Tonight while talking and beg you
Screaming for you to come back
And what we have experienced in the past
I feel that grips me like old music
Tonight while talking about our old times
Who insist on not turn off
And I still wonder secrets and kisses
You have brought with you

Step by step, I feel you come back
As the wave to lull me
But every night is the same color
Still gray and you're not yet come

How beautiful are the moments when I perceive you everywhere
When I breathe you around me
And you still smile at me, you talk to me about life
While I am silent
How beautiful are the moments when I see you again
Enter the empty house
And when you kiss me asking for some
And take me.

Βήμα Βήμα(Step by step)

℗ © Copyright Ian Stokes. All Rights Reserved
Recorded and mixed using Logic. Mastered in Soundcloud
Guitars played: Morris Nylon String in standard tuning.
Photography: Thanks go to Nigel and Libby Hume at Hume Photography.

I wrote this instrumental as a tribute to all buskers who bring a little joyful music and light to our streets.

The Busker

℗ © Copyright Ian Stokes. All Rights Reserved
Recorded, mixed and mastered in Logic. 
Guitar played: Taylor 714CE in standard tuning (Capo 1st Fret)
Photography: Thanks go to Nigel and Libby Hume at Hume Photography.
Song Notes:
For those who have expressed an interest in how I record my acoustic guitar, I use two small diaphragm condenser mics set up in an XY pattern mounted on a stereo bar within a reflexion filter. I record identical versions of the guitar tracks and then select one for the stereo left channel and one for the stereo right channel. 
Soundcloud has proved to be a wonderful place to connect with musicians and with people who love to listen to music all over the world. There is something truly magical and inspirational about receiving feedback from someone who has listened to my music. 
It’s incredible to be able to post a song on Soundcloud and know that someone - maybe on the other side of the planet - or as the song says "...down in the delta..." has somehow connected with my music.
Thank you for listening!!

LYRICS:
Winding its way through the canyon 
Like a snake in the mid-day sun
I could sit here for a lifetime 
And watch that river run
And somewhere down in the delta 
Where the river runs to the sea
Maybe someone is watching that river 
Someone just like me

Running wild, river running deep 
It’s something I can’t explain
But somehow I feel that river
Is running ………….through my veins

It’s a universal story
Under the mid-day sun
Another life in another lifetime
Will watch that river run
And somewhere down in the delta 
Where the river runs to the sea
Someone will watch that river 
Maybe Someone just like me

Running wild, river running deep 
It’s something I can’t explain
But somehow I feel that river
Is running ………….through my veins

Someone Just Like Me

Kayda

I am so excited about collaborating with soprano Maribel Villarroel and arranger and pianist René Calderón. The lyrics are from the Pablo Neruda poem "Puedo Escribir" in the book "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair". Translated by W.S Merwin. Permission has been granted by Fundación Pablo Neruda.

Puedo Escribir (Letras de Pablo Neruda)

Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.

Escribir por ejemplo: “La noche está estrellada, 
y tiritan, azules, los astros, a lo lejos.”

Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.
Yo la quise, y a veces ella también me quiso.

Oir la noche inmensa, más inmensa sin ella.
Y el verso cae al alma como al pasto el rocío.

Eso es todo. A lo lejos alguien canta. A lo lejos.
Mi alma no se contenta con haberla perdido.

Tonight I Can Write (Lyrics by Pablo Neruda)

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example, “The night is starry 
and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.”

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.

This is all. In the distance, someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

This song was also performed live at "La Chascona", the former home and now museum of Pablo Neruda in Bella Vista, Santiago: https://youtu.be/vzz8tY0CYLk?si=ZfYIat6iL69p2FW4

"Canciones para Pablo Neruda" is a book of musical scores for songs based on lyrics by Pablo Neruda as well as artwork from some of Chile's greatest artists: https://www.amazon.com/Canciones-Para-Pablo-Neruda-Spanish/dp/9564163218/ref=sr_1_1crid=WRKWVK3QHPRL&keywords=canciones+para+pablo+neruda&qid=1704674603&sprefix=%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-1

The album is coming! This is a sneak peek.

Puedo Escribir

℗ © Copyright Ian Stokes. All Rights Reserved
Recorded, mixed and mastered in Logic.
Guitar played: Taylor 714CE in standard tuning (Capo 6th Fret)
Photography: Thanks go to Nigel and Libby Hume at Hume Photography.
Lyrics:
Sometimes I like to go fishing 
Down on the river side
Being out there in the open air 
Watching those fish go by

With a pole and line in the water 
Sit back and just wait 
Never catch a fish
Never get a bite 
Never use any fish bait

You would not call me a fisherman 
Happy just to let things be 
I don’t bother those fishes 
Those fishes don’t bother me 

You might find me
On a summer’s day 
Down on the river side
Listening to the sound of a running stream 
Watching those fish go by 

With a pole and line in the water 
Sit back and just wait 
Never catch a fish
Never get a bite 
Never use any fish bait

You would not call me a fisherman 
I’m happy just to let things be 
I don’t bother those fishes 
Those fishes don’t bother me

Never Catch A Fish

℗© Copyright Ian Stokes. All Rights Reserved
Recorded, mixed and mastered in Logic.
Guitar played: Taylor 714CE in standard tuning 
Photography: Thanks go to Nigel and Libby Hume at Hume Photography.
Song Notes and Lyrics:
This song imagines one of those occasions when you by chance find yourself in a place where there is some great live music that somehow just seems right.....
Lyrics:
Somewhere in New York City
Or was it down in New Orleans 
Could have been in San Francisco
Or maybe it was all a dream
I was walking by an old blues bar-room 
When I heard somebody playing with some style
So I bought myself an ice cold beer
And listened for a while

Looked like he’d lived a whole life-time
Beard gone silver grey
The people in the place seemed spellbound
Happy just to hear him play
At home on stage under the spotlight 
Keeping time with his heel on the floor
I bought myself another beer
I stayed and Iistened some more 

He wore a fine silk waistcoat
Jacket on the back of his seat
Hat pulled down to his cheekbone
Boots tapping out that beat

He played until the bar-room closed
Right sound right time right place
He walked off into the night
With his old leather guitar case
Never knew his name
Don’t even know if he still plays
But I’ll picture that stage and hear that sound
For the rest…of my days

He wore a fine silk waistcoat
Jacket on the back of his seat
Hat pulled down to his cheekbone
Boots tapping out that beat

Fine Silk Waistcoat

I am excited about collaborating with soprano Maribel Villarroel and arranger and pianist René Calderón. The lyrics are from a Pablo Neruda poem about Easter Island, "XXII La Isla". This poem is from Pablo Neruda's "The Separate Rose", translated by William O'Daly. The Foundation of Pablo Neruda has granted permission.

XXII La Isla

Amor, amor, Oh separada mía
Por tantas veces mar como nieve y distancia,
Mínima y misteriosa
rodeada de eternidad, agradezco
no solo tu mirada de doncella,
tu  blancura escondida, rosa secreta, sino
el resplandor moral de tus estatuas
La paz abandonada que impusiste en mis manos 
El día detenido en tu garganta

XXII The Island

My Love, my love, O separate one,
for so long sea like snow and distance,
small and mysterious, surrounded by the infinitive,
I am thankful not only for your lovely innocence,
your hidden whiteness, secret rose, but also
for the moral radiance of your statues,
for the forsaken peace you imposed upon my hands:
the day caught inside your throat.

This song was also performed live at "La Chascona", the former home and now museum of Pablo Neruda in Bella Vista, Santiago: youtu.be/vzz8tY0CYLk?si=ZfYIat6iL69p2FW4

"Canciones para Pablo Neruda" is a book of musical scores for songs based on lyrics by Pablo Neruda as well as artwork from some of Chile's greatest artists: https://www.amazon.com/Canciones-Para-Pablo-Neruda-Spanish/dp/9564163218/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.JV3fZn25wlYcYE3CfKo_ue-fx5JdUXB60a-hWwk205kXDQG20j2a39ntzMqHEkx3viRYPO82bPSZDVFqrJB0Ktv2SFa70Mpx30Y-oeBwc1BQrmYTopCWzqNa1jFZPzoYDn_DvSM1le70QritFcGLlAlKEe5jlzrHxk6CEpjSbXLV52LciGsetvGRc5-X0wUWjkJn4KDpoJZ8yoSdygz8U8t6STGLP0jtrLy0XHI81qU.hUSdYX9jFdVq5TBnQWaNA-H2v_m_nFe0A6ADmg40qBg&dib_tag=se&keywords=CANCIONES+Para+Pablo+Neruda&qid=1710717676&sr=8-1

Poema XXII "La Isla" (Poem by Pablo Neruda)

This is a song I wrote sometime after Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go into space, on 12th April 1961.
I was totally in awe of the concept of space travel and the technologies involved. Not to mention the courage of all those space pioneers. 
The recording is not the best but will hope you like my efforts. Also many thanks to my muso mates for the help with the backing track.

Yuri 12 April 1961

I am so excited about collaborating with soprano Maribel Villarroel and arranger and pianist René Calderón. The lyrics are from the Pablo Neruda poem "Para Mi Corazón" in the book "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair". Translated by W.S Merwin. Permission has been granted by Fundación Pablo Neruda.

Para Mi Corazón

Para mi corazón basta tu pecho,
para tu libertad bastan mis alas.                                                                                 
Desde mi boca llegará hasta el cielo                                                                                   
lo que estaba dormido sobre tu alma.

He dicho que cantabas en el viento                                                                             
como los pinos y cómo los mástiles.                                                                           
Como ellos eres alta y taciturna.
Y entristeces de pronto, como un viaje.

Acogedora como un viejo camino.                                                                                   
Te pueblan ecos y voces nostálgicas.                                                                              
Yo desperté y a veces emigran y huyen                                                                   
pájaros que dormían en tu alma.

Your breast is enough for my heart,
and my wings for your freedom. 
What was sleeping above your soul will rise
out of my mouth to heaven.

I have said that you sang in the wind
like the pines and like the masts.
Like them, you are tall and taciturn,
and you are sad, all at once, like a voyage.

You gather things to you like an old road.
You are peopled with echoes and nostalgic voices.                                                          
I awoke and at times birds fled and migrated
that had been sleeping in your soul.

Para Mi Corazón (Poem by Pablo Neruda)

℗ © Copyright Ian Stokes. All Rights Reserved
Recorded and mixed using Logic. Mastered in Soundcloud
Guitars played: Rhythm - Taylor T5 (Koa Top); Lead - Morris Nylon String 

It's been good fun recording this song, which I started to write some years ago, sitting in a beautiful cafe in a wonderful town square in France.  Hope you like it!
LYRICS:
Behind her cool sunglasses and her long dark hair
No one sees the colour of her eyes
At her table in the corner of the cafe on the square
She watches the world go by

And he just longs to know her
As she comes to the cafe every day
But when he takes her coffee to her table
He can never find the words to say

Behind her cool sunglasses and her long dark hair
As the world goes walking by
From her table in the corner of the cafe on the square
She keeps him in the corner of her eye

And she just longs to know him
As he waits on her table every day
But when he brings her coffee to her table
She can never find the words to say

She raises her sunglasses to the top of her head
Holding back her long dark hair
At her table in the corner of the cafe in the square 
She looks up from her chair

As he brings her coffee to her table 
Just as does every day
His eyes meet hers for the very first time
No need for any words to say

Cafe On The Square

Singer of songs and strummer of strings.
I just do covers of the songs I like and post them here. Happy Days.

Yuri 12 April 1961

Merv Perry

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