An excercise in controlling the mind and i guess the universe too..
We are always in a hurry, creating ideas, making money, interactive media is all around us... a bombardement of information....
This piece 'forced' me to return to the basics, reflecting the deeper meaning of simplicity...
Composed & Played by www.StanLeonard.com
Free download

Inner Circle

Inspired by the short poem "Dust of Snow" by the American poet Robert Frost.

Dust of Snow

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.


A Dust of Snow

My latest composition with vocals, piano, bass, percussion, erhu and synths. 
Mastered by my lovely Sander. 😊❤️🎶❤️

Not A Moment Too Soon

Cover Art: Wilhelm Grimm (left) and Jacob Grimm (right), portrayed by Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann (1855) PD-US
Music and Lyrics Copyright 2025 Joe Stroffolino

Hansel and Gretel were abandoned by their parents in the forest all alone.
They stumbled across a delicious looking candy-coated home.  A cannibalistic witch captured them and put them in a cage. Those were the kind of stories they used to tell children at a young age.

The brothers Grim told stories that were a reflection of their time
There was disease famine and poverty and things were not going fine 
We had to sanitize the stories because our modern stomachs are weak
And you’ll get in trouble if you read a book to kids, and it makes them shriek

Three little pigs were in a brick house trying really hard to survive 
The big bad wolf came down the chimney, fell in a pot of water and was boiled alive.
Cinderella’s stepsisters wanted to marry the prince, but they couldn’t fit into her shoes so they chopped off their heels and toes because they had so much to lose 

The brothers Grim told stories that were a reflection of their time
There was disease famine and poverty, and things were not going fine 
Little Red Riding Hood in the bedroom with a wolf dressed in human clothes.
Wondering why her grandmother had sharp teeth and a snout instead of a nose. Jack climbed the beanstalk, there was a giant who wanted to grind up his bones and make some bread. He stole the magic harp and the hen that laid golden eggs and the giant ended up dead

There’s days when you want to take a sheet of tin foil and stick it in your baseball cap
To keep all those negative thoughts from getting in your head and making you a miserable chap
Did it all start when you were a child, and your mother read you that bed time story that perhaps in retrospect may have been a bit too dark and gory

The brothers Grim told stories that were a reflection of their time
There was disease famine and poverty and things were not going fine 
Now we environmental devastation, nuclear weapons and milk that might have bird flu
Just turn on the news you don’t need a fairy tale to put the fear of God in you
But if you take away all the parts that are dark, sick twisted and gory. 
Do you have anything left that actually resembles a good story.
***
Vocals and backing vocals -  Joe Stroffolino 
Guitars - Joe Stroffolino ( 2 Strumming tracks: Taylor 114ce and Fender Squire and I picking track:Taylor114ce)
Bass, Saxophone, Horns: PG Music Real tracks
Piano andi Strings: PG Music and Native Instruments
Drums: EZ drummer 3
Recorded, mixed and mastered with Logic Pro 11

The Brothers Grim

"Depth Over Ease" is a quiet rebellion against the temptation of simplicity.
This piece chooses introspection over decoration, silence over noise, emotion over polish.
Every phrase reaches inward, unfolding like a secret remembered rather than recited.
It's a piece for those who listen with their whole self — not for ease, but for resonance.

Close your eyes. Breathe with the tempo. Let it take you deeper than comfort.

Depth Over Ease Francesco Adornetto & Francess Harris

a little musical gift for my dear friend Francesco
@francescocartocci

la favola della buonanotte

Cover art: Publicity photo of American television host, Chuck Barris promoting the June 14, 1976 premiere of the NBC reality talent show The Gong Show.

The world can be an unpredictable dog eat dog kind of place full of all sorts of all sorts of people who can get under your skin
Sometimes you just have to smile and nod and keep your feelings to yourself and try your best just to just to take it on the chin
And there’s people who seem friendly, but they’ve got a knife in their hand behind their back
And they’re waiting for the right moment to attack
There used to be a TV show, where you could dance or sing a song
and if the judges didn’t like your performance, they would strike a gong
It sure would be nice if you could walk around with a mallet in your hand every day
And you had access to a gong you that you could strike and make annoying people go away
It sure would be nice to have that kind of power
Amateur performers of dubious talent, trying to win a small prize
Five hundred sixteen dollars and 32 cents, You could see the hunger in their eyes
Chuck Barris hosting on that Burbank stage, he knew the people competing were toast
But he smiled and tried to encourage them and be a good friendly host
The dinosaurs ruled the earth for millions of years until the asteroid struck
it was like a giant cosmic gong
Mammals arose from the rubble and now humans rule the earth, but we haven’t been around for nearly so long
We’re all just making it up as we go along hoping somebody doesn’t strike that gong
It sure would be nice if real life was more like that old Gong Show
And you could get a large gong attach it to wheels and take it wherever you go
You could follow in the footsteps of Chuck Barris and be your own gong show emcee
And whenever people start to annoy you -you could strike that gong and make them flee
He wrote a book called Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Chuck Barris was one of a kind.

The Gong Show

i’m already 
goin’ down
to the end of the story now
wind is blowing
to the end of the story now

come away   come away

time is bending 
drifting down
spin the hourglass all around
pulverize it
spin the hourglass all around

i’m comin’ after 
i’m comin’
i’m unembodied
i’m free

i’m already 
leaving town
train is rounding the mountain now
got my ticket
train is rounding the mountain now

come away   come away
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

image from Malcom Shadrach via Unsplash


Quietus

Lyrical wrote from my thoughts about the run up to the last general election. Thinking the last clowns made a complete hash of it and the next clowns will do exactly the same.
So who the bloody hell do I vote for. If I don’t vote then I can’t complain if I do vote I fear it will be the wrong choice. Someone told me if I write on the ballot paper none of the above then that still registers as a vote, so at least I tried. 
The idiom "pressure makes diamonds" suggests that adversity and challenges can lead to remarkable outcomes. It implies that difficult situations or intense pressure can bring out a person's best qualities, potential, and resilience, ultimately resulting in something valuable or brilliant, just as diamonds are formed under immense pressure. 
But these idiots under pressure only make dust !
So Conscience Of Kings gives you 
Pressure makes diamonds …..


V1
In plain sight I can see the  red flag’s flying 
So fire away again with compulsive lying 
As I’m high up  here in the middle England 
Rubbing doc leaves on for the stinging

Chorus 
Pressure makes diamonds 
And you just make dust
Pressure makes diamonds x3
Not something we can trust 

V2 
This country make’s stupid people famous 
Then tries to make out that they are somehow blameless 
I have no idea we’re I would put my stupid x 
They will be just as bad as the last I suspect

Break 

Middle8 
There’s a saying in Europe 
And You can look it up
It’s really quite unusual 
Something they don’t trust 

Chorus to finish

Pressure Makes Diamonds ~Conscience Of Kings

Hidden World III

The Vision

In collaboration with Francess Harris. She played the piano composition and I did the composition of the orchestral arrangement. Thank you for listening and enjoy. Any comment is appreciated always.

Collaboration Timothy McGuire / Francess Harris

Candlelight

Candlelight (feat. Fr. Harris)

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I tell my stories through my own composed (and improvised) instrumental guitar music, using a combination of acoustic guitars, sometimes supported by orchestral instruments. Some have described my music as meditative, relaxing, and introspective, with a touch of melancholia and a distinctly Spanish flair. Listen for yourself and let me know what stories my music tells you.
If you want to support my music, thank you | PayPal: stan@stanleonard.com
My music has a Creative Commons Licence, so you can use it for non-commercial purposes.

Inner Circle

Stan Leonard