Lockdown

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COMUNQUE AMORE

Lovesong

Démodé

Chance Is Gone (Gatsby)

Where am I?
Who are these people?
Number crunchers
And life savers
Their common language
Could never be mine
But take my hat off
They sure can unwind
This Gatsby theme
This art deco signage
It so befits
As if someone planned it
 
I’m an island at a table
Nursing negronis
As they do the macarena

Chance is gone
Turns it only came once
The chance is gone
Chance is gone

All those years 
Since the starting gun
Startled me
And never re-run
It’s party time 
In the very same places
But now they wear 
Generation Z faces

I’m an island at this table
Feigning indifference
As she does the macarena

Chance is gone
All that you were working on
The chance is gone
The hope was wrong

Your beauty 
Does stir me
But it’s on a 
Charmed journey
Still deluded
Thus enchanted
Ungreeted 
By disaster

Well Gatsby’s wish
It never alighted
And like him
I believed in my green light

But we’re borne back into the past
Yes tonight I’m borne back into the past
Should I make my peace with it at last?

Chance is gone
Was always a million to one
The chance is gone
The dream is done

Past is strong
Dragging you back, on and on
The past is strong
It pulls us from
It pulls us from

Chance is gone
The dream is done
Chance is gone
And the end will come

Written, performed and produced by Oliver Shaw

Chance Is Gone (Gatsby) (Single Version)

Party's Over

The party’s over now
Over your shoulder now
And claiming that we could defy gravity
Was never a sensible policy

The morning after hurts
Feeling the bubble burst
To find we’ve been living beyond our means
To see we bought into a powerful dream
The party’s over now

And did you believe it would last forever now?
Did you believe we could stay in the air some how?
And do you believe that we’ve reached the bottom now
Or is it going to get worse?

The party’s over now
Of this there is no doubt
We don’t need to wait till the figures come in
You know by the pain what a mess we are in

We should have looked ahead
We could have hedged our bets
Well hindsight, they say, is a wonderful thing
But I disagree cos it carries a sting
The party’s over now

And did you believe it would last forever now?
Did you believe we could keep it together some how?

And the ones who brought us down
Are the ones we cling to now
We seek security
In those good memories
When they say stick with me
Ain’t that an irony?

And did we believe it would last forever now?
And do we agree that we’ve reached the bottom for now
Or is it going to get worse?

The party’s over now

Written, performed and produced by Oliver Shaw

Party's Over (Edit)

No Symmetry

I’m a man, believe it or not
I’m a man who knows what he wants
Though what I can get is another matter yet
I’m a fan of all that you’ve got
But I’ll start with what’s on the top
Our meeting of minds can begin another time

Cos we give lip-service to equality
But we’re in the service of biology
And your perfect surface is the calling of my genes
 
There’s no symmetry between you and me
In terms of what we wish, in terms of what we seek
And all this talk of oneness is just fantasy
There’s no symmetry between you and me
Regarding what we think, regarding what we feel
Before we take things forward we need clarity

I’m a man, believe it or not
Do a turn, you’ll get a response
Though whether you will is another matter still
Can’t escape my hateful desires
It’s the way my brain has been wired
And if I denied it I’d only be a liar

Well I know we’re working for equality
But I’m in the service of the throb I feel
When the mist descends you’re going to get objectified

There’s no symmetry between you and me
In terms of what we wish, in terms of what we seek
And all this talk of oneness is just fantasy
There’s no symmetry between you and me
Regarding what we think, regarding what we feel
Before there’s any progress we need honesty

I will share your hopes and your dreams
If you’ll share what lies in between
Yeah we could be great with a little give and taken

Our aims are never going to be agreed
But time has ironed out a kind of deal
You’ll get what you want if you give me what I need

There’s no symmetry between you and me
In terms of what we wish, in terms of what we seek
I’m sure I’m not the first to say this openly
There’s no symmetry between you and me
Regarding what we think, regarding what we feel
Before there’s any progress we need honesty


Written, performed and produced by Oliver Shaw

No Symmetry

Used To It

So everything has changed now
That our golden years are through
And strange events have shaken
The beliefs we all held to
We were lucky to bear witness
To the longest loudest boom
But you’re noticing the difference
Now we’re huddled in one room

All our brilliant minds
They fell asleep on the job
So they missed all the signs
What were we paying them for

Yeah I guess we kind of got used to it
But the good life’s gone for good
Now you’re gonna have to get used to it
Like you never guessed you would

There were people giving credit
Where credit wasn’t due
And the ones who end up paying
Are the likes of me and you
We can’t go through this adjustment
Without a small degree of pain
It’s like giving up a substance
That’s been rushing through our veins

Better tighten your belt
Put a stop to those sprees
It’s not about what you want now
It’s about what you need

Now you’re gonna have to get used to it
Cos the game has changed for good
Yeah you’re gonna have to get used to it
Like you never thought you could

All the glossy dreams in the magazines
They are fading on the page
And the shopping malls and designer stores
Will be relics of our age

Now the temperature is climbing
And the seas are rising too
Soon this pretty little island
Will be shrinking under you

You heard it said that a change
Is as good a rest
You’ll want to know what they meant now
As you look at this mess

Used to it
Now the weather’s changed for good
Yeah you’re gonna have to get used to it
Like you never dreamt you would

Written, performed and produced by Oliver Shaw

Used To It (Edit)

Must Try Harder

Written, performed and produced by Oliver Shaw

Must Try Harder

What's Your Poison?

What’s your poison?
What’s your substance?
What’s your pickup?
Where’s your comfort?

It’s no mystery to me
Why you use to console
With these tragedies you meet
Through no fault of your own

And the hit you get is fleeting
But it’s going to numb the pain
And the memory of it spurs you on
To work for it again

And you can check out any time
That’s your right and mine
You can check out any time
That’s your right and mine
The only meaning that you’ll find
Is in what’s keeping you behind
And for the lucky ones it’s love

What’s your poison?
What’s your substance?
What’s your downfall?
Where’s your comfort?

In a life you never asked for
But one you’ve meant to wear
Though it’s rarely less than hostile
And hardly ever fair

Now you’ve seen through all the teachings
That make sense of your despair
And no supernatural story
Makes it easier to bear

And you can check out any time
That’s your right and mine
You can check out any time
That’s your right and mine
The only meaning that you’ll find
Is in what’s keeping you behind
And for the lucky ones it’s love

When this world betrays our trust
We’ll take solace where we must
And though the law may come down hard
There’ll still be poison on demand
Poison on demand

You can’t always be expected
To fill up your heart with joy
And it’s no good to condemn
When you fill up on something more

Cos you can check out any time
That’s your right and mine
Yeah you can check out any time
That’s your right and mine
The only meaning that you’ll find
Is in what’s keeping you behind
And for the lucky ones its love
For the lucky ones it’s love
If you’re lucky once it’s love
Yeah you’re lucky once it’s love

Written, performed and produced by Oliver Shaw

What's Your Poison? (2008 Version)

📀 Dropping 1 song every other week from my alternative rock with hiphop/rap debut album, beginning with "LA"; out on all streaming platforms 31st of January 2025🎸

Worldview is the alias of Oliver Shaw, an Oxford UK-based songwriter, performer and producer mingling rock, pop, dance and folk with insightful lyrics and an overarching melodic sensibility. Oliver began playing in bands, including one with Coldplay’s bassist-to-be, then spent several years honing a one-man band approach in his home studio, writing, singing and playing everything in the manner of Stevie Wonder, early Prince or World Party. Oliver then adopted a new format mixing live instruments and PC as Worldview, playing dates in Oxford and London and releasing the album Our Condition in 2008; Oxfordshire Music Scene wrote: “Worldview's aptly titled 'Our Condition' takes a snapshot view of modern living, with its raw honest exploration of life today...It's a strong offering with music that combines the ballads of REM with the dance beats of Duran Duran". The album track 'Entitlement' was later featured in the major BBC drama The Driver starring David Morrissey, broadcast in autumn 2014. The recent financial crisis was the subject of 2009's single, 'Party’s Over' which featured on the diverse personal and political album Schoolboy Errors, released in February 2012. This and other album highlights were aired on radio shows and podcasts worldwide, and Oliver discussed the album and his musical path in the UK's Vents Magazine. Now largely a studio act, Worldview's 2014 album Pop Philosophy was a mature reflection on life, loss and mortality in melodic, guitar-led rock songs with elements of electro, folk and funk. In its album review Skope Magazine concluded: “Pop Philosophy takes the basics of pop music, the hooks, the delivery, the thoughtfulness, and perfects them”. 
After a six year hiatus Worldview returned with Young Eyes Burning Bright. The rock/pop album’s ten songs addressed twin, related themes: midlife regrets and lessons and mortality and bereavement. Musically an established love of the sounds and songwriting of the 1960s was augmented by a belated reconnection with his formative ‘80s and ‘90s influences. Music blog The Static Dive wrote: “From the opening percussive arpeggios, live drums and analog synth of ‘Under the Bonnet’ to the New Order vibes on tracks like ‘A Rothko And Your Face,’ he blends modern Indie with the classic sounds of the pioneers of Rock and Pop. More often than not, the Worldview sound mixes dramatically different styles to create something entirely new. From the melancholy Americana Alt-Pop of “It’s What Happens’ to the cool experimentation of ‘Certain Love,’ it’s a great listen.”
The new album Everything Is Temporary is a collection of songs exploring topics of loss, nostalgia, changed times, and the vagaries of success; the common thread being contingency and impermanence.  These eleven tracks are a melodic, eclectic mixture of rock, pop and folk, incorporating everything from Moogs to musical boxes, Telecasters to Theremins, vocoders to violins, and ukuleles to uilleann pipes. Everything Is Temporary is released on digital platforms on 17th January 2025.

New tracks tagged #Rock/pop