Here's a new song about the insurrection on Capitol Hill as Trump's supporters refused to accept an election defeat to Joe Biden... I wrote this song from the point of view of someone in a Latin American country whose democracy has been ignored and overturned by the US laughing at the US doing it to themselves.

Lyrics:

It's getting kinda ugly
But then we've seen all this before
When the people's will is wrong
In Caracas, Havana and Bogota
Did you expect it would
Precipitate the fall of Rome?
You let the devil out his jar
And still assumed you wouldn't try this at home

We've found a compromise
We're desensitised
To all the pain
While you mythologise
We pathologise
And let it grow

You kinda liked it up on Termite Hill
You didn't fight it up on Termite Hill
I can do without the Termite Hill
What was the body count up on Termite Hill?

It's getting kinda crazy
But then you knew these guys would
There's an amendment
They say tells them they should
Now you're trusting
The tyrant's overthrown
You treat the symptom not the cause
And still believe you wouldn't try this at home

We laugh through mirthless eyes
Not surprised
Dog bites man
While you mythologise
We pathologise
And turn away

You kinda liked it up on Termite Hill
You didn't fight it up on Termite Hill
I can do without the Termite Hill
What was the body count up on Termite Hill?

Te lo gustaba en el termitero
No lo luchaste el termitero
Queiro olvidar el termitero
Cuantos cuerpos hay en el termitero

You kinda liked it up on Termite Hill
You didn't fight it up on Termite Hill
I can do without the Termite Hill
What was the body count up on Termite Hill?

Termite Hill

This week, we bring you a cover that is for the most part, I Will Survive, but also contains a medley of other songs with the same chords.

I realise little about this cover is really original, but I quite wanted to record a version with the funky-disco nature of the original, the edgey, punk feel of the Cake version, and the comedy or the Ukulele Orchestra of GB's medley which includes I Will Survive - enjoy!

The songs covered here are:-

I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
Fly Me to the Moon - Frank Sinatra
Bang Bang - Nancy Sinatra
Killing Me Softly - The Fugees
New Born - Muse
Unintended - Muse
Jacqueline in Paris - Matt Hartless & the Maverick 7

I Will Survive, But my Unintended New Born Shot Me Softly Down the Moon in Paris

Here's a brand new song for you all - a poppy funky westerny little jam by the name of Stop Pretending. I wanted to make something a bit more dancy than my usual ska-punk or maudlin folk-punk fare. I believe I have succeeded!

Lyrics:

The golden hour, time has run sour
Like an arrest
Written all over your face
Like a notebook
And I'm here and I'm there
And I'm a thousand miles in the other direction

Woah I must stop pretending
Cos you're a lifetime too late
And no I cannot go back there
It's not a miracle that I can create

You had your chance, you passed it by
You would not recognise or stare it in the eye
And I don't want you to think I'll still be there
When you've failed your grand task

Woah I must stop pretending
Cos you're a lifetime too late
And no I cannot go back there
It's not a miracle that I can create
Woah I saw you looking
Cos you're a lifetime too late
And no we cannot discuss this
It's not a miracle that I can create

My mouse that roared has held its tongue
No time for a serenade
The lion called cos he forgot his gun
To do the damage
And cause the outrage
While you're still afraid

Woah I must stop pretending
Cos you're a lifetime too late
And no I cannot go back there
It's not a miracle that I can create
Woah I saw you looking
Cos you're a lifetime too late
And no we cannot discuss this
It's not a miracle that I can create

That I can create
That I can create
That I can create
That I can create

Stop Pretending

Given how the plight of asylum seekers is in the news again recently with these illegal channel crossings on dinghies, I thought this cover, about being an immigrant, would be quite appropriate.

This is more one for my um... European fans... but English folk should give it a go too; Manu Chao is a genius of an artist, and the lyrics to this song are sublime.

Here is a rough English translation (not all of the words have a direct translation into English so I've used a bit of artistic license):

I go only with pain
To go alone is my sentence
To run is my destiny
To outwit the law
They lost my heart
In the great Babylon
They call me the shadow
Because I don't have ID.

To a city in the north
I travelled to find work
I left my life behind
Between Ceuta and Gibraltar
I am a droplet in the ocean
A ghost in the city
My life is prohibited
Say the authorities

I go only with my pain
To go alone is my sentence
To run is my destiny
Because I have no ID
They lost my heart
In the great Babylon
The call me the shadow
I am the broken law.

Clandestino (Manu Chao cover)

Another re-recorded version of an old song and this week it's gone a bit metal! Think dystopian western, think QOTSA.

Lyrics:

You won't look me in the eye any more and 
I can't see what's right in front of me
Wide awake I can't sleep any more
With your veil of guilt wrapped under me
The daily routine is routinely a bore
But it's not that or my workload that bothers me
Lost everything I fought so hard for and the best you can do is say:
The sun never rises

Definitive proof that in your world the sun only sets
Definitive proof that in your world the sun only sets

I'm dodging explosives in your field of landmines
Designed to hurt
With a list of new perspectives
And a worn out black shirt
All the damage is reflexive
And the cause of 77 words
All my life so ineffective and the best you can do is say:
The sun never rises

Definitive proof that in your world the sun only sets
Definitive proof that in your world the sun only sets

The Sun Never Rises

This week, I bring you a cover from my new Muse covers band, Have I Got Muse For You.

I enjoyed making a track with a pretty ethereal sounding reggae, along with my now staple mariachi trumpets!

Muscle Museum (Muse cover)

Finally there is a version of our most popular live song online! This is only an acoustic version and the full studio album version of the track will be more bombastic, ridiculous and fun than this, but here's something to keep you going!

I decided I wanted to do this as it's October, as you'll understand from the lyrics:

My bones creak like a country house
Under the October sky
But the house fell apart years ago
God forbid you understand why

So you treat me like an infidel
Disregard all that I say
I came to you when I was desperate
But you turned me away

So we've crossed to the other side
When there's nowhere left for us to hide
And do you know what you've done
Ask yourself can you cope when I'm gone

So you treat me like an infidel
Disregard all that I say
I came to you when I was desperate
But you turned me away

You think I'm being lazy and I find all of this fun
And my barren moral landscape is the smoking gun
That someone fired in Moss Side as I lay in Platt Fields Park
Counting my blessings but dropping them in the dark

No there ain't no hope like music
If you've got it then you might as well abuse it
The outlook is poor but I've got harmony as a cure
Everyone else ran out terrified when the wolf kicked down my door

I'm firing on all cylinders and flying on the run
Give me back my voice I can't control what I've begun
I am a vagabond, a rogue, a dog without a bone
Will someone please help me, I'm a king without a throne

I'm firing on all cylinders and flying on the run
Give me back my voice, I can't control what I've begun
I am a vagabond, a rogue, a dog without a bone
Will someone please help me locate my home

You treat me like an infidel
Disregard all that I say
I came to you when I was desperate
But you turned me away

This isn't fantasy, this isn't heresy
It's just all the hope that I've got

Cos there ain't no hope like music...

The Ballad of Moss Side (Acoustic Version)

As we approach Remembrance Day, I thought I'd do a cover of a traditional anti-war song. The song is in the public domain so anyone can cover it!

This will be the last thing I regularly upload for a while (I might do the occasional song or cover), but fear not, I am going to release a collection of original stuff I've recorded over lockdown, as well as this, gotta love the public domain, wide on December 11th!

Keep your eyes peeled for news about the Maverick Social Distance Club!

Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye ft Shelli Le Fay

Just piano and vocals in this stripped down and more emotional song.

We Will Fight Them On The Beaches...

A short Christmas treat for everyone, enjoy this ska cover of Walking in the Air!

Walking In The Air (Cover from the Snowman)

As it's Valentine's Day, I thought I'd record a cover of one of my favourite love songs, even if that love song is about James Bond...

If you want to see a video with three of me playing the song, head to https://youtu.be/iIwAlb6IBOc

Matt Hartless & the Maverick 7

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