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PSYVE- FIRST SAMPLER

Had fun trying out this home recording  of a Traffic classic, using just my limited keyboard skills on myYamaha CVP 405 keyboard and adding my vocals (main + harmonies). 
This was recorded at home on 3rd July 2023
- Cyrus Dali Vesuvala
  Gurugram
  3rd July 2023

Project Mayhem

Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (Cover)

I recently listened to Pink Floyd's song "IF"  (from their 1970 album "Atom Heart Mother")  at the suggestion of a friend, who suggested I should try to cover it.

My own familiarity with Floyd has been mainly restricted to "Dark Side Of the Moon", "Wish You Were Here" and "The Wall".... all absolutely AMAZING albums..... although I HAD listened to " The Piper at the Gates of Dawn"  as a young teen in the early 1970's.

Having listened to this song, I read the lyric of  "IF"  in two ways:

a) as Roger Waters' apology to Syd Barrett who had slipped into a drug fuelled depression, schizophrenia and general madness and  had become a liability to the group before becoming a complete recluse. In this interpretation Waters is the first person "I" 

b) as Syd describing his own personal pain and confusion... including a reference to his undergoing electric shock treatment ("please dont put your wires in my brain"). In this interpretation it is Barrett's voice speaking in the first person,  through Waters' lyric.

However you choose to  interpret this, it is a sad lyric.  And the very poignant line "If I were a good man, I'd talk with you more often than I do..." works from both perspectives.

Pink Floyd's songs make several references to Syd Barrett's descent into madness in even their later albums, including in such songs as "Brain Damage",  "Wish You were Here" and  "Shine on You Crazy Diamond".

I hope I have  been able to do justice to Roger Waters'  beautiful song with this interpretation recorded at home last evening.

Cyrus Dali Vesuvala
Gurugram, India
8th August 2023

P.S: On a  purely TECHNICAL note, although this is a SAD song, with an overall MINOR chord FEEL,  the whole song works off a set of purely MAJOR (and Major 7th) chords:   E, D, C#7, F# and B7

.
Here's a link to a video recording of this song
https://fb.watch/mifsHjpkbH/?mibextid=Nif5oz

IF (A Pink Floyd Cover)

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
(A Cover of an Original song by Led Zeppelin)

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
 And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
 When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
 With a word she can get what she came for.

 Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven.

 There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
 'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
 In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
 Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.

 Ooh, it makes me wonder,

 There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
 And my spirit is crying for leaving.
 In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
 And the voices of those who stand looking.

 Ooh, she's buyin' a Stairway to Heaven

 And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune,
 Then the piper will lead us to reason.
 And a new day will dawn for those who stand long,
 And the forests will echo with laughter.

 Ooh, she's buyin' a Stairway to Heaven

Stairway to Heaven (Cover of original song by Led Zeppelin)

Two of the songs on Leonard Cohen's  brilliant 1971 album reference  the historical figure  "Joan of Arc". 

In his song "Last Year's Man" he sings:

   ... I met a lady, she was playing 
       With her soldiers in the dark
       Oh one by one she had to tell them
       That her name was Joan of Arc
       I was in that army, 
        Yes I stayed a little while
       I want to thank you, Joan of Arc
       For treating me so well
       And though I wear a uniform 
       I was not born to fight
       All these wounded boys you lie beside
       Goodnight, my friends, goodnight...

Historical records from the time tell us that after her capture in battle by the English,  and throughout her protracted year long incarceration by her captors, Joan steadfastly maintained that in all her actions she had been guided by the divine voices of of  Saint Michael, St Catherine and St Margeret.

She was tried and convicted of heresy and blasphemy and on 30th May 1431, a year after her capture, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in Rouen, France.

Now the  OTHER song on Cohen's album that I referred to above is the eponymous "Joan of Arc", written as a conversation between Joan and Fire. 

Today's offering is a cover of the song "Joan of Arc",  recorded at home yesterday.

Headphones highly  recommended. 

- Cyrus Dali Vesuvala 
  Gurugram, India
  07th Sept 2023

Unknown album (06-09-2023 16:21:10)

Joan of Arc

VISIONS 
(A Journey in Three Acts)

© Cyrus Dali Vesuvala


Act-1: The Leaving

To the land of my fathers I now must return:
You know, it’s not that I care to roam.
Leaving you here, by your wheel and your urn-
Leaving love, leaving life, leaving home…
Yet, as evening must follow the morn,
All those visions, once bright, are now gone;
And the dim light of dusk is now turning to dark,
Yet I know that I must carry on-
I must carry on…

Act-2: The Realisation

Chasing faint echoes of memory through time,
I must search in the hope that I find.
As I come down the mountain, it crosses my mind
That I seek what I have left behind.
And the brightening that comes before dawn,
Brings on visions of men dead and gone-
All those heroes of legend have taught us no wrong 
When they say we must persevere on-
We must persevere on…

Act-3: The Return

Retracing my footsteps through wind and through rain,
Knowing soon I’ll be dry, I’ll be warm-
Now, as I lie down beside you again,
I know that I have finally found home.
And the piper returns to his horn,
And the tillsman comes back to the corn,
And those visions of old, which once drove me so cold,
Have forever and finally gone-
Yes, they’ve finally gone…

VISIONS (A Journey in Three Acts)

TO A BLIND FRIEND
© Cyrus Dali Vesuvala


She's not important anymore:
Things didn’t go the way that she foresaw-
See her lying on the floor
Couldn't hurt her more…

Words can't tell you how she feels…
She caught the wrong end of your deals-
You only need her for your thrills 
And feels…


TO A BLIND FRIEND

ALMOST "49": AN APOLOGY

© CYRUS DALI VESUVALA

You dropped them in their tracks,
Hit them harder than an axe,
Now I realize you did that without tryin'…
It was far, far too late
To save the fallen 48,
But I could stop becomin' "49" 
(Oh, I’d hate to be your number "49"…)

Saw them fallin’ to the floor,
Saw them comin'back for more,
Then I saw them come and stab you from behind-
Saw the hatred in their eyes,
But it made me realize
If I warned you, I’d be branded "49" !
(So the Man in the Moon turned blind…)

I never heard you weepin’
And I never heard you cryin’
Lord knows I never guessed just how low you were flyin’
Now I see you’re hurt as bad as all those people that you had,
And I’d only hurt you more as "49"…
(And I couldn’t bear to be so unkind…)


ALMOST "49": AN APOLOGY

PARTING SONG
© Cyrus Dali Vesuvala


Why is it that I must always end the things I start?
And why am I the only one who takes these things to heart?
And why is it that you don’t feel a part of what I feel?
And can you tell me if my hurt is real?


Why is it I always give much more than I intend?
And why am I the one who always gets hurt in the end?
And why is it that I’m the one who must apologize?
Why is there no sadness in your eyes?
…Baby, why is there no sadness in your eyes?


(* Blues Harp track courtesy Soddy Bottoms)

PARTING SONG

TWO DAY HIGH
© Cyrus Dali Vesuvala


Met only yesterday, unsettled the train:
Two-Day-High, hope we’re meeting again…
Dylan and Cohen and Bobby McGee,
Two-Day-High, you sure were like me.
I didn’t ask for you to come my way,
I’m asking you now, Two-Day-High, will you stay?
And, if you don’t want me, then don’t tell me why-
Just help me get rid of my Two-Day-High.


TWO-DAY-HIGH

BEST OF FRIENDS
© Cyrus Dali Vesuvala


We were lying in the grass,
We were talking of the past,
And I told you of my dad’s old steel rimmed glasses-
Then, you told me of the man 
With another in his hand,
And you couldn’t believe that he was making passes…


Then, you spoke to me of touch 
And you said it meant so much
To be touched when you are down or just plain lonely-
Now could that be the spark
Made you hold me in the dark-
Though you said you really loved your one and only…

Still, we’re the best of friends
And our friendship never ends,
It just grows deeper, though the river has its bends-
And, though I know
That you are another man’s,
Still, I thank the Lord that we’re the best of friends…

Side by side upon a plank,
Novice holding up the bank-
You’re like a stone, for reasons that you do not mention-
When you say you’d like to go,
I say: I’d really like to know:
Is it sleep, are you unsure of my intention?

A bit of both, you guess,
So I say: Well, thanks for being honest;
I’d like to see you once again before you go-
And, when you smile again
Oh, I am a happy man,
Though, now, that seems so very long ago…

Still, we’re the best of friends,
And our friendship never ends,
It just grows deeper, though the river has its bends-
And, though I know
That you are another man’s,
Still, I thank the Lord that we’re the best of friends…

TRANSLUCENT EARS

IF YOU SEE KAY (A CHESSBERG)
© Cyrus Dali Vesuvala

Our Tukid has ridden a Chessberg away
On a grammical Aziph turned down-
Your Chessberg’s an iceberg, the Queen tried to say,
But iceberg’s a nice burg to hang round!


The King has turned blind, disappointment and spite,
The tip of the iceberg and money;
The Queen’s awake, worried about mating all knight
On a diet of bread without Honey


So, if you see Kay, if you see our Kay,
If you see our Tukay-Tukid,
Tell her the Queen has abandoned the scene
Of the Save-our-King-from-himself bid!


Our Tukid’s a King, playing limited moves
On a board dominated by nights-
The Queen has been beating out timid tattoos,
Unheard, since she’s lost all her rights…


So, the King takes his ice and the Queen takes her song
To their separate beds every night,
Each trying to say, oh, if you see Kay,
I’m really feeling all right!

I’m feeling all right,
The feeling’s all right,
The Queen is all right,
The Queen was I…
I’m feeling all right…


IF YOU SEE KAY (A CHESSBERG)

MASK
© Cyrus Dali Vesuvala

I hope that you will understand:
I have no need to win her heart-
I just have years of need to know,
Did she understand the part
Of me she saw so many years ago,
One April night, when time stood still?
She'd looked into an emptiness 
That only you have filled…

Embarrassed by old memories,
I search for shreds of dignity,
Some token that says she had seen
And recognized that it had been
An involuntary cry, whose cause
Was some unspoken sense of loss,
A momentary glimpse at pain
Behind a mask that would not slip again…

And maybe, when you hear this song 
Someday, you’ll come to understand
This was no waywardness along
My road, no loss of self-command:
Just purging of a fear to know 
What image I’d find in that cask:
I want you to know this, my love,
To you, I’ve never worn a mask:
You know you are, have always been,
Will always be my woman, first and last…



MASK

APPLEWEED
© Cyrus Dali Vesuvala


PART I: GARDEN IN THE SKY

Exploding supernova in a Western sky:
Mystic dark portent, or the evil eye?
Seems every hour another star in our galaxy dies:
Tell me, where did all the Appleweed take root
In our garden in the sky?

Like faceless marionettes in some grotesque display,
Contorted caricatures from some frightening play;
Sometimes, it seems that all our dreams of Passion’s endless spark 
Are lost in green, or torn in twain, we take
Small solace in the dark…

My heart cries: Lovely Lady, don’t lose heart,
Don’t lose your peace of mind.
Don’t let yourself be torn apart,
Don’t leave this love behind.
Sometimes, you feel that on your part
You gave too much too free;
Lovely Lady, if you must lose heart,
Then please, re-lose your heart to me…

  

PART II: TWO STRANGE WORLDS 


My love lives in two strange worlds: in one, I’m just a fool:
One world short of Eden, one beyond Ultima Thule
One world where it’s difficult to predict day and night:
Confused by alternating tidal waves 
Of hate and love and spite…

And, in one of those two strange worlds, reality can bend;
Here, every argument’s a means to justify an end-
Through nights of helpless waiting, there is nothing I can do:
We never know, when I lie down with you,
Which world we’ll wake up to…

My heart cries: Lovely Lady, don’t lose heart,
Don’t lose your peace of mind.
Don’t let yourself be torn apart,
Don’t leave this love behind.
Sometimes, you feel that on your part
You gave too much too free;
Lovely Lady, if you must lose heart,
Then please, re-lose your heart to me…

Exploding supernova in a Western sky:
Mystic dark portent, or the evil eye?
Seems every hour another star in our galaxy dies:
Tell me, where did all the Appleweed take root
In our garden in the sky?


APPLEWEED

FULL CIRCLE: REQUIEM FOR BENAZIR (WINDS OF CHANGE) 


NOW: 
No solace now to help them cope 
A loss so hard to bear 
A nation on the brink of hope 
Dragged down to such despair 

You went out in a flash of heat 
In a searing flash of light 
Work unfinished, incomplete 
Their song was killed tonight 

Just as the crowds began to gather 
With the setting of the dark 
They were singing praises to your father 
When the mad man found his mark… 

(BRIDGE) 

Two thousand miles away I looked 
On as the tragedy did unfold 
The final chapter in this book 
A story left untold 

Now as darkness starts to gather 
Around your children too 
This requiem to your father 
Now serves as your cenotaph too 


THEN: 
Benazir, your father’s in the ground- 
Benazir, you watched them put him down- 
Benazir, your father lied- he’d promised not to die, 
And Benazir, you’d sworn you wouldn’t cry… 

Benazir, your face has turned to stone- 
Benazir, you do not weep alone… 
Benazir, the winds of change that wiped your tears dry 
Now blew your father’s killers from the sky… 
Benazir… 
Benazir… 

FULL CIRCLE- REQUIEM FOR BENAZIR (WINDS OF CHANGE)

THEY SAY THERE’S AN ARROW
© Cyrus Dali Vesuvala

They say there’s an arrow
That seeks out the heart 
Of a man who profanes in the West-
We’ve been silent so long, 
But now, in guise of a song,
This man puts all of our patience to test…

And, if Tolerance is the name of the game,
Then, the end of your game is in sight;
What should be no surprise is:
If you make compromises,
You writers might as well tempt Righteous Might…	

For, the truth is, when some
Of the answers before,
Were not answers you wanted to hear,
You’ve pulled out your Bible
You have screamed  blood and libel!
(They’ve been silenced before, out of fear…)

Well, we do it too,
In the name of what’s true,
Silence dissent and the voice that sings of it-
You’ve gained from our war,
But now there’s losses in store:
There’s mud we too can sling on your prophets
And blood on your profits…

And, if Tolerance is the name of the game,
Then, the end of your game is in sight;
What should be no surprise is:
If you make compromises,
You writers might as well tempt Righteous Might…

They say there’s a narrow and dangerous path
That is tread by a man in the West…

THEY SAY THERE'S AN ARROW

TRIPLE-TWO-THREE-ONE-OH
© Cyrus Dali Vesuvala

 We take long walks quite regular, 
We sit around and chat- 
But, since you boys are dying to know, 
There ain’t nothing lovey-dovey 
You know, we’re really not like that! 
(But that girl is mighty good for my ego…) 

And then, that night for all confessions: 
I am- you are- the only one… 
Did you know “Blue Jeans” were tailor made for you? 
And, you seemed so sure 
When you said you loved me more 
And more and more than anyone before… 

The six-bump-bit, the shoulder-fit, 
A darkened auditor- 
Oh please, Cy, can’t we try once more? 
I was a mite embarrassed when 
You promptly kissed me there and then- 
(All the others found the movie quite a bore…) 

Oh, that night for all confessions: 
I am- you are- the only one… 
Did you know “Blue Jeans” were tailor made for you? 
And you seemed so sure 
When you said you loved me more 
And more and more than anyone before… 

Well, yes, maybe once you loved me 
You say now, but that was so long ago! 
You say you can’t remember each and every fall… 
So, by small and empty gestures 
You do try deny it all: 
Which is why I know it hurts, when you recall… 

Oh, that night for all confessions: 
I am- you are- the only one… 
Did you know “Blue Jeans” were tailor made for you? 
And, you seemed so sure 
When you said you loved me more 
And more and more than anyone before… 


TRIPLE-TWO-THREE-ONE-OH

FAREWELL TO JUNE, FAREWELL IN MARCH
© Cyrus Dali Vesuvala


The Colonel’s gone:
There’s an old lady all alone
And so forlorn;
Suddenly, with him not there
She’s past her prime:
Out of tune and out of breath
And out of time…


And her days drag on and on…
And her nights are, oh, so long...
She remembers days in 'Doon:
Stairwells and starch,
Farewells in March,
Farewell to June!
Farewell to June!
Farewell to June!


A lonely song:
She’d always said she would go first,
But now he’s gone
Leaving memories of days 
Of broken trust,
As her house turns to decay
And flesh to dust,


She talks to paintings in the hall…
She has no visitors at all…
The lucky ones go first, in uniform and starch,
Now, none too soon,
Farewell to June,
Farewell in March!
Farewell in March!
Farewell in March!

(Music)

She talks to paintings in the hall…
She has no visitors at all…
The lucky ones go first, in uniform and starch,
Now, none too soon,
Farewell to June,
Farewell in March!
Farewell in March!
Farewell in March!


FAREWELL TO JUNE, FAREWELL IN MARCH

So....

Covered a SECOND "R.E.M." song today: this one's called "Drive". 
That makes two very different REM songs recorded this weekend.... one more ballad-y ("Everybody Hurts") and this one, which is more .... driven rock.
Two completely different styles... and I enjoyed recording both.

This song too features only one guitar, my electro acoustic Taylor, morphed through my BOSS BR1200 Multitrack to sound like three quite different guitars: an acoustic rhythm, a bass guitar and a distortion guitar.

I had fun recording this!

Psyve


DRIVE (R.E.M. Cover)

A THOUSAND KISSES DEEP  
Leonard Cohen

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat.
You win a while, and then it's done 
Your little winning streak.
And summoned now….. to deal
With your invincible defeat,
You live your life as if it's real,
A thousand kisses deep.

I'm turning tricks, I'm getting fixed,
I'm back on boogie street.
You lose your grip, and then you slip
Into the masterpiece.
And maybe I had miles to drive,
And promises to keep:
You ditch it all to stay alive,
A thousand kisses deep.

And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A thousand kisses deep.

Confined to sex, we pressed against
The limits of the sea:
I saw there were no oceans left
For scavengers like me.
I made it to the forward deck.
I blessed our remnant fleet 
And then consented to be wrecked,
A thousand kisses deep.

I'm turning tricks, I'm getting fixed,
I'm back on boogie street.
I guess they won't exchange the gifts
That you were meant to keep.
 And quiet is the thought of you,
The file on you complete,
Except what we forgot to do,
A thousand kisses deep.

And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A thousand kisses deep.

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat.
You win a while, and then it's done 
Your little winning streak.
And summoned now….. to deal
With your invincible defeat,
You live it all as if it's real,
A thousand kisses deep.

A Thousand Kisses Deep ( Leonard Cohen Cover)

AND PITY, PITY…
© Cyrus Dali Vesuvala


I don’t need your fucking pity,
Haven't yet lost all my pride-
I don’t need your damned charity:
All I ever asked for was your time.

If my loving you makes you think you're stronger,
And has caused me to drop some, in your sight-
If you think you can keep me hanging on indefinitely longer-
Baby, you just haven't earned that right.

Whatever other rights you might have acquired,
Whatever other people you might think you own,
If you think you've got me strung and wired,
This might come as some surprise, but you don’t!

So you see, I don’t need to know your pity,
Nor your reason nor your rhyme,
I don’t need no one's charity,
And now, baby, I don’t even need your time…


AND PITY, PITY...

After owning my Yamaha Clavinova CVP 405 for over a year and a half, I decided yesterday it was time to try to figure out how to RECORD off it.  

This recording therefore, was not intended to be anything other than simply to test out the quality of output I was likely to get.  I wanted to also check out what the various instrument sounds on the keyboard, particularly those I like while PLAYING, sound like when they are recorded internally.  

The song I used for the test is Pink Floyd's "Us and Them" from their album "Dark Side of the Moon."  

In the process, I tried out the growl sax, then the flamenco guitar, then a piano sound, and lastly a trumpet as melodic instruments on the recording. Not all done appropriately, lots of bum notes, glitches etc, but again, this was just intended to be  a sound test. 

I also got to test out an editing facility inbuilt into my 4 year old BOSS (Roland) BR1200 multitrack: cutting and splicing a song midway thru. Again, not particularly well done: you will probably easily hear the “Splice” at around 4:15 in the recording but I was just learning HOW to do it.

Overall, though, I think the sound test came thru reasonably ok, and gives me confidence to record some of my own songs soon on the keyboard...

Hopefully soon…

-Psyve
19th Nov 2011



 


US AND THEM (Pink Floyd Cover).... sound check only...

Performed using only a Yamaha Clavinova CVP 405 keyboard: no guitar...

FADED BLUE JEANS (Instrumental Version - Nov 2011)

The song works around a bass run on a D-chord (D Major with a running bass line) but in order to suit my vocals I needed it to be played in A.

However because the bass line run is so much easier for me to deal with as a D chord formation I would normally have had to play this with a capo on 7th fret. That would have resulted in a tinny sound and the bass line would have been .... well, simply not bass enough.

So I decided to record this song using my baritone acoustic which is tuned 5 semitones lower than a standard tuned guitar. Now I was able to play this using the D chord shape while it was in actual fact in A scale.

Enough said about the technical reasons for which I chose to use the baritone acoustic for this recording.....

As regards the song itself, the original by Blind Faith is a fairly straight-forward 8/8 rock song but I decided to give it a little twist and tried a 6/8 blues for this rendition...

Unknown album (10-Mar-17 10:41:22 PM)

Cant Find My Way Home (Blind Faith Cover)

Cover of Chris Rea's "Road to Hell" 
performed and recorded at Manama on 23rd February 2018 
by Cyrus Dali Vesuvala ©
.
.

THE ROAD TO HELL
Chris Rea 
.
.
THE ROAD TO HELL (Part 1)
.
Stood still on a highway
I saw a woman
By the side of the road
With a face that I knew like my own
Reflected in my window
Well she walked up to my quarter light
And she bent down real slow
A fearful pressure paralysed me in my shadow

She said 'son what are you doing here
My fear for you has turned me in my grave'
I said 'mama I come to the valley of the rich
Myself to sell'
She said 'son this is the road to hell'

On your journey cross the wilderness
From the desert to the well
You have strayed upon the motorway to hell
.
.

THE ROAD TO HELL (Part 2)
.

Well I'm standing by the river
But the water doesn't flow
It boils with every poison you can think of

And I'm underneath the streetlight
But the light of joy I know
Scared beyond belief way down in the shadows

And the perverted fear of violence
Chokes the smile on every face
And common sense is ringing out the bell
This ain't no technological breakdown
Oh no, this is the road to hell

And all the roads jam up with credit
And there's nothing you can do
It's all just bits of paper flying away from you

Oh look out world, take a good look
What comes down here
You must learn this lesson fast and learn it well
This ain't no upwardly mobile freeway
Oh no, this is the road
This is the road
This is the road to hell

Unknown album (24-Feb-18 8:25:51 PM)

ROAD TO HELL (Chris Rea Cover)

I first heard Leonard Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat" around 45 years ago, as a 15(ish)-year-old just experiencing the joys of playing the guitar myself.  This was in Calcutta, and Famous Blue Raincoat  had been covered by a local singer songwriter at a local concert. I remember being entranced by the sheer intimacy  and deep sadness of this lyric.... and the last lines BLEW me away.

It would be a couple of  years before I would write my own first song and start off on my own singer songwriter path, which has been heavily  influenced by the work of Cohen, amongst others.

Here then  is my take on "Famous Blue Raincoat".

Recorded in Manama, 30th June 2018. 
.
.

FAMOUS BLUE RAINCOAT
Leonard Cohen


It's four in the morning, the end of December
I'm writing you now just to see if you're better
New York is cold, but I like where I'm living
There's music on Clinton Street all through the evening.

I hear that you're building your little house deep in the desert
You're living for nothing now, 
I hope you're keeping some kind of record.

Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?

Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You'd been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without Lilli Marlene

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobody's wife.

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see Jane's awake --
She sends her regards.

And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I'm glad you stood in my way.

If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.
Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear

Sincerely, 

L. Cohen

Famous Blue Raincoat (Leonard Cohen cover)

Found this 10 year old recording (from 2008) of a song written back in 1980, when I was a young 23 year old.

This is song # 45 in my songbook which means I'd written 45 songs between 1976 (when I wrote my first song) and 1980.

Roughly a song a month in those 4 years.

This one is different from most of my other work which tended to be a bit on the darker side.

By contrast, this particular song was just a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun... no offense was intended to anyone!

Certainly not to the fairer sex!

(Hopefully, a bunch of militant feminists will not put a bounty on my head for this one...)

:-)

Cyrus
10th August 2018
.
.

ONE BY ONE
© Cyrus Dali Vesuvala

Male chauvinist pigs roam the streets every day,
Think they can read us like books;
Oh, how we hate it when we hear them say:
You just need a fat worm on your hooks!

I have my own car, I can go where I wish,
I’m in complete control of my fate…
So, don’t let me hear you say ladies are fish,
And as fish, we must rise to the bait…

But, the lady is won,
Yes, the lady is won,
As ladies have always  been
Won by one,
By one, by one, by one, by one, by one
By one by one
As those ladies are always
Won by one, one by one
Won one by one 
One by one by one,
One by one,
Won!

Male chauvinist pigs are really so crass:
They hold doors open for us!
We really mind all this chauvinistic jazz,
(Though we do take your seat in a bus…)

A woman can do anything a man can,
My bonnet is really a fez!
We will never surrender to man,
Even though history says:

That the lady is won,
Yes, the lady is won,
As the ladies have always  been
Won by one,
By one, by one, by one, by one, by one
By one by one
Oh, those ladies are always
Won by one, one by one
Won one by one 
One by one by one,
One by one,
Won!

One By One

The Anatomy of a Collaboration 

This song is a collaboration with a talented young Dutch musician, Ferry Colje.
Ferry had the music for this one pretty much ready when he approached me to collaborate, but he wasn’t satisfied with the way his lyric seemed to be going.
He requested me to write the lyric for the song. 
I said I’d give it a shot, but wasn’t too sure how well  I’d  manage, as this was a completely new genre for me. That said, the challenge was interesting and I took it up.
The process started with me listening and re listening to the demo track several times over. At home, in my car on the way to office, etc, till I was comfortable with the music.
 Ferry’s own “start-up” lyric had a repetitive fragment of a line which went :  “Do you Know…” which was interesting, so I decided to try to keep and work with that.
Other than that one theme fragment though, I set about re writing the entire lyric from scratch.
Having the music fully ready, made the lyric writing that much easier an exercise for me, because mood and meter had both been set.
Ferry seemed to like my first stab at the lyric sent to him a week after I’d first listened to the music. 
There were nuances to the language of the lyric that he had questions about, but my answers satisfied him and put him at ease. 
Once he was comfortable that he understood the intent of the lyric, Ferry then sang the lead vocals and sent the mixed tracks with lead vocals and instrumental back to me over the Net.
I uploaded them on my Multitrack recorder and overlaid two new tracks of vocal harmonies and counter-harmonies and sent the mix back to Ferry. He seemed to like the harmonies but being the perfectionist he is, cajoled me into redoing those tracks a couple of times, till he was satisfied with the synchronization of how his and my vocals sounded together. 
Midway through this exercise, I was down with flu and fever and couldn’t sing for over a week. Ferry waited patiently till I was better, and could re do the vocal harmony tracks one last time. 
Then I got the idea of adding further backing vocal tracks to overlay over the instrumental interlude bits. I sent rough demos of those thru to Ferry. He seemed to like this idea too, so I laid down two alternative versions of those and sent them back to Ferry.  
Ferry then mixed all the tracks down to a master recording, which is what you hear now.
Thought some of you might like to know how the collaboration process works…:-) 

I hope you enjoy this collaboration as much as Ferry and I have enjoyed the process…

-Psyve
Manama, Bahrain June 2012

.
.
.
.

DO YOU KNOW?
© Ferry Colje and Cyrus Dali Vesuvala

Verse 1
Do you know.... what it’s like getting old?
Do you know....why it’s always so cold?
Do you know.....what it is you've been sold?
Will you show.... will you deal, will you fold?

Chorus
Now you understand, this is what was planned
You hardly lived, now you'll die
And if truth be told, you bought all they sold
Just to find it’s a lie...

Verse-2
Do you know.... there’s a new kid in town?
Do you know.... which way trouble's bound?
Do you know.... what's been goin' down?
Will you show.... all the new toys you've found?

Chorus

Bridge
And you wonder why you’re lonely
Why no one else sings your song
And you’re sure that it’s only
The World that’s got it all so wrong

Chorus x 2

Instrumental Outro
.
.
.

Music, Instruments  and Lead Vocals by Ferry Colje
Lyric, Backing Vocals, Vocal harmonies by Cyrus Dali Vesuvala


Do You Know? (A Collaboration with Ferry Colje)

This song is a collaboration with my son-in-law, Raman Sharma @huffinpuff.
I'd originally written this as a poem earlier in Dec 2019 (see below).
Raman wrote the music for this and played and recorded the whole thing using Ableton Live. 
I contributed the vocals, vocal harmonies and acoustic guitar bits on the recording.

-Cyrus Dali Vesuvala
Gurugram
29th Dec 2019
======================================================

Fog
© Cyrus Dali Vesuvala

A blurry landscape, grey and white
A nightmare I’ve long held at bay
The enveloping mist of night
To this foggy dawn has given way.

A banshee wind… no harmony
A demon’s call from out her lair
I look around and all I see
Is fog around me, everywhere

A biting chill and chilling news
A frightening darkness at midday
A red stain spreads ‘cross grey-white hues
Demigods with feet of clay…

Gurugram
19th December 2019

ALMOST "49": AN APOLOGY
© CYRUS DALI VESUVALA

You dropped them in their tracks,
Felled them as if with an axe,
Now I realize you did that without tryin'…
It was far, far too late
To save the fallen 48,
But I could stop becomin' "49" 
(Oh, I’d hate to be your number "49"…)

Saw them fallin’ to the floor,
Saw them comin'back for more,
Then I saw them come and stab you from behind-
Saw the hatred in their eyes,
But it made me realize
If I warned you, I’d be branded "49" !
(So the Man in the Moon turned blind…)

I never heard you weepin’
I never heard you cryin’
Lord knows I never guessed just how low you were flyin’
Now I see you’re hurt as bad as all those people they say you've had,
And I’d only hurt you more as "49"…
(And I couldn’t bear to be so unkind…)

Almost "49" ( An Apology) - [January 2020 version]

So, this is an experiment to see how "See Saw", which was written by me originally in 8/8 meter, might work in 6/8 meter.

You can hear the original 8/8 version elsewhere, on an earlier SoundCloud page.

Cyrus Vesuvala
Gurugram, India
02-02-2020

SEE-SAW
© Cyrus Dali Vesuvala

There been times in my life I've been so lonely,
There been times in my life I've been so down,
There been times in my life I've felt that only I'm around-
Electric Clown, run down…

There been people in my life who've made me happy,
There been people in my life who've made me glad,
There been people in my life just like my Mama and my Dad,
I'm so lucky to have had…

High, low, 
Up, down,
Afloat,
Aground…

See Saw (in 6 / 8 Meter, Feb 2020)

Have always loved Sting's songs and music.

This particular song by him is definitely one of my personal favourites, ever since I first heard it, around two decades ago.

For this cover version, I have experimented a bit by slowing the whole song down substantially and changing it from an 8/8 to a 6/8 meter... a sort of jazz-blues version....

Shape Of My Heart
(Original song by  Sting)

He deals the cards as a meditation
And those he plays never suspect
He doesn't play for the money he wins
He doesn't play for respect

He deals the cards to find the answer
The sacred geometry of chance
The hidden law of a probable outcome
The numbers lead a dance

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart

He may play the jack of diamonds
He may lay the queen of spades
He may conceal a king in his hand
While the memory of it fades

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart
That's not the shape
… of my heart

If I told her that I loved you
You'd maybe think there's something wrong
I'm not a man of too many faces
The mask I wear is one

But those who speak know nothing
And they find out to their cost
Like those who curse their luck in too many places
And those who fear have lost

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart
That's not the shape ……of my heart

Not the shape of my heart
That's not the shape of my heart

Shape Of My Heart (slowed-down cover of a song by Sting in 6/8 meter)

So, this one's a cover of one of my personal favourites of Don Maclean's.

For me, the lyrics of "The Grave"  have always been both, disturbing and very moving...

Cyrus Vesuvala
Gurugram, India
13th Feb 2020

THE GRAVE
Don McLean

The grave that they dug him had flowers
Gathered from the hillside in bright summer colors
And the brown earth bleached white
At the edge of his gravestone
He's gone

When the wars of our nation did beckon
A man, barely twenty, did answer the call
Proud of the trust
That he placed in our nation
He's gone

But eternity knows him
And it knows what we've done...

And the rain fell like pearls
On the leaves of the flowers
Leaving brown, muddy clay
Where the earth had been dry
And deep in the trench
He waited for hours
As he held to his rifle
And prayed not to die

But the silence of night
Was shattered by fire
As the guns and grenades
Blasted sharp through the air
One after another
His comrades were slaughtered
In the morgue of marines
Alone, standing there

He crouched ever lower
Ever lower, with fear
They can't let me die
They can't let me die here!
I'll cover myself
With the mud and the earth
I'll cover myself
I know I'm not brave!
The earth, the earth
The earth is my grave...

The grave that they dug him had flowers
Gathered from the hillside in bright summer colors
And the brown earth bleached white
At the edge of his gravestone...
He's gone

The Grave (Don Maclean cover)

This is a cover of a song from the Rock Opera  "Jesus Christ Superstar" (original music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice).  This particular song has always been one of my favourites from that Rock Opera.

Cyrus Vesuvala
Gurugram, 21st February 2020

PILATE'S DREAM
© music:  Andrew Lloyd Webber 
© lyrics:   Tim Rice.

I dreamt I met a Galilean
A most amazing man
He had that look you very rarely find
The haunting, hunted kind

I asked him to say what had happened
How it all began
I asked again; he never said a word
As if he hadn't heard

And next the room was full
Of wild and angry men
They seemed to hate this man
They fell on him and then
They disappeared again

Then I saw thousands of millions
Crying for this man
And then I heard them mentioning my name
And leaving me the blame

Pilate's Dream (Cover of song from "Jesus Christ Superstar" by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice)

This song is one of my personal favourites of Annie Lennox's .
This particular cover version was recorded  by me at home on 7th March 2020.

CYRUS DALI VESUVALA
Gurugram
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
WHY (Annie Lennox)
Cover version  by Cyrus Dali Vesuvala

….Why?

How many times 
Do I have to try to tell you
That I'm sorry 
For the things I've done

But when I start to try to tell you 
That's when you have to tell me
Hey... this kind of trouble's 
Only just begun

I tell myself too many times
Why don't you ever learn 
To keep your big mouth shut

That's why it hurts so bad to hear the words
That keep on falling from your mouth
Falling from your mouth
Falling from your mouth

Tell me why…… why

I may be mad I may be blind 
I may be viciously unkind
But I can still read 
What you're thinking

And I've heard is said too many times
That you'd be better off besides...
Why can't you see 
This boat is sinking… (this boat is sinking…)


Let's go down to the water's edge
And we can cast away those doubts
Some things are better left unsaid
But they still turn me inside out

Turning inside out… turning inside out

Tell me why?
Tell me why?

This is the book I never read
These are the words I never said
This is the path I'll never tread
These are the dreams I'll dream instead

This is the joy that's seldom spread
These are the tears...the tears we shed
This is the fear… this is the dread
These are the contents of my head

And these are the years that we have spent
And this is what they represent
And this is how I feel
Do you know how I feel?

'Cause i don't think you know how I feel…

I don't think you know what I feel
I don't think you know what I feel...

Why? (Annie Lennox Cover)

Kintsugi is the ancient and beautiful Japanese tradition of mending broken pottery using  gold or silver solder. 

When I first heard this song by Becky Thomas (Rebecca Milkwood)some years ago, I was completely blown away. The lyric and the overall atmosphere of that original recording were quite amazing.

Thought I'd record my own interpretation of that song today. …

CYRUS DALI VESUVALA
Gurugram
14th March 2020

KINTSUGI
Becky Thomas

You stood by the shoreline, feeling the undertow
I know you were smiling, thinking about where the currents go
You've been trying, you've been swimming against the flow
Seems like you're done fighting, seems like you're letting go

Funny how rope is a sentence when it's strung from the gallows
But it's a lifeline, a lifeline when you've drifted from the shallows

Well hold on, hold on and I will try to keep your head above the water
Hold on, hold on and I will keep you from going under, from going under

I've seen your fighting sprit, and I've seen you take it all on
Seen you crash into your limits, like a bird dashed against the rocks
Well precious things get broken sometimes, sometimes
But the scars that tell the story are the scars that you don't disguise

Funny how glass looks like diamonds when it shatters
Your heart, your heart looks like ribbons when it's in tatters

Hold on, hold on and I'll breathe life into you again
And your heart, your heart will fly like ribbons in the wind

And when the cracks in your soul are beginning to show
I will mend them with silver, I will mend them with gold

And when the cracks in your soul are beginning to show
I will mend them with silver, I will mend them with gold

And when the cracks in your soul are beginning to show
I will mend them with silver, I will mend them with gold

Kintsugi (Cover of song by Becky Thomas/ Rebecca Milkwood)

A singer-songwriter, with over four decades of songwriting experience, currently based in Gurugram, India 

Psyve

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