Sketch of Artificial Intelligence

When my songwriting friend Colin Macduff (find his beautiful debut album 'The Past and the Sky" here: https://www.birnamcdshop.com/product/colin-macduff/) shared his poem 'The Rope', I asked if he'd mind if I tried to put a melody to it.

I did. This is the demo version which I'm hoping to record in a studio soon. There's an accompanying video created with footage from my phone: https://studio.youtube.com/video/yhxZxWGo0wY/edit


The Rope

Coiled, crossed, entangled in a corner
Old and wise and silent, silent as a snake
Left aside beside the new, unwanted
You dream of hands, the touch, their grip, their shape

Once you ran the span and moored our vessels
Safe between the capstan, the capstan and the quay
Once you were the rope that held us steady
Once you were the rope that cast us free

The push the pull, the swing, lasso and ladder
The tug of war when we were in our teens
The give, the take, that bound us all together
The start, the end, the knot, the way and means

Life line, last line, frayed and poorly
In my hand your strands so soft, soft and slack
In my dreams you’re running on beside me
With me all the long way – the long way out and back
With me all the long way – the long way out and back

© C Macduff & S Barr 2023

The Rope - Demo

thanks to Brian Funk for his awesome ableton plugins (again!)  https://brianfunk.com/blog/trip-hop-drums

 and join his discord MPC!

Aurora

Under the Table

Ian sent to me kindly this soulful track for collab: https://soundcloud.com/user-659662265/the-same-circle-86-bpm
Here's my sax remix with some heavy EQing on the backtrack :-)

The  Same Circle by Lou Osiavo jw Sax Remix

Midnight Blues

Just a  little song I wrote for these words...for Valentine's Day or for any day! The message is yours!

There is something, I want to say
There is something, I want to say,
There is something, I want to say to you.
I want to say to you...
I want to say to you...

There Is Something, I Want to Say

Naviar Haiku 525

vernal seas…
all day long swelling, falling
swelling, falling
 
One of the four great haiku masters, Yosa Buson studied both Japanese and Chinese poetry. He was also an accomplished painter, and most of his poems were accompanied by paintings, resulting in a more diverse and individual set of works than the one by his main historical influence, Basho.

This haiku was translated by Adam L. Kern.
 
Haiku by Yosa Buson

Picture by Cris S.

Wave Dynamics

Wave Dynamics (NaviarHaiku525)

The third streaming release in February 2024! This track also pays homage to the highly unruly Octave Cat; my first ever synth in the 1980s ... Like s-c-r-at-cH, the rhythm track for s-cat-cH is also derived from the 'unintentional' noises inherent in playing vinyl records. If you missed the links on social, a 'scatch' is either an obsolete word for 'stilt' and also a name for the bit in a horse's bridle. That might also make the promos a little clearer! Enjoy!

halF s-cat-cH

She’s nervous, she fidgets, she takes a long time in deciding 
But he could tell she wasn’t reading the menu, she was in back of it hiding 
He said, “Let’s order cocktails first
Yeah, they’re good but they don’t quench my thirst.”  

But when the rain comes to the desert 
When the rain comes to the desert 
His burning thirst for sustenance shall yield 
When the ran comes to the desert 
He’ll be healed

Her previous marriage left her mud colored glasses to see with 
And he’s recently widowed and just needs a woman to be with 
He said, “we’re in the same boat you and I
Two vodka martinis, please.  Dry

When the rain comes to the desert 
When the rain comes to the desert 
There’ll be cactus flowers blooming by the score 
When the rain comes to the desert 
It will pour 

His romantic prowess was unsharpened and he was anxious to test it 
While she discussed her ex-husband, he put his hand on her knee and caressed it 
She angrily met with his gaze 
Which set the skin around his collar ablaze 

When the rain comes to the desert 
When the rain comes to the desert 
Those pregnant clouds shall burst and shower down 
When the rain comes to the desert 
They will drown 

She flushed red and ran out, embarrassed and mumbling curses 
How many romances rescued by ladies forgetting their purses? 
He followed her off in a rush 
Through the crowd like he was cutting through brush 

When the rain comes to the desert 
When the rain comes to the desert 
The sand shall be transformed into fertile mud 
When the rain comes to the desert 
It will flood 

He said, “I’m so glad I caught up.  Here’s your purse back.  I guess I’m just out of practice”. 
She said, “I’m sorry I overreacted.  I’ve grown thorns like a cactus” 
She said, “I usually don’t kiss men in crowds” 
And the restaurant filled up with clouds 

And that’s when the rain came to the desert 
The rain came to the desert
And nothing, not one inch of it was missed. 
The rain came to the desert 
When they kissed

TurtleFrogMan

When The Rain Comes To The Desert

More on the 643rd weekly Disquiet Junto project, Stone Out of Focus — The Assignment: Make music inspired by a poem — at https://disquiet.com/0643/

This week’s project is based on a text by Yoko Ono, originally published in her book Grapefruit60 years ago, back in 1964.

Geode (disquiet0643)

Sample based Hip Hop, Golden era curator

Beats for 
Lights Out Jack
Talisman

Under the Table

Butch Brownstone

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