Written from frustration with our singer, he's the 'absentee' mentioned in the first verse.
It could also be a lockdown anthem.
No vocals yet.

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Accept there are no guarantees
And never mind the absentees 
Knowing yourself being hard to please 
Stop trying to be the referee 
 
Prescribe a pill to help this patient
Reverse the pain of this castration 
Turn emptiness into fixation 
Focus and it could bring creation 
 
Get a grip of all this mayhem 
My heart tells me it's Carpe Diem 
Sit down and make some art 
Convert it into something sharp 
...
Quit wallowing and make a start...
 
Chorus
Calling out across the nation
Remedy this isolation
Let me hear the congregation
...  Stag Nation!
 
This is my frustration proclamation
Get me out of this sedation 
This morale deteriation
Gimme a punt up to a higher station 
 
Wander with the birds and bees
Look again at you’re A,B,Cs 
Swing from tree to ring to trapeze 
Your solemn One will become Twos & Threes 
 
Time to seize the day's frustration
Tune into your favourite station 
Turn this tension into creation 
Flip this stress into elation 
...
Just get us out of this stagnation
 
Chorus
Calling out across the nation
Remedy this isolation 
Let me hear the congregation 
...  Stag Nation! 
 
Bridge 
There’s a real need here for innovation 
Turn stagnation into a sensation 
Feed the mind with real hydration 
Get a groove for hip gyration! 
...
Ideas bound for migration 
...
My soul is ready for mutation. 
 
Bring souls together from every nation 
Make your head into a congregation
Conjure every affiliation 
Muster every single crustacean 
 
Find a subject for your damnation 
Before you know you've made it amazing 
Soon you will see their appreciation 
Music to your ears on the next citation
 
...  Stag Nation!

... Stag Nation! (liberate)

Gloriously breaking down...
I wrote this after I was made redundant, when feeling a bit lost.

The vocals are a bit more melodramatic than I was going for, but this is all we've got so I decided to upload it anyway. Plus I drew such a pretty picture it would be a shame not to. Accidental album cover!

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It's a strange time, I don't know what to think 
It's a cold world, it's swim or sink 
Take what's there, beggars can't be choosing
Open our minds, or we'll end up losing

Opportunities for the taking
One could be history in the making
To get there takes so much faking 
My world is shaking, and my head is aching 

Chorus:
Getting sick of paper and ink
Sitting here with too much to think
I need out of here, I'm on the brink
Reconnect the missing link 
It's swim or sink

Staying up late, 'cos why the hell not 
Just one more coin, in the arcade slot... 
Getting up later out of my pit
Maybe its time to find my grip.

These four walls are closing in 
I can't breathe I'm suffocating 
What’s this storm that I have been creating
I'm breaking down
(Joyously breaking down!)

Swim or Sink (paper & ink)

A poem I wrote for Sophie.
Composed and Recorded by Dave McPherson - All Rights Reserved.

Dave (frontman of InMe) recorded it just in time for me to gift to her on our wedding day, where Dave also performed live for us! Including our first dance to Morcheeba's "rome wasn't built in a day". Amazing.

-

There was something about you that night 
This is where I tell you it was love at first sight, and you'd be right. 
Another trend, a heart mends 
A letter sends to a friend of friends, as a life starts again 
You were the light at the end

I love your grace, I love your skin 
I love your face and your silly grin 
How I hold your hand, the way you understand 
You make me want to be a better man 

You like to talk, I like to listen 
I'll drive you mad with my indecision 
You'll put me right with precision 
Catching you was my best decision 

I hope you like the latest revision 
It's time to make a new beginning 

I love your grace, I love your skin 
I love your face and your silly grin 
How I hold your hand, the way you understand 
You make me want to be a better man 

...

I told you I love you, you said it back 
Who'd have thought we'd still be on track 
I'm blessed with this night, no looking back 
You mean the world to me, and I want to truly show you that.

My Best Decision (appreciate)

"Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty, what would life be?
Without a song or a dance, what are we?"

Sharks in the Loch