BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Seeing what no-one ever witnessed
Going where no-one went before
Far from us to distant shores
Where sailing is a risky business

Reading the sea winds score
Reading the sea winds score

Raving, raving, undeterred
A hell-eyed pair of birds

Vocals: @BecHollcraft
Sax solo: @Dave-McKeown
Other instruments: Bas Kooman
Lyrics based on a poem by Ida Gerhardt
Translation, music and production: Bas Kooman
Master: Maria Triana
Cover picture: Dave McKeown
Cover Art: AnoArt

Birds of a feather

Spotify

Birds Of A Feather (ft. Bec Hollcraft & Dave McKeown)

Rodolfo https://soundcloud.com/rplanes first shared this beautiful piece with me 2 years ago, which has had a gradual development since I first wrote the lyrics back then. More recently Ce Mastro https://soundcloud.com/cemastro added some exciting backing vocals which transformed the chorus and then even more recently we invited Dave McKeown https://soundcloud.com/dave-mckeown to contribute some lovely sax that we believed was just what the song needed. Rodolfo's song has such a feeling of romantic innocence yet with a wonderful rhythmic flow, that I hoped the words might feel from a simpler time. We hope you all enjoy our song of innocence (and inexperience) which thankfully is a work of fiction. Thanks again to Rodolfo for sharing this magical piece and his great skills as well as Ce and Dave's unique gifts to make this one happen. 
We thank you all for taking the time to listen.

Rodolfo Planes - Music composition, instrumentation, arrangement, production and mix.
Ce Mastro - Backing vocals
Me - Lead vocals and lyrics
Dave McKeown - Sax solo and fills

https://continentalcollision.bandcamp.com/track/almost-lovers

Almost Lovers (by Rodolfo Planes / Mark Bennett)

Once we were almost lovers, without a care.
We weren’t like all the others, somehow we just didn’t dare.
We never faced the fact,
What we had wasn’t real,
Didn’t have to deal,
With the truth while we were putting on an act
We’d have to pay,
And quite how that would feel.

The moment when I discovered, not wanting to share,
You with any of the others, that I just couldn’t bear.
But when my back was turned,
You made out with a guy,
I thought was my friend.
Then I knew that my world had been overturned,
Put out to dry,
And what a way to end.

It’s not the way that I’d hoped this scene would play out,
Leaving the stage in the first act. 
It was cruel but at least I was left in no doubt.
C’est la vie, as a matter of fact.

Were never really lovers, just make believe.
Like sister and brother, with only ourselves to deceive.
I should have known right then,
I’d be out on my ear 
Instead of in love.
Waiting for the finale, not knowing when,
I’d disappear,
When the push comes to shove.

It’s not the way that I’d hoped this scene would play out,
Leaving the stage in the first act. 
It was cruel but at least I was left in no doubt.
C’est la vie, as a matter of fact.

Almost Lovers - Continental Collision (featuring Ce Mastro & Dave McKeown) Now Available on Bandcamp

HOMELESS
Only in my poems can I dwell.
No other shelter could I ever find
I never was the home loving kind
In a storm I had to bid my tent farewell

Only in my poems can I dwell
As long as I know for sure that in the wild
In woods and plains i can find this shelter
I don’t have any worries on my mind
 
It may take a while, but the time will come
When my former strength has failed before night
And in vain begs for soft words, with which
I once could build, and when the earth 
Must give me cover and I fall down on my knees
Where my grave bursts open dark and deep

Vocals: @BecHollcraft
Sax solo: @Dave-McKeown
Other instruments: Bas Kooman
Original poem in Dutch: J. Slauerhoff (1898-1936)
Translation, music and production: Bas Kooman
Master: Maria Triana
Cover picture: Fabien Monteil

Homeless

HOMELESS (ft. Bec Hollcraft & Dave McKeown)

ANIMA MUNDI
It is within us
It can’t remain without us
When you give it away
It will return and it will grow

Anima Anima Mundi
Anima Anima
Anima Anima Mundi
Anima Anima

It’s awareness
Pollution biggest rival
A breath of fresh air
The spirit for survival

Anima Anima Mundi
Anima Anima
Anima Anima Mundi
Anima Anima

Vocals: @BecHollcraft
Irish flutes: @Dave-McKeown
Other instruments: Bas Kooman
Lyrics, music and production: Bas Kooman (thanks to @hanjan for inspiration)
Master: Maria Triana
Cover made with DALL.E 2

Anima Mundi

ANIMA MUNDI (ft. Bec Hollcraft and Dave McKeown)

A Modern Pauper’s Funeral is a song about unnoticed loneliness and poverty. Many thanks to @BecHollcraft (vocals), @Dave-McKeown (clarinet) and Maria Triana (mastering).

Feel the draft through the window
See the torn rug on the floor
Pull the crooked curtain 
Smell the mold on the wall
Sitting at the table in this dim and musty place
You will search in vain for any hidden grace

You know the situation
You think you know for real
But you’ll never understand
Until you feel 
Forsaken
Forlorn

Stay warm in a blanket
Huddled on the couch
Sometimes there is breakfast
Always fear the truth will out
Hide unopened letters, throw away the bills
Pretend no one’s home when the doorbell rings

You know the situation
You think you know for real
But you’ll never understand
Until you feel 
Forsaken
Forlorn

Out in the street
A body’s been found
No sign of crime
Just silence around
Lonely as life
No love to recall
For a modern pauper’s funeral

Who knew the situation
Didn’t know for real
Didn’t understand
Didn’t feel

A Modern Pauper's Funeral

A Modern Paupers Funeral (ft. Bec Hollcraft & Dave McKeown)

Seb Mankoo is Bas Kooman (@bastiaan-kooman) writing and producing songs in English. 

A Modern Pauper's Funeral won the main prize in the HOFA Song Contest 2024 in the category 'Traditional' (folk/singer-songwriter). The jury called it an "eerily beautiful story with an outstanding vocal and guitar performance."

The bittersweet ‘What are we going to celebrate today’, was awarded the main prize in the HOFA Song Contest 2023 in the category 'Traditional' (folk/singer-songwriter).

Dear listener, Feel free to leave comments and I'll try to reply.

I've been making music for around 15 years now but because of the wonderfully generous community that is SC, I have learned so much in a short time. I look forward to learning even more by collaborating. 
I suppose my strengths are in lyric-writing and singing. I feel fortunate to have been able to work with some stunning compositions by some very talented SCers.

My very best to you, Mark

Some links to recent Continental Collision streaming sites, etc are available below:

New tracks tagged #Dave McKeown