Demo of a possible instrumental.  Tried vocals, wasn't happening.  DADGAD tuning.

You're So (demo)

Original version of an idea I've worked up elsewhere ("A Moment Electric").  This take lends itself to an instrumental treatment.  Standard tuning, capo 5 in G.

Elinor (demo)

My Love in Blue

Unfinished instrumental.  In DGDGBD (capo 1?)

Elven Summer (demo)

Opening track from "The Magical Adventures of Down" (2011):

I like you in the morning
In the half-light, in the haze
Underneath the halo
Of your La La Land daze

I like you when you're blinking
And rubbing your eyes
The daughter of the Sandman
A new day surprise

Maybe come the shadows
Maybe the shine
Wherever and whatever
Will you be mine?

Forget about the bygones
The recollections, the woe
Mercy is a blanket
Fallen like the snow

I love you in the face of
All that may come
Take a trip, make a journey
To La La Land run

La La Land

Swirling in the sun
Did you dream the starling again?
The many and the one
Soaring like a starling again
You hear the haunting sound, look around
Will you be the starling again?

Join the chorus, sing along
That murmuration song

You hear the cries
And you are a starling again
Ride the rhythm of the skies
Will you dance the starling again?

In a chorus, a symphony
A canticle

Oh I don't know why
You are so shy today
You don't know when
It will come again your way

The isolation fades
And you are a starling again
Down the desolation days
Fly like a starling again
The madness, the rage, turn the page
Oh you are a starling again

Join the chorus, sing along
That murmuration song

I don't know why
You try to hide away
Who can say when
It may come again your way?
Look to the skies
Starlings will rise today

Starlings

Unnamed recent idea. Add vocals? Keep it instrumental? Not sure where to go with this one.

Song with No Name

Song from my most recent release, "In the Half Light We Begin," which was written and recorded over two months late last year; a stripped-down, guitar and voice project intended primarily as a Christmas gift for friends, family and regular listeners:

In the mean time I am waiting
Through the winter without you
On this thin ice I am skating
Am I falling through?

In the desert I am crawling
In the mean time without you
Is this penance, is it stalling?
Don't be cruel, don't be cruel
I miss you

In the mean time I am fading
Won't you tell me what to do?
A single word persuading
And I'll wade through
A world of blue
And the waning moon

I know who you are
Yes I know what you are
And I know you won't go too far
In the mean time

Now in your mean time I'll be waiting
In these long days without you
Pray your rainclouds will be breaking
'Cause I miss you
You know I do
I need you

In The Mean Time

Opening instrumental from my first album, "Wake of the Moon."  Among my favorite tracks ever.  The way the haunting quality inherent in the guitar was tapped and augmented by the cello and e-bowed electric guitar--so sweet.  Thanks across the decades to cellist, Kris Delmhorst and guitarist, Biff Moyer.

Talisman

Two tracks from the "Wake of the Moon" album (2000).  I've always regarded these two as single piece and really like how they flow and complement one another.  Both were recorded on a 4-track cassette machine in the late 90's (with Vigil getting a few later additions on an 8-track).  Lo-fi!

Vigil / Wake of the Moon

Guitar-only demo of a new one, vocals to follow soon!

In Dreams Absurd (guitar demo)

Another "guitar demo"--that is, a song that I haven't finished lyrics and vocals for yet, but works ok as an instrumental.

She is Only Disappearing

Yet another guitar piece that is waiting for vocals!

The Forgotten Garden

Pre-vocal demo, updated with extra acoustic and "puff organ" bass.

Some Song (demo)

Updated demo, still no vocals, but they're next.

Some Song (update)

Not digging my first stab at vocals/lyrics on this tune, so here's a full instrumental mix for now.

Some Song (instrumental mix)

Recent demo updated with vocals and a few other elements:

Oh father, it's so far, feels so far away
Was it only yesterday
I set out on my own?
Alone, on my own

Father I have been laid so low
And I see no, nowhere to go
And I don’t know how to atone
No way home, no way home

Oh father so far

Father all the colors, they are fading
The world has lost its glow
And every dark cloud, raining
Not my home, not my home

Oh father so far
Oh tell me how, how far?

Oh father the night is still but I can barely hear
Is there something drawing near?
A rhythm soft and low?
Bring me home, bring me home

Oh father so far
Tell me how, how far?
Oh father so far
I wonder how, how far?
Tell me, how far?

How Far?

Updated mix:

Now we dance among the silhouettes
The hollow men, all the counterfeits
And we trip through the shadowlands
Under spectral lights, over shifting sands
Well maybe love, we have wandered too far afield

And we swing in a puppet show
Mute marionettes bouncing to and fro
I'm telling you it's time to fly, time to go

On the silver screen, all the burnished stars
Just empty souls with their avatars
Flailing 'round like poltergeists, that's all they are

So forget all we've learned
All the lies we have heard
And wake from these visions blurred in dreams absurd

In Dreams Absurd

"Some Song" was the tongue-in-cheek" placeholder title for this tune.  I worked up vocals and lyrics in a version called "How Far?"; but the phrase "some song" stuck, so here is an alternate lyrical take based on that theme:

Lover in the dark
In the cavern of the night
There's an echo of the light
A rhythm that goes on
Got me thinking of some song

Oh lover we have been laid so low
Same old story, yes I know
We tried to be strong
Maybe we should put it in some song

Oh darling, in some song

When all the colors, oh they are fading
When everything seems wrong
And every gray cloud, raining
Let's put it in some song

Oh lover come on
Oh darling, let's put it in a song

Oh lover the night is still
But I can barely hear
Is there something drawing near?
The heartbeat of the dawn?
Reminds me of some song

Oh lover come on
Darling, can you hear it in a song?
Oh lover, now come on
Yes darling, let's put it in a song
Yes put it in some song

Some Song (again)

Updated track from last year:

Here I am in your night sky, I'm trying to embrace it
There I go like a firefly, now I'm trying to outrace it
This is my laudanum lullaby, and I will erase it
Sweet Novocain into my brain

Fly, fly, don't cry, moon eye
Fly, fly, goodbye, moon eye

Wicked world clawing slowly, I try, I cannot face it
Your moon eye, high and holy, now I don't know how to trace it
I am tall, I am lowly, now how can you grace it?
My Lorelei, my alibi

Fly, fly, don't cry, moon eye
Fly, fly, goodbye, moon eye
Fly, fly, don't cry, moon eye
Fly, fly, so high, moon eye
Fly, fly, do not cry, moon eye
Fly, fly, goodbye, moon eye
Fly, fly, so high, moon eye

Image by Tim Lang

Moon Eye

Updated demo:

When the walls are closing in on you
When the night swallows up the blue
Just call for me, and I will fly to you
With bells on

When the tide is rushing out again
When it turns or if it ends
I will be waiting, just around the bend
With bells on

And oh you know, I can see the clouds
The hazy roads, the stumbling all around
But where, oh where, wherever you are now
I, I will be there

And when the last ember fades away
When you shudder at the break of day
I will be near, and I will stay
With bells on

And oh how long? (no one knows how long)
The endless wait, as time drags on
Wherever you may roam, let me tag along
With bells on

A thousand days feeling all alone
And all the hours sinking like a stone
Don't give in, I will lead you home

'Cause oh you know, I can see those clouds
The hazy roads, the stumbling all around
But where, oh where, wherever you are now
I, I will be there

Wherever You Are Now

Updated demo of  new track:

Oh reeling from the touch, oh her touch
Just too much, a moment electric

Angel in the snow, she set me all aglow
Now here we go, a moment electric

And in the storm oh, something warm oh
Not the norm no, a moment electric

We were snowbound, stranded in a car
When she reached up and touched my face
The first touch, electric, a moment of grace

Oh one caress, two bodies pressed
I must confess, a moment electric

And in the storm oh, a new thing formed oh
Not the norm no, a moment electric

In a whiteout, stranded in a car
She turned and touched my face
The first time, electric

Yes we were snowbound, stranded in a car
When her fingers brushed my face
The first touch, it lingers

Oh reeling from the touch, just too much
Her touch, a moment electric, electric

A Moment Electric

She had daises in her hands
And garlands in her hair
As she skipped through the meadowlands
Without a care

Her tresses in ringlets fell
And were swirling in the morning air
For a moment we looked away
Then she wasn't there

And the sun will slowly rise
But then quickly run to bed
While we look for a place
To lay our head

Now she was only a child
Not even ten years old
Nameless and unaware
Of the coming cold

And the sun will slowly rise
Then quickly run to bed
As time hurries on
And we are in the red
Just looking for a little hope
One thin thread

Oh, oh listen
The whispers are in the breeze
And the sun, it will glisten
On these withered leaves

Then She Wasn't There (updated)

A little instrumental for the day (from the first album, "Wake of the Moon")

Easter

We go deeper, always deeper in the sun
When the light of the day, day is done
When the world is upside down
And the sky is holy ground

Now we're rolling, oh rolling out the scrolls
And cracking all the codes
The cipher lies within the book
Cryptic pages, take, take a look
In a glass, an image undefined
But a face beautiful and kind

Pull the strings that light has spun
Fall deeper, deeper in the sun
And the last, the last shall be first
And the meek will inherit the earth
When we shake, we shake the curse
In this glass, this image undefined
And the face beautiful and kind
In the sun, deeper in the sun
Down down

Deeper In The Sun (updated)

The deeper we go, the stranger we find
And the more that we know, it beggars the mind
Contradictions, the riddles of time
Is it science fiction, reason or rhyme?

Faith, feels like faith

Logic tripping in the astral realm
And the quantum shifting, now who's at the helm?

Faith, feels like faith
It takes faith

Yes the deeper we go, the stranger we find
Something explodes in the back of the mind

Faith, seems like faith
Give me faith
Faith, faith like faith
It takes faith

The Stranger We Find (updated demo)

Early guitar/voice demo of a new idea:

In the rainbow, a promise divine
After the flood, we need a sign
Look to the clouds, hope that they part
And luminous rays pierce to the heart

Hey, oh hey, the rainbow

On the rainbow, we try to slide
Hold on tight, enjoy the ride
Hopes and dreams reign up on the throne
In rainbows we climb
Find our way home

Hey, hey hey hey, the rainbow
Hey, oh hey

In the rainbow, after the flood
When the heartbeat pounds in the blood
Colors that glow in a shimmering sky
Calling out, by and by
A sign, a sign

In The Rainbow (demo)

Updated mix of this recent track:

Now we dance among the silhouettes
The hollow men, all the counterfeits
And we trip through the shadowlands
Under spectral lights, over shifting sands
Well maybe love, we have wandered too far afield

And we swing in a puppet show
Mute marionettes bouncing to and fro
I'm telling you it's time to fly, time to go

On the silver screen, all the burnished stars
Just empty souls with their avatars
Flailing 'round like poltergeists, that's all they are

So forget all we've learned
All the lies that we have heard
And wake from these visions blurred in dreams absurd

In Dreams Absurd (update)

Closing instrumental track from an upcoming new release (most of which was recorded during Covid).

Postlude

Updated mix:

Someone tell me why
I'm staring at the sky
I should be falling down a well

Head full of stars
Signals from afar
How do they weave their spells?
Ride their swirling carousels?

Count all the things you lose
When you chose
And when you do not as well
Sometimes it's hard to tell

Oh nocturnal song
You lead me on
Solitary stars
Come ring the hours and

Tell me the tale
Of ships that never sail
And a place I'll never dwell

The alchemy of dreams
Too dear it seams
When you're wrapped up in a hermit's shell

A world of shifting clouds
Far from the madding crowd
Philosopher down a well

An alien, an infidel
Too far beyond the pale?

Oh nocturnal light
You fill my sight
Nocturnal song
You lead me on
Sing the sweet farewells
Come ring the matin bells

Nocturn

Guitar/voice only demo of a (slightly odd!) new idea:

Welcome to my mysterium
Come see the worlds that I have spun
In my delirium
I built a ladder the the stars
Caught a moonbeam in a jar

In my mysterium
Nothing is humdrum
And if you will enter in
I'll show you every, everything
From the sea to the sun
In my mysterium

And in my mysterium
Oh the depths that we could plumb
Now behold my Imperium
God, what a joke!
I'm only blowing smoke

Now in my mysterium
Is it only tedium?
Could you find your way
To join me in this fray?
And linger for a day?
Oh, let me be your curiosity

Mysterium (early demo)

Recent instrumental.  Tried it with vocals, but prefer it without.

Bedeviled (update)

April 21, now it's my birthday
I'm not 21
(And you know that is a long ways away)
And for the record, I feel OK
But still, I've been thinking ...

April 21, let's make it a slow day
Turn the volume down
Slip into my hideaway
Strum a little song in peace and dream about
The world that is here
And one, one more year
With all that people that I love
And everything that I hold dear

April 21, just another birthday
A ring around the tree
And a hope that won't fade away
Take a deep breath on this Sunday
And treasure everything
Every little thing
What each moment brings
Yes all the people that you love
And every mercy from above
And that's more, more than enough

April 21, it's my birthday

April 21 (updated)

Sunshower

Was there an omen in the sky
When you came down from on high?
Was it the forest for the trees
When I missed you among the leaves?

But still you found me, how could you tell?
Did you know where or when I fell?
Oh yes you found me down the well
Then you put me under your spell

And if I fade away, don't let me fade
And if I stray, don't let me stray
And if I climb into the well
Pull me back into your spell

Now there's a dream I always dream
Could be delusion, or a fantasy
A new moon rising, a ringing bell
And everyone under the spell, the spell

I’ve been looking, no eyes to see
Were you searching, searching for me?
I’ve been listening, no ears to hear
In the silence, were you near?

And if I fade away, don't let me fade
And if I stray, don't let me stray
And when I fall into the well
Pull me back into your spell
Your spell

The Spell (demo)

One more time trying to get the vocals right for this piece:

Was there an omen in the sky
When you came down from on high?
Was it the forest for the trees
When I missed you among the leaves?

But then you found me, how could you tell?
Did you know where or when I fell?
Oh yes you found me down the well
And you put me under your spell

And if I fade away, don't let me fade
And if I stray, don't let me stray
And if I climb back down the well
Pull me out, put me under your spell

Now there's a dream I always dream
Could be delusion, or a fantasy
A new moon rising, a ringing bell
And everyone under the spell, the spell

And if I fade away, don't let me fade
And if I stray, don't let me stray
And when I fall back down the well
Pull me out, put me under your spell, your spell

Under The Spell (update)

Sunbreaking

Sleep

So Long September

So long September
So long my lonely friend
The first time that I saw you
You were standing there like you didn't think it could end

I never once imagined
How you might have felt
I didn't dream that you could care
As the breeze blew and the morning cast its spell

So long September
It's a golden memory
Now that the leaves have fallen for me

Another lost September
When you finally spoke your mind
It was five years later then
And I couldn't think, and I just stood there lost in time

And I could not tell you
What I know you wanted to hear
My heart was given to someone new
But even so I nearly jumped, fell for you

So long September
My golden memory
Now that the leaves have fallen
So don't, don't go
It's been too long, too long
Stay, I feel the cold of winter
And I don't, I don't know
I can't see through tomorrow
I wonder how long, how long?

So Long September

Here you will find little acoustic pop songs; melancholy, dreamy-folk things. Sometimes some jangly, fuzzy rock tunes or ambient pieces as well. Work-in-progress demos to finished tracks, informal playlists to official album releases. Enjoy.

Tom Hanson

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