"Death always leaves one singer to mourn."
- Katherine Anne Porter, Pale Horse, Pale Rider

(In the book Pale Horse, Pale Rider) this is exemplified in the song Miranda sings with Adam while she is sick, “Death always leaves one singer to mourn”—that is, the gravity and tragedy of death is not felt by the dead but by those left behind to mourn them.
- The Pain of Living: Theme Analysis in Literature Guides

Credits
released August 11, 2023

Music: Michael Sellers; Sergio Aguilar
Vocals: Michael Sellers (all songs); Ale Destiny (Soldiers Welcome!); Beto Quintero (I Dreamed I Saw My Brother)
Guitars, bass, keyboard & musical arrangement: Sergio Aguilar
Editing & production: Sergio Aguilar
Drums: Rodrigo Uribe
Album Cover photo: Image by Michael Sellers
Album Cover design: Michael Sellers
Song Cover designs: Loretta Sellers Fortuny; Michael Sellers

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One Singer Left to Mourn (an album in progress)

On May 13, 2015, my brother-in-law Eduardo Fortuny Loret de Mola was killed in a road accident, to the great sorrow of all who knew and loved him, in particular his widow and two sons. I wrote this song in the aftemath of his all too soon passing away, but the time never seemed right to try and record it ... until now, when Enna, his wife, read the lyrics and expressed her wish to hear a recorded version. It would also have been his 60th birthday this year. I took both as a sign that it was time, and thanks to the monumental musical and production abilities of Sergio Aguilar, not to mention the wonderful backing vocals of Beto Quintero, here it is.

The song, needless to say, but I will say it, is dedicated to Eduardo, and all who loved him.

Hallelujah is a transliteration of Hebrew: הַלְלוּ (hallū yāh), which means "praise ye Jah!" (from הַלְלוּ‎, "praise ye!" [8] and יָהּ‎, "Jah".)[9][10][11] The word hallēl in Hebrew means a joyous praise in song. The second part, Yah, is a shortened form of YHWH (Yahweh or Jehovah in modern English).
~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallelujah

“In traditional Christian thought, the final transition from life on earth to life in heaven is symbolized by crossing the Jordan River."
~ https://jesusway4you.com/2020/06/24/signs-and-symbols-of-the-bible-jordan-river/

“For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.”
― Kahlil Gibran, artist and poet.

"The song is ended
But the melody lingers on
You and the song are gone
But the melody lingers on."
~ Irving Berlin, songwriter.

“Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?”
~ Terry Pratchett, English author.

Lyrics
Last night I dreamed my brother strode with Jesus by his side
With heavenly strength to move them on, they walked the ocean tide
I cried, “Dear brother, hold your haste, we all must journey home.”
“Jordan calls me,” was all he said, I knew myself alone
I knew myself alone

Hal-le-lu …. Hal-le-lu …. Hal-le-lu …. Hal-le-lu

Last night I dreamed my brother rode in tandem with James Dean
Along the streets and the highways that to this world are unseen
I cried, “Dear brother, promise me, you’ll meet me when I come.”
He smiled his smile, and raised his hand, I felt my world undone
I felt my world undone

Hal-le-lu …. Hal-le-lu …. Hal-le-lu …. Hal-le-lu

Now I’m awakened, oh, let me dream that dream once more
Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu … yah

Now I’m awakened, oh, let me dream that dream once more
Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu … yah

And take me over Jordan, see my brother walk upon its shore
Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu … yah

Yeah, take me over Jordan, for I am tired and so heartsore
Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu, Hal-le-lu … yah

Credits
Music: Michael Sellers; Sergio Aguilar
Lyrics: Michael Sellers
Vocals: Michael Sellers; Beto Quintero
Guitars & bass, piano; musical arrangement, & production: Sergio Aguilar
Drums: Rodrigo Uribe
Album Cover photo: Michael Sellers
Cover design: Loretta Sellers Fortuny

One Singer Left to Mourn

I Dreamed I Saw My Brother

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I Dreamed I Saw My Brother  5 Stars rating; Commended Entry; UK Songwriting Contest, 2023

The tragic tale of a foreign girl forced into prostitution in England during the First World War, and the terrible fate that awaited so many of the soldiers. Many, many thanks to Ale Destiny for her poignant and plaintive vocal. You can hear her latest song "Vincent" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfa7jjZoK0U&list=OLAK5uy_kwTdpzKWQbJ5Xm05Ok3ulGPmfAm_xv7s8

“Many home-front brothels served an increased number of clients following the war’s outset owing to the influx of men in arms preparing to go into the field.”
- Journey Steward (International Encyclopedia of the First World War)

Slang used in the song:
Dose: (in this case) a venereal infection
Dough: money
Slut: term for a person, usually a woman or girl, who is sexually promiscuous or considered to have loose sexual morals. It dates from the late 14th century in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, although ironically he was describing a man!
Squaddies: soldiers
The clap: gonorrhea (The narrator in this song gets gonorrhea, or the clap, which was rampant at the time because so many soldiers were catching it from the prostitutes operating near the front. Many of those soldiers, believe it or not, were still virgins and didn't want to die without experiencing sex)
Whore: prostitute

Lyrics
There’s many a squaddie comes visiting
From the barracks up the road
And they all, if they pay, get a welcome
And a rest from a soldier’s load
They’ll be fighting for King and country
And be paid with a grisly end
So, the least we can do is to hold them
To be, for a while, their friend
To be, for a while, to be, for a while
To be, for a while, their friend

Ah me, I was born in a Catholic land
I’ve no love for you Protestant lads!
But I got put in the family way
And reviled as sinful and bad
I’m in England now, a whore for sure
But I dance and I sing and I play
And the squaddies laugh so innocently
As night gives way to the day
As night gives way to
as night gives way to
As night gives way to the day

I fell in love with an Irish boy
No more tender a lad you could meet
He was set to ask me to marry
But was lost in some bloody retreat
I’m carrying his child in my belly
But it’s whoring that brings in the dough
I’m to visit some witch in an alley
To make sure that there’s nothing to show
Make sure that there’s nothing,
Make sure that there’s nothing
Make sure that there’s nothing to show

The doctor says that I got the clap
A soldier, I’ll bet, from the front
The sluts down there do a roaring trade
Death so close, that they bear the brunt
Of virgins wanting a taste of the flesh
‘fore their bodies are ripped to shreds
And if they survive, return with their dose
To pass on in the heat of our beds
Pass on in the heat, pass on in the heat
To pass on in the heat of our beds

Yes, many a squaddie comes visiting
And will do for some time to come
But will there be any lads left alive
To march to the military drum
Yes, soldiers are welcome, one and all
And will be for some time to come
But where are all of the marrying types
To save us from our whoredom
To save us from our, to save us from our …
To save us from our whoredom

From One Singer Left to Mourn; track released August 11, 2023
Music: Michael Sellers; Sergio Aguilar
Lyrics: Michael Sellers
Lead Vocal: Ale Destiny
Backing Vocals: Alejandro Hidalgo & Michael Sellers
Guitars & bass, piano, percussion; musical arrangement, & production: Sergio Aguilar
Cover photo: Photo by The British Library on Unsplash, combined with a photo provided by Loretta Sellers
Cover design: Michael Sellers; Loretta Sellers Fortuny

Soldiers Welcome!

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Soldiers Welcome! 5 Stars; Highly Commended Entry; UK Songwriting Contest, 2023

An elegiac song about lost love, death, resentment, remorse & regret.

“My grief lies all within,
And these external manners of lament
Are merely shadows to the unseen grief
That swells with silence in the tortured soul.”
― William Shakespeare: from Richard II

“His love for her was so deeply woven with resentment that he could not untangle the two.”
― Kim Edwards, The Memory Keeper's Daughter

“I’m unsure which pain is worse– the shock of what happened or the ache for what never will.”
– Unknown

Lyrics
"Of all the sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been'."

All of us, we make mistakes
Act a little too late
I’ve done my fair share of all that and more
Many messages yesterday
Saying you’d passed away
Fired up bittersweet memories that cut me to my core

Way back when we were involved
I hurt your feelings, all unresolved
Next time we met, your voice, it froze my heart
You left me crying at the station
My love in vain, so blue and lonesome
I never thought that’d be the way we’d part

I never saw you again
We never talked through your pain
And the anger it seems you couldn’t put away
Did you ever ask after me?
You know, we kept the same company
Like that threesome with your so-called fiancé/fiancée

But you didn’t stop smoking
And boozing and joking
Put on weight and rolled like a drunken sailor's bum
Okay, I did the same
I’m not trying to pin blame
I just think you marched to the wrong beat of your drum

Seems you wasted away
Quite why, they didn’t say
Lousy habits, bad health? How should I know?
I hadn’t seen you in years
But I’ll surely shed tears
For what was lost and now lies in deep sorrow
And the part of me that'll always be . . . hollow

Quote above by John Greenleaf Whittier: American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States.

From One Singer Left to Mourn, track released December 19, 2023
Music: Michael Sellers; Sergio Aguilar
Lyrics: Michael Sellers
Vocals: Michael Sellers
Guitars & bass, keyboards, & musical arrangement: Sergio Aguilar
Drums: Rodrigo Uribe
Sound engineering & production: Sergio Aguilar; Edgr Ibarra
Album Cover photo: Image by Jorge Barahona from Pixabay
Cover design: Michael Sellers; Loretta Sellers Fortuny

One singer Left To Mourn

Lament

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An Islander's Progress; being a song concerned with empire and imperialism, and their consequences, and reincarnation.

". . . false accounts of the role Britain played regarding colonisation not only misleads students but supplies them with a false sense of pride. This filter on reality may then be applied to view topics concerning race, discrimination and equality in their adulthood . . . (as a result) . . . racism is embedded in Britain’s history and society."
― Martin Greenwood: The Impact of the Past: How British Colonialism Affects the Modern World: May 4, 2021

Lyrics:
Over the seas and far away (and far away)
When I was young, I joined the ships leaving from the harbour
“Fair winds and following seas” went cries to each and every boat
We hastened down to Africa, then caught the Trade Winds west
With foul holds full of sad lost souls to toil in lands remote
But I drowned off the Florida coast in a raging hurricane
My body lost forever, but my soul it did remain

Proud Islander I was my friend, one of our doughty sailors
Whose cargo to America brought us wealth and God’s good favors
Proud Islander I was my friend
Though hard these days to comprehend
Proud Islander was I . . . Proud Islander was I

Over the seas and far away (and far away)
When I grew up, I yearned to be a brave strong soldier lad
So, I upped and joined the army, and sailed east to India
When the sepoys rose against us, we strapped them to our cannons
And blew them all to Hell and back in the name of Queen Victoria
But cholera came to claim me in a ravaging blue death
My body gone forever, but my soul it would not rest

Proud Islander I was my friend, proud of our mighty regiments
That did our people all inspire by seizing lands and continents
Proud Islander I was my friend
Though hard these days to comprehend
Proud Islander was I . . . Proud Islander was I

Over the seas and far away (and far away)
When good Queen Liz attained the throne, I joined the colony police
And fought the Mau-Mau brutally, with torture and fell murder
Yet in truth I’ll willingly admit to a conscience slightly stricken
When I forced a poor young Kenyan girl to couple with her father
Years later they avenged her fate, strung me up by a noose
My body left for animals, but my soul it still was loose

Proud Islander I was my friend, proud of our glorious history
That encompassed many centuries, albeit often bloodily
Proud Islander I was my friend
You may find it hard to comprehend,
Proud Islander was I … Proud Islander was I

My friend I’ve lived for centuries, seen the rise and fall of nations
I’ve seen bright mornings shining while a dark night duly lengthens
For all my sins it is my fate to be reborn again
I’ve not atoned! Proud Islander, I still am my friend!

Proud Islander I am my friend
Though I find it hard to comprehend,
I’m never going to die . . . I’m never going to die
I’m never going to die

Vocabulary:
Sepoys: The term sepoy referred to all native soldiers in the service of the British East India Company's army. For a number of reasons, many sepoys were involved in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against British rule. It's fair to say both sides committed atrocities during the Rebellion. It was repressed by the British and quite a few sepoys were executed as described in the song.

Mau-Mau: militant African nationalist movement that originated in the 1950s among the Kikuyu people of Kenya. The Mau Mau advocated violent resistance to British domination in Kenya. The British suppressed their rebellion by means of war with the Mau-Mau fighters and the use of detention camps for large swathes of the population.

Music: Michael Sellers; Sergio Aguilar
Lyrics: Michael Sellers; Gerry Verdier
Vocals: Michael Sellers
Guitars & bass, keyboards, & musical arrangement: Sergio Aguilar
Drums: Sergio Aguilar
Sound engineering & production: Sergio Aguilar
Album Cover photo: Image originally from cottonbro studio on Pexels
Cover design: Michael Sellers; Loretta Sellers Fortuny

An Islander's Progress

Michael Sellers is a guitar playing singer-songwriter from England, now living and recording songs in Merida, Mexico. 

Landing page: https://linktr.ee/michaelfirthsellers