[Intro – soft bass drone, minimal guitar]
A barrier stands between me
And that which I am
Pushing and shoving me
Even though I want to reach out
It’s not a simple barrier to disguise
It tightens inside
Curdles my spirit
Sending sorrow through my body
[Build – subtle percussion enters]
A sinking feeling every time the barrier acts
You know it’s not real
It’s fear
Fear of nothing which actually exists
Just your mind’s lies
But real enough —
At least for oneself
To remove who I am
[Low, distant guitar swells]
Peering eyes that don’t exist
Critical words that have not been spoken
And probably never will
But enough of a mindset
Pushing and shoving you away
Even though I want to reach out
[Hook – whispered, layered vocals]
(Pushing and shoving me…)
(Even though I want to reach out…)
[Verse – steady groove builds]
A thousand stories roam in the head
Each one needs to be told
Created from blank sheets
But few will be shown
For the barrier impedes me
It stills me
Guides me away
Pushing and shoving me
Even though I want to reach out
[Bridge – rising intensity, drums build]
The barrier came once upon a time
But I do not know when
It froze me to a standstill
And never thawed
It’s coldness dulling the warmth in myself
Ridiculing every thought
Dismissing all I know
Pushing and shoving me
Even though I want to reach out
[Breakdown – bass only, heartbeat pulse]
The barrier bounced me
Making me run
Distant from where I wished to be
And with its push
And its shoves
Kept me from reaching out anymore
[Outro – sparse, slow fade]
But maybe one day
The cold will go
The fears will fade
And the peering eyes will close
And the push and the shoves
Will no longer be there
Though you know
The critics will never go
[End – single bass note fades into silence]

Running Away From Oneself

Don’t be fooled I’m no musician or singer, far from it I cannot sing since age of 12 since my voice broke and I had to leave the school choir. But I am a creative, and artist, better known for my drawings and illustrations than any other part of my art. 

However, my art is about communicating ideas, ideologies, thoughts, emotions and from drawing to installations, to sound I will delve through it and produce as I go. 

Word and sound have been two constants but never found a delivery vehicle through which I could reach a wider audience, particularly with my word art. I’m not into putting myself out and at the forefront, I am more the one at the back of the crowd. 

So delivery was always an issue. And then I found AI, not to create my art but to deliver. 
Original word art transformed into song tracks by having a voice and finding the right genres, styles, fusions of different styles and language.

Every piece is my original word art, for you that would translate to Lyrics, but it has a wider context for me. And AI assisted in creating the track.

So this is just one of my projects.

Importantly to me is bringing my word art into the public arena for once is a completion of successfully navigating past one of the biggest obstacles in my life. In school whilst I was not in the lower classes, yes tier systems suck, I was considered as someone who would fail English. If told enough times you will, so I did. It took a teacher I will never forget to pick me up and show me that others were wrong and he showed me I could do it. But the scars were always to stay. So language has always been my inferiority complex. Ironically my art took me to become a reporter although  always very much never believing my worth, and also hiding my written word art from the public, even the family. Things changed when at my later years I’m realising I have nothing to be ashamed of as I have achieved a lot and it’s time to take a plunge and let the words flow out into the public arena.

I have a voice, it speaks all day and like all my work I have stories to tell or wish to tell. Thoughts I wish to discuss, ideas I wish to have others debate, emotions I wish to describe, protests I wish to scream out, sounds I wish others to hear, whispers I want to send into the breeze, joy and play I wish to share.

As a follower of cybernetics art I believe I am just the delivery vehicle, original source, the prospect that others could use the sound and take it further is something which has not gone past me, hence this now becomes a collaborative work.

Sharing to make the art develop, grow, mature and spread wider than its original intent of putting words together to express something.

Maybe there are human singers out there who will use my words, or visualisers who will push the visuals further. All I ask is for the authorship of the original words and their composition to be respected and rewarded as deserved, respecting their origins. 

But take it on and take it forward if you wish and let me know where and how it’s gone so the connection and link is maintained.

On the simpler level I hope the words find an audience and provide something for someone, even if it’s just one person.

As I say I am not a singer or a musician just a creative doing his art. A whole lot of respect to those who have their own voices and talents in music, my words are mine and I use AI trying to find you with that talent to take my words on. Not out of disrespect. But Ai gives me a chance to reach out where I have not had a chance, and hopefully connect with others by offering my word art. 

You will find I’m one who stands behind the crowds, and I intend to stay there as that’s were I feel safe.

Running Away From Oneself

Stephen Ignacio