Lost Ways

Materials

I wrote this song around 12-13 years ago. It's always been a favorite. I was inspired after walking back from a coffee shop in my home town during the fall, and I was imagining what a life it would be with someone that was in my life. I actually still have a video recording of her recording me singing and playing it on my piano, very special.  It's crazy how time has flown since then.  This is one of those songs that no recording ever seems good enough.  I hope you enjoy this live take I did tonight. I wanted to redo this song cause after all these years, I changed the first line. It's simple but just better. Thanks for listening!:) 

What a Life

The trees are swaying above me
The leaves are falling gently
The sun is shining kindly
The clouds are drifting steady
Smiling cause you stay
Never felt this way
Your eyes have always carried me away

What a day what a day what a day what a day what a day
What a day what a day what a day what a day 

The stars are singing so softly 
The moon is glowing bravely
The world is sleeping soundly
And we are walking slowly
Every step feels right
Your heart is my light
Oh I feel you holding me with all of your might 

What a night what a night what a night what a night what a night
What a night what a night what a night what a night

Trusting you is easy
I will be your safety
The years have been so perfect
Being around oh your beauty 
Wouldn't it be nice
Wouldn't it be nice
Wouldn't it be nice
Wouldn't it be nice
If you were my wife

What a life what a life what a life what a life what a life
What a life what a life what a life what a life
What a day what a day what a night what a night what a life
What a life what a life what a life 
What a life what a life what a life

©Daniel Colter Valentine

What a Life (Original song live)

Mindfulness

Hello, friends. 

 Welcome back to our music chamber.
We have a new track for you. ‘Nocturnalis’.
It was improvised freely by David Nelson and I and 
recorded on Jan 21, 2025 in Mamaroneck NY.

  A week later my computer crashed and all this data was lost and eventually recovered (whew!-thanks to the glorious and gifted geeks of BestBuy’s Geek Squad) . There was a lot of nail-biting in February, and I completed the editing in early March. 

 Today’s release is timed to coincide with a commemoration of Bela Bartok’s 144th birthday. Ever since my music teacher Irwin Stahl introduced me to Bartok, this music has been commanding prime real estate in my ear.
The current track is not by Bartok, per se, but his influence is in my blood, having steeped myself in the study and adulation of his entire oeuvre since 1977. If you are not familiar with his works, here are a few timeless gems;

Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celeste
Concerto for Orchestra
Contrasts for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano
Piano Concerto #3
The Miraculous Mandarin
Dance Suite
Suite for 2 Pianos
 
 These are just tips of the iceberg. Check them out.
I hope you find them worth renting space in your head, too.

 So, here is the opening track, ‘Nocturnalis’ from Duo Treason’s 11th album, “Soon to be Titled”. You may or may not detect Bartok’s influence, it’s subtle. It lurks in the shadows.
David plays a Steinway grand piano, model O, and I play a Silent Yamaha Classical guitar.
-j

DT11.1 Nocturnalis

Laughter Break

This song is a powerful declaration of resilience and self-empowerment. It's about overcoming the toxic influence of someone who seeks to undermine and manipulate through lies and jealousy. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a struggle against negativity and deceit, but ultimately, the song's message is one of triumph and rising above the noise. We assert our voice and identity, refusing to be broken or silenced, while the manipulative figure's lies and envy are rendered hollow and futile. The song's themes revolve around confidence, inner strength, and the unwavering commitment to one's own truth.


LYRICS: 

[Verse 1]
Shadows creeping where the spotlight gleams
He whisper poison in the cracks of dreams
Twisting truths to break the fragile glow
Jealousy’s a fire
It burns so slow
 
[Chorus]
He sing his lies in a shattered key
A symphony of envy haunting me
But my melody won’t break or bend
His hollow echoes meet their end
 
[Verse 2]
He weaves his words like a spider’s thread
Hoping to tangle what’s in my head
But I wear the scars like battle signs
This voice of mine
It still defines
 
[Chorus]
He sing his lies in a shattered key
A symphony of envy haunting me
But my melody won’t break or bend
His hollow echoes meet their end
 
[Bridge]
The crowd may falter but the truth will rise
Through broken chords and his alibis
He’ll drown in the silence of his deceit
While I climb higher
His fall’s complete
 
[Chorus]
He sing his lies in a shattered key
A symphony of envy haunting me
But my melody won’t break or bend
His hollow echoes meet their end
 
[Verse 3]
In the mirror, he sees a fading light
A reflection of his own darkest night
He tries to dim my shine so bright
But his deceit will only lose the fight 

[Outro]
The stage is set, the curtain's drawn
My voice resounds, while his lies are gone
I rise above the noise and pain
My melody remains, his lies echoe in vain

Shattered Key

Slow boogie (new version)

Kaleidoscope

Album Description — Spiritual Warfare: Keep Your Demons
This album is my testimony — the truth of what I lived through, what I survived, and what God revealed to me in the darkest season of my life.
I was pulled into a third, forth, fifth‑party situation by someone who claimed he loved me. He told me he was divorcing, told me to wait, told me to trust him.  And I did — not because I’m naïve, but because God placed unconditional love for him in my heart.  I had never experienced this kind of love, it had never been my nature to love anyone like this. Normally, one lie and I’m gone. No second chances. But this was different, and I didn’t understand why until much later.
As time passed, the truth unraveled. It will be 2 years on February 28, 2026
He wasn’t divorcing.
He wasn’t committed to any of us. 
He was hooking up with multiple people, playing everyone, lying to all of us while pretending to be the victim. 
And while he was doing that, he was also moving in darkness — binding spells, destiny‑swap attempts, humiliation rituals, manipulation, and spiritual attacks meant to break me. They saw me as competition when I was at my lowest. They wanted my gifts, my light, my calling. They wanted to silence me. They wanted me gone.
But God had eyes on the inside.
God showed me everything.
Shady Activity. Drug Addiction. Sex Addiction. Dark magic.
The very things they thought would elevate them became their downfall.
And through all of it, God protected me.
There were moments when the spiritual attacks were so heavy that I could feel them physically. They wanted me to destroy myself. They wanted me to collapse under the weight of their rituals. But even in the darkest moment, when an intrusive image flashed through my mind, I stood firm and said, “You’re out of your mind if you think I’m doing that.”
Because the only thing I fear is God — not people, not demons, not darkness, not death.
God surrounded me with war angels.
God sharpened my discernment.
God strengthened my intuition.
God kept me alive.
Every attack they sent became a lesson.
Every curse became a classroom.
Every shadow became a revelation.
I learned how to stand, how to see, how to return what wasn’t mine to carry.
And I realized something powerful:
I was placed in this season on purpose.
Not to be destroyed — but to expose what needed to be exposed.
Not to fall — but to rise.
Not to fear — but to testify.
This album is the sound of my awakening.
It’s the story of how I broke free from manipulation, spiritual warfare, and deception.
It’s the record of how God turned every attack into wisdom, every betrayal into strength, and every wound into a weapon of truth.
These songs are my voice, my clarity, my strategy, my survival, and my victory.
I move in silence until God tells me to speak — and now I’m speaking.
Through lyrics.
Through testimony.
Through truth that reaches the world.
Spiritual Warfare: Keep Your Demons is not just an album.
It’s the declaration that I know exactly what was done.
I know who did it.
I know why.
And I know that God saw it all — and protected me through every moment.
This is my story.
This is my season.
This is my purpose.
And this is only the beginning.

Too Bad

Si tout est deja weird

***IMPORTANT PLEASE READ***
Hey everyone, I hope you’ll take a moment to read this. Our dear friend @DJShAnkAri in France is fighting to save her home after being the victim of a devastating construction scam — and now a bank error that threatens to leave her, her two sons, and her three cats homeless. 💔

She finally found a lawyer who can save her case, but she has to raise the fees quickly. This is her last chance for justice.

If you can help — even a little — it would mean the world. And if you can’t donate, sharing the link helps more than you know. 💜🙏

GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-shankaris-homeone-last-chance-for-justice

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read or support. It truly matters. 🫶


Songwriting has been a lifelong passion for me, dating back to elementary school when I first began crafting stories, poems, and eventually lyrics. As a former drummer in various bands, I always relied on others to bring my words to life musically. However, after a long hiatus from drumming, I decided to take the leap and learn to compose music to accompany my lyrics. Through classes and dedication, I've embarked on a new journey, breathing fresh life into old lyrics and penning new ones. You'll find a mix of older and newer works here. Especially for some of the lyrics. 

Music has been a part of me for as long as I can remember. One of my earliest memories is being completely entranced by 'The Little Drummer Boy' as a very young child. There was something about the rhythm and the melody that just captivated me. I must have played it a thousand times, wearing the record out, and from that moment on, I was hooked. I knew I wanted to be a drummer and to create that magic for others. 

But I was too young then, and of course, I couldn't afford a drum set just yet. So, I turned to writing as a way to express myself. As I mentioned above, I started with stories, then poems, and eventually, lyrics. I found that writing was not only a way to tap into my creativity, but also a way to process my emotions and experiences. 

As I grew older, my love for music only deepened. I realized that music has this incredible power to transport us to different times and places, to evoke emotions and memories that we thought were long forgotten. It's a universal language that can bring people together like nothing else can. 

For me, writing lyrics is a cathartic experience. It's a way for me to tap into my emotions, to process the world around me, and to create something that I hope will resonate with others. And when I hear my words come to life in a song, it's truly magical. It's a feeling that never gets old, and it's what keeps me coming back to music time and time again. 

I love many genres of music and artists of many genres. And if you listen to some of my songs, you will find that I like to make songs of different genres as well as mix different genres into each song. One of my all-time favorite bands is Evanescence, and I have made a lot of songs where I have tried my best to emulate that sound. 

Now, I have recently started experimenting with new sounds. I never heard of glitch beats before I took music classes, and now I'm fascinated with the sound, so I have been experimenting with glitch beats recently. 

I hope you enjoy some of my songs. And thanks so much to everyone who has been listening so far. I truly appreciate it. I welcome constructive feedback to help me grow as an artist, and I appreciate your support. ❤️





Shattered Key

VickStiX

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