman

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