Lawyer

I'm not a lawyer
Resting my bones
As far as I know you
You call this your home
Sitting in the west in a shimmering light
I'm not a lawyer
I came here upright
For my own
My own

I'm not a lawyer
Call me a wack
Been here before you
Stacking the stack
Nobly and deceitfully been forging my mound
I'm not a lawyer
I came here alone
It might
Be alright

I'm not a lawyer
Don't feel at ease
I‘m calling a hauler
Pulling down east
Wrenching all the nuts and all the bolts off your thaw
I'm not a lawyer
I became what I saw
Before
The law

I'm not a lawyer
No ogre, no wight
Drilling the auger for the oil of your plight
Chaptalizing syrup and pitching the yeast
I'm not a lawyer
I shall be released
Any day
I may

(Words & Music: Benjamin Lauterkorn)

Lawyer

CLOCKING CROSSWAYS


When I'm singing when I'm done
When I'm feeling what I can't
And you always...
And I know that you always
And I know that you always won't be there

When I'm giving what I shouldn't
And I'm living like I couldn't
When I'm done
And I am clocking crossways
And I am clocking crossways
And I am clocking crossways out of here

Read me backwards, living it on my shelf
Read me a story
Leave me backyards, living it in my shell
Leave me to history
When I'm done...

When I've finished getting through
And the evening's overdue
Clocking crossways
And I know that you always
And I know that you always won't be there

When I‘m whisteling after dark
For endeavors fell apart
When I‘m done
And I am clocking crossways
And I am clocking crossways
And I am clocking crossways out of here

Weave me forewards, living asserts itself
Weave me mandatorily
Leave me dooryards, live among chantarelles
Leave me to sophistry
When I'm done...

(Words & Music: Benjamin Lauterkorn)

Clocking Crossways

Gorseland

The title track of upcoming (slowly developing) album Reveal yourself 

Reveal yourself 

It could be much easier if you just say help me please
when you find yourself in a growing sense of unease. 
You might be better off learning how to say no
and to stay away from people who are not good for you. 

If you wanna scream it out
go ahead and shout out loud
but make it clear what it‘s about

Cool it down and appreciate the options you can choose
on what to do or to decline without excuse.
Get in to this groove, so you won’t be caught in a calm 
and let it clear your mind and make you move with aplomb.

It’s not about to scream it out.
You don‘t have to shout out loud.
Just don‘t let them leave you cowed
and clearly state what it is about.

Reveal yourself

If you wanna shout out loud
Go ahead and call it out
Just don‘t let them leave you bowed
Get it through their head what it’s all about. 

Reveal yourself
Reveal yourself

(Music and words by Mark Korthals)

Reveal yourself

A meme is an inheritable unit of culture as one follows the so called meme theory.. I wondered if there‘s something more ancient such as the origin of all ideas and feelings per se which nobody can remember of. but is a spooky, mysterious thing connecting all together. This song is a flow of images to create kind of a science fiction short film. Saying this I realize it might be inspired by Stanislaw Lem or Stanley Kubrick.

You will hear the song enwrought by different guitar tunes intermingling with an ocean drum and a Hungarian zither. Of course this track lives again from the beautiful additional voice of Lily of Snow ❤️. 

Somewhere hidden in white noise
there‘s a feeling inside
a hazy vibe in between the lines
waxed and waned by the turns of the tide. 

However we try to conceive it
We ain’t got no words for this
just a thought dispersing when you follow it
And all we talk is mourn the things we miss

Murmurs in the cosmic background
melancholia behind
encrypted somewhere beyond the void
it has always kept us entwined

However we try to behold it
We ain’t got no view for this
just a flash the moment when you blink your eyes
And all our talk is mourning for
And all we see is growing out of abyss 

It‘s the source but not the reason
It is all the doors standing ajar
It‘s the prospects but not the decision
You can evolve into whatever you are

However much we try to recall
we ain’t got no memes for this
just a dream that fades away when we awake
And all the talk is mourning for.      
(And all we talk is mourn the things we miss)
And all we sense is growing out 
(And all we see is growing out of abyss)
And all we do is fail to reminisce

But it’s a guide and not your leader
It‘s a map but it is not the course
It‘s a trip without a meter 
You can find a route and make it yours

And it is freedom without secession
It‘s the origin but not the fate
It‘s diversity but not dissociation     
Step in to whatever makes you resonate

Somewhere hidden in white noise
there‘s a feeling inside
a hazy vibe in between the lines
waxed and waned by the turns of the tide. 


(Words and music by Mark Korthals)

No memes for this

A call for courage, an unconventional kind of a psychedelic rock hymn, rolling and jumping through the circle of fiths and peaking in a choral and orchestral incantation. The second song by Roger Pancake lives from the congenial spirits of long-time fellow musicians Lautus (12-string, lead and solo guitar, string and brass arrangement) and Lily of snow (additional vocals).
(An alternative master mix which has a little more Wumms and is a little less schrill, you know, might be more pleasant for the ears). 

Courage

No guts, no glory!                          
Your personal credo.                     
Doughty and dauntless                
So unleash your boldness           
and show off your mettle!            

No sweat! No worries!
Puffed up bravado!
Full of vim and vigor
all piss and vinegar 
Will you grasp the nettle! 


Then take heart! You know that it calls
for growing a pair of balls.
For valour‘s sake,
admit your mistake
and summon up the spirit
to apologise for it!


No risk no reward.                        
Do you feel the moxie?               
Audacious and temerous,           
as valiant as hercules,                  
made for a daring deed.                

All-out effort
cause you‘re not a wussy!
As robust as iron,
as brave as a lion,
prepared for the glaring feat. 


So take heart! Do you have the guts?
Will you grow a pair of nuts?
Are you game enough
not just to play tough,
but instead pluck up the courage 
to surmount that muddy ditch.

Put your heart to the test!
All you need is a quest! 
But who do you really want to be impressed?
Or is it just to distract
from the essence of your dread?
I can‘t believe that you‘re like that.
Come, offer me some more respect! 

So, take the plunge and brave it out, Dude! 
C’mon, gimme some fortitude! 
You know what you did.
Now show me true grit
to bear responsibility              
for who you’re meant to be!

And take heart! ...(transpose to E and solo...)


(Words and music by Mark Korthals)

Courage

HOLLOW ON THE OUTSIDE

The power shortage in our house has blatantly disguised
What was lurking in the corner of our eyes
Just before we‘d make it right
Then to tell it was surmise

Abbreviated our driveway seems to be by now
Leads to the gambrel roof‘s capitulating bow
Just before we‘d known somehow
Now to tell it is surprise

The corner of our sanctuary
Does not proof refractory
Emerald green, efficiency
Touted fancy plasticine
We gilded borroughs on a landslide

A day ago we gathered at the bottom of the stairs
Regroup to face another day of night repairs
Just to be completely fair:
Never were we wise

What to tell you elderlies and children of the sun?
Before we knew it we did know what we begun
So much fun to be undone
Now to tell is our devise

The glower of our hymnary
Unimproved itinerary
Rare earth sheen, efficacy
Clouded, chancy, contravene
We builded hollow on the outside.

(Words & Music: Benjamin Lauterkorn)

Hollow On The Outside

HA'PORTH OF TAR

So I came back home
Leaving you behind
I wanna come right down
A peaceful state of mind

What was etched before into our door
Got a place in the tide
And our christian names have sunk in stone
Got to believe in the ride

It's charred onto a scrip
Marked the price and par
You do not spoil the ship
For a ha'porth of tar

And our christian names have sunk in stone
Got to believe in the ride
What was etched before into our door
Got a place in the tide

You may follow me
From ship to shore

Leniencies apart
There is nothing to throw
At the congregation of hearts
In the parish of foes

And it ain't the size of the ship
That makes you feel seasick
It's the waves, it's the ocean, it's the foam
Solid wounds to lick

You may follow me
From ship to shore

So I came back home.

(Words & Music: Benjamin Lauterkorn)

Ha'porth of Tar

Thank you for sharing your grief
it’s breaking up the bitterness in me. 
When I can feel your pain
it kicks my morphine apathy. 

And I thank you for your candid hopes
they make me give up my illusions. 
And your sobriety cools me down 
to clear my confusions.

Thank you for depicting your fears
they elucidate my darkest nightmare.
And since I witnessed your anger
I learned to rein my rage of black despair. 

Thank you for the way you deeply care, 
now I can cease my fussy hyper-vigilance
And you taught me how to stumble
only without losing confidence. 

You give me your reality
And I appreciate your faith in me. 
All the struggling you avow
will make me get back to the here and now.

Thank you for your genuine self-esteem
when you found me as a self-destructive mess.
And you evince your admiration
for what I looked at with enviousness

Thank you for unveiling the beauty you are
You melt away my selfish vanity. 
’cause you‘re bestowing me yourself 
and I’m amending myself finally to be me.
And I‘m amending myself finally to be free. 



Music & Lyrics, by Mark Korthals
Performed, recorded and mixed: by Mark Korthals
Copyright 2024

Thank You For Sharing

Lyrics - Andreas Weschke
Music - Claudia Korthals
Vocals - Claudia Korthals
Production - Nico Flohr
Recorded 2008

Now You‘re Gone

Building out this acoustic track: a work in progress. So pleased with the Oud performance I had to share it.

Now You‘re Gone

Lily of snow

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