I love the looseness and free-flowing nature of this composition. Not afraid to pause as needed, let the energy ebb and flow. Great instrumentation and voice work as well!

Beautifuly composed, the Lyrics suit the music very well !

An original song lamenting excessive consumerism. Music and lyrics by me. Put together with the Reaper DAW and a variety of instruments for the music, with the vocals created using the Natalie voice in SynthesizerV Studio Pro.

--LYRICS--
VERSE 1
I’m always always on the go, no I never stop.
I never stop to think what I do it for.
Do, do, do, I always gotta do.
Like a kid in a candy store, I only want some more.
More than I need, I concede.
More than my fair share, but do I care?
So when desire calls, can’t be without.
Who knows what the future’s all about.

CHORUS 1
Two steps forward, one step back, 
Until I have a heart attack, that’s progress.
Two steps forward, one step back, 
See me drive that Cadillac, that’s progress.

VERSE 2
I never learned to stop, when to say when.
I always wanted to be High Society.
Free, free, free, nothing comes for free.
So I pay the price and I don’t think twice.
More than enough. (Too much stuff.)
Way beyond need. (Call it greed.)
So when wanting calls, gotta shut it out.
I need to learn to do without.

CHORUS  2
One step forward, two steps back, 
Until I have a heart attack, that’s progress.
One step forward, two steps back,
Makes me an insomniac, that’s progress?

INTERLUDE
(Too Much Stuff) What’s the point?
(Too Much Stuff) So many things.
(Too Much Stuff) More than I need.
(Too Much Stuff) Call it greed.

(Too Much Stuff) Still I want it.
(Too Much Stuff) Gotta have it all.
(Too Much Stuff) Makes me happy.
(Too Much Stuff) Or so they say.

(Too Much Stuff) It’s time to learn to say no.
(Too Much Stuff) Take my foot off the gas.
(Too Much Stuff) Shouldn’t be about getting there fast.
(Too Much Stuff) Can I make it last?

VERSE 3
So no more shop-'til-I-drop, that’s gotta stop. 
Why buy something new when I’ve already got two?
More, no more, I don’t need more.
Now I ask myself, what do I need it for?
Bigger is not always the way.
You can go faster, sure, but, why the race?
Smaller, slower, softer, words for today.
Go gentle on the Earth, we’re here to stay.

CHORUS  3
Small steps forward, small steps back.
Finding that I’m back on track, that’s progress.
Looking forward, thinking back. 
I still want that Cadillac. 
Oh well, that’s progress.

That's Progress

An original song about love. Put together with the Reaper DAW. Music and lyrics by me, with vocals using the Natalie voice with SynthesizerV Studio Pro.

LYRICS
-verse 1-
Like the wind and the rain,
Thoughts of you come again.
I thought it was love, That’s why I trusted you so.
Now, when you go, I don’t know.
I remember every word that we said, 
Now we’re silent instead.
But I know it was love.
Was it love? I don’t know.

-verse 2- 
Your eyes, they were brown,   
And your mood, always blue,
Like the sea, and the sky. You need be free, I always knew.
You look in my eyes, And tell me your lies aren’t meant to hurt me.   
In your arms I’m light as air, But when we kiss, you’re not there.
Please stay. Don’t go away. Won’t you say you’ll be true?

-verse 3-
Seems so cliche. I pursue, you refrain
So many stories told, False feelings unfold.  
With every promise made, I felt my heart betrayed and broken.
We both lie, in bed , Were lies all you said?
I don’t care now if you go, We both know I love you. 
Say it too!

(Interlude)

-verse 4-
Thoughts come of you,  Like the winds in the rain.
I lie in my bed  And the dreams come unbidden.
Looking back, was I blind?  Was it all in my mind?  
Could it be? Did I see what I wanted to see? You and me.    
But I know it was love. Was it love?

Sepiatone (Was it Love?)

An original song about seeing the world from a new point of view. Music and lyrics by me.  Put together with the Reaper DAW and a variety of instruments for the music, with the vocals created using the Natalie voice in SynthesizerV Studio Pro.

-lyrics-

Verse 1
Blue. Color me, blue.
Slowly. Hold me. Know me.
Only you can free me into the blue sky.
Far as eyes can see, far as clouds could be.
Let me climb up higher than the blue.
Higher ’til the world comes clear.

Chorus 1
I see you when you sleep or wake.
I reach into your hearts that break.

Verse 2
From this heaven, I see a world so grand, a world so small.
As I rise up, I pass over golden fields and lakes of blue.
Waiting ’til the world is new.

Verse 3
I watch you all down beneath,
As you use up the world, all I bequeath.
Oceans made foul, the forests laid bare.
Your endless desire leaves nothing to spare.

Chorus 2
I see you when you sleep or wake.
You pray to me your souls to take.

Verse 4
Oh, my children, I made this world for you.
(A world so grand, a world so small)
Then made you for the world.
Why do you not fit?
Should I cry? Or help, and see it through? 
Or wipe the slate clean and start anew.

Fly Over

All words and music by Rowland Newell.

Rowland Newell - guitar, programming, arrangement and production.

Produced in Logic Pro using Dreamtonics Synthesizer V Studio Pro  to craft the vocals - 

Thanks to the incredible voice of Emma Rowley AKA Solaria for bringing the voice in my head to life.

Lyrics

Now. Is Not. The. Time 
Not theirs. Or yours. Or mine. 

Now. Is Not. The. Time 
Tomorrow we’ll be fine.

Black dog
Full moon
Phone call
Home soon 

Blackout
School night
Glasshouse
Bombsite

Blind man
Dark room
Black cat
Cartoon

Head space 
Locked door
Sad face
Downpour

Dark clouds
Red Hot
Flower power
Forgot

Dryput 
Bonfire
Sundown

Black heart
Wet dream
False start 
Crime scene 

Hell raise
Unborn
Shoe gaze
Shit storm

© Rowland Newell 2024

Now. Is. Not. The. Time

All words and music by Rowland Newell.

Rowland Newell - guitar, programming, arrangement and production.

Produced in Logic Pro using Dreamtonics Synthesizer V Studio Pro  to craft the vocals - 

Nina Stigmata is a fictitious vocalist channelling the incredible voice of Emma Rowley AKA Solaria.

This is a reimagining of a song I wrote in 1994 for the band I was playing in called Collision Vibe

© Rowland Newell 1994

Daydream

All words and music by Rowland Newell.

Rowland Newell - guitar, programming, arrangement and production.

Produced in Logic Pro using Dreamtonics Synthesizer V Studio Pro  to craft the vocals - 

Nina Stigmata is a fictitious vocalist channelling the incredible voice of Emma Rowley AKA Solaria.

This is a reimagining of a song I wrote in 1994 for the band I was playing in called Collision Vibe

© Rowland Newell 1992

Feel This Way (Portobello '91)

All words and music by Rowland Newell.

Rowland Newell - guitar, programming, arrangement and production.

Produced in Logic Pro using Dreamtonics Synthesizer V Studio Pro  to craft the vocals - 

Nina Stigmata is a fictitious vocalist channelling the incredible voice of Emma Rowley AKA Solaria.

This is a reimagining of a song I wrote in 1994 for the band I was playing in called Collision Vibe

© Rowland Newell 1996

I Can Fly

All words and music by Rowland Newell.

Rowland Newell - guitar, programming, arrangement and production.

Produced in Logic Pro using Dreamtonics Synthesizer V Studio Pro  to craft the vocals - 

Thanks to the incredible voice of Emma Rowley AKA Solaria for bringing the voice in my head to life.

© Rowland Newell 1994

A Long Year

All words and music by Rowland Newell.

Rowland Newell - guitar, programming, arrangement and production.

Produced in Logic Pro using Dreamtonics Synthesizer V Studio Pro  to craft the vocals - 

Thanks to the incredible voice of Emma Rowley AKA Solaria for bringing the voice in my head to life.

Lyrics

nspiration 
Burning a hole in me 
Shining a light that I might see

Incantation 
Weaving a spell and rising up
Resonating on the breeze

Whatever the word is
I gotta call it something
Something that 
makes some sense to me

————————-

My Familiar
In the shadows watching me
I feel you presence to-night 

(Sleeping so long, you’ve been sleeping too long)

My soul’s companion 
One step behind me walking
Always close but out of sight 

(Dreaming too long, been dreaming so long)

Whatever your name is
I gotta call you something
You’re someone better than I

—————————

Over under backwards falling
Backwards falling over
Falling underneath your spell

Over under backwards falling
Backwards falling over
Falling underneath your spell

Over under backwards falling
Backwards falling over
Falling underneath your spell

——————————————-

My Familiar
I feel your presence tonight 
Like a ghost from the future

Time has no meaning
Life is an endless song
Drifting in and out of key

(Spent our lifetimes
We've spent our lifetimes)

Whenever the end comes
Whatever our destination 
It’s all been written for us

(Loved you so long, I have loved you so long)



© Rowland Newell 2024

My Familiar

Original misc and lyrics © Keith Parks, 2025
Music created with the Reaper DAW
Vocals created with Synthesizer V Studio Pro 
using the Natalie, Solaria and Kevin voices.

lyrics-

VERSE 1
Witness the dance of the  keepers of song.
With their laughter in the air,
From the hearth to the heavens.

CHORUS 1
The old ones speak in whispers low,
Of springtime blooms and winter snows,
With hands held high and voices strong,
We’ll sing the ancient songs.
Sing the ancient songs.

VERSE 2
In the glen where shadows play,
Beneath the moon's soft silver rays,
We gather ‘round in circles wide, 
To share the tales of years gone by.

CHORUS 2
The old ones speak in whispers low,
Of springtime blooms and winter snows,
With hands held high and voices strong,
We’ll sing the ancient songs.
Sing the ancient songs.

VERSE 3
With every step upon the ground,
The pulse of life, the heartbeat's sound,
In kinship bound, we sway and turn,
For in this flame the spirits burn.

VERSE 4
From fire's glow to river's flow,    
In each embrace, our faces show,
The love we hold, the bonds we make,
In every life, and every age.

VERSE 5
So raise your glass, let laughter ring,
As we remember each sacred thing,
Rituals flow

CHORUS 3
The old ones speak in whispers low,
Of springtime blooms and winter snows,
With hands held high and voices strong,
We’ll sing the ancient songs.
Sing the ancient songs.


Sing the Ancient Songs

Songwriter, lyricist, arranger, programmer + producer (and occasional guitarist)

All words and music written and crafted by Rowland Newell. 

Produced in Logic Pro with vocals created using Dreamtonics Synthesiser V and the beautiful voice of Emma Rowley (AKA Solaria)

“I stand exposed before the dawn
I can't dance I won’t perform 

The voice was in my head 
Should I fuck myself instead?”

My Familiar

Rowland Newell

Recent comments

Bill Larkin

Keith Parks

Related tracks