All the songs in this collection center around urban areas, whether the name of the place is mentioned or not, whether the town or city is on Earth, or comes in the form of the caustrophobic urban entity of a generational spaceship,  as it does in the song "There Is No Elsewhere".

“Cities were always like people, showing their varying personalities to the traveler. Depending on the city and on the traveler, there might begin a mutual love, or dislike, friendship, or enmity. Where one city will rise a certain individual to glory, it will destroy another who is not suited to its personality. Only through travel can we know where we belong or not, where we are loved and where we are rejected.”
― Roman Payne, Cities & Countries

"I think all songs should have weather in them, names of towns and streets ... Every song needs certain ingredients to be balanced. You’re writing a song and you need a town and you look out the window and you see St. Louis Cardinals on some kid’s t-shirt. You said, okay, we’ll use that."
― Tom Waits

Credits
released July 15, 2022

Music and lyrics: Michael Sellers
Vocals: Michael Sellers (all songs); Chris Curtis (Winter in the City of Vancouver); Ale Destiny (Lost in hard rain down in Juarez; Second!)
Guitars, keyboard, synth, & musical arrangement; Sergio Aguilar
Editing & production: Sergio Aguilar, & with Edgr Ibarra on Second!
Piano & organ: Romeo Rodriguez (Second!)
Trumpet: Franklyn Brooks (Second!)
Sax: Miguel Covarrubias (Second!)
Drums: Rodrigo Uribe
Album Cover photo: Image by KELLEPICS from Unsplash
Album Cover design: Michael Sellers
Song Cover designs: Loretta Sellers Fortuny; Michael Sellers

Buy at Bandcamp

Urban Tales

"Winter in the City of Vancouver": On All Streaming Platforms. Here's a landing page: https://linktr.ee/michaelfirthsellers

This is a song about mature resignation in the face of human indifference and natural elements you can do nothing about.

My thanks to Chris Curtis for his harmonies, and to Sergio Aguilar of 423 Studios, for the supremely judged production and instrumental ability he brings to every song we have recorded!

"I would say just the weather in Vancouver in the winter can be kind of unforgiving."
- Brandon Jay McLaren

"I eat out three times a day most days of the year. This is no big deal to most (city dwellers), and it is not something I am necessarily proud of - it's simply the nature of my itinerant life."
- Ben Elliot

Lyrics
Winter in the city of Vancouver
It’s brutal if you don’t have some steady pay
And any working hours you’ve gained
Don’t help to ease the pain
Of living on the edge day after day

Winter in the city of Vancouver
Hail and sleet are flaying me alive
Cos the ragged clothes I wear
Let in more than I can bear
It’s an endless daily struggle to survive

Going south from Lions Gate to Granville Island
Going east from English Bay to Coquitlam
I’m seeking work to get me through to summer
If the job’s well done, press some dollars in my hand

Coyotes snapping at my heels as I walk through Stanley Park
I sure don’t care to find out if their bite is worse than their bark!
My coffee’s cold in my two-year-old disposable Starbucks cup
I fear my hopes are so far down there’s no way to pull them up!

Winter in the city of Vancouver
Christmas snow, the first in many years
As I tramp through dirty slush
My face a cold, red flush
I brush away my bitter icy tears

Going south from Lions Gate to Granville Island
Going east from English Bay to Coquitlam
If I knock upon your door, give me whatever chore
And if the job’s well done, press some dollars in my hand

Going south from Lions Gate to Granville Island
Going east from English Bay to Coquitlam
Boss man says "Just a day, then on your way, son"
But at least I get some dollars in my hand

Winter in the city of Vancouver
A city that I love and love to hate
I’m looking for some heat,
And something good to eat
Nothing more, for now at any rate

Credits from Urban Tales, track released February 28, 2022
Music and lyrics: Michael Sellers
Vocals: Michael Sellers; Chris Curtis
Guitars, keyboard, musical arrangement, & production: Sergio Aguilar
Drums: Rodrigo Uribe
Album Cover photo: Image by Aditya Chinchure on Unsplash
Cover designs: Loretta Sellers Fortuny

Winter in the City of Vancouver

Buy now at Bandcamp

Winter In The City Of Vancouver (ft. Chris Curtis) 5 Stars Commended rating, UKSC, 2022

Mexico is considered the most dangerous country for reporters outside a war zone. 14 journalists killed this year, and counting!

Dedicado a esos periodistas de México, y de muchos otros países, que han sido asesinados haciendo su trabajo, ya los que continúan a pesar de las amenazas de violencia!
Dedicated to those journalists from Mexico, and from many other countries, who have died violently doing their job, and to those who continue despite the threats of violence!

A special thanks to Ale Destiny, whose vocals added so much to this song. Listen to her latest song "Vincent" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfa7jjZoK0U&list=OLAK5uy_kwTdpzKWQbJ5Xm05Ok3ulGPmfAm_xv7s8

"La violencia contra la prensa en México no da tregua y en solo seis meses, lo que va de 2022, 12 periodistas han sido asesinados en el país, según el recuento de organizaciones como Artículo 19, Reporteros sin Fronteras (RSF), el Comité para la Protección de los Periodistas (CPJ, por sus siglas en inglés) y el que registra CNN."
(The violence against the press in Mexico does not let up and in just six months, so far in 2022, 12 journalists have been murdered in the country, according to the count of organizations such as Article 19, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) and the one recorded by CNN.)
― Rocío Muñoz-Ledo: 4 Julio, 2022, CNN Español

“No society can be free and fair without journalists who are able to investigate wrongdoing, bring information to citizens, hold leaders accountable and speak truth to power.”
― UN Secretary-General António Guterres

Journalists ... have been killed ... in a lot of places where hard rain falls. As readers or journalists, we honor them when we remember that their dying was not part of a plan to make the world cheaper, baser, or dumber. They died to bring us the truth.”
― Pete Hamill (journalist, novelist, essayist and editor)

Lyrics
Aunque sea esto lo último que escriba…. ¡No voy a rendirme!
(Even if this is the last thing I write... I'm not going to give up!)

In the freezer of my fridge
Waits an impression of my teeth
To identify my mutilated remains
If they hear you’re asking questions
See their names in big bold captions
There’s a deadly bullet waiting with your name …….. your name

Caught in the crosshairs of a nation at war
Trying to tell a story with one eye on the door
If they don’t like what you’re saying
You’d better get to praying
Cos only God could be your savior … now
Caught in the crosshairs of a nation at war

I’m married to death,
Hand in hand we stalk the streets
The camera clicks to capture the grisly trail
I try to find humanity
In this crazy, cruel insanity
I can’t tell if I succeed or if I fail …….. if I fail

Caught in the crosshairs of a nation at war
Trying to tell a story with one eye on the door
If they don’t like what you’re saying
You’d better get to praying
Cos only God could be your savior … now
Caught in the crosshairs of a nation at war

I’ve lost so many friends and colleagues
Shot or stabbed or hacked to pieces
By cops or gunmen from the narco
Leaving stains like scarlet day-glo
Craven silence in high places
Bought by money with no traces
No justice for those brave cold corpses
Lost in hard rain down in Juárez
Lost in hard rain down in Juárez
Lost in hard rain down in Juárez

Caught in the crosshairs of a nation at war
Trying to tell a story with one eye on the door
If they don’t like what you’re saying
You’d better get to praying
Cos only God could be your savior … now
Caught in the crosshairs of a nation at war

credits
from the album Urban Tales, released February 28, 2022
Track released July 16, 2022
Music and lyrics: Michael Sellers
Vocals: Michael Sellers; Ale Destiny
Guitars, keyboard, musical arrangement, & production: Sergio Aguilar
Drums: Rodrigo Uribe
Album Cover photo: Image by Mizter_X94 from Pixabay
Cover design: Loretta Sellers Fortuny

Lost in hard rain down in Juarez

Lost In Hard Rain Down In Juarez (ft. Ale Destiny) 5 Stars/Highly commended rating in the UKSC, 2022

"Mike and Sergio have come up with a song that is long enough to relax into."
— Gerry Verdier (English language teacher, music critic, and occasional lyricist)

“As long as we are a single-planet species, we are vulnerable to extinction by a planetwide catastrophe, natural or self-induced. Once we become a multiplanet species, our chances to live long and prosper will take a huge leap skyward.”
— David Grinspoon (American astrobiologist)

One of the greatest challenges of traveling to another star has to do with the sheer amount of energy necessary to get humans to another star within their own lifetimes. Hence why some proponents of interstellar travel recommend sending spacecraft that are essentially miniaturized worlds that can accommodate travelers for centuries or longer. These “Generation Ships” (aka. worldships or Interstellar Arks) are spacecraft that are built for the truly long haul.
— Matt Williams (From Universe Today: Space and astronomy news)

“(With generational ships) … stuff breaks down. The second law of thermodynamics is unbreakable. You can't just put a closed system in space for a century and hope for the best. And either the planet at the other end is dead, in which case we'll have to spend centuries terraforming it, or it's alive, and its unseen assassins could kill us in a hundred ways. (In other words) … there is no Planet B."
— Chris Taylor (writing about Kim Stanley Robinson’s book Aurora) 

lyrics
Woke up this morning, (least I think it was;
it’s hard to tell out here in Space)
And looked at photos of the Earth way back when
All blues and greens and a happy face
That home today is stormy grey
Hot as hell, cold as clay
Stuck inside a tin can just like “Major Tom”
We seek a new world where we can all belong

Sailing out upon “Hope of Humanity”
To places only fate would make us dare … to go
Sailing out into the great expanse
To find and build a home out in a galaxy … and know
We’re there to stay … there is no elsewhere x2

On a journey longer than our lives
Where decades form one endless year
I stare at the dark and quiet immensity
All I sense is death, somber and severe,
no safe haven near

Sailing out upon “Hope of Humanity”
To places only fear would make us dare … to go
Sailing out into the great expanse
To find and build a home out in a galaxy … and know
We’re there to stay … there is no elsewhere x2

Woke up this morning, (the stardial says it is)
And thought about my parents back on Earth
It’s sad to think that I’m as good as dead to them
I wonder about our sacrifice … and what it’s worth

Sailing out upon “Hope of Humanity”
To places only faith would make us dare … to go
Sailing out into the great expanse
To find and build a New Jerusalem … and know
We’re there to stay … there is no elsewhere

from Urban Tales, released February 28, 2022
Track released September 10, 2022
Music and lyrics: Michael Sellers
Vocals: Michael Sellers
Guitars, synths, piano, drums, musical arrangement, & production: Sergio Aguilar
Album Cover photo: Image from photofunia.com
Cover design: Michael Sellers & Loretta Sellers Fortuny

There Is No Elsewhere

Buy this at Bandcamp

There Is No Elsewhere - 5 Stars/UK Songwriting Contest, 2022 & 2023: Semi-finalist

This song is an admittedly amateur examination of second child syndrome and parent loss.

"But as a middle child she faces some of her own unique challenges. She feels upset about losing her role as the baby, and often feels left out and jealous because both her older and younger siblings command so much attention."
– Meri Wallace (columnist & author)

"The middle child could do the most amazing things, and nobody's ever going to notice cos the other two are just busy making so much noise."
– Richard Herring (stand-up comedian, podcaster)

“If you love your dad, it’s tough when he dies. If you don’t like your dad, it’s tough when he dies. Because you lose that guy. Whatever you didn’t get, you miss. And what you did get, you miss.”
– Jimmy Iovine (American entrepreneur & record executive)

Lyrics
My father died when I was young and wild
We were three, I was the second child
Never felt he loved me enough, that deepened the blow
Death left its mark, a somber undertow

Being second often means you feel second best
You don’t feel at home, more like a houseguest
They don’t buy you the bike, you have to run behind
It’s hard to overcome what this does to your mind
When you’re …

Second, in a race that you didn’t plan to run
Second, in a space where there’s only room for one
Second every year of your life in this town
Don’t wait to be first ‘til you’re down in the ground …and
Second! Second! Second! Second! Always …
Second! Second! Second! Second! Always second!

When mother remarried, I ran away from home
Searching for a place where I could make it on my own
Where my name meant nothing to the folks there at all
And no older brother that they would recall
But I still feel …

Second, in a race that I didn’t plan to run
Second, in a space where there’s only room for one
Second all my life in this or that town
Fated to be second ‘til I’m down in the ground …and
Second! Second! Second! Second Always …
Second! Second! Always a second thought!

If father had lived, would I have made it to first?
Become the golden girl of this small universe?

Doesn’t matter much now, ‘cos you’re a big, big star
If your father had lived, would you have got this far? This far?
This far? D’ya still think you’re …

Second, in a race that you didn’t plan to run?
Second, in a space where there’s only room for one?
Second every year of your life in this town?
I won’t wait to be first ‘til I’m down in the ground …and

Second! Second! Second! Second! No more …
Second!! Second! Second! Second! No more …
Second (second) Second (second) Second (second) Second (second) No more …
Second (second) Second (second) Second (second) Second!
Only first!!

from Urban Tales, track released November 5, 2022
Lyrics: Michael Sellers
Music: Michael Sellers & Sergio Aguilar
Lead Vocals: Michael Sellers & Ale Destiny 
Backing Vocals: Sergio Aguilar
Guitar & bass, musical arrangement, editing & production: Sergio Aguilar & Edgr Ibarra
Piano & organ: Romeo Rodriguez
Trumpet: Franklyn Brooks
Sax: Miguel Covarrubias
Drums: Rodrigo Uribe
Album Cover photo: Courtesy of the Fortuny Loret de Mola family
Cover design: Loretta Sellers Fortuny

Second!

Buy from Bandcamp

SECOND! (ft. Ale Destiny) 5 Stars/Commended rating in the UK Songwriting Contest, 2022

"Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner
That I love London so
Well, maybe it's because I'm a Londoner
That I think of her wherever I go"
– From the song "Maybe It's Because I'm a Londoner", by Hubert Gregg

A bitter-sweet, nostalgic song about leaving London to live elsewhere. Based on an unpublished memoir by Gerry Verdier; with lyrics by Michael Sellers & Gerry Verdier. The song is set in Balham, an area in south London, England.

The exclamation of surprise, disbelief, or excitement "Oh my days", which was in fact the initial catalyst in the writing of this song, was, according to The Oxford English Dictionary, "first recorded in 1895, and my days (in ‘Law, my days!’) in 1841, but it remained relatively rare until the twenty-first century. Although its recent revival in popularity—especially associated with its use in Multicultural London English—is sometimes said to have its origins in Caribbean usage, conclusive evidence for Caribbean roots for this resurgence has proved hard to find."

“Mind the gap.” – London Underground

“My Dad says that being a Londoner has nothing to do with where you’re born. He says that there are people who get off a jumbo jet at Heathrow, go through immigration waving any kind of passport, hop on the tube and by the time the train’s pulled into Piccadilly Circus they’ve become a Londoner.” – Ben Aaronovitch (Author)

“Wet weather in London, but when was it anything else?” – Cassandra Clare (Author)

Lyrics
London at daybreak
Brings with it heartache
I’ve got to leave you now
Cold on a corner
I won’t be warmer
Until my bus again comes round
And I’m heading out of town

Oh my days! My London days

Flats with their patch of green
Grey sky squeezed in between
Freezing rain begins to fall
Looking over my shoulder
Lost sight of my corner
On the A24 passing Balham Hill
The bus is warm but I feel a … chill

Oh my days! We’re parting ways
I’ll miss this city, vast, grey and gritty
Hushed now in morning haze

My London days! How will time play …
Tricks on my memories of friends and families?
And stories of our yesterdays?
My London days … My lost London days

Oh my days! We’re parting ways
I’ll miss this town
But my spirit’s not down
I’m far from the smoggy haze

My London days! How will time play …
Tricks on my memories of friends and families?
And stories of our yesterdays?
My London days … My lost London days

My London days! How will time play …
Tricks on my memories of friends and families?
And stories of our yesterdays?
My London days … My London days … My lost London days

from Urban Tales, track released February 28, 2023
from Urban Tales, released February 28, 2022

Music: Michael Sellers
Lyrics: Michael Sellers; Gerry Verdier
Vocals: Michael Sellers
Guitars & bass, tambourine & shaker, musical arrangement, & production: Sergio Aguilar
Drums: Rodrigo Uribe
Album Cover photo: postcard from Sandra Baker on Facebook
Cover design: Michael Sellers & Loretta Sellers Fortuny

OH MY DAYS! (My lost London days)

Buy on Bandcamp

Oh My Days! (My lost London days) Two 5 Stars; Commended Entries; UK Songwriting Contest, 2023

A celebration of life-long friendship, with a cheeky nod to Saturday Night Fever, although musically, it's not even close to the music of that film! To my ear, it sounds, completely unintentionally, like Dire Straits, but others may disagree. 
In lo-fi mode, as it's unlikely time and financial issues will allow the proper recording of all the songs I've written to date, but I thought it would be nice to get it out there as a bonus track. 

Jeff, by the way, is the abundantly coiffured (lucky bastard!) and classically jaw-lined gentleman on the far left in the photo. Steve, the host of Pool Night, is on the far right. All friends from school back in the 60s and early 70s in the UK. 

Lyrics:
It’s Pool Night at Steve’s 
And tonight, Jeff is the man
He smokes himself to victory
It’s like the gods control his hands
The others smile and shrug and drink
With every miscued shot that they make
“It’s always been that way,” they say
“We don’t care, for heaven’s sake!”

Cos it’s Pool Night, big appetite 
For downing beer and potting balls
It’s Pool Night, we’re dynamite!
Wild high fives when the last one falls
It’s Pool Night, it’s Pool Night
The cue tips old, but it feels all right
Yeah, it’s Pool Night, it’s Pool Night 
It’s Pool Night, it’s Pool Night fever
Friday night Pool Night!

I put some back spin on the white ball
To hit the black, but not follow in
Sadly, it hit it badly, shot off the table into the bin!
Needless to say we didn’t win!

It’s Pool Night at Steve’s
And Smokin’ Jeff’s been crowned the King
We’ll all be back again next week
But another week won’t change a thing!

Still, it’s Pool Night, hit it it right
Knock it in the hole and away you go
It’s Pool Night, Jeff strikes a light
Takes a real long drag then he steals the show
It’s Pool Night, it’s Pool Night
The eyes are shot, but the grip is tight
Yeah, it’s Pool Night, it’s Pool Night
It’s Pool Night, it’s Pool Night fever"
Friday night Pool Night!

Pool Night Fever

Pool Night Fever (Lo-fi Bonus track)

A dystopian scenario! There has been drought for many decades. A generation or more has only experienced rain in old movies on the TV. Enter the Rain Dreamers, mystics with the power to induce mass hallucinations of heavy life-giving rain. Do they bring hope, or is it just a dream? One way, perhaps rather fancifully, I've imagined climate change may play out.

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.
― Paul Valery (French poet and essayist)

Climate change is the greatest threat to humanity, perhaps ever. Global temperatures are rising at an unprecedented rate, causing drought and forest fires and impacting human health.
― Cary Kennedy (Democratic politician)

Rain down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness.
― Isaiah 45:8 New King James Version

Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life.
― John Updike (Author)

Lyrics
The blinds are closed, the A/C’s on
It’s burning up outside
The streets are empty, no one’s there
We’ve all been told to hide
It hasn’t rained in many years, the land’s a dusty haze
Nothing there to tell you it’s
Where cattle used to graze

You love the sound of heavy rain
Pouring down to flood the street
But you’ve only seen it on TV
When divided lovers finally get to meet … Love, sweet love!

But I can help you … cos I’m a rain dreamer
Yes, I can help you … cos I’m a rain dreamer
I’ll dream up some rain for you
Out of a sky of cloudless blue (sky of cloudless blue)

I’m going north, they'd like some rain
They want me there they say
They wanna feel it trickle down their backs
Like a streamlet on its way
To feed a river heading down
To join a sea they’ve never seen
And they’ll pay me well for my mystic spell
Even if it’s just a dream!

They love … They love the sound of heavy rain
Tipping down to flood the ground
But they’ve only seen it on TV
When the hero saves his girl from being drowned … Go, man, go!

But I can help you … cos I’m a rain dreamer
Yes, I can help you … cos I’m a rain dreamer
I’ll dream up some rain for you
Out of a sky of cloudless blue (sky of cloudless blue)
I’m a rain dreamer, I’m a rain dreamer, I’m a rain dreamer
I’m a rain dreamer, I’m a rain dreamer, dream, dream, dream . . .
. . . Rain! Rain! Rain!

Track credits
Music: Michael Sellers & Sergio Aguilar
Lyrics: Michael Sellers
Vocals: Michael Sellers & Chris Curtis
Guitars & bass, keyboards: Sergio Aguilar
Drums: Juan Herrea
Production, musical arrangement, mixing & mastering: Sergio Aguilar
Cover design: Michael Sellers
Cover photo: Image from Pixabay

Rain Dreamers

Rain Dreamers ft Chris Curtis

Facing the death of a once loving relationship, our "hero" imagines a confession to a man with deep knowledge and wisdom concerning problems of the heart and betrayal. A song about remorse and regret and the hope a relationship can be saved, resurrected even. And does he deserve it to be saved?

Nothing is more wretched than the mind of a man conscious of guilt.”
― Plautus (Roman playwright)

“Regret is a tough but fair teacher. To live without regret is to believe you have nothing to learn, no amends to make, and no opportunity to be braver with your life.”
― Brené Brown (Author)

"... I walk the line."
― Johnny Cash (Singer)

"I will let you down I will make you hurt.”
― from "Hurt" by Trent Reznor

Lyrics:
O, you were there before me Johnny
And witnessed hearts that failed to mend
I fell as low as I could get to
And cut her heart up into ten

You walked the line, I know that Johnny
You fell, but found the way back once again
My cheating ways burst all upon her
And cut her heart up into ten

I cut her heart up into ten
Ten pieces

I lie, I lie, I lie, I lie
I’ve lied to all since God knows when
Yes Johnny, I’m the stone-cold bastard
Who cut her heart up into ten

I cut her heart up into ten
Ten pieces

Ten pieces lying on the floor
Dead man walking to the door
He’s in hell but cold to touch
A sightless fool, a broken crutch
She’ll love once more, you don’t know when
You cut her heart up into ten …
Ten pieces

You cut her heart up into ten pieces

Credits
from One Singer Left to Mourn, track released September 17, 2024
Music: Michael Sellers & Sergio Aguilar
Lyrics: Michael Sellers
Vocals: Michael Sellers
Guitars & bass, keyboards: Sergio Aguilar
Drums: Frank Guerrero
Production, musical arrangement, mixing & mastering: Sergio Aguilar
Cover design: Michael Sellers
Track cover photo: Image by Julius H. from Pixabay

One Singer Left to Mourn

TEN PIECES

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

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