Rebecca Ramirez - music & lyrics
Alejandro Salazar Dyer - drums
Cindy Gooden - moral support
Ryan A. Salisbury - drum engineering
Bjorn Winberg - music & production

Listen on Spotify!

Less Polite

My version of "Penelope's Song" - original music by Loreena McKennitt (who happens to be a distant cousin of mine). 

Piano and vocals by me, violin arranged by my dear colleague Lottie Enns-Braun, and graciously performed by my friend Nathan Poole. 

The lyrics are based on the story of Penelope, from Homer's Odyssey. Below is some background information, and quotes from Loreena herself about the song, taken from https://www.songfacts.com/facts/loreena-mckennitt/penelopes-song.

'Although Loreena McKennitt is as much a classical scholar as a musician, and "Penelope's Song" was directly inspired by a visit to the Greek island of Chios, it has a more universal meaning. As the lady herself explained: "I wanted to create a song from the perspective of the individual or individuals that were left behind. And it is a story that certainly is universal in its theme, that when I think of some of Irish history and the time during the famine, and there were people that immigrated to, let's say, Canada or the United States on these horrible coffin ships... and that there were families that were also left behind and their loved ones would be heading over to the New World. And you can't help but think of those... there have been people who have left their loved ones for all kinds of circumstances. And the pain of seeing them go off and not knowing if they'll ever return... So, I wanted to create a song that captured some essence of that sentiment, of waiting for your loved ones to return."

In Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey, Penelope was the faithful wife of Odysseus, King of the ancient city of Ithaca. Shortly after his son Telemachus was born, Odysseus went off to fight the Trojan War, a pastime which, together with his other well-known adventures and misadventures, kept him away for 20 years.

With her husband absent for so long, many a woman would have given in to temptation, especially in an age before modern communications when he could reasonably have been presumed dead, if not in the war itself, then lost at sea - but not Penelope. An alluring prize for any man about town - a beautiful widow, and a queen into the bargain - she kept her suitors at bay for three years with an original ruse. When at last her husband returned, he did so disguised as an elderly beggar, and discovered - no doubt to his delight - that she had remained faithful all these years.

In English, the word odyssey has become synonymous with an epic journey; Penelope's name has not been similarly adapted, but it has become synonymous with the faithful woman.

Cover - Penelope's Song (Loreena McKennitt)

Chrome roses

Ryu / Acoustic guitar, Fake Wurlitzer, Program, Voice
Pablo D. Martin Fontana / Electric guitar
https://soundcloud.com/pablo-d-m-fontana

Rain is falling on our town and bouncing all over the place.
No one knows when it will end. The situation is getting worse.
The fire eventually closes in on the church and envelops the town.
We have no one to pray to anymore.

Chrome roses bloom everywhere, and the world emits a dazzling light.

I was going to run away if something like this happened.
But in reality, there was nowhere to run.
We gradually lose our sense of reality.
The world has entered an age of absurdity.

Chrome roses bloom everywhere, and the world emits a dazzling light.

It could be an eternity, or it could be a moment.
Anyway, The meaning of the word "future" has changed.
We will continue to live as the dead.
Or continue to die as the living.

Chrome roses bloom everywhere, and the world emits a dazzling light.

Chrome roses / collaboration with Pablo Dario Martin Fontana

UPDATED VERSION as of Nov 28 2022
MIX/MASTER - WOODS STUDIO

Master of dumb and expert at stupid
I took the boy’s bow and put an arrow in Cupid
Now who’d ever be my valentine?
We had a good run then both decided to pack it in
I’ve been thinking about unpacking us again

Yeah if it’s a bad idea
A silly or even sad idea
A psychic might know but I am not a seer
If I have had another bad idea

Well yes I have blundered once or twice
And that is probably putting it nice
Think flower memorials along the road to love
Should you drive by one of the places where once we'd meet
Would you pull over if you saw me on the street? 

So if it’s ok with you
Maybe we start anew
I can’t always be ruled by my greatest fear
That I have had another bad idea

Who’s keeping score?
‘cuz I’ve got more

Knowing my luck I'll get myself stuck in life's quicksand
Could you wade in and give a guy a hand?

Even if it’s a bad idea
The worst that I’ve had idea
I’ll pick up anytime that you might call
It wont be a bad idea after all

Make me glad
Say it's not a bad idea

Sexagenarian Vol III

Bad Idea

Bisous du Mistral (demo)

Somewhere ...

based on the poem "song: how sweet I roam'd from field to field" by william blake

I tasted all the summer's pride, 
'Till I the prince of love beheld, 
Who in the sunny beams did glide!
He shew'd me lilies for my hair, 
And blushing roses for my brow; 
He led me through his gardens fair

He caught me in his silken net, 
And shut me in his golden cage. 
He loves to sit and hear me sing
How sweet I roam'd from field to field, 
And tasted all the summer's pride, 
'Till I the prince of love beheld, 
Who in the sunny beams did glide!

fragment

Eye opener

Solo Scotty performing one of his many renditions. 

Dead Flowers (Rolling Stones)

Rough version of the classic dance tune from 1983.
Written by Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Gillian Gilbert & Stephen Morris

BLUE MONDAY (New Order cover)

May the memory of the past be with you!

Möge die Erinnerung an das Vergangene mit euch sein!

The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life

‘Moon Moth’ The long awaited debut album from Lola in Slacks is finally here and will be released on 22 October 2021 on Glasgow’s ‘Last Night from Glasgow’ label. 
All vinyl pre-orders will ship to eager fans in late august/early september with the worldwide digital release coming the weekend they headline Glasgow's CCA on 23 October 2021. 

https://shop.lastnightfromglasgow.com/products/lola-in-slacks-moon-moth-vinyl-lp-and-lossless-dl

There’s somewhat of a sense of mystery around this ambitious, literate outfit. Charismatic singer Louise Reid is the focal point, with songwriting partner and guitarist Brian McFie providing skilful garage grind and spiraling melody. Lesley McLaren has a growing reputation in her own right as a great rock 'n' roll drummer, and the band is fleshed out by Davy Irvin on bass and Fiona Shannon on piano and keys. 
‘Trocchi's Canal’ takes the beautifully crafted song-writing of Reid and McFie into another realm, a strand of romantic adventurism which is a precious rarity in these times. 
‘Gus Ironside - Louder Than War’