I have been hearing so much AI music lately on SoundCloud and these  thoughts have been percolating with me for a while and finally they coalesced into a song. (created without the use of AI).
***
Vocals & Back Up Vocals: Joe Stroffolino
Guitar Strumming Track:  Joe Stroffolino Taylor 114CE
Drums: EZ Drummer 3
Bass: PG Music Real track
Piano:  EZ Keys2 
Synth Bass: Logic Pro 
***
You got tired of struggling so hard to write a great original song
And then this amazing newfangled technology came along
Now you’re using AI to create music, and it’s a much easier process
And you’re convinced you found the ticket to achieving great success.
You tell yourself you’re a great artist because prompting takes a lot of skill
But deep down you know the AI did most of the work and you swallow the bitter pill
People complement you on your guitar playing and they tell you your voice sounds great
It makes you feel so good but you don’t ever set them straight
Those classic rockers used to write 10 or 12 good songs every couple of years
Now you’re posting two or three songs a day and hoping for a bunch of cheers
You’re rolling the musical dice, hoping you’ll come up with a catchy viral hit 
But there’s so much music flooding the internet that no one gives a shit
You tell yourself you’re a great artist because prompting takes a lot of skill
But deep down you know the AI did most of the work and you swallow the bitter pill
People complement you on your guitar playing and they tell you your voice sounds great, it makes you feel so good but you don’t ever set them straight
Some people believe we’re living in simulation and none of this is real
We’re just digital creations in a computer with the ability to feel
But even if that’s not the case, we’re quickly, heading to a place where no one’s going to be able to tell the difference.
You used strum your guitar, trying to capture lightning in a bottle and the songs that emerged came from you.
And now the songs you write with AI, what they’re saying, you don’t have a clue.
Music used to feel therapeutic, it was a window on your soul that you could share.
But now something feels missing because your songs no longer lay your heart bare.

Prompting Takes A Lot Of Skill

Goodness in you

Lyrics (Original Song) 
Verse 1
Come to the table with all your hard-earned fables 
And I will bring mine
But forgive me if I seem a little distracted
But there is something you can see that I just can’t 
Chorus
And the light is shining perfectly on you
You know the light is shining perfectly on you
Just like the greatest privilege that it will ever do
You know the light is shining perfectly on you
Verse 2
Though I am bathed in it nearly all of the time
I rarely see light when it shines 
But right now I know I will never forget 
this light as it shines on you 
Repeat Chorus


Shining Perfectly

This is a remix of a song I did with Jeff Roberts and Rekha-Iyern [Fe] a few years ago.  I'd always felt it could've used a better mix since I didn't know jack shit back then about mixing.

Was lucky enough the first time around to have the great Jeff Roberts on bass and this second time, my EZDrummer 2 hacking was replaced by the mighty K2 and the Three- Ken Karasek on the drums. So thanks again to both those guys.


Bass, synth, a little rhythm guitar and all the groove you can handle - Jeff Roberts
Vocals, Lyrics - Rekha-Iyern [Fe] )
Lead and rhythm guitar, talk box , synth, music composition, mix, production - TexMex Shaman
Drums - K2 and the Three - Ken


Lyrics - REKHA-IYERN [Fe]
Give it Up '25

Oo Yeah
Ahn Yeah
Hey Hey
Hey Hey

Give it up Baby
Don't ya say maybe
Cuz' you know
It makes me
Totally crazy
And

You want
To give me
All of your love
You know it's true
You do me so
You do me so good
Baby I need
Your love

Give it up, Baby
Never say maybe
Cuz' you know it
Makes me feel
Totally, crazy good-good
Oh, Yeah-Yeah

You know you want to
Give me, your love, love, love
It always, makes me feel
So good, good, good
You touch my woman

Oh, Eh
Hey, Hey
Hey-Hey
Hahn, Oh
Ho, Ho, Oh

Babe, I need
Your good love
Your man-man in my
Woman-hood
Oo-Oo-Yeah

Give it Up '25

Written, performed and recorded by Neli CoKo, 2025, all rights reserved. 
Thank you for listening :) 

Original vector graphic: "https://de.vecteezy.com/gratis-vektor/kopf-silhouette"

Synesthesia

My EP SUPERNOVA contains two Japanese songs, and this is one of them. I have never released a song in Japanese before, but I took the plunge and decided to release these. It's a song recorded in one take with my acoustic guitar and vocal. The tempo is middle tempo (I didn't use the metronome function so I don't know the BPM). 3m58s. The main genre is Folk. This is a gentle and slightly blue song. Link to major platforms : https://linkco.re/E2aRhZS6

Lyrics : (Alright)

悲しい湖を通り過ぎ
僕は明日へと辿り着く
もし僕が人生を捨てたなら
あなたは三度笑うでしょう

Let forever be
Let forever be
Let forever be
Let forever be
Let forever be
Let forever be
Let forever be

見知らぬ人に笑われて
僕は明日から戻るでしょう
僕の果てなき探究は
きっとあなたへと帰ってゆく

Let forever be
Let forever be
Let forever be
Let forever be
Let forever be
Let forever be
Let forever be

涙を見たくて
涙を流したくてOh
僕は僕は
きっと戻るね

悲しい湖を通り過ぎ
僕は明日へと辿り着く
もし僕が人生を捨てたなら
あなたは三度笑うでしょう

Let forever be
Let forever be
Let forever be
Let forever be
Let forever be
Let forever be
Let forever be

FOREVER BE

Open Your Heart

Photo from left to right: JJ, Josh, and Ken
Cast of characters:
The Beautiful Dark -- @thebeautifuldark -- Carl — Ovation guitar, lead vocals, lyrics, and compostion
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark –- VST Chinese gong and VST cello
J.J. Terrell– @j-j-terrell – light VST Latin percussion, synth, and piano
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken -- drums
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – Warwick fretless four-string bass, chant vocals at the end 
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen — ebow, production, mix, and mastering

 This song is the fourth Carl has written and composed with a member of Eclectic Collective in mind. This time JJ is being honored, and we all agree that he deserves it, too. Carl is a wonderful singer, songwriter, composer, and musician, and we're all grateful that he's joined our collective. 
  Here's what Carl had to say about it. "The music for this was a personal song written to myself which I never really released as I was trying to say goodbye to my own ego in the song. From that point of view I have always seen the piece as a great bit of personal therapy for me. None of the original lyrics survived and JJ gets painted by the new words .. But I thought it would be nice to reuse the composition for this. There was no big reason for it only when I decided to start a 60bpm song for JJ on piano .. I started playing Goodbye Ego and the rest is history..."
  We tackled this song like we would any other, though. Mark was first up on this, adding his VST magic in the form of a Chinese gong, as well as the cello you hear throughout. The subject of our adulation came next, with JJ adding not only his hot, yet minimal Latin percussion and essential piano, but moody synth, as well. Ken added his spicy drums after that, and once they were down, Josh jumped in with his four string fretless bass to complete the rhythm section. Josh also added the vocal chant at the end.
  All that was left was for Stephen to mix it all down for us, which he did in his always pro manner. But before he did, he also added some subtle, yet stirring ebow on his guitar. 
  As stated above, this is a continuation of our songs about us. Hope no one thinks it's arrogant. When Carl presents us with these little treasures, it's hard not to run with them, though. Always a ton of fun to make music together. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed creating it.
Original lyrics by The Beautiful Dark:

Praying hands
Whatever cause
Once our greater good not lost
Bored children create their fun
We shelve French horn for this fine one
"Nice one lads" We read it all!
Vacation taken
To JJ calls
Neighbour to good Mickey Moore
Find Michigan piano pure

JJ calls
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us

Down the road city of cars
To Howell front deck
Dad and Guitars
We jam that love then tell the world
Love and service human highway knurled
Good bi-product of happiness sought
With Croatian fun to cloud we court

Terrell Terminator in Jungle
Predator for good
Keys like Mr Bungle
Faith in more like we could
He Thanks you
It's lifestyle
Built from a porch
Good collective friend
Keep lighting that torch

Some moments sealed, marked and moulded
Pure intention
Dark blindfolded
Howl from human to Howell good soul
Keyed keystone as collective role

JJ calls
Darkness falls
Love lit up
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us
Love lit up
Just for us
JJ calls

JJ calls
Just for us

JJ Calls (Eclectic Collective)

Where are U?

A little bit of a different flavor of Texas Tea collaboration for me and Stephen, @texmex-shaman ... this is the first time I sent him something that had guitar from me already in it. If you listen carefully my guitar parts are the very simple repeated 4 measure loops that kind of stack up on top of each other, mostly background elements. Stephen added some crazy cool low end atmospherics as well as some distorted wailing guitars on the higher end and of course the awesome meandering lead part that ebbs and flows through this piece. I created the beat and all the synth elements.

After sending his parts back to me, Stephen mentioned it kinda gave him a David Lynch vibe. Turns out we are both huge fans of Twin Peaks and pretty much all of this great artist's work, so had to tip our hats to him, but maybe only other fans will catch the references in the title and cover art.

Listen to all our collabs on the Texas Tea playlist: https://soundcloud.com/texmex-shaman/sets/texas-tea-sea

Photo by Bdelisle at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15816231, edited for color and contrast by me.

Where are U?

takechee