Wow. I am beyond moved. Stunned, in fact. Thank you so much for this, and for letting that song in so deeply. I have been having some self-doubt lately, and you are really pointing the way forward. Thank you for your company in these parts, and in the very universe.

Well deserved Jonathan. For me your an  true inspiration as well! 👏🏻

Belong - Interlude

Here's a song and video that's a bit of a change of pace, a crazy gangster story song from my album "Unhinged" that I recorded back in 2019. A totally made up this rock song and it has a nice riff. This is NOT one of my love songs!😂 It follows these insane bank robbers with serious mental problems! I wanted to make like a little action movie for this song. I'm always trying to make my songs into little films!😁. 

VIDEO - https://youtu.be/o7xeuezg1oQ

    The video is new and took several days to finish since I had so many clips to edit together! I really tried to follow the song as close as I could and I even added a clip from an old Yosemite Sam cartoon of the 40's for comic relief!😂 I had a blast creating the video and I hope everyone enjoys it. It's a bit violent but most action films are! Take a peak if you dare! Thanks for listening and hopefully watching and take care!🙏😎✌🏼

“SWEATIN' BULLETS"

I'M DISTURBED, SLIGHTLY TOUCHED, 
MAYBE I THINK A BIT TOO MUCH,
ALWAYS RUN WHEN I SHOULD CRAWL,  
WHEN I'M PUSHED, I CHOKE AND STALL,       
I'M CRACKED, SOMEWHAT ASKEW,
ALL MY LINES A BIT OFF CUE, 
ALWAYS SMILE WHEN I SHOULD CRY, 
WANNA QUIT WHEN I SHOULD TRY,

I’M SWEATIN' BULLETS, SWEATIN' BULLETS,
DON’T SHOOT ME PLEASE, I’M ON MY KNEES,
BEGGING FOR SYMPATHY,  
I'M SWEATIN' BULLETS, SWEATIN' BULLETS,
IT AIN’T NO FUN, CRYIN’ INTO YOUR GUN,
NOW I’M SWEATIN' BULLETS AT YOUR FEET,
                  
I'M UNCLEAR, THOUGHTS OBSCURE,
WILL THEY EVER FIND ME A CURE, 
I STOP DEAD WHEN I SHOULD GO, GO, GO,
CAN'T SEEM TO OVERCOME THE FLOW,
DISTURBED, WHO'S TO SAY?
DOCTORS ALWAYS IN THE WAY,       
MEDICATION IN MY BRAIN, 
WHEN THE SUN COMES OUT, I WANNA RAIN!           
           
I’M SWEATIN' BULLETS, SWEATIN' BULLETS,
DON’T SHOOT ME PLEASE, I’M ON MY KNEES,
BEGGING FOR SYMPATHY,  
I'M SWEATIN' BULLETS, SWEATIN' BULLETS,
IT AIN’T NO FUN, CRYIN’ INTO YOUR GUN,
NOW I’M SWEATIN' BULLETS AT YOUR FEET,
                                          
BY JIM VALDES © 2019

"SWEATIN' BULLETS" (Video - https://youtu.be/o7xeuezg1oQ)

Breezing with the  Beat

He stands in twilight
at the gates of the new city's walls.
A strange dawn stirs on the blade of the meridian.
The last city smolders in the distance. 
His footprints in their soft dust craters
trail behind him 
and alongside are the drops of blood
that let astride him.
He hears the distant hounds.
A breeze lifts and covers his tracks

but through the gate
he peers, for now.
The city begins to awaken and come to life.
The bakers, the artists, the carpenters
and the elite, merge into one citizen
smiling on their paths.
He looks upon the road
leading to the private houses
and figures silhouetted above the sills.
Laughter from within their walls. 

The sunrise catches the apex
of a pearled pagan statue, where paths converge
and his eyes divert upon it. 
He stands until the sunlight reaches her eyes of the East.

Hecate waits, standing in stone, without faltering
in three-form. One face by light.
Two others by shadow. In each hand a torch
and the others hold a serpent, a key.
He is entranced by a momentary paralysis

and he imagines the future, unraveling to the North
past the mountains, overlooking the new city.
Her reflection in his dark eyes reverberates between them infinitely.
Sage burns. A hex lifts. The ghosts like petals drift.
The gravity of the morning moon, still in the sky, lifts the dew.
The blades of grass bend toward the celestial.
He begins to cry, and his eyes are then clear.

Two guards near, and begin to call out.
He returns down the path and takes a new fork
up into the overgrowth and throngs of thorns.
Up the mountain, he wades, unflinching and finds a clearing.

He sets up a camp between the cities.
Overlooking the distant landscapes
the smoldering old, and the glow of the new.
He speaks to the night phantoms, and coyotes
who dare not near
and the black fountain to him, speaks of method and form 
like wine. A moth flutters into the light and heat
to invoke a change. 
Geese pass overhead, a transition
at the threshold of season.
He watches the fire, the night long, and the hounds bay.

He douses the embers, for the ashes to fractal
meet root, and rise again.
Broken and delirious, he sees a vision
of the frog at the well
at the edge of the underworld, aflame.
It clings in silence, to the scales unfair.
Tempting darkness to near. 
He reaches out, with hand weak
and it dives, escaping wet into the cosmos below.

Sending ripples through the stars.
He looks down at his reflection until the water stills
and in that moment, his mirror splits to twin.
He looks up, but no one is yet there beside him.
A premonition. A last black hope.
The mountain grows cold.
He cries out as he awakens.

Words by Riley Robinson

I. Venus in Pisces

One of the many unforgettable Motown classics, this recording is a cover of the 1965 hit by The Supremes. Once again I took a live, somewhat flawed iPhone recording and simply added more vocals to better capture the soulful beauty of the song (written by Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland). I had conceived this interpretation of the song decades ago but this is the first time I recorded it.

Credit and my thanks go to Haracio30 (Pixabay) for the cover photo.

Stop In The Name Of Love

Stop in the Name of Love

like the sun has to go down, for the stars to shine tonight...

Ending of a Dream (demo)

This is for Jonathon Beckenstein

Check out Jonathan Beckenstein on #SoundCloud
https://on.soundcloud.com/VxsuopIW1F3q2uuBzD

I wrote the words listening to this song and Jonathon's first upload "Wait"
Listen to Wait by Jonathan Beckenstein on #SoundCloud
https://on.soundcloud.com/pMt4ZfEY39fpcB0m4k
A fabulous pensive piece

The poem was inspired by this song, "Quietus"
Listen to Quietus by Jonathan Beckenstein on #SoundCloud
https://on.soundcloud.com/f66wqQBtgn9qk9FiTJ

Jonathon is a fabulous writer and carver of music. My Grandad was a fabulous poet. In one of his poems he reflects on his writing about the desire to achieve economy of line in poetry and this is what truly makes it poetic, the skillful use of minimal words. Look no further then our friend Jonathon. Mr say Everything with very few words in songs.
A truly poetic and skillful songwriter 🫶🏽🔆



Friend in Reality

A weight from Wait
Good Tape to Tape
2012 clouds sound
Eve of my birthday mate
Give us that powerful prose
Best economy of line
In name, God has given you
Loads more time
More Gifts for us
Skimmed stone of truth
A rock like love
Singing forever youth

No imaginary friends
Friend in reality trends
Power from us to delay an end
Attraction of time please send

Old Tape to Tape
Good friends reminiss
Lift weight from weight
Let's keep this true Earth bliss
To termite time
Our relevance - 100 years
We need you more
Let's burn our fears
Many more rhymes
Mellifluous signs
June made mozart effect
More gift of God life line

Friend in Reality(A poem for Jonathon Beckenstein)

MidnightTwist

whole trombone plus just the mouthpiece at the end

Instrumental with intro inspired by Andreas Vollenweider's The White Winds / The White Boat. Picture - Pompey, October 2024 https://flic.kr/p/2r9G4Xt

Lavage

The first version of this in 2005 was a reaction to nationalism as exhibited via plane hijackings. This time the US border politics triggered a rewrite with a different chord structure and words. Just acoustic guitar and bass: back to basics!

INTERNATIONAL NATIONALITY 2025

I woke up to face the day Acapulco Hilton
I knew I had to catch a train to the USA
I should be excited but I know I’m not
I’m feeling all the fears that America’s got 

There are borders and a national guard
There are people who are living so hard
I think it’s time to make us all the same
An international nationality

Out of the xray beam to the border gate
Who’s got a false passport are they here today?
I’m looking around for a sweaty brow
Has the guard gotta grudge and a sacred cow?

Let’s get something underway
Take away the borders of today
I think it’s time to make us all the same
An international nationality

Free them . . . and you’ll be halfway human
The children . . . let them be in arms tomorrow

I’m looking out through the glass at the other’s world
Seeing them through the fence where they’re all being held
Who’s that getting up and walking around
Are we just gonna leave without making a sound?

International Nationality 2025

Dear Universe. Please stop all war on planet Earth and give all humans Peace now 🙏🏽

Thanks a centillion for ALL the support. I love you all for helping me in so many ways with what I've loved doing for 38 years, making music. This is a human made list of life dives. I'd happily explain any process to you if you wish or are wondering something about TBD. Just ask, I'm Carl and I love sharing what I've discovered and learned especially in the songs themselves. I see songs as one of the finest ways to learn something and bolt your truth to on any subject in a direct yet maybe less imposing manner as your singing it and making it mellifluous. It's hard to sing what you feel is a lie so in my view writing truly honest lyrics and making them songs can be a mini thesis for you on any subject.

No AI here...

Friend in Reality(A poem for Jonathon Beckenstein)

The Beautiful Dark

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