A Key to All of the Mythologies

Plan F

You got something for me
And I like it, yeah I like it
It's got a platinum guarantee
Wanna try it, wanna buy it
It's worth more than it's weight in gold
But if I have to pay for it with my soul
I'm caught between a rock and a hard place
the devil and the deep blue sea
Guess there's not a lot in my case
Anyone can do for me
You could be my only hope
Be my path to salvation
Or set me on the road to damnation
I got something you want
Got to have it, got to grab it
Better get it before the getting's got
I could be your brand new habit
Do I hold on to what I've got
Or risk it all for God knows what
Caught between a rock and a hard place
The devil and the deep blue sea
There's not a lot in my case anyone can do for me
You could be my only hope
Be my path to salvation
Or set me on the road to damnation
Caught between a rock and a hard place
My demons and the ocean wide
It's not a choice I can take
I'll let you decide
You could be my only hope
Or my one true temptation
Or give me all the love in creation

Rock and a Hard Place

Between heaven and hell
There's a place where lost souls waste 
The stories they tell on anyone with time
Tolisten and learn
The lessons that made life too hard to bear
I'll take you there if you've a mind
To a world of romance, illusion and fantasy
I'll give you the chance to be who you want to be
Reality can beat to the rhythm of your restless heart
The Café Desolé's as good a place as anywhere to start
I believe in love
 I believe in anything that gets you from the rough
And takes you to the smooth
An angel's bliss, a demon's kiss
The granting of your darkest wish
What do you have to lose
From a heart full of doubt to a world of uncertainty
You can find a way out to the life that you long to lead
Your destiny is waiting a footstep or table away
Come on inside, step into the Café Desolé
The Café Desolé could be your final change to get away
But there's a price everyone has to pay

Café Desolé

A kind of humanist hymn, about recognising the little positives and pleasures in life and celebrating them. Written shortly after reading Richard Bach's Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, of which there are echoes in the lyric and theme. Out on general release 16.05.2025.

Fly like a bird on the wings of emotion forever
Stretching the world to its limits an infinite pleasure
For life is so beautiful
And love is so true
Cry like a child in the night for the darkness to wither
See with the eyes of the blind man whose sight is delivered
Time on our side
Hope in our eyes
We can endure
We can build we can cure
We can love for a while 
Forever or more
Treasure each moment
The memories in store for us
Moments in time and in space that the world cannot measure
Drink from the fountain of truth taste the eternal treasure
For life is so beautiful
And love is so true
That I'll take them to the full
And share them with you

Flatter to Deceive

Treasure

Buy on Bandcamp

Out on. digital release on Friday 27th September, Time and Time Again is a song reminiscent of the late mid 60s pop made by groups such as the Byrds and Gary Puckett and the Union Gap I (Young Girl would have been the first time I really noticed that 4/4 snare Motown beat). It was performed and recorded entirely by me (TGN) and written quite early on (no later than 1982, possibly  even 78-79). For a long time, I didn't rate the song (probably embarrassed by the unsophisticated lyrics), but I recently got round to recording it and really liked the feel, then the simplicity of the lyrics began to appeal to me. Could it be improved?. YES! a Rickenbacker 360/12 (preferably Ruby Red) would certainly come in handy.

I can't escape this feeling
Here it comes again
Sends me reeling 
Time and time again
I fall for your sweet love
You make me feel this hunger
Here it comes again
It's getting stronger
Time and time again
Oh I can't get enough
I know that I'm a fool
And I should learn my lesson
When you keep messing with my heart
It's like I'm back at school
and you're my favourite teacher
When I try to reach you, you let me down
I guess I should know better
Here you come again
What does it matter
Time and time again
I fall for your sweet love
And time and time and time and time again
And time and time and time and time again

Time and Time Again

Time And Time Again

Let the Games Begin

Let The Games Begin

Every day of my life I wake up wanting
I only want what I can't have
My sad excuse is a human nature
That makes it good to be bad
You got it all but you still want more
There's always something else to keep on wishing for
You hit the peak and you're still subdued
Well it all depends upon your attitude
Yeah it's your attitude
And every night there could be someone
Not out of reach who'll keep in touch
But you stay in your ivory tower
And say it doesn't matter much
She gives it all but you still want more
From someone that you never had before
Blame the time you can blame the  mood
Blame everything except your attitude
Can't be your attitude
You know it's easy to make it hard
To make something out of nothing
You try to please me well please yourself
You don't need my help you don't need nobody else
You're given money and you're given love
No matter what you got it's never quite enough
You got the whole world on your side
But you know you'll never be satisfied
Your sense of guilt and your sense of grace
Bids you welcome back to the human race
It's not the way it's run it's more the way it's viewed
And that all depends upon your attitude
You got an attitude

Please Yourself

Attitude

Attitude -maybees

You walk in and their hearts all miss a beat
Cos you're the girl that the whole world wants to meet
Heads turn when you walk by
hearts burn and you know why
They're eating out of your hand
They love you Marianne
When I met you you seemed like the ideal girl
And what wouldn't I do to get you into my world
Morning, noon and night
I wouldn't let you out off my sight
Obsessive as I am
It was you Marianne
Should have known that you'd break my heart in tow
Should have know there's be nothing I could do
Guess I should never have placed any faith in dreams
When nothing's what it seems
Whatever that means
Shout to the world that your secret's out
Like to tell them all what it's all about
Imagine the tears they'd cry
If they knew you were really a guy
But I don't give a damn
I love you Marianne
You're still my girl
Marianne



Marianne -maybees

A song written in 1985 about the woes of the world. Quite jolly, though, in its own way, I have always liked this one and have done my best to make the production sound polished.

So many lost souls wandering in this world
Falling from agony to ecstasy unable to defer
So many empty lives waiting to be filled
When every moment is eternity time is to be killed
And I can only take so much
Of living for myself and no-one else
So I reach out to touch
So many strangers trying to befriend
Fumbling in the dark to make a mark
To trust and to depend
So many children whose innocence is bruised
With a mortgaged pride they're pushed aside
Broken and abused
And I can only take so much
Of watching people reach into themselves
Unable to touch
You'd better turn away,
I'm sorry
You won't know what to say
You'd better turn away
Too late to realise
Don't worry
You'd better close your eyes
Only fools would be so wise

To Touch

A song about love, faith and authenticity.

Trouble on the rise
There's no way of knowing
How hard the wind is blowing
Till you step outside
Busking on the beat
Old familiar faces
Worn out shoes and laces
Left untied
Never knew anyone could love
The way that you do
Take a dream and live it till it's true
With a faith that cannot be denied
Bona fide
I've been fooled before
Put all my faith in fakers
Users and heartbreakers
I know the score
You kept me from the light
After sometimes always never
Held my heart and should together
You did alright
Don't need no provenance of authenticity
To show how real you are to me
You got forever on your side
Bona fide
Your song's in a key
That cuts through to me
What else can I do
To accompany you
But cry out to the stars above
Align illuminate the love
Reveal what's true
And oh so long overdue
I'll be at your side 
With every new tomorrow
Where you go I'll follow
Be my guide
Bona fide

The Butterfly Room

Bona Fide

An ode to the Sefton shoreline.

They're standing in the sea
Sentinels that guard the ebb and flow
Another place to be
Some other where to go
Anchored in the sand on land that's in retreat
Paddling with the waves lapping at your feet
The sun the sea and the sky
The cargo ships passing by
The ice-cream van on the parade
Look at the mess that we made
The pathways through the dunes 
That once lay out of reach
Surrender to the tide
On the rise above the beach

I planted my feet on dry land
Curled my toes into the sand
This is where I'll make my stand 
And here I'll stay
I turned round to face the sea
And the ocean said to me
You're standing where I want to be
You're in my way
I told the sea to go back
But it went on the attack

Wave on wave relentlessly
In came the ocean crashing down on me
Wave on wave of sea on sea
Bring the horizon home to me

So I sent the angels in 
To spread their wings and catch the wind
With some idea of ransoming Neptune's daughter
There was no wall too strong to break
No citadel too high to take
Leaving rubble in its wake treacherous water
I saw the sea through new eyes
When it said to me I will rise

Bleed the oil wells dry
Strip the coal seam bare
Ice turns into water even more of that sea there
To stretch out to the sun
Swallow up the shore
The scorched earth for what it's worth
Is sacred ground no more
Another time another place
See the lines of history etched upon that face

The sun the sea and the sky
The cargo ships passing by
The palm oil spill left decayed
Look at the mess, the mess we made
Staring at the sun facing sure defeat
Another day is done
Rinse and repeat

Rinse and Repeat

Rinse&Repeat Demo

All I Want for Christmas Is an Irish Passport 2024

The first song I ever wrote, dating back to very early September 1977. I had just turned sixteen, had started sixth form and it was a Thursday teatime very early in September, the first week back in school. I had a few chords by this point, but not many and it shows. The lyrics aren't up to much either. But there's something about this song, it's catchy and very Beatley. When punk was raging, I was hammering the Red and the Blue albums and I greatly preferred the Red. It shows.
It was performed by the band I was in at the time, which was called Feedback, at West Park music mights and some of the working mens clubs that we played in and it went down well, feeding my belief that I could write songs, so I did and although we are mainly a covers band, we soon moved on to performing other stuff that I had come up with, so it had a shelf life that expired by 1979.
This version was recorded in 2024, mixed and mastered in early 2025 and the process was quite a walk down memory lane. I thought about polishing up the lyrics a bit, but decided to leave it in its unvarnished naive glory. My Mum and Dad loved this song and, for all of its shortcomings, I do too.

You wouldn't believe me
When I told you didn't need me
How could I why should I feel this way
You never deceived me
When you told me you'd never leave me
How could it, why should it end today

Last night I cried 
And I've ben feeling down today
Something ain't right
Why should I feel this way
I don't know why
It's all gone wrong today
Even if you cry
What else can I say but goodbye
If love's good
Why do I feel bad
I understood in love
You should be glad

So now it must end love
I hope you'll still be my friend love
Although from now on we must be apart
I know you still love me
I hope you won't think worse of me
The last thing I wanted to do
Was break your heart

Last Night I Cried

Buy on Bandfcamp

Winterlude

A piece that tries to capture the mood of looking back wistfully and moving forward with trepidation and hope. Originally written between Christmas and New Year in 2023, developed more throughout 2024.

Ex Terra Lucem

Someday

Find safe harbour in a suite at the Plaza
Hang up 'Do Not Disturb'
Grab some zeds and just lay in bed
Binge-watching Home Alone and Curb
You don't need to enter the Rockerfeller Centre
To let the Christmas spirit reign
Or skate till late under the Empire State
And then tomorrow do it all again

We'll spend Christmas in New York
Don't need to leave the room
Taie a walk round Central Park
We got better things to do

Uptown, downtown 
Who needs to run around the local neighbourhood
Now need to go to a Broadway show
when the room service gets this good
East Side, West side
Save yourself the taxi ride and cold December chill
We can get much higher sitting by the fire
Running up this hotel bill

The bells of St Patricks's can chime
We'll be having the best time

Christmas in Garageland

Christmas in New York

Christmas In New York (2024)

Aurora Beach

80s Disco collaboration between Bentcousin and Terry Naylor

It's My Life  by Bentcousin & Terry Naylor

Instrumental track that was featured on the Freshnet Listening Post and gained airplay on BBC 6MUSIC as a result.
Out now on all digital platforms by CASAUBON

PLAN F

Plan F (2025)

Written in 1984, with Paul Young in mind as a performer, this has always been a favourite of mine, but a tough one to record a good version of. This is about the best (so far).

It doesn't have to be this way
That's what makes it so much worse
I've said all I have to say
There's nothing to reverse
But it ain't easy to be strong
When you believed that you were right 
And all the time you were wrong

If only I'd known before what I know now
I wouldn't have been so sure about the way it had to be
But now I see
If only

So I thought I knew freedom
Held it gift-wrapped in my hands
For everyone to understand
But I built my own prison
Though I've realised too late
Now there's no way to escape
I've burnt my bridges
Made up my mind
When I thought I could see everything
How could I have been so blind

Thought I'd got the picture
But I only saw a part
Now it's too late to contemplate
A sudden change of heart

If only, if only I could have seen
If only, if only I'd known what might have been

If Only

IF ONLY

In these hard times that we're going through
Tell me what it is that you're gonna do
Give in yourself to the shame and sorrow
Or party on like there's no tomorrow
I know this place we can stay all night
The music's good and the atmosphere's alright
I know this guy who's out of his mind
He can show you how to have a good time

Hey DJ you got me spinning in a trance
The records you play make me wanna sing and dance

Make me wanna sing make me wanna dance
Make me wanna lose myself in some wild romance
Make me wanna dance make me wanna sing
Make me wan lose control when you do your thing
You make me cry make melaugh out loud
Make me feel alone when I'm in the crowd
Lay me down low take me way up high
Make me wanna say hello and wave goodbye

Ain't no greater vibe or high
Than making music come alive

Hey DJ!

One of my 1970s songs with echoes of Laurel Canyon. The production and arrangement is my take on the sound of Jimmy Webb writing for Glen Campbell, David Gates or Bacharach and David covered by The Carpenters, that sweeping American orchestral sound, with the big vibe Gretsch. Most of it was written in '78-'79. I added the middle eight recently, when I realised that it had stuck around in my head, unbidden and unnurtured for over forty years. The song itself is probably influenced most by Donny Osmond, of whom I was a huge fan in the early '70s. To be specific, I think it's like something that could have been on his Alone Together or A Time for Us albums.

There's gonna be a sometime
When you're gonna need me
There's gonna be a sometime
When you want me there
There's gonna be a time sometime soon
When you need love to share
There's gonna be a sometime
When you care
Remember girl all of the times
I needed your loving
There never really seemed enough time
For us to find
I wonder what tomorrow brings
Now I won't look behind
Maybe tomorrow will be sometime
When you're mine
Why should yesterday hold so much sway
When tomorrow comes
Let's be the ones
Who don't delay
To find our way
There's gonna be a time
Sometime soon
When you need love to share
There's gonna be a sometime
When you care

There's Gonna Be a Sometime

Written mostly in the very early 80s, with a middle 8 recently thrown in, this song is very obviously influenced by the Two Tone label artists who broke through at that time. 

I heard you talking on the radio
Beneath the beat
The words you said went out the window
But the music brought me to my feet
Day by day
Step by step
Out on my way
I take a breath
We seem so free
But incomplete
Live all our lives
Beneath the beat
Couldn't tell you when it was
That music came to town
I only know that since that day
It's always been around
And never once let me down
And it's given me a constant stream
Of endorphins and dopamine
So sing it out
Loud and proud
There's no real need for you
To have to try to tell me
What it's all about

Endorphins and Dopamine

Beneath the Beat

Instrumental Version of Catch the Wind.
If you like this, you can find the full version (with lyrics and vox) on Soundcloud (lower down) and other digital platforms from 30.05.2025.

Cath the Wind

Catch the Wind Instrumental

Relaxing classical vibe. Lake District inspired. Out on most of the usual digital platforms on 23/03/2025.

Rydal

Trad countrified version of my arty rolecall song.

Blue is the night when you walk from my door
Golden the dawn you come back for more
Vermillion sunsets cerulean days
Indigo girls cut right through the haze
Of a thousand shades
Show me the colour of love's blinding light
Turning each skyscape into a starry night
Tone down the heartache
And build the intensity till everything glows
Vivid as La Vie en Rose
With brushstrokes from heaven above
Show me the colour of love
Tainted hearts frozen in time
Painted from memory in lemon and lime
Blue as midnight when you walk from my door
Golden the dawn, you want more?
Temeraire sunsets the Factory days
Vincents whole world with the night ablaze
Through that piercing gaze
Show me the colour of love
Let it bleed out from the canvas
The rain, steam and speed assaulting my senses
The pride and the passion, the glory and shame
Too much to hang in one frame
A crucified world from above
Show me the colour of love

THE COLOUR OF LOVE (acoustic)

Bit of a curiosity, this one. Rod Temperton as a writer is one of the all-time greats, his songs are uplifting and soulful, but have something of a haunting 'Nature Boy' feel. I thought I'd have a go at one and here is the result.

Rock With You (Cover of a Rod Temperton song made famous by Michael Jackson)

Two of us together
Watching waves break on the sand
Trying to find a reason why
Things never go was planned
In another universe it all works out
In another universe
There's nothing much to write about
That's because there's 2 of us
The way it is and always was
And ever will be the two of us together
Two of us together
Building castles in the clouds
Trying to materialise
A palace on the ground
In another universe where magic works
In another time and place
Everything falls into place
That's because there's two of us
The way it is and always was
And ever will be two of us together

The Night We Stormed the Bastille

Contribute

Two of us Together

The provenance is in your eyes
You slice the truth, you dice the lies
Then cut away
To a place you've never been before
You turn the key, walk through the door
And let fade to grey
I want real life to be alluring as your deepest, darkest fantasy
Your souls set free
Standing on the edge of believing
Open you eyes and scream
It's all a dream

I wanna feel the way you feel
When you hold on to something real
I want your love
And if it takes a thousand years 
To stem the flow of all thee tears
It might be enough
I want tonight to be enduring as a sonnet or a symphony
No tragedy
Like a film you see your whole life in 
High on a silver screen
It's all a  dream

I played  The Queen Is Dead inside my head
Time and time again
I'd live out Dogday Afternoon
If I could only change the end
You tell me you can see the difference between heaven and hell
How can you tell which angel fell

I caught a glimpse of what might be
And tried to change our destiny
What does it mean
It's all a dream

Monochrome Rainbows

It's All a Dream

Give

It's All A Dream

I was reading Othello when Elvis Costello
Found his way into my conscientiousness
I was a Cathoic boy with tastes to match
Nothing more and nothing less
Though Difford and Tilbrook’s songs all had some great hooks
Well London was another world
I needed attainable Gods
Cos I could never talk to girls
Lazy days filled with longing to be cool
And the kind of poetry you dont get to read in school

I was waiting for the Crucial Three
To coma along and rescue me
And if they could take one more
We could be the Crucial Four

I broke uo the school band and hung out in Kirklands 
In my Oxfam overcoat
Black polo neck with Ray-Bans
And Jean-Paul Sartre quotes
Too young for new wave and too old for new pop
I was stranded in between
Chasing monochrome rainbows
And clinging to to a dream
If Henry sees how many chords I’ve got
Maybe I could hook up with the Yachts

I was waiting for the Crucial Three
To lend me credibility
I might not have yet arrived
But I’ve come a long way since The Osmonds Live

The Bunnymen could have a couple of flops
Wah! could be banned from Top of the Pops
The Teardrops might not always be together
But I’m gonna love this scene forever

Waiting for the Crucial Three
To come along and rescue me
And if we could take one more
We could be the Crucial four
Waiting for the Crucial Three
To numb my sensibilities
And if I can kick the glue,
I could be semi-crucial too
I could be semi-crucial too
Waiting for the Crucial Three
Waiting for the Crucial Three

Monchrome Rainbows

Waiting for the Crucial Three

Paypal me

Waiting For The Crucial Three

Paypal Me

Zanzibar

Here comes the 21st Century
I hope it does for you all that it did for me
It put a beggar out on every street 
And a Corvette in my drive
I kinda feel like a movie star
Cruising down Sunset in that car
Though it's a boulevard of broken hearts
I feel like I've arrived
Radio Free America
Sending out a message to the world
We got everything that you need
Satisfaction guaranteed
Get on board this rollercoaster and take a ride with me
To the land of the free
You want a slice of democracy
Tune on in to this frequency
We got the hippest hypocrisy
And service with a smile
Welcome to the modern world
First you get the car and then you get the girl
You get to feel like you're the Duke of Earl
Well maybe for a while
Radio Free America
A broadcast invitation to the world
We got everything that you want
A fully armed response
Get on board this gravy train and groove along with me
To the land of the free
But don't you walk alone at night
Cos nobody's gonna hear you scream
In a nightmare that's the flipside to the dream
Know what I mean
Radio Free America
Still trying to throw its arms around the world
Money can buy you love
Or something close enough
Get on board that big white bird and fly across the sea
To the land of the free

Bandcamp

Radio Free America

Welcome to my Soundcloud Page. 
You will find songs in a singer-songwriterly vein by me, taking in a range of musical genres,  alt/indie rock songs recorded by The (Now Legendary) Maybees in the 1990s-early 2000s, some classical sounding music by The Lucem Symphonia, as well as banging EDM/electronic tunes by Casaubon and a few mixes of a collaboration with Bentcousin,. Unknown Unknown is another alias I have used for one release and Firenze Anemones is a new project. Most recently, I have collaborated with Massachusetts composer Betsy Breitborde on The Ghosts of Christmas Past.
Whether it's plainly a demo or a painstakingly mastered recording, I hope you enjoy what you hear. Please leave comments and don't be afraid to get in touch, I am always interested in getting feedback and connecting with other lovers of music. If you want to download anything, many of the finished recordings are available on Bandcamp and an increasing number are on all of the usual digital platforms. If you use other platforms, you can find music from me (and some others) there under the names:
Terry Naylor
Casaubon
The Lucem Symphonia
Firenze Anemones
Unknown Unknown
Bentcousin Terry
Atlantic Zipwire


Happy listening!

Terry Naylor

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