You made my morning coffee on the top deck..

really compelling lyrics --it's like Tintern Abbey and Love Song of Alfred Prufock distilled, and definitely on the level of Wordsworth and Eliot; this is amazing:  "A puppet heart managed by the clock – foolish arms flailing"

this chorus and sound is tremendous--this is first rate Prog  love those flourishes at 3:30 and 3:38 (and the similar throughout)

I have been tardy of late... but this is worth waiting for. Ambitious, wacky and it delivers superbly. Bravo everyone!

I'm a big fan of 6/8 too :) I love the Joni Mitchell and William Blake (?) references in the lyrics!

and so, tastes better than soup of thistles to me, clearer, livelier, like maybe they aren't unhappy, just having to deal with shit like everybody else

Love what you're doing Phil you're creative lyrics and arrangements are captivating.

A very interesting and fascinating post, I enjoyed it.

"Ashes in the Rain" is a gothic post-punk song that explores the lingering traces of a lost love, haunting the protagonist like a shadow. Inspired by the melancholic and minimalist style of The Cure during the "Boys Don't Cry" era, the song blends clean and reverberated guitars, pulsing bass, and painfully restrained vocals, sometimes layered with ghostly echoes.

The lyrics navigate nostalgia, loss, and obsession. The sonic world is introspective and timeless, dominated by sensations: rain, ashes, silence, haunted sleep.

Sound effects amplify this atmosphere: distant whispers, heavy reverberations, subtle vocal modulations. The bridge loses its melody, giving way to ghostly percussion and distorted murmurs, before the final chorus returns in a kind of emotional catharsis.

"Ashes in the Rain" is both a lament and a dance frozen in memory. It touches those who love sadness set to music, with elegance and restraint.
--------
« Ashes in the Rain » est une chanson post-punk gothique qui explore les traces persistantes d'un amour perdu, hantant le protagoniste telle une ombre. Inspirée par le style mélancolique et minimaliste de The Cure à l'époque « Boys Don't Cry », la chanson mêle guitares claires et réverbérées, basses pulsées et voix douloureusement retenue, parfois parsemée d'échos fantomatiques.

Les paroles naviguent entre nostalgie, perte et obsession. L'univers sonore est introspectif et intemporel, dominé par des sensations : pluie, cendres, silence, sommeil hanté.

Des effets sonores amplifient cette atmosphère : murmures lointains, réverbérations lourdes, subtiles modulations vocales. Le pont perd sa mélodie, laissant place à des percussions fantomatiques et des murmures distordus, avant que le refrain final ne revienne dans une sorte de catharsis émotionnelle.

« Ashes in the Rain » est à la fois une complainte et une danse figée dans la mémoire. Il touche ceux qui aiment la tristesse mise en musique, avec élégance et retenue.
--------
„Ashes in the Rain“ ist ein Post-Punk-Gothic-Chanson, das die anhaltenden Spuren einer ewigen Liebe erforscht und dem Protagonisten ein Ombre erzählt. Inspiriert vom melancholischen und minimalistischen Stil von The Cure aus der Epoche „Boys Don't Cry“, ist der Chanson eine Mischung aus Gitarren, Klar- und Halltönen, pulsierenden Bässen und zurückhaltenden Stimmen, parfümiert durch fantasievolle Echos.

Die Parolen navigieren zwischen Nostalgie, Frechheit und Besessenheit. L'univers sonore ist introspektiv und intemporel, dominiert von Empfindungen: Pluie, Cendres, Stille, Sommeil Hanté.

Die Klangeffekte verstärken diese Atmosphäre: Lendenwirbel, laute Widerhall, subtile Modulationen und Gesang. Der Brückenkopf liegt in der Melodie, an einem ruhigen Ort mit fantasievollen Perkussionen und verzerrten Geräuschen, bevor der letzte Refrain in einer Art emotionaler Katharsis wiederbelebt wird.

„Ashes in the Rain“ ist eine Klage und ein Tanz, der im Gedächtnis ertönt. Es berührt die Tristesse der Musik, mit Eleganz und Zurückhaltung.

Ashes in the Rain

Birth

Janine Levinson 2020

MISTRESS OF GRAVITY

Guitar and guidance: Jonathan Beckenstein @jonathanbeckenstein

Hey hey, look at me
I’m the mistress of gravity 
In charge of the rules of nature 
(turning it red for autumn)

Hey yeah, I’m warning you
And mind you, this is just a clue
But I’m feeling kind of impatient 
(So do what you want to do)

I’m going to allow it

Hey Hey, look at me 
Do I look fat in these jeans? 
Or maybe my crack is showing 
(Maybe I’ve got a problem)

Hey yeah, If I were you
I’d consider a benefaction
Make sure it’s a really good one 
(And do what you want to do)

I’m going to allow it 
I’m going to allow it

Judge and jury 
If you want to
You can call me mother 

Hello mistress!

Rain it down and in a flurry 
Feel the burning water

Hello mistress!

Hey hey I hope you know 
That I think that a storm is coming
So maybe you’ll need your anchor 
(I’m keeping the rivers flowing)

Hey you, what I can be 
Hypocritical, technically
Magnetically quite unmagic
(So maybe my slip is showing)

And I’m going to allow it

Hey hey, Look at me
I’m the mistress of gravity 
In charge of the rules of nature 
(keeping it real for autumn)

Hey yeah, I’m warning you 
And mind you this, this is just a clue
But I’m feeling kind of impatient 
(So do what you want to do)

I’m going to allow it 
Ba ba ba ba...

Mistress Of Gravity - with Jonathan Beckenstein

@janinelevinson: Provided the seed lyrics and we built from there. Falcon Vocals
@rick-4-1: Dangerous Rhythm Thistles
@burn-it-smith: Grinning Soul Piano
@phil-mcwalter: Swirling Ceiling Other Stuff

Aren't they all brilliant! 

I wrote it in 6/8 to fit in with the spiralling gyre theme. It's like 3/4 (waltz time)but with less strong beats for your money and I just like Pop Goes The Weasel. Oh, and Joni Mitchell's six jet plane trails/guitar strings in 'Amelia' too!


The Reception is here: https://soundcloud.com/phil-mcwalter/the-uncomfortably-dangerous-wedding-party

AND SO

Returning and turning in the widening gyre 
The falconer holds out a golden ring from the tower 
Captive and burning and full of desire 
The falcon pulls feathers from her wings to count the hours

And so

Ad infinitum 
Is the crow 
Compelled to steal

And so

Ad infinitum 
Are we drawn 
Into the wheel
Into the wheel

Turning and burning in the heat, of hearth and fire 
The feathers, the letters, the fingers form a winged spire
There’s flapping and scurrying aloft up in the rafters 
Where the bats are left to read and the finger moves on higher

And so 

Ad infinitum 
We forget 
Why we were singing

And so

Ad infinitum 
The choir cannot lift the ceiling
The spinning wedding ceiling
Stealing

And so 

We go
Around and around  and do it over again! 
Ad infinitum
Around and around  and do it over again! 
Ad infinitum

Returning and turning in the widening gyre 
Unseen by the hawk was Icarus flying higher
Why do we love when we know it’s trespassing
A puppet heart managed by the clock – foolish arms flailing

And so

Ad infinitum 
We watch for 
Six jet planes’ trails

And so  

We prepare  our soup of thistles
And we settle down to feather 
And we wonder about the weather
Listen for the 
Falcons' bells together and
Cover our eyes with leather
Oh Icarus dear boy
Waxed and waned
Ooh Amelia dear heart
Tarred and feathered...

Levinson & McWalter- June 2020

And So

Spotify

AND SO

Man In Brief

Ranty sax and the odd piano tinkle courtesy of Jonathan Ogara (https://soundcloud.com/allopenelectrics).

The lyrics goeth thusly:

Dogmatist insistence, compromise persistence
Poisonous necessities, extinction resistance
Merry Gerry-pandering, oblique meandering
Moments of clarity, hipsterous dexterity
Contraphobic sanity, Ponderous calamity
Peripheral profanity, Stat-packed insanity
Throwaway connectiveness, ultra-bright defectiveness
Nominated reprobate, virtuous advocate

Deceptive conformity, emotional deformity
Factual ambiguity, intellectual nudity 
Off the shelf pomposity, counterfeited prudity
Border-line depravity, empathetic cavity
Hand-wrung gesturing, half-baked posturing
Blame game moronity, stupefied stubbornity
Blinkered conformity, dubious patternity

They’re laughing at you 

Wall to wall stupidity, stupefied community
Working, working tirelessly, optimist futility 
Easy sell simplicity, smugnorant complicity
Manipulated ignorance, proudly flaunted bigot-trance 
Cheer the nicely spoken thief, Kick the gift horse in the teeth, 

They’re laughing at you, because you want it to be true

GadDad Rant

Crescent Moon

The confusion, the conflict...

“this is not a crime against the state
it is merely a misdemeanour of the heart
a fine how-do-you-do, a merry dance
this is clearly the chaos of romance

this is not a crime against the state
such a skirmish fuelled by jealousy of the heart
here within a time to bide and wait
forget the fuss, the ballyhoo in plain sight

a china tea cup storm, a flash in the pan
costs so dearly foolish impoverished man
this is not a crime against the state
disorder rules the day”

Chaos of Romance

Thanks to Blink Twice for an inspirational track to play with.
https://soundcloud.com/blink-twice-archival/ch-4-120-bpm-4-1

[Blown additions(order): clarinets/tenor sax/reverse clarinet/fuzz clarinet/reverse soprano sax/spaced bamboo flute/clarinet/tenor saxes.]

Ark Dambient [Blow-Up Variant] -  Blink Twice | WBE

At My Style You Look

Composer/Guitarist/Producer

Songs: We find them unpainted in our hands, throw them up into the air of our imagination, turning them in the colours we see after we close our eyes until they feel just right, and sometimes we catch them perfectly, without blemishing them...

My music is on most platforms for your ease.

Wow!!  417K plays and 4,000+ valued followers and friends on SC alone, that provide lots of wonderfully helpful comments that fuel the next track! Really big thanks to the SC community for listening and providing such brilliant feedback and support. It means so much to myself and my collaborators - huge thanks.

I work in different styles, as the inspiration, dreams or bubonic plagiarism comes! I use Logic Pro X on Mac.
 
I write, produce and play all my own stuff (unless otherwise stated), play vintage Tokai Strats mainly, PRS Torero, Steinberger, Gretsch G2627T, Classical, Fender Dreadnought, Yamaha and Rickenbacker basses, keyboards and sax. I use Native Instrument's Komplete, Omnisphere 2 and my own organic samples.

I mix on Sennheiser HD 280 Pro's and HD 650's (closed and open headphones) when not making a bigger noise through my Yamaha HS8 studio monitors. I use Focusrite Clarett 2Pre ThunderBolt and Apogee audio interfaces, Neumann & iSK condenser & AKG dynamic mics. 

Hardware: Feb 1978 Marshall JMP 50W Combo, BOO & BOSS stomps

I love collaborating with other musicians and will compose with, play guitar for, produce, arrange, master or even just hum along with other SC musicians. Please ask!

P.S. I am a long standing member of the Performing Rights Society and PPL through my old TV and theatre work as well as my record and publishing deals.

AND SO

Phil McWalter

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