(Written by Terry Reeves, 23.6.21)
Terry Reeves:  Lead Vocals
Hans Albers:  All instruments, Arrangement & Production

image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blackbird_Silhouette_(150819537).jpeg

You might imagine that this song is very much influenced by Paul McCartney’s classic but although it certainly covers similar ground, the route via which it came to be has a genesis all it’s own.

Some months ago, Barbara Browning & Imre Lodbrog covered one of my songs, ‘Who’s Gonna Be My King’ (https://soundcloud.com/barbarabrowning/whos-gonna-be-my-king?si=e95c961d64c34c798ce64a06d2c3c767).  One of the many delights of hearing it was that, from their garden, you can clearly hear a blackbird singing, almost as if he or she were somehow joining in with them. I’d written the original as a lament to my late brother Bri and every element of Barbara & Imre's version resonated so deeply that it stuck in my mind for quite some time. 

In the early Summer, the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement was beginning to receive some rather  negative press reaction, something that was, to me, entirely and unforgivably misplaced.  Whenever I listened to B & I's version of ‘King', the feelings I still harboured about how unfair and undeserved Bri’s death had been somehow became intertwined with those I was having about the criticism the ‘BLM’ movement was receiving. 

So that was how this song came to be written.  I realise it’s just a cathartic exercise, one that isn’t going to change the world, merely being something I felt needed saying.  What I do know is that it’s a song that I love to sing because I mean every word.

It has been said so many times in these descriptions just how amazing a musician Hans Albers is and with this song he surpassed himself by producing four different versions from the demo I’d sent, all different and all completely wonderful.  Hans had written a tune called ‘Werewolf’ some years before which had a very similar chord structure and he  experimented to see if the two would fit together.  As things turned out, they were a perfect match, which is why we chose to post the version we have.  We hope you enjoy it.  (Terry Reeves)

A mirror image of many things seen before 
Reflecting faces behind slow closing doors
Asking questions to those who lived before
To those who lived before

Time to move forward and statues to ignore 
Duplications of fears hoping to leave all behind
No more chains, No more chains, No more chains 
To holdback opinions of kind 

I heard The Blackbird sing (x 4)

A birthplace of distance not to forget in mind
Born on one planet to help one planet rewind
Change of scenery distance and hopeful contrast 
The reality of truth in time can never be too fast 

No secret should be held of any slavery plan
Celebrating in marble supporting political scams
Family riches remain controlled in Buckingham 
No apologies given rejecting any honest exam

I hear The Blackbird sing (x 4)

What happens when clones repeat living past
Historical opinions keep a discriminating cast
Change of scenery distance and hopeful contrast 
The reality of truth in time can never be too fast

I hear The Blackbird sing (x 4)

BLACKBIRD SING (Feat. The Werewolf Orchestra) - CRIPPLE CLUB & HANS ALBERS

The loss. The lack . And the way dreams help facing the pain.
To my father 

You will not have 

It is true that time has passed
the wound slowly closed 
this scar close to my heart
that reminds me day after day 
how much the lack does not weaken 
how much love is still there 

these pieces of film in my memory
these old photos, in a drawer
a resemblance in the mirror
our beautiful years that pass without you 
will surely never leave
no room for oblivion or peace 

you will not have, so many things and so many moments 
you will not have, so many winters and so many springs 
you will not have, so many laughs and so many feelings
you will not have known the love of our children

it happens to me, sometimes in a dream 
to redo everything in my own way 
to flee from reality, just to say NO to it 
and in the sweetness of my sleep 
I gently cut the threads of time 
I walk close to you 
you see, I am ten years old 

you will not have, so many things and so many moments 
you will not have, so many winters and so many springs 
you won't have, so many laughs and so many feelings
you will not have known the love of our children

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Tu n'auras pas (translated lyrics )

Vincent is a piece that was inspired by my admiration for Vincent van Gogh.  
Imagine him walking in Arles. 
Composer: Pamela Illanes-Tatsuoka
Video made by: Pamela Illanes-Tatsuoka
Music directly from my Finale software!!
@2021Pamela Illanes-Tatsuoka.All Rights Reserved
I made a video for YouTube:
https://youtu.be/fvI6JI5JqNQ

Vincent

Here's another cool composition that @nic_nic_nic Nic sent over for me to color on.  Like Vast Fields and Torres Strait, it's got an understated moody kinda vibe to it.   This one really grew each time one of us would touch the project.  It's been fun to hear it evolve over the past month or so.  

It's a 12 minute plus commitment should you choose to make it, but hopefully you'll find it musically interesting throughout.  Nic likened it to a big Italian meal with lots of delicious side dishes.  I thought that was appropriate.  

So check out "Great is the Sun"  and if you like it, take a listen to Vast Fields and Torres Strait  Also don't miss "bow" - one of my tracks that Nic did vocals for. 
https://soundcloud.com/texmex-shaman/bow-collab-with-nic-and-tms 

Music: nic and TexMex Shaman

Lyrics: Robert Louis Stevensson

Great is the sun, and wide he goes
Through empty heaven without repose;
And in the blue and glowing days
More thick than rain he showers his rays.

Though closer still the blinds we pull
To keep the shady parlour cool,
Yet he will find a chink or two
To slip his golden fingers through.

The dusty attic spider-clad,
He, through the keyhole, maketh glad;
And through the broken edge of tiles,
Into the laddered hay-loft smiles.

Meantime his golden face around
He bares to all the garden ground,
And sheds a warm and glittering look
Among the ivy's inmost nook.

Above the hills, along the blue,
Round the bright air with footing true,
To please the child, to paint the rose,
The gardener of the World, he goes.

Great Is The Sun [NIC and the TEXMEX SHAMAN]

Happy New Year from The Welcome Parade!!

We hope 2022 will be the start of something quite exceptional for everyone.  I think we are all due a bit of a respite from the current state of affairs! 

Lyrics:
I'm moving slow and steady
wind your watch here comes the ready
looking so unsteady
I think you had enough already

Time is slowly finding time to leave you without time
now you've seen the time you've taken was you're own decline

1234

I'm moving slow and steady
wind your watch here comes the ready
looking so unsteady
I think you had enough already

4321


The Welcome Parade is proud to release our first two tracks of 2022

The Ready - This piece starts with our usual Skype call and some drinks, after a few rounds and a lack of focus that requires another call. The next call we dedicate to getting the music business accomplished before we drift off topic. First on the list to complete is "The Ready" a heavy piece that has a unique frenzy to it.  

Edges with a bit of fury and finesse,  Jay's tense vocal work pushes this beautifully in the punk direction.  Perhaps something you might encounter in a Tarantino movie...preferably one with Selma Hayek in it! Thom with his top shelf fret board dancing, creates a complex texture that keeps you on the edge of your seat.  Finally Jeff keeping the piece grounded with some pounding bass work! 

On a final note...this track gets me off the hook for a request made to me by Jay's bride!  To have Jay perform something as an Englishman!  Huzzah and mission accomplished! 

Not Today - See "Not Today"

I hope one day the world looks at us and says...we got to get these guys together!  If not I am just very happy to have a couple of friends with a musical connection that exists as something so natural, it is difficult to keep the components separate, to realize where one ends and another begins. 

You guys rock and I am so glad to have you as friends and musical companions...rock on mi amigos!

The Ready

The Ready (by The Welcome Parade)

We Don’t Talk Anymore

Sad when the summer came I sang to you
Sorrowful, somber, sable words
Buried the dreams you drempt inside of you
Ever alive and held on to

Straight into the eye of a powerful storm
Down electrical lines, keep me swaddled and warm
Winds whip through the trees, broad branches are broke
In the street there’s debris from an elderly oak
Men out on the sea being battered and tossed
Hear the captain’s decree, feeling hopelessly lost
Gave myself to the cause, sacrificed for a war
You use to write all the time, now we don’t talk anymore

Sad when the colors fade like joy we knew
Wittering blade and wilted limb
Wish it away this sleep we’ve fell into
Filtered, the sunlight seems so dim

Straight into the eye of a powerful storm
Down electrical lines, keep me swaddled and warm
Winds whip through the trees, broad branches are broke
In the street there’s debris from an elderly oak
Men out on the sea being battered and tossed
Hear the captain’s decree, feeling hopelessly lost
Gave myself to the cause, sacrificed for a war
You use to write all the time, now we don’t talk anymore

You use to write all the time
You use to write all the time
You use to write all the time
We don’t talk anymore

We don’t talk anymore
We don’t talk anymore
We don’t talk anymore
We don’t talk anymore

We Don't Talk Anymore

© Joe Liberty 2022. All right reserved.

DayByDay

This world we live in 
With all the good and the bad
The sane and the crazies
The happy and sad

What we all have in common
Like the nose on our face
Is we live day by day, day by day 
And watch the world go by

So be who you are
And not who you’re not
Cause if you are who you’re not
Well then you’re missing a lot
And try to be 
Each and every day
The best you can in every way

Well it’s not always easy
No it’s not always fair
As we live day by day, day by day 
And watch the world go by

Solo

Revelations explode into colourful fireworks
As our atoms mingle with the stars and the universe

The past is remembered 
The future untold
As we live day by day, day by day 
And watch the world go by

So be who you are
And not who you’re not
Cause if you are who you’re not
Well then you’re missing a lot
And try to be 
Each and every day
The best you can in every way

Well this world that we live in 
With all the good and the bad
The sane and the crazies
The happy and sad

What we all have in common
Like the nose on our face
Is we live day by day, day by day 
And watch the world go by
Yes we live day by day, day by day 
And watch the world go by

DayByDay

Written, played and recorded by Richard Gonfrier.

Delphine Portier:  Backing Vocals
Dirk Taubenheim:  Lead Vocals

A million thanks to my friend Richard Gonfrier for offering me this song to collaborate on. I really enjoyed it. Please check out his page https://soundcloud.com/richardgonfrier to find more exciting Indie music!

01.00 am  RICHARD GONFRIER  ft. The Gatsbys

Torn Between Dreams

ZAYEL - No Redemption

SubTonic - Summer night

Songwriter based in Chicago, Illinois.  Contact via email simplecircuitsmusic@yahoo.com or PM.  Thanks for your kind feedback!


We Don't Talk Anymore

Simple Circuits