the.singles

Music & Lyrics by Ren Michael

Home-cooked roses 
candlelight 
a valentining croon
within the night, 
darkness entombed 
dawn, the distant moon

I dream of you
in Canyonlands
south to Death Valley
Durango down 
through New Mexico 
as I set out on the road

Oh, epic tales,
smooth as wine
spin Herculean rhymes
vagabonds 
vaunting light 
haunting bookstores late at night

words they come, and 
words, they go
oh Isis of the Nile  
as I approach 
may I but dare
to frame the diamonds in your hair?
to frame the diamonds in your hair...

From Mammoth Caves 
deep in Kentucky 
down to New Orleans
down in the swamp
we shout and stomp
on the banks of the Mississippi 

when you stand before
the window wide, 
out upon the avenue
picture me babe, 
know I’ll be there.  
Know I’m a-coming home to you
Know I'm coming home to you 

One is One
And One is All
And two, the ace of spades
What makes three but
You and me?
As four explores the sea?

See, Infinity 
is in your eyes
a lifetime in just one night,
that jasmine lifts in Los Angeles, 
as death greets me with your kiss.

First light 
upon the rising morn
a nation being born
babe we’ll allow it through, 
created anew,
When I come home to you

When I come home to you 

When I come home to you

When I come home to you

When I Come Home To You

Music and Lyrics by Ren Michael

As the trains they roll on by
Ignorant of that gleam in you eye
I thought I heard the whispering of the rain
I turn around and the same passerby, gray concrete remains

These tracks, these tunnels I might call home
Though somewhere I swear another light had shone
In a dream I remember visions so clear
In the steam, like a mist it blinks, yea briefly reappears.

I need you baby
Yea I long for you
I came for you, won't you meet me now.
There's a place for us and it's waiting beyond
The sun shall bring the morning but only you can bring me the dawn

Through these corridors I roam like a phantom found.
I'd become another stranger in smoke, in the crowd.
And though they all may come and go sometimes I swear I shall remain,
Until I see your train comin' my way.

What are you?  My dear, I cannot say.
Though I'd follow you at any time and in any way
And is that the general tune of your song,
As I stander here try to frame the nature of whose side your on?

Cause I need you baby
Yea I remember you
And you dance somewhere in these train station walls.
And though it's true that I can't see you at all
I stand so ready for you, each time darkness falls.


Stationhouse Blues (I Need You)

Music & Lyrics by Ren Michael

As I make my Noon descent
I hear my love's been packed and sent
I can't be seen with her, she says I'm a blasphemer
Though I try to be a good guy, she says every claim is a dirty lie
I'm stone-cold, she says I walk down a dark road
Oh Lord...

Well grab yourself a beer, my friend, and hear
I said grab yourself a beer, my friend, and hear
What I got burning in my head
The streets they gleam in red
I walk through the city steam
Like a bad dream
I've been deceived

I can't be seen
I can't be seen 
Stay away from me
Let me be
I can't be seen

Well look in my eyes tonight, these train tracks are mine
Well look in my eyes tonight, these train tracks are mine
'Neath the lights of the starlit sky, I'm in the dark
You may say it's a lie
Well the whole night is mine so pass around the wine

I got time, yea
I got time
Look in my eyes
I'm doing fine
I got time

Well I walk down a dark road, I'm looking for a rose
O'er European cobblestone centuries old
It's been a while since I seen it rain
Love's a drum of thunder and pain
Swore I'd be brave, dear Lord, now bring on your pouring rain

Then stay away
I ain't afraid
Your faith betrays, Oh
I ain't the same
Let it rain
Let it rain

I Can't Be Seen

Music & Lyrics by Ren Michael

As I listen to your wisdom and all the things you hold dear
I hear the persistence of your resistance and your fears
As you call me daughter, as you call me son
You’d do well to remember, friend, I’m not the only one.

We’ve heard your words, we’ve heard your demands
Looked long into your heart as we sought to understand
Now I hear the bell toll, I feel a million hearts pound
Take a seat, please, dear man. Listen to me now

You sing of the good times. What times were those?
Long before my time, but I recognize the eyes of Jim Crow
Deny it all day and say I’m opening wounds
As you continue the tune, play ol’ Jim’s fool

You say there’ll always be poor folk beside the sick and unnamed
Shaped by a their refusal to play by the rules of the game
One day they'll rise and defy all your wars
And you'll be the one who lives by the gun, as they inherit the world.

Well I seek the dream, the creed taught to you and me
For all the huddled masses yearning to breathe free
A place to call home without fences and walls
For all the tired and poor, and justice for all.

You say life’s a struggle, an era’s bygone
We need some law and order, there’s just one side to be on
Go on’ grab your raincoat man, I think I hear the thunder roll
But as ever, friend, you know I’ll catch you at the end of the road

Lamplights of Zion

a man with a guitar
wearing a suit and putting out pictures

talking films
from a cafe, secluded

in the shadows
over rainsoaked
streets in Vienna

where a violin 
is heard up the way
‘cross the river,
black and still
as night reigns
in the early 21st century

a new
_primordial dawn
fast approaching

on the move, songs capture the raw. main influences include cinema, the natural world and many sounds of the city. The songs are never done as each recording is a snapshot of life in constant motion.

for fun he walks (with his dogs) road trips and catches old tv shows, baseball games and comic books. 

POEM pieced together 25 August, 2022_

The idea 
for this SoundCloud 
soundstage is 
that of an open workshop 
where listeners 
will be able to listen 
to sounds 
images 
and concepts 
being worked on (shopped) 
and some of them 
may be finished 
while others may not 
but they are being born 
continuously and 
they can make of it whatever 
they choose, but 
may it haunt their houses pleasantly 
for the idea of creativity 
to me is that nothing 
is ever really done
but only constantly being made  
for the greatest thing about music 
is that it can’t be pinned down and is open 
to greater interpretation than the other forms 
and even lyrics written 
by the greatest lyricist 
can be altered and moved around 
to give it a more varied dynamic 

but anyway in talking about the occasional 
blood on the tracks 
I am getting slightly off track 

so what I really mean to say friends 
and newcomers alike 
is welcome 
we’ve got popcorn 
sandwiches 
beer, red wine 
and ice-cold water 
salud.

-

Your friend,
Ren Michael