Stuff I find interesting to write about mainly.

Mike tunes

Hard Water, Soft Hearts (lyrics and music © 2024 by Mike Dampf - bass David Leadbitter, mandolin and vocals Becky Sora; Accordion Papa Tom Caraher

He met a lovely girl in old Paree
t'was then and there he fell on bended knee
the flowers bloomed, the world was tuned

Hard water, soft hearts
Hard water, soft hearts

Now he haunts the grassy banks along the Grand
where brown bats flit and strike above the strand
and nobody knows how his love goes

Hard water, soft hearts
hard water, soft hearts

He shouldn't stay but he can't move on
the ghosts of Paris fade into dawn
but their love is so strong

Leaning far over the balustrade
from the William Street bridge she jumps unafraid
stars glitter below, where the deep river flows

Hard water, soft hearts
Hard water, soft hearts

Hard Water, Soft Hearts

Until Your Heart Believes       Lyrics and music by Mike Dampf © August, 2024         Flute - Becky Sora; Bass - David Leadbitter; Vocals Jerneja Medved and Mike Dampf

I can see you hurt
I can read the signs
You smile through loneliness
like winter sun through the pines
this kind of wound is slow to heal
and I know how it feels

One light is on long before the dawn
a half moon rises and then it's gone
soft wind rustles the willow leaves
dreamless, until your heart believes

I see you nearly every day
your eyes say it all
it's just 'Hello' and then you look away
like you hit some kind of wall
Sure, you're fine, nothing's been revealed
but I know how it feels

Look at me
look at you
we shouldn't be alone anymore

Until Your Heart Believes

Too Old to Die Young (music and lyric by Mike Dampf © October 2024)    Becky Sora: flute, percussion, mandolin, vocals/ Dave Leadbitter: bass & vocals

You're really gone, not just gone away
I hurt in the spaces where we used to play
if music is love, my love goes unsung
I'm not too old, just too old to die young

Rumors of an angel, flowers on the breeze
you walked into the room, I went weak at the knees
Like in a church, sweet bells were rung
I'm not too old, just too old to die young

I laughed at love, I thought I had time
I played the game until pride made me blind
Thought I was a rock until 'lonely' cracked open my mind

God knows the reasons, I can't say why
this beautiful summer's so fast drifting by
each leaf's gonna fall as the pendulum's swung
I'm not too old, just too old to die young
I'm not too old, just too old to die young

Too Old to Die Young

LIFE AIN'T BUST          Original song by Mike Dampf © November, 2024  Bass by David Leadbitter; Harmonica by Becky Sora/ Original painting by Jay Dampf

Sometime up, sometime down
this old life is a steady pound
freezing rain, burning heat
best step aside if we meet

Give me things that I can trust
Show me how this life ain't bust

Stand in line, hurry, wait
one at a time through the gate
fold your arms, hide your fear
ask yourself why you're here

Give me things that I can trust
Show me how this life ain't bust

Keep quiet, don't gripe and don't make a big fuss
They need you alive but beware 'cause this life
is gonna break you down to dust





Life Ain't Bust

Pretty Loose music and lyrics © 2025 by Mike Dampf and Dave Medcof
Bass: David Leadbitter; Mandolin, percussion, vocals: Becky Sora

Buddy called, said 'Get off the couch'
you're old but that's no excuse
let's meet at the station with a pint and a plan
everything's been getting pretty loose

So we met on up and we strolled on down
down to where they bury 'who vamoosed'
had a drink and a tear over long gone friends
then we started getting pretty loose

He said 'I heard there's a party just down the line
jump a trolley to the Long Branch Loop'
so we climbed aboard, left the dead behind
and rolled along feeling good 'n loose

It was a-pull down the guitar, rosin the bow
treat your liver and your banjo with abuse
sing out the heart, forget about the head
and everyone was getting pretty loose

The good Lord made many lovely things
I've seen a beaver, a cougar and a moose
but nothing's half as lovely as the way I feel
when the music is getting good and loose

Now it's late, I'm back on the train
so sleepy that I drag my own caboose ...
yes I'm old but the day is young
and everything's been getting pretty loose
Ya everything is getting pretty loose!

Pretty Loose

walls of sound are the only walls we build.

written by naldo, synths & keyboards by guillaume
drums by greek god yannis alfiers & kief moon
guitars by naldo

listen to more of Guillaume's music here:
https://soundcloud.com/guillaumelecompositeur/tracks

Recorded on 1/2" Otari MX5050 at the Laundry Room, Oakland California
mastered by naldo in logic
joss sticks 4.3

Joss Sticks for Yannis

A love song for strangers. Music and lyrics by Mike Dampf and Becky Sora © February, 2025 Becky plays mandolin, vocals; David Leadbitter plays bass. 

THIRD EYE BLUES

God has nothing to say to the sober
He leaves them high and dry but they don't complain
And God knows there ain't anything faster
Than a fall from grace, I'll never clean that stain

Do you know anyone here, you whispered
We were strangers sitting in a pew at the Church of the Homeless Angel
No but I'm gonna know you, I whispered
And by the way you really rock red at a funeral

I'm gonna live forever if it kills me
And I'm gonna love you for all time
Whatever made you want someone this crazy
I've got a third eye but sometimes I'd rather be blind

We balance on the edge of the moments between hope and fear
It seems to me
You and I ring, we're each other's everything
And alone together isn't so lonely

Third Eye Blues

Ode to Gabriela Mistral © 2025 Pamela Illanes - Tatsuoka
October 13 will be a special day, Oda a Gabriela Mistral!

Piano: Pamela Illanes - Tatsuoka
© 2025 Pamela Illanes - Tatsuoka

Ode to Gabriela Mistral (Live)

Another trip to therapy, another extortionate bill, all for the sake of a cup of coffee ☕😅 The appliances are cheekier, the breakdowns are messier, and the spoon still holds a grudge. I just wanted a brew, instead, I got a full blown kitchen intervention 🥄🧂💨
If you haven’t already heard the first session, start here: https://soundcloud.com/krazy-krissie/therapy-with-krissie
It sets the tone for what’s brewing 😵☕

****Lyrics***

So Krissie, you said things escalated again this morning?

Yes, Doctor. It started like a normal day. But then, they turned on me.

I tiptoed in with a hopeful sigh
Just wanted coffee, didn’t plan to cry
Reached for the fridge with the gentlest touch

But the fridge said
"Back again? How loyal of you. Should I even bother keeping things fresh?"

I just want milk, not a lecture, please
I replied while dodging a cheese
I grabbed a mug and turned and hurried

And Tupperware shouted from deep in the cupboard
"You always take the shiny new ones
I’ve still got a curry stain from twenty twenty two"

I’m not playing favorites, you’re just shaped weird
I muttered and slowly disappeared

Then from the drawer came a heavy sigh
"Ah yes, another day ignored. Tell my dreams I said goodbye"

You’re a grater, not a poet

The kettle rumbled like a gathering storm
"You never let me finish! You just use me! Am I just STEAM to you?!"

Your whole job is steam I tried to explain
But she shrieked and hissed like a runaway train

The microwave chimed in, whispering from the shadows
"Heated, but never heard"

You literally ding when you're done I said, blinking at the wall


Then came a tantrum from the toaster’s slot
"Another BAGEL?! I’m a toaster, not your backup quest!"

You literally have a bagel setting
I shouted back, waving the instruction manual like proof

The salt grinder twirled with dramatic intent
"If you over season one more time, I’ll submit a formal complaint"

To WHO? THE SPICE GIRLS?! I shouted toward the ceiling

Even the mirror looked me up and down and said
"I’m not saying anything, love, but I wouldn’t wear that"

I didn’t ask for your fashion review I replied, tugging my sleeve

Then I opened a drawer and the whisk let out screams
"MY SENSE OF SELF IS UNRAVELING AGAIN"

Yeah. Join the club

And then, the spoon
Yeah. The same fuckin spoon from last time
It slipped. And as it hit the floor, it announced

"This is why no one trusts you"

I JUST WANTED COFFEE! ONE SIMPLE BREW
NOW I’M PAYING YOU, THANKS TO MY CREW

So yes, Doctor. That’s why I’m back
Again

So. Just to clarify
You. Argue
With a spoon??!

Therapy with Krissie #2 ☕😵 Coffee First, Sanity Later 😵☕

Velvet Pulse

L.I.T.O.D.S. - Living in their own delusional society!

Tight jeans up my crack sexy back Bomber Jack
Giving you the skunk face hiding beneath my cap 

It's insane, it's magical a spectacle so sensual you can't believe
Crash the plane ask Jefferson pulling white rabbits out of my sleeve

Class act, ballet corset like Fantasia all glimmer and gloom
Silly fact, smack your back, you're the pink elephant dancing in the room

I follow trends copy styles I'm basically a clone
I'm shallow and love to flirt swipe you under my phone

Like trash under the rug, you're a chad, don't think much more of it
Thriller pose, spitting bones, skulls falling out of my closet

Long ponytail, slim waist, clapping buns, neat and petite figure
No need to be a gold digger men shower me with big figures

I'm accessible, flexible, available and uncopiable virtually impossible
Make you stumble over vocabulary and syllables I'm formidably untouchable

Still though, I'm likeable but actually kind of a noob on Youtube

Casually I make make up tutorials I'm a serial killer Wikipedia
What casualties? Instead love to gossip about commodities and social media

No respect for the dead!

I'm like a bird on Tik Tok an influencer sick who caught the flu and flew
Past Cuckoo's nest invests and who spreads bad tricks and tips you have no clue

Socially awkward an independent woman with bad tendencies 
Blurred transparency corrupted by money and infidelity 

Achieving and stealing scamming and scheming misleading a population
Replacing believing with brainwash the younger generation for viewer sensation?

What an abomination talk about being hollow?
Yeah thumbs up I get a lot of followers

Yo this is wack as fuck! 
This is wack as fuck!
This is wack as fuck!

Living in their own delusional society 
Yeah no wonder no one wants to be with me!

All the single ladies Beyoncé say what? 

Yo this is wack as fuck!
This is wack as fuck!
This is wack as fuck!

Living in their own delusional society 
Yeah no wonder no one wants to be with me!

All the single ladies Beyoncé say what?

Lyrics by Amarya Illude.

L.I.T.O.D.S.

Thank you for listening 🎶
-
The day has gone by, I couldn’t say what I did
Only that heavy embracing my heart well hid
At last the evening, the quiet, the silence, arrived
Alas it strengthened the feelings hidden inside

I’ve been telling myself that everything will be OK
Cause tomorrow you know is gonna be another day
But even though I try, I try and I fail
Sleep will not come n’my sorry heart will prevail

As if I can touch you as long as I reach out for you
Instead, I end up with a sad happy heart broke in two 
-
As if I can touch you as long as I reach out for you
instead, I end up with a sad happy heart broke in two


I can honestly say that I really never knew.
How a heart filled with love still can be broken in two.
No I can honestly say that I really never knew.
How my heart filled with love still can be broken in two

How my heart filled with love still can be broken in two
How a heart filled with love still can be broken in two

InTwo

A heartfelt ballad about traveling alone after a breakup, where the singer misses the golden days of love and yearns for his lost companion. The smooth vocals and gentle instrumentation create an emotional and introspective atmosphere

Got the keys, road is wide

Mac , music , lyrics ,vocals
Scotty , lyrics and vocals
Shane , lyrics and vocals

Jimmy really should have learned how to drive 
But he thought he was the last of the lads alive
He never knew his signals or emergency stops
Took a blind side right with his headlights off
And that was the end of that 
But there’s always some daft twat
Who dabbles in disaster for a silly laugh
Perhaps it’s apt 
But Christ it’s proper sad
He was probably an arsehole but someone’s little lad
And it makes em mad in the daily mail
When every little jimmy fails
“They should be building bigger jails , these criminals shall not prevail”
Fuck off Doris ,I’ve got news for you 
You can climb down off that high horse
Cos it ain’t fit for glue

Those with glass minds throwing rocks tonight
Knowing that they never lived a day in their lives

Well, Linda sits upon her porch 
with cigarettes and beer,
waitin' for her cheque and askin'
the mailman each time he's near.
She lives with other women,
who are very much the same.
Seven babies from eight daddies.
Makin' them is just a game
for them to live in ignorance,
sit and do nothing, 
but complain about the immigrants 
that make them quite insane,
even though they're working difficult, shit jobs 
that they're too proud to do.
Entitlement based on their skin
colour and where it was they grew.

There’s two sides to a coin
When judgement calls
Those opinions are the shovel that will bury us all
And that’s all 
X

Fit for glue

Ciudad Naranja

SOON to move to Bandcamp as an album - in the meantime, you can also listen in sequence here: soundcloud.com/sonic-textures/sets/scalar-fields
instruments: Jeff Gardiner and jo richter
voice: Jeff Gardiner
modulation, arrangement and all that: jo richter
lyrics: Jeff Gardiner in collaboration with jo richter
image: Jeff Gardiner in collaboration with jo richter

stepping off the edge with desire
he was the flyer on perception's broken wings
sixteen times he bounced and landed on the ledge
with the shack at the back where the
old man sat on some wooden crates
and spoke of gates in dreams
and trips and traps and strategies and
cautionary tales about inorganic beings
and how to catch a rabbit or lion or a squirrel
with some sticks and strings

scaler field pt 9: Sticks 'n' Strings with Sonic Structures and Silent Stretches

Writing songs and kitchen party playing with my many musical friends ... pretty much sums it up.

Hard Water, Soft Hearts

Mike Dampf

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