Reflections of Mind (G. Di Nunno)

Stare down from these hills and then catch a breath
The tension past and present bind a knot
Ran the gauntlet out with these wounds as debt
While trying to hang on with all I've got.
Tired of all
Demands on time
Social cliques
Status lines
Reflections of mind.

My days grow short there's so much waste
That angst has bloomed with pending haste
In traffic stuck and always a line
All of this weighs on my flying time
So much to do
Surprise to learn
Lighting a fuse
Watch it all burn
Reflections of mind.

Signs with some pointing
Whom are you joining?
Money the new god
The public applauds!

Refuse to suffer
A tempting offer
I feel it open
Without suspension.

What's it all mean? I've passed the years
Lost in a fog that never clears
Oddest thing is I made it so hard
Hit re-set, and then fire the guard.

#3. Reflections Of Mind

Thoughts of Failure When Alone (G. Di Nunno)

A final call takes a bow
Stuffs complaints inside a box
With false romance ripped in two
Passed on through and left some signs.

Of when this life was going well
Can't think on what must change
All that arriving soon
First: to feel the worst of this
It's setbacks, fever tone
Thoughts of failure when alone.

Feel it all awhile
All this wracking doubt
Then lift-off once more
A strengthened return.

All these ramblings kick a dead horse
Gives an aura bitter blue
No one cares to hear the struggle
Off with dark shades--different view.

Had you listened, maybe offered
Open discourse all would end
Thus the tension, face revealing
Eyes withholding, moods descend.

Those hurdles gone the race is on
Until the next to do the best
With better ways the past decays
A small demand you understand...

All lyrics and music written and performed by Gino Di Nunno.
Copyright 2024.

#4. Thoughts Of Failure When Alone

PLAY A PART (G. Di Nunno)

All evidence to prove existence of happy days
They line the walls and rest on shelves, undisturbed like dust
No telling when the dark clouds came
When passing days would feel the same
Wondering when this stranger moved in, shaded eyes adjust.

And love still sticks around, degrees of a lesser form
A couple times per year, no highlights, no shooting stars
A critic from an armchair bites
This doormat sinks to lesser heights
Dinner served, the clothes are clean, with feelings stored in jars.

Pieces scattered and discarded
No way leads to where once started
The bottom of the box holds no surprise.
Hurled through space, quite lost once landed
Through the years and now can't stand it
The stagnant strains of boredom doth arise.

The answers to the question
Of what upsets the cart
Aren't easy as their hidden
As both still play a part.

Converse in shortened phrases, little to talk about
The TV does it all, always a nearby phone
The glimpse of lives lived on the screen
A sinking here, the cause unseen
Tomorrow's routine like the rest in this place called home.

Found the will to kick the habit
Skip the class and always have it
But isn't it nice to dream about?
One by one in order to list them
Make a note to shock the system
If never tried there won't be an easy way out.

The answers to the questions
Of what upset the cart
Aren't easy as their hidden
As both still play a part...

All music and lyrics written and performed by Gino Di Nunno
Copyright 2022.

#5. Play A Part

This Life Is Short (G. Di Nunno)

Wasting life and know the cost is steep
A slave to habits, sinking deep
Dust collected, dreams and plans were made
Forgot the spots they last were laid.

This life is short
Catch the solid blow
Throwing time away
Soon you come to know.
This life is short
Littered landscapes swell
What you can't get back
Drips inside a well.

Seems things are the same every day
The boring routine, all are alike
What would you do if you had your way?
Could you name them or apply them?

Sit in traffic on your way to work
Dinner, clean-up, television, sleep
Weekend catch-up, then the Sunday blues
Asking yourself is this all there is?

Spoken part:
Seneca said: "it's not that we have a short time to live,
but that we waste a lot of it."
Am I going through an existential crisis?
I feel I'm wasting time
Wasting
Life is so short
Only so much time
A crisis I must defeat
I want to go on.

Want to sit and watch the world unfold
And to do all those things that we used to do
Want to do much more before we're old
A different outlook, better view. 

This life is short
Grabbing all that's left
Sending off the stress
Clean the mental mess.
This life is short
Pull the joy from past
Place it on the now
Living all that's left.

All lyrics, composition, and performance by Gino Di Nunno
Copyright 2024.

#6. This Life Is Short

Rising For Air (G. Di Nunno)

It's now to throw aside and bleed
Out the poisons I've collected
That span that took more than gave
Open arms to leave rejected

All that pressure building
Attempts at fitting in
Followed scripts as written
Left stricken from the spin
That rise for air
Rising.

Remembered how you laughed me down
Once the aura lost its luster
And joined the band of lonely ghosts
Isolated, cold, to shudder.

Friends fled through the back door
As scissors cut the ties
Got the hand-down remnants
With footprints left by spies
That rise for air
Rising.

It all depended on a former vision
The effort given rewarded with tension
A lightened hatred as the months were flying
Became a new scene; tell me how that happened?

Where stares were hard
A lightened mood
Has entered here
And washed away.
What led to this
Is memory
To part and go
Not looking back.
Rising
Rise for air
Rising
Rise for air.

All lyrics and musical performance by Gino Di Nunno
Copyright 2024.

#8. Rise For Air

An Oasis Was All Mirage (G. Di Nunno)

The wisdom of dead writers whisper through the ages
Possessing these thoughts fired, strikes the latest rage
To wither a soft passing falls on deafened ears
A doorstep, the knock hollow, made routine by years
It feels that nothing makes any sense
Most everyone just walks about tense
With questions formed there's reason to ask
Discover what's there behind the mask
Gazing at stars in pitch-darkness. 

Damaged by the viewing while white-light blind
Missed the whole unveiling--they're not your kind
Sure and firm in belief so tough to sway
Might be a better road--it's not the way
Walk the line for fools.

All around there's change that
The doubts creep in to
Wander the unknown and
Not get taken in. 

Stomp the shadows; break the walls down
Parasites with shopping lists come around for tea
Can't be trusted, crush that problem
Ban them from the neighborhood, signs that nothing's free.

Peace be unto you
Live the golden rule
Seek the good in all
Love is all around
Give a helping hand
A smile from the heart
Always give your best
In all things be kind
Please say these are not lies.

The crumbs are laid, the promised gold
With open hands, the grand reward
The slogans raised; the myth is born
Becomes the truth all else ignored
An Oasis was all Mirage. 

"It's like it all just goes around and around and keeps on going.
It makes you wonder."

All lyrics and performance written and composed by Gino Di Nunno.
Copyright 2025.
The final quote above was taken from the John Williams novel, "Stoner (1965)".
Page 90.

#4.An Oasis Was All Mirage

Gino Di Nunno is a 66 year old guy from Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He can't sing, but since starting writing and recording his songs in 2016, he is improving. He is obsessed with Rock Progressivo Italiano, Orchestral music (Beethoven, Mahler, Shostakovich), Jethro Tull, Mercyful Fate/King Diamond, and Philosopy. Gino started playing guitar in 1976, but two years later he suffered a left-hand accident and lost 3 and 2/3 fingers (He also started dabbling with piano in 2016, though he doesn't consider himself adept he knows enough to make it sound good). He did not start playing again (as a left-hander) until 1980, and with very long practice sessions, he was able to start a band, taking the hard road by writing original material with his brothers and a few vocalists, where they played everything from Punk, Blues, and a mix of Progressive Rock and Metal.

The band of brothers decided to end their music pursuit in the early 90's to catch up with life. Gino decided to give music another try in the early 2000's and didn't start recording and releasing music until 2016, releasing versions of albums on Soundcloud where he had no idea what he was doing; however, each album saw improvement (yes...even his vocals) by learning through trial and error experimentation. 

Gino said the best advice he ever received was when a guy told him, "if you can't sing, make sure your lyrics are good so people will focus on them instead of your singing." Gino writes deep lyrics dealing with life struggles and predicaments, yet always with a bit of hope. He prefers to write small symphonies within a song, with lots of changes, added dynamics, and a breaking away from familiar forms and structures. He realizes he is not unique in breaking new ground, and that aging and long practice sessions has given him (at times) an aching right wrist which has taken away the speed he once had, and even with his spotty vocals his only request is that you dive deep into the songs because he insists something beautiful can be discovered.  (Antonella Gaspari)

New tracks tagged ##Prog, #Progressive Rock