Silence

Written and performed by Josh McAlexander

A hold on me (Original)

PRACTICE

Night Flowers

VvV2

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

83_ Voices - released on 17 August 2025 only on SoundCloud

Have you been feeling the same lately? “Voices” come into my head and ask why this time is the way it is ... so complicated & negative, with all its conflicts & wars. We're almost as well off as we've ever been. But no... We argue, which is not a bad thing, but unfortunately often in a negative way. Why can't we argue positively & constructively? #ambient #minimal #nobeats #only5elements #onlyvoices #liverecording

(produced with BlocsWave & LaunchPad)

Voices

You see that guy in the gucci suit
The one with the Rolex
The one walking into the high-rise like he owns the whole damn block

He got a secret
He still checks his bank balance a dozen times a day
Still gets that little knot in his stomach everytime the phone rings
Still remembers the taste of instant noodles and the feel of a secondhand coat in a bitter wind

He ain’t no different to me

I see that girl on the corner, all torn jeans and defiant eyeliner
She’s got a story, too
A story of late nights and empty bottles and a phone that never rings with the right name
She got a tattoo of a bird on her wrist, a tiny thing
It’s not about freedom
It’s about being grounded
It’s about a cage she can’t fly out of

She ain’t different to me

We all got our ghosts
Our regrets
Our silent prayers whispered into the pillow at 3am
We’re all holding our breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The CEO, the janitor
The influencer with a million likes, the kid with no friends
We’re all just trying to get by, trying to make sense of the noise

We put on these masks
The tough guy
The pretty one
The smart one
The one who has it all figured out
But peel back the layers and what do you find
The same raw, vulnerable heart
The same fear of not being enough

So next time you look at someone and think
“I could never be them” 
or
“They could never understand me”
take a moment
Look closer
Past the clothes
Past the car
Past the curated feed

You’lll see it
The flicker of doubt in their eyes
The tremor in their hand when they think no one’s looking
The way they stare at the ceiling, wondering where it all went wrong, or where it’s all going to go

And you’ll know.  They’re just like you. and me.

They ain’t no different.  Not one bit

Are We All The Same

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






Listen to 📜Goodbye Ego by The Beautiful Dark on #SoundCloud
https://on.soundcloud.com/EeZ9jm0yShbOo665ZQ
This is the original of your bored and eh sitting down... It's intense .. Watch your headphones 🫡

JJ Calls - (Eclectic Collective)

My daughter is now eleven but when she was 4 or 5 years old, I was trying to learn Spanish (but then life got in the way) and as we brushed our teeth every night, I would sing a silly song “Abre la boca, lava tus dientes blancos blancos muy limpios”.  I’m sure it’s a terrible translation but recently the song popped into my head and this weekend, and I thought it might be fun to attempt to turn it into a complete song.
***
Copyright 2025
***
Instruments 
Guitar Strumming Track:  Taylor 114ce
Guitar (Playing Midi Keyboard) Native Instruments Electric Mint Celtic Castle Melody Guitar
Organ (Playing Midi keyboard): Logic Pro Classic Rock Organ
Native Instruments Electric Keys Diamond (Playing Midi Keyboard)
Drums EZ Drummer 3
Bass PG Music Midi track played with Native Instruments Rickenbaker Bass 
***
Cover photo: Adobe express stock image.
***
When I was a kid, I really wish I’d listened to my parent’s advice
They said brush your teeth carefully or someday you’ll pay the price
I was trying to learn a little bit of Spanish, so I thought I’ d write my daughter a little song
I’m not sure it’s grammatically correct and I bet the pronunciation is wrong
Abre la boca, lava tus dientes blancos blancos muy limpios
Open your mouth, wash your teeth, white, white very clean 
I know you’re just a little kid and it’s hard for you to comprehend
But if you don’t brush your teeth every day, there’s lots of Novocain around the bend
I really hope you take heed of the lessons that I’ve learned 
If you eat too much candy like Icharus flying to close to the sun, you’ll get burned
Abre la boca, lava tus dientes blancos blancos muy limpios
Open your mouth, wash your teeth, white, white very clean 
First you need a filling and then you need a crown
Every year your dental health keeps going down
You sit in that chair, and it’s drill baby drill
The candy tastes good but it’s a bitter pill
They say in the future we’ll regrow our pearly whites
But until that day comes, you’d better take my advice 
Abre la boca, lava tus dientes blancos blancos muy limpios

Abre La Boca (Brush Your Teeth)

Cast of Characters: 

Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – Warwick fretless four-string bass, Paul Reed Smith semi hollow body electric Guitar 
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken -- drums
J.J. Terrell– @j-j-terrell – organ, Love Triangle ( ha!)
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen — production, mix, and mastering

This song, in case you're not familiar, was written by Medeski, Martin, and Wood with guitarist John Scofield, and performed by them on an album eponymously named A Go Go. Josh has always been a huge fan of both MMW and J.S., and has always wanted to play more of their music, as he used to cover a couple of their songs in one of his main old bands. 
  Josh laid down the bass and after going back an forth a couple of times with Ken and his thrilling drums, they established the rhythm section. Soon after, Josh added his jazzy guitar, as well. We needed someone to play John Medeski's part, too, of course. So, we asked JJ if he'd do the honors, which he did in grand fashion. 
  Once it was all laid down, we needed a good mix, and no one is gooder than Stephen, so we asked him to mix it for us, which he did in his always pro manner. 
  This was a lot of fun to record, and we hope that comes through. This is a stripped down Eclectic Collective collab, where most of what we're all doing is improv. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it.

PRACTICE

MORBIDCRAZY

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