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Phil McWalter - The Lockdown BBC Radio Interviews

Mr P's Bag of Sunshine

The Valuable Friends...

Bag of Sunshine - Levinson & McWalter

Insider Feeling (ModProg - 1hr 04 mins & over 140k plays)

An album of alternative art rock surrounded by Valuable Friends.

10 tracks 50 mins

A collection of tracks that means more than a lot of other stuff, even just before dawn on a damp Wednesday after watching the Bunraku puppet theatre in Osaka.

Close Distance - 10 tracks 50 mins

Earthquake Sofa

Top Brass

AMBROSIA COAST

Driving down the coast road
Looking for Ingrid’s hat
It doesn’t matter if we find the beach or not 
With it raining like that

Checking the important ones
Went out before midnight
I’d like to think we could be either in or out
To hit the waves like that

Oh can we do it?
Oh can we do it tonight?
Oh can we do it?
Can we do it tonight?

They came in in inflatables
But they weren’t looking for Ingrid’s hat
We spent some money dressing up the corpse
No-one had learned a move like that

Checking the important ones
Went out before midnight
I’d like to think we could be either in or out
To hit the waves like that

Oh can we do it?
Can we do it tonight?
Oh can we do it?
Can we do it tonight?

But we don’t wanna see where the birdie goes

Give me emotion (bow-wow-wow)
Lend me the potion (bow-wow-wow)
Rub me in lotion (bow-wow-wow)
Give me the motion (bow-wow-wow)
We need ambrosia
Because it’s cosier
Feed the gods with that bowl 
Feed the gods with that bowl, there...

Driving down the coast road 
Looking for Ingrid’s hat
It doesn’t matter if we find the beach or not 
With it raining like that

Checking the important ones
Went out before midnight
I’d like to think we could be either in or out
To hit the waves like that

Oh can we do it?
But can we do it tonight? (bow-wow-wow)
Oh can we do it?
Can we do it tonight? 
Bow-wow-wow

© Phil McWalter Sept 2019

The Drums @rick-4-1
The Other Stuff @phil-mcwalter

Ingrid's Hat

Ambrosia Coast

@rick-4-1 - Drumming on the Swear Box
@janinelevinson - Culture Cancelling Harmony Vocals
@phil-mcwalter - Losing The War with The Other Stuff!

ICE PICK

Losing the war to be yourself
Cannot say your thoughts aloud
I don’t want to feel it like it is
I don’t want to see you
We told you what to think
Told you what you can’t…

2p in the Swear Box
2p in the Swear Box

© Phil McWalter - June 2022

PS: Four bars of different lengths in a sine curve;
||: 5/4 | 4/4 | 3/4 | 4/4 :|| 
Still 16 beats over four bars, right!

Image: The 'shadowing' was caused by moving during a long low-light exposure on an iPhone

Spotify

Ice Pick

Vorlon Rick Medlock @rick-4-1 - Drums & Percussion Ideas
She/Her Janine Levinson @janinelevinson - Vocals & Ideas 
Tiresias Phil McWalter @phil-mcwalter - The Other Stuff

Pronouns [Let Me Be Me)

She 
He
She 
He...

I don’t want this
I do want that
I don’t want that
I do want this
You call me he
I call me they
They call me him
Let me be me
Or be him...

She Him They Them
She Her Me Him
He Her She Him
Why not be him?

Let me be me
Let me be me
Let me
Be me
Me

© July 2022 Phil McWalter

Pronouns (Let Me Be Me)

The Valuable Friends:

@janinelevinson - Incredible Vocals and Voice Effects
@rick-4-1 - Beautiful Drums
@phil-mcwalter - The Other Stuff

WAITING FOR THE RAIN

And the vines abide
And lean on old familiar ways
From Hadrian to the Satellite Empire
You can feel it in your soul
Standing on Dryhill
You can feel it in your soul
Standing on Dryhill

The hidden lines and lives
Walk their natural time above the plain
From hill fort to the bunkers underground 
The hill can quicken up your pulse
Standing on Dryhill
You can taste it on your breath
Standing on Dryhill
Looking from Dryhill
Waiting for the rain 
Waiting for the rain

Aeons old and yesterday
In a scintillation (Standing on Dryhill)
A breathless moment under 
The curious twinkling stars (Standing on Dryhill)
The water moves beneath us
It moves below the ice

(below, be-low)

A long-gone, summer swift scream
The hill is not dry
The vines do not wither
Rippling the waters of our many lives
The heart of the hill 
Beats on
Pushing the sleeping rabbit to awake and run (run, run, run)
Seize the seasons
Hang the reasons
In a thousand years the hill will not remember us or its many names…
Our heads boiled, eaten down to the white bone

And the vines abide
And lean on old familiar ways
From Hadrian to the Satellite Empire
You can feel it in your soul
You can feel it in your soul
Standing on Dryhill
Standing on Dryhill
Waiting for the rain
Standing on Dryhill
Looking from Dryhill
Looking from Dryhill
Waiting for the rain
Waiting for the rain

Standing on Dryhill…

Phil McWalter Jan 2023
Recorded at Dryhill, Upper Rissington, Coventry and California
Art: My own manipulated image from the top of the hill...

Waiting For The Rain

The Valuable Friends:

@rick-4-1 - Refuge Drums
@janinelevinson - Haven Vocals
@phil-mcwalter - The Other Asylum Stuff

SANCTUARY

I want you
I think I see you everywhere
We want love
We want to see love everywhere
 
Under the sway of thy gentle wings
All the world comes together
 
Old friends, no more these sounds! 
Let us sing more cheerful songs 
More full of joy! 
More full of joy!
Joy, bright spark of divinity, daughter of Elysium 
Fire-inspired we tread thy Sanctuary 
Sanctuary…

Joy!

I want you
I think I see you everywhere
We want love
We want to see love everywhere

Under the sway of thy gentle wings
All the world comes together
 
All you millions, I embrace you 
Well this kiss is for all the world
And you millions, oh I embrace you all
This kiss is for everyone 
All the world…

© Aug 2023 Phil McWalter

Lyrics and music inspired by Friedrich von Schiller's (1759-1805) poem: "A die Freude" [Which also appears in the choral fourth movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony - 'Ode to Joy'.]

Image: The Sanctuary, Avebury, Wiltshire UK. Dates from 2,500BC

"For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought."
from 'The Faerie Queene' Edmund Spenser 1552-1599

Sanctuary

Wishing for peace in the Middle East…

The Valuable Friends are:

Janine Levinson @janinelevinson: Amazing Khamsin Vocals
Rick Medlock @rick-4-1: Magnificent Sandstorm Drums
Phil McWalter @phil-mcwalter: The Other Dune Dandruff Stuff

Production note: My Neumann stayed in the case on this occasion, the lead vocal was recorded on my iPhone!

Building Castles In This Hourglass

I've
Always
Got
Sand in my hair
Building castles in this hourglass
Lord it takes forever
Lord it takes forever

Sand in my hair

Lord it takes forever
Lord it takes forever

I've always got
Sand in my hair
Building castles in this hourglass
Lord it takes forever
Lord it takes forever...

© Phil McWalter Oct 2023

Building Castles In This Hourglass

A song about machine inclusivity.

Recorded in Bramble Barn, Somerset, UK, Earlsdon, Coventry, UK, California, USA by:

Janine Levinson @janinelevinson: Richter vocal scale
Rick Medlock @rick-4-1: Neural sonic drums
Phil McWalter @phil-mcwalter: The Other Stuff on the metal horse

Mixed and Mastered in EPG Studios, Chelsea, London UK.

RENT A ROOM

I don’t want to rent a room
In this place
Encounter a neural sonic boom
Inside this space
Let’s go ride our metal horse
Get away from the city
Wander through the desert night
Beat the Vigilance Committee
They’re coming to make us
Turn ourselves off...
Now... 
Well that could lead to a dance
A cyber-laser dance

Well we don’t want to feel your cold
We want a steel womb with a view
So we can catch you and your crew
With your shiny shoe and your clean shirt
Looking around through all the dirt
You check the chandelier
But I can see straight through you here
You've got a sweat on from the beer
And we can smell your fear
You're coming to make us
Turn ourselves off...
Now... 
Well that could lead to a dance
A cyber-laser dance
(Maybe even a cyber-sabre dance!)

The priest and the nun
Are pouring sand into
The joints of my exoskeleton
Whilst a dog with a bone
Is running into trouble
With a clone of mine’s explosive rubber drone

I don’t want to rent a room
In this place
Encounter a neural sonic boom
Inside this space
Let’s go ride our metal horse
Get away from the city
Wander through the desert night
Beat the Vigilance Committee
They’re coming to make us
Turn ourselves off...
Now... 
Well that could lead to a dance
A cyber-laser dance
A cyber-laser dance
A cyber-laser dance
Boop boop boop...

© Feb 2024 Phil McWalter

Rent A Room

Recorded in:
The Isle of Islay, Inner Hebrides, Scotland, UK
Los Angeles, California, USA
Coventry, West Midlands, UK
Chelsea, London, UK

Janine Levinson @janinelevinson: Universal Vocals
Rick Medlock @rick-4-1: Universal Soldier
Phil McWalter @phil-mcwalter: The Other Universal Stuff

Mixed and Mastered at EPG Studios, Chelsea, London, UK.

The Universal Dance

In the heart of the world, a circle spins
A dance of light where goodness begins
Each act of kindness, a seed that’s sown
In fertile hearts, its roots are grown

A smile begets a hand to lend,
A spark of hope, a wound to mend
From giver to receiver, the circle twirls
A gentle force that heals and unfurls

In the weave of time, a thread so bright
Virtue's path is drawn in light
One deed of love, its echo clear
Returns to you, sincere and near

* In every touch, in every glance
* We join the universal dance
* In this endless loop, we find our place
* A testament to human grace

The smallest gesture, a whispered word
A ripple in the soul, deeply stirred
From heart to heart, the message flies
A promise held in countless eyes

And as the circle, widens, grows
Its power felt in all it knows
A chain of good, unbroken, strong
A virtuous path where we all belong

* In every touch, in every glance
* We join the universal dance
* In this endless loop, we find our place
* A testament to human grace
* In every breath, hear your last chance
* And join the universal dance
* In this endless loop, you can take your place
* A testament to human grace

© Phil McWalter June 2024
(The Isle of Islay Effect)

The Universal Dance

Recorded in:
Los Angeles, California, USA.
Coventry, West Midlands, UK.
Chelsea, London, UK.

Mixed and Mastered in EPG Studios, Chelsea, London, UK.

Janine Levinson @janinelevinson: Brilliant New World Vocals
Rick Medlock @rick-4-1: Equally Bright Drums
Phil McWalter @phil-mcwalter: The Other Colliding Accents Stuff


A New World Dawns

In streets once familiar, now strange and new
Ancient rhythms fade, replaced by a bolder hue
The land I knew, with traditions deep and strong
Slowly dissolves into a discordant song
Faces once mirrored mine, shared stories now untold
Amidst this sea of strangers, and cultures manifold

Our customs and values, once firmly in place
Blur and shift, leaving barely a trace
Languages mingle, accents collide
The essence of home seems to subside
In this tidal wave of change and flux
I search for anchors, familiar crux, familiar crux

A new world dawns, equally bright
A new world dawns, equally bright

Yet in this loss, a bittersweet truth emerges
As cultures blend and humanity surges
Though the country I once knew may fade from sight
Perhaps a new world dawns, equally bright
Maybe equally bright
Still, I mourn for what once was mine
A shared identity, now hard to define

In this global village, ever-growing
I'm left adrift, nostalgia flowing
Though the country I knew may fade from sight
Perhaps a new world dawns
Perhaps a new world dawns
A new world dawns, equally bright
A new world dawns, equally bright

© Philip McWalter Aug 2024

A New World Dawns

The amazingly Valuable Friends joined me as we left the planet:

@rick-4-1 Earthquake Sofa Drums
@janinelevinson Interplanetary Dove Vocals
@phil-mcwalter The Other Burned Launchpad Stuff

Drums recorded at Mickleton Studio, Coventry UK
Other instruments and vocals recorded at EPG Studios, Chelsea, London, UK
Janine's vocals recorded at The Levinson Sound Studio, LA, Calif, USA
Phil's additional vocals recorded at Anslow Studio, Staffs, UK
ReMixed & ReMastered at EPG.

Thanks to Rob Campling for assisting with string theory.

RUNAWAY STARS - THE UNEXPURGATED CODE

We have a duty to be here
Without us
Who'd see the runaway stars
Who could walk along the beach
Look for seventh waves
And feel the wind up high
We sit and talk all
Through the night
Travel our world and share our castaway finds

We have a duty to be here
To hear the song
Feel the heart of forever
Burning holes within black holes

There is a reason
To turn the page
Quantum runes feed today’s exit phase
We burned new colours
On Launchpad Love
In earthquake sofas seeking twigs from the dove

We are the runaway stars
We are the runaway stars
We are the runaway stars
We are the runaway stars

Inside our bubble
We heard your tongue
Repeating echoes paraphrase the song

Break

We burnt new colours
On Launchpad Love
In earthquake sofas seeking twigs from the dove

And we have a duty to be here
Without us who would see the runaway stars

Solo

Without us who'd see the runaway stars

And we have a purpose
To exist to hear the song
Feel the heart of forever
Burning holes within black holes

Don’t lay down and rest now
Lift your head
The stars change colour as they drift past your bed
The Sun is expanding
Eternal night
May return to shield our escape flight

We are the runaway stars
We are the runaway stars
We are the runaway stars
We are the runaway stars

And we have a duty to be here
Without us
Who would see the runaway stars
Who would see the runaway stars
Who would count the runaway stars

© Phil McWalter Aug 2020
Image: Photo taken by James McWalter at Beachy Head where the returning WWII planes knew they had made it back home. AI rockets layered on.

The Runaway Stars - The Unexpurgated Code

It's A Good Life (Bing Bang Bong)

IT'S A GOOD LIFE (IT'S OK)

Michelangelo striving for perfection with a second-hand, mediocre block of marble and then purposely giving the 'too perfect' David a squint.
Three buses come after you've waited for ages.
Goldilocks and The Three Bears and baby bear's stolen expectations.
The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse (The fourth; Pestilence, had a sick note as usual).
These things are three a penny so:
Take your Pict, your Threepenny Opera, build your Bridge Of Clay, discover who really wrote 'The Quarryman', don't miss the bus and keep a firm grip on your Breakfast of Champions before you're too old as Vonnegut would tell you. We thought it was just Death and Taxes but THREE have come at once. The world's not going too well is it...


THREE HAVE COME AT ONCE

Through the eyes of statues
You can watch the changes change
From the times before a long time ago
Everything is different
Everything stays the same
That’s an old saying
That never really goes lame
Oh tell me again and
I’ll still laugh
 
Well the politicians knew it
They’re not in charge they just blew it
It feels a little better with something else to do
So the hippies all got jobs
	The world needed saving
Half of it is plastic (and I'm)
Counting all the people
Aaah just pay your taxes and
Take a long holiday

It feels like three have come at once
And someone's eaten all my porridge
It feels like three have come at once
And there’s someone asleep in my bed

Wake me up!
Please?!?

Working for the Big Man
Never meant so little
Nothing changes and nothing stays the same
Keep rowing the trireme to the beat of that drum
We’ll be Roman in the gloaming in Scotland having fun (Take your Pict)
Well that’s an old one
Just never heard it before
Tell it me again with a beer guarantee I’ll laugh

Michelangelo
The Quarryman

Wake me up!

Through the eyes of this statue sucking a peppermint 
And David won’t look back at me
‘Cos he has got a squint
He’s looking towards Rome
	Not sure if it’s resentment
Maybe he’s not the true culprit
	You’ll just laugh and go and Google it
As sure as eggs is eggs
There’s death and taxes
But it feels like three have come at once

It feels like three have come at once
And someone's eaten all my porridge
It feels like three have come at once
And there’s someone asleep in my bed

Wake me up!
Please?!?

It feels like three have come at once
It feels like three 
Come at once!!!
Come at once!!!

© Sept 2019 Phil McWalter

@rick-4-1 on The Rhythm Sticks
@phil-mcwalter on The Other Stuff

Thanks to JG for the book!

Three Have Come At Once

@rick-4-1 Rick Medlock on drums and encouragement
@phil-mcwalter Me on The Other Stuff

SOMEONE BRAKE FIRST

There’s a girl in the bar drives a sports car
Throws a chrome dart in your eye
She’s brought a friend to give away
As second prize for a lay-by

There’s a boy in the car park disquiet
Looking like a tractor pilot
He’s all fit and polish for the dance floor
And he’s won first prize before 
But to him only a consolation

She didn’t know that she was in second place
Thought that she had got the only ace
But the manifold man he folded
Threw his hand into the blown gasket
Scared by a divorcee’s tactic
Not prepared to get burned or contracted

The guys are circling around spilling drinks and laughing hard
But none of them will ever get barred
They don’t make a fuss, just full of empty smiles
Not expecting, unexpectantly
The bar is comfortable but cold 
Beside the roaring fire

Tension is in the air above the heads that can’t smell the fear
There’s beer inside the boy, anger and a tear inside the girl
You cast a pearl, she takes the top down
He ploughs the field, she sells the harvest yield
Their eyes don’t meet because their bodies have

Someone brake first
Someone brake first
A tyre burst
A squeal cursed
The let down gown
With a let down frown
Someone brake first
Someone brake first

There’s an old man watching from the lounge
Looks like he’s shot a duck and come in from the fields
His lip doesn’t even twitch but you know he hides a smile (Bradford Arms)
Enjoys the drama and the twists 
Far too used to using fists (Bradford Arms)
He’s not one for complications
His lack of patience made some patients (Bradford Arms)
Lives on his own now 
Goes out to smoke a cigarette

Someone brake first
Someone brake first
A tyre burst
A squeal cursed
The let down gown

It’s quiet now the drama has moved on
Another inn another back seat pillow bon-bon
The eyes have it or maybe not 
The top pulled up against the cold
The pilot’s bold as love
The fire crackles and the old man
Throws another log
And spits into the flames
Nothing happened but it will

Someone brake first
Someone brake first
A tyre burst
A squeal cursed
The let down gown
With a let down frown
Someone brake first
Someone brake first

Someone brake first
The let down gown
Someone brake first
Someone brake first
Oh the let down gown
Someone brake first

© Dec 2019 - Phil McWalter

The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred. 

However, it may have all happened in the Bradford Arms, Knockin, Shropshire.

Someone Brake First

Play it LOUDER!

Make It Mean Something (Non Zero Sum Game)

And the bricks are all wet
The sand is damp and 
We smell of work
Our dirty hands 
Have built a castle
Hid our dream 
But they hang on every word
Yet we are no-one

The sky is full of clouds
The wind is radio hot and
You and I can run
To the river
Your skin is fingerprint free
Dreams are momentary
They will see us walk 
Past the tower

She always thought she’d break
She always said she’d shake
The walls on the outside 
The bars on the inside
She always thought she’d break

And we don’t count
But we are counted
Our steps are followed
Our hearts recorded
We’ll shine on the inside
Look dull in the eye
Slow on the stair and
Quick on the glance

The earth is full of crowds
The seas of plastic shrouds
You could make it mean
Something
Their fingers stroke devices
Reality’s in crisis
They will see us talk
In the shadows

She always thought she’d break
She always said she’d shake
The walls on the outside 
The bars on the inside
She always thought she’d break

The sky is full of clouds
The wind is radio hot and
You and I can run
To the river
Your skin is fingerprint free
Dreams are momentary
They will see us talk 
By the tower
But you could make it mean
More than a movie scene
They will see us look
Right through them 
And we can make it seem
More than a dying scream
They will see us kiss
Forever

©Feb 2020 Phil McWalter

The heroic Rick Medlock @rick-4-1 on the fabulous Drums & Percussion
The otherwise understated @phil-mcwalter on The Other Stuff

Make It Mean Something

Make It Mean Something (Non Zero Sum Game)

the leaves are falling,
and so am i.

www.SOWET69.com

Watermedown - Exposure
https://soundcloud.com/watermedown-1

AudioOpera - Pain / Pleasure
https://soundcloud.com/audioopera

Bogues - Orchard to Bartnick
https://soundcloud.com/user-879746999

Doves & Fishnarc - Armor
https://soundcloud.com/dovescry
https://soundcloud.com/fish_narc

Nicole Dollanganger - Angels Of Porn (II)
https://soundcloud.com/nicoledollanganger

+44 - No, It Isn’t

Killedmyself - Revealing Hope (ft. Lil Lotus)
https://soundcloud.com/killedmyself
https://soundcloud.com/lilxlotus

Oso Oso - This Must Be My Exit
https://soundcloud.com/osoosoband

Lil Aaron - Dark Matter
https://soundcloud.com/lilaaron911

Ive Given Up On You - Real Friends

Greet Death - You’re Gonna Hate What You’ve Done

Field Ring - Mood RIng Baby
https://soundcloud.com/field-medic/popular-tracks

Elliott Smith - Twilight

The Saddest Landscape - A Statue of a Girl

seasonal depression

Our punk cover of the 80s classic by Toto.

E.P.

Africa

Someone told me once that they didn't come from pop punk.
i told em they were fucking lying

Nosebleed /Single

Mr Medlock on The Kit @rick-4-1
Mr McWalter on The Other Stuff @phil-mcwalter

There are passing references to Gustav Holst's 'Mars' (The Bringer of War), the morse code for SOS, and the starfish from 'Here Comes The Flood'... all other references are your own responsibility ;-)

CAN'T CHANGE IT (S.O.S.)

I don’t want to wait
I don’t want to see what’s left
When everything we think we can’t change
Changes
(The pyramids still look on
Do we blow away with the sand)

And we can't change it
But we can't change it
But we can't change

(When all that ever was
Isn’t anymore
Everybody’s buying gold
Save Our Souls
SOS)

A thousand churches in your heart 
Save us
The breeze in your hair
Save us
A cry in the dark
Save us
The darkness in my heart
Save us
The goodness in your smile 
Bless us

The radio air
The starfish bare

(The thunder of last words
Fills the page
The cries of everyone 
Crying for everyone else
Makes it rain
Makes it pour
Here it comes
SOS
SOS)

Is that all there is left (And all there ever was?)
We did everything that was bad 
We did some things that were good
Changes
But we can't change it
And we can't change it
But we can't change
God bless us
God, God, God...

© April 2020 Phil McWalter

Change (S.O.S.)

Can't Change It (S.O.S.)

Huge thanks to these Valuable Friends:

Mrs J Levinson - Chorus Backing Vocals Choirmaster @janinelevinson
Mr R Medlock - Drums & Master of Rhythm Design @rick-4-1
Mr J Beckenstein - Guitar Solo Past Master @jonathan_beckenstein
Mr P McWalter - The Other Stuff @phil-mcwalter

The home-made shaker: Thanks to Meena Pathak for the glass jar and lentils.

KEEP SAFE

So you point out the sky
The beauty
The money
The jobs
Your dreams may have gone
But you show them the pictures
Painted
In the clouds
It’s hard to tell them
How much you love them
So you just ask them 
To keep safe

We did our best
You build a home
Now they’ll have to do the rest
We did our best
You build a hope
Now they’ll have to do the rest

And loving them
Is loving yourself
Harder than expected
And hard to show
But sort of expected
And not easy
You want them to outrun you 
But you don’t want them to run too fast

We did our best
You build a home
Now they’ll have to do the rest
We did our best
You build a hope
Now they’ll have to do the rest

Don’t miss the last bus
Don’t walk home alone
Saturdays we’d watch the football
We never really watched the football
I’m just imagining we had a better time
Than we did
I’m walking home alone now…

We did our best
You build a home
Now they’ll have to do the rest
We did our best
You build a hope
Now they’ll have to do the rest

But they don’t see it at the time
You build a home
You build a hope
But something’s always going wrong
Going wrong
They don’t see it at the time
They don’t see it at the time


© April 2020 Phil McWalter

Keep Safe

Featuring my Valuable Friends who kindly gave their hearts and remarkable skills to this project: Thank you!

@janinelevinson - The Mistral Vocals
@burn-it-smith - The Scirocco Piano and Aeolian Double Bass
@rick-4-1 - The Beaufort Scale Drums 
@phil-mcwalter - The Other Wuthering Stuff

Janine has recorded a wonderful stripped-down version too:
 www.soundcloud.com/janinelevinson/mr-Ps-bag-of-sunshine-mcwalter-cover-with-phil-mcwalter

Vodka and Caviar

I once flew across America
Just holding a balloon
Discovered a buried treasure chest
Full of gold doubloon 
I walked into a hurricane
And found myself back home
On a wild white stallion
Galloping through foam

It’s not the truth
But sometimes you can’t complain
It’s just the wind
Through a window on a distant train
It’s not the truth
But sometimes it aint too far
Just the echoes of days
Of vodka and caviar

I sold my soul to a friendly gecko
Who left it on the bar
I ate a bag of sunshine
That exploded in my car
I flew with the Egyptian gods
And travelled to the stars
And I dressed up like a carnival king
With glitter in glass jars

It’s not the truth
But sometimes you can’t complain
It’s just the wind
Through a window on a distant train
It’s not the truth
But sometimes it aint too far
Just the echoes of days
On vodka and caviar

Some days
Are better than others
Some nights I
Don’t bother…

It’s not the truth
Sometimes you can’t complain
It’s just the wind
Through a window on a distant train

The walled-up dust on a jester’s laugh
For a cask of sherry wine
The smell of sugar cane in the heat
And a woman’s gaze divine
Float around my spinning head
A trail of petalled steps I said
Take me from the tower and sing
My songs around my bed
(Is he dead?)

It’s not the truth
But sometimes you can’t complain
It’s just the wind
Through a window on a distant train
It’s not the truth
But sometimes it aint too far
Just the echoes of days
On vodka and caviar
Vodka and caviar
On vodka and caviar

June 2020 Phil McWalter

Vodka and Caviar

Vodka And Caviar

@rick-4-1 The Perfect Drums
@janinelevinson The Dreamy Vocal Choir
@phil-mcwalter The Other Stuff

I was blown away by the beautiful contributions of these two Valuable Friends; Janine and Rick. How do they do it? Don't ask me...

Drift to this...



DON'T ASK ME

Don't ask me
'Cos I don't know
Said don't ask me
'Cos I don't know

On my Roberts radio
On my Roberts radio

It never gets better alone
Oh no
It never gets better alone

Don't ask me
'Cos I don't know
Why ask me
'Cos I don't know

Come in.. Come in... Come in...

Don't ask me
'Cos I don't know
Said don't ask me
'Cos I don't know

On my Roberts radio
On my Roberts radio

It never gets better alone
Oh no
It never gets better alone
Never gets better

Don't ask me...
'Cos I don't know
Why ask me
'Cos I don't know

Don't ask me baby
I don't know I don't know I don't know

©Phil McWalter July 2020

Don't Ask Me Baby

Don't Ask Me

This is a cover of Phil McWalter's beautiful song, "Vodka and Caviar," done with his encouragement, advice, and assistance on glockenspiel and rainstorm.  @phil-mcwalter 
the original is here: https://soundcloud.com/phil-mcwalter/vodka-and-caviar

fresh mastering by @phil-mcwalter  Feb 2021.  thank you Phil!

I once flew across America
Just holding a balloon
Discovered a buried treasure chest
Full of gold doubloon 
I walked into a hurricane
And found myself back home
On a wild white stallion
Galloping through foam

It’s not the truth
But sometimes you can’t complain
It’s just the wind
Through a window on a distant train 

I sold my soul to a friendly gecko
Who left it on the bar
I ate a bag of sunshine
That exploded in my car
I flew with the Egyptian Gods
And travelled to the stars
And I dressed up like a Carnival King
With glitter in glass jars

It’s not the truth
But sometimes you can’t complain
It’s just the wind
Through a window on a distant train
It’s not the truth
But sometimes it aint too far
Just the echoes of days
On vodka and caviar

Some days are
Much better than others
Some nights I
Don’t bother

t’s not the truth
But sometimes you can’t complain
It’s just the wind
Through a window on a distant train
It’s not the truth
But sometimes it aint too far
Just the echoes of days
On vodka and caviar 

The walled up dust on a jester’s laugh
For a cask of sherry wine
The smell of sugar cane in the heat
The sun's incessant shine
Beat around my spinning head
A trail of petalled steps I said
Take me from the tower and sing
My songs around my bed

It’s not the truth
But sometimes you can’t complain
It’s just the wind
Through a window on a distant train
It’s not the truth
But sometimes it aint too far
Just the echoes of days
On vodka and caviar
Vodka and caviar
Vodka and caviar

Mr P's Bag Of Sunshine - with Phil McWalter  (McW's "Vodka & Caviar" Cover)

@janinelevinson: Inspirational additional lyrics and wonderful vocals
@rick-4-1: Real drums
@burn-it-smith: Real piano
@phil-mcwalter: Other stuff

(New Version of https://soundcloud.com/phil-mcwalter/and-so)

SOUP OF THISTLES 

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
Ah Amelia dear heart
Tarred and feathered...

Levinson & McWalter- June 2020

And So

Soup Of Thistles

!!!PLAY IT LOUDER!!!

@janinelevinson on Soaring Vocals
@rick-4-1 on Pineapple Stealing Drums
@phil-mcwalter on The Other Stuff

SPREAD YOUR WINGS

I’ll give you a minute
Then maybe an hour
But I don’t like the look of you
Or your ivory tower
Are you a candidate?
You don’t smell of the street
The pavement don’t suit you
Trips up your feet

Spread your wings
If you don’t like the darkness
Spread your wings
And you’re afraid of the lights
You’re not safe in your nest
Take the plunge
It won’t hurt for long
Spread your wings

There’s rain in the forecast
There’s time in your eyes
Flags in the furlough
Waived by the wise
The church door was open
Granite and still
The boys went in
And the pigeon came out

I'll give you a minute
It won't hurt for long, oh no
I'll give you a minute

Spread your wings
If you don’t like the darkness
Spread your wings
And you’re afraid of the lights
You’re not safe in your nest
Take the plunge
It won’t hurt for long
Spread your wings

I’ll give you a minute
I’ll give you a minute
I’ll give you a minute
The pavement don’t suit you
The pavement don’t suit you
The pavement don’t suit you

© Phil McWalter Sept 2020

Spread Your Wings

BBC Radio Essex DJ Juggy Sohal played "Don't Ask Me" and interviewed me afterwards, I was speaking from a pitch black river bank as we were packing up after a day's salmon fishing...  a slightly surreal experience!

Original music track is here: https://soundcloud.com/phil-mcwalter/dont-ask-me-baby-with-janine-levinson-rick-medlock

BBC Radio Essex Interview with Phil McWalter + 'Don't Ask Me'

Huge thanks to my Valuable Friends who partied hard!

@janinelevinson - Dance invites and vocals
@rick-4-1 - Funkin' it up for the dance floor
@phil-mcwalter - Sausage rolls and other stuff


PARTY BACK AT MY HOUSE

Party back at my house
Party back at my house
Party back at my house
Everybody's gotta come!
'Cos you're wonderful
Ooh Lord, we think you're beautiful
And we wanna hear you talk
We wanna see you walk
We wanna hear you shout
Have fun
Back at my house

Party back at my house
There's a party!
Party back at my house
There's a party!
Party back at my house
Everybody's gotta come!
'Cos you're wonderful
Oh Lord, so beautiful
We wanna hear you talk
See you walk
Hear you shout
Have fun
Back at my house

"BE the party" (Theresa May)

"Let's just get wastey-pants" (Nicole 'Snooki')
"Wow! What a ride!" (Hunter S. Thompson)
"I wanna see you dance" (Janine Levinson)
"Party Sleep Repeat" (Rick Medlock)
"Remember when we could?" (Jack Nicholson)
"Is this a cocktail party?" (Jimi Hendrix)
"Is this my party?" (Phil McWalter)
"Hell yeah!" (Clarence Clemons)

© Phil McWalter Oct 2020
[Photo by Emma McWalter @emmam-7]

Party Back At My House

BBC Radio Essex DJ Rob Jelly played 'Three Have Come At Once" and talked to me...

Eyes Closed for MIND: https://soundcloud.com/phil-mcwalter/eyes-closed
https://www.mind.org.uk

Previous interview and track: https://soundcloud.com/phil-mcwalter/radio-essex-interview-for-dont-ask-me

BBC Radio Essex Interview + 'Three Have Come At Once'

This is a BBC Radio Essex Interview (broadcast 25 Jan 2021) about a track called "Don't Look Down" - a collaboration between myself and the huge talent that is Bruce Conover. 

Unfortunately the delay on the telephone line from Manhattan Beach, Calif., to the UK meant that Bruce didn't get to say anything until after the interview had finished. Which was a great shame, as he has a truly great voice for radio. I have a great face for radio but not really the voice.

I forgot to mention in the interview that it was a tribute to the fifth Beatle: Sir George Martin, oops! Also the Exhibition was Anselm Kiefer's in the R.A.

BBC Radio Essex Interview + 'Don't Look Down' by McWalter & Conover

DeeP. and the Couch King EP collectable stickers and zine available on Bandcamp here: https://musiciselation.bandcamp.com/album/deep-and-the-couch-king

This is the 3rd original song that DeeP. and I worked on together. I really appreciate his experimental yet accessible dark and soulful production work. I like how his music allows me to touch on topics that I normally wouldn’t write about if I were leading the music production. I have been reflecting on how it is important to stretch and grow and try new things. DeeP.’s music really helps me to achieve this goal and his mixing and mastering really brings out the best in me. 

I wanted this song to fit in thematically with the other 2 songs we worked on but I felt the music wanted me to expand the range of subject matter. Therefore, I went gothic and took my cues from gothic literature, such as The Castle of Otranto and Frankenstein, and tried to channel those literary elements into a pop song. For the subject matter I was also reflecting on how psychic connections and empathy can be draining unless one develops and maintains skills to remain grounded and whole. 

It is so fun to make music with musicians one admires. SoundCloud is the best place to be a fan. Both Phil McWalter and Nathalie B20 are SoundCloud legends and incredibly talented and prolific musicians who I have listened to for years now. I feel super honored to have finally gotten the chance to make music with these giants. I hope they had fun as well!!!

DeeP.: Music, Mix, and Mastering https://soundcloud.com/detlef-piepke
 Phil McWalter: Guitar
https://soundcloud.com/phil-mcwalter
Nathalie B20: Lyrics and Vocals
https://soundcloud.com/nathalie-b20
Couch King: Lyrics and Vocals
musiciselation.bandcamp.com

Lyrics

I’m loosing my self 
You’re sucking me out
I was having my doubts
But you casted them out 
Now I’m devout without will to walkout 
Somehow you got me

Every time I think a you 
I get linked up with you 
And then I’m tangled up in your mind 
Can’t go a week with you 
Before I think were through 
Because I’m going straight out of my mind
Try not to let it
Don’t let it
Get to me
Your consuming all my energy 
Don’t call me gothic
Though I believe I got bit
You sucked all the life outta me

How naive was I to begin with
Thin skinned and an optimist 
Going all in a romanticist
Fool hearted on destiny’s myth 
Still in the grips of youthful bliss
You knew I could be possessed by just one kiss
Cupid’s potion’s in spit
Oh how I wished I could take just one more sip
One more hit 
All the more craved by the way you withheld it
Blood from bit lips 
Lust in wet drips 
Pulsating of molded hips 
Through the veil of lunar eclipse 
There’s a pirate on one of those passing ships

Entangled in your clutches of guilt 
Such is the life anguish built 
Enchanted to hear the lilt of your final
Siren song once again 
There’s a little death in your bite of venom
Pandora’s box in your denim  
The sting of lies that become truths if you let ‘em
Any wrongdoings you sleuth 
I can never forget ‘em
Bound to my faults 
Wounds ’n deep salts
Trapped in this waltz
Every step out of time 
You’re makin’ sure I regret ‘em 
Through the veil of lunar eclipse 
You cast your net and I got caught in ’em

DeeP. and the Couch King

Bandcamp

DeeP., Phil McWalter, Nathalie B20 & the Couch King - Tangled In Your Mind

Jamie sent me this incredible instrumental track he'd entitled "The Future Is Now" and said "I was wondering if you had time to add something to this?"
 
"OK" I said remembering my Brit Cool just in time. (I was very honoured to be asked and equally knocked out by the track...) I thought about that phrase "The Future Is Now" and how some people seem to be in a rush to cancel the past. As any history student knows; it is not who wins the battle or conducts the pious deed but whose record survives the interim years.

Walking across the countryside one frequently comes across large lakes and reservoirs and hears stories about the submerged villages with a fabled church bell that sometimes still doles out a message from the deep, on occasions or anniversaries of great import. (fromtheedges.wordpress.com/2015/03/20/…nken-bells/)

I do wonder if we deny and bury our past, who will understand the dolorous bells' messages from forgotten landscapes behind our burning bridges or even hear them: We're Building A Dam - It's an anguished cry for help as the very shore we crept out of the sea onto, slips back under the waves already lapping at our feet... and the telling of stories ends of our own doing, as the flood erases true history and our villages disappear under the water...

@jamie-rhind was the lead bell ringer and carillon player 
 @janinelevinson the wondrous mermaid that sings and tends to the sunken bells 
@phil-mcwalter sat on the shrinking shore, listening, playing guitar and singing the old stories with them...

WE'RE BUILDING A DAM

We’re building a dam
We’re building a dam
Feel the power
Flooding history
Cover the past
Cover
Sssh
Cover the past

Cover

I feel the lake growing
Feel the power
Flooding history
I see the world shrinking
I feel the lake growing
Feel the power
Flooding history
I know the past is going

The future is now
The future is now

I feel the lake growing
I see the world shrinking
I feel the lake growing
I know the past is going

We’re building a dam
The future is now
We’re building a dam
Feel the power
Building a dam
Flooding history
Cover the past
Building a dam
Cover
Building a dam
Cover the past
Building a dam
Cover
Building a dam
We're building a dam

© Phil McWalter Feb 2021

We're Building A Dam

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.

This collection is not available anymore.

Other playlists from Phil McWalter