Wishing a happy holiday season to everyone! Enjoy my take on this Christmas classic.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

All instruments and production - Xander Mancino
Album art inspired by Titian - Sisyphus (1548) and Penguin Classics

Lyrics:
I woke up today 
Feeling like I wouldn't dare to move 
I might as well be a beetle in these sheets 
At least then I wouldn't worry 'bout the rest of the week 
If only life were as sweet as sleeping 
Or death were as sweet as dreaming 
For with each tomorrow slowly creeping 
We grunt and sweat, yet we keep on breathing 

So I tell myself to go 
Back to bed 
For another day 
Can only muddy up your head 
And so why 
Do I still get up each time? 

I woke up today 
Feeling like a kind of puppet 
Beneath a hand that pulls and swings 
To move my limbs on marionette strings 
You know that no one controls everything 
No matter the anger that brings 
No matter the words that I sing 
The bell that tolls for you forever rings 

And so I tell myself it will 
Be alright 
What's just one more day 
In the rest of your life 
And so I 
I get up every time 

'Cause Sisyphus 
He never gave up 
So neither will I 
I'll push that stone 
Up that mountaintop 
'Til the day that I die 

I walk through my days 
Feeling like another prisoner 
Bound to the chain-like folds of my brain 
Between the soft grey matter where I am detained 
And what a cruel warden lives inside me 
For the inspiration he's denied me 
So I sit at the piano idly 
With fingers flapping but no thoughts to guide me 

So it seems that there's no way 
To be free 
So I ignore everything 
That he says to me 
And then I 
Can get on with my life 

'Cause Sisyphus 
He never gave up 
So neither will I 
I'll push that stone 
Up that mountaintop 
'Til the day that I die 

Don't get me wrong 
I love the life I'm living 
But sometimes it all 
Can just seem so unforgiving 
This unrelenting forward motion 
That causes whirlwinds of emotion 
And in the deafening commotion 
I forget to let it be, and 

Maybe you 
Can join me back here 
And push this stone up too 
And when it slips 
And tumbles down from the peak 
We'll laugh and enjoy the view

Sisyphus

All instruments and production - Xander Mancino

Cover art inspired by Spring in the Trenches (1918) - Paul Nash and Penguin Classics

Borderlands

All instruments and production - Xander Mancino

Album art inspired by In the Conservatory by Edouard Manet and Penguin Classics

Lyrics:
I don't want to be away 
When the leaves start to change 
i wanna be up 
On that mountainside in the autumn rain 

I don't want to be gone 
When the first snow starts to fall 
Feels like I'll never 
See the snow again at all 

Maybe 
The weather will be kind to me 
But I can't control what you can't control 
And a storm could be breaking free 

Chorus: 
When the leaves fall 
They don't come back til next year 
And that's my greatest fear 
Though the sun still shines in winter 
I'll be freezing down here 
Without your warmth near 

Seasons 
The seasons of our love 
How come they never 
Seem to last long enough? 

Guess it's right when they say 
April's the cruelest of all months 
No longer got daffodils 
On the backs of my eyes 

There's no roots that clutch down here 
In this broke down beating sun 
All I can cling to 
Is a handful of dust 

I know 
The only constant here is change 
So I drop the needle down til the record wears out 
Common One you could never age 

Chorus

Seasons

All instruments and production - Xander Mancino
Album Art Inspired By Narcissus (ca. 1597-1599) - Caravaggio and Penguin Classics

Lyrics:
He's got thick arms and a six-pack 
A good boy with a bad past 
He's all white but he's part black 
I guess the cameras like that 

No anabolics to help him 
But he don't look like that without them 
He's at the gym 24/7 
But he spends all his time with you 

And I guess that's what we want 
Another body we can flaunt 
But you can't find him on the streets 
When he's living in the scene 

Ain't that your fantasy? 
That's what Hollywood showed to me 
I guess we'll never be 
Your fantasy 

She's got a thin waist but a big ass 
And all the guys stare when she walks past 
Her legs are closed but they open fast 
I guess she's looking to get cast 

She's a doll that can breathe too 
And there's nothing that she won't do 
But she only does it for you 
While we all enjoy the view 

And I guess that's what we want 
Another body we can flaunt 
But you can't find her on the streets 
When she's living on the screen 

Ain't that your fantasy? 
That's what Hollywood showed to me 
I guess we'll never be 
Your fantasy 

Photoshopping love x3 
Hey!

Fantasy

All instruments and production - Xander Mancino
Album Art Inspired By The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (1632) - Rembrandt and Penguin Classics

Lyrics:
Oh my EKG 
Pumping like it's a timeline 
Mapping my brightest days 
Tracing my darkest nights 
And that little space between each beat 
Of that bittersweet design 
Where it rests most of the time 

And though the timescale seems like it's seconds apart 
It could take weeks on end 
It might take years to start 
Oh but it repeats itself 
Each segment of the chart 
Every vast beating of my heart 

Chorus: 
And even though there's stasis in the spaces in between 
That doesn't mean that you're dead 
That doesn't mean 
And even though we're not always living in the peaks 
That doesn't mean that you're dead 
That doesn't mean 

Oh look at my EKG 
Moving like it's a plot chart 
It rises up to the peak 
The most exciting part 
But right after each climax 
Is when the falling starts 
Setting each lonesome beat apart 

You see, Hollywood would end 
Before the drop 
But that's never where 
Any story stops 
It seems that the highest highs 
Fall to the lowest trough 
In this vast beating of my heart 

Chorus 

I'm not trying to speak in riddles 
Although I speak in rhyme 
You see this pulsing chart 
It's not only mine 
It's ours, it's theirs 
It's all combined 
And it's been beating for all time 

Oh and throughout the universe 
Echoes a thumping sound 
As our cities rise 
And fall to the ground 
And it beats just for you 
Until it flattens out 
Oh this vast beating of our hearts

All instruments and production - Xander Mancino
Album Art Inspired By The Scream (1893) - Edvard Munch and Penguin Classics

Lyrics:
How many years do we got left 
When each new one is hotter than the rest 
Will I see the end of my days 
Through all this automotive haze 

And I've seen it with my own two eyes 
What happens when the temperatures rise 
Smoke plumes on the mountainside 
And every river running dry 
We don't have any more time 
For you to deny this 

The sky's been getting pretty thin 
From the big truck that you're sitting in 
And the oceans will solidify 
With them plastic bottles that you're buying 

And I known we'll surely see the day 
When the ice completely melts away 
And apartments will be underseas 
After just a couple more degrees 
That's why I'm begging you please 
Please don't deny this 

Don't you know we gotta slow down 
It's not a race to destroy the planet 
And a whole shit ton of scientists 
They will all agree 
That this is our responsibility 

(Aww yeah baby. You're destroying the planet with that big fat-ass camper. Why do you even need that thing, huh? Do you not have a tent? That's a damn bus. You better be letting other people on that thing. Do you know how much gas that uses?... A lot.) 

And I don't know why it's red vs. blue 
With the facts so clearly ringing true 
And the cycle ain't so natural 
See I'm only being rational 

And I sing this song for everyone 
For every creature underneath the sun 
On this earth where we all live and die 
We won't find another earth in time 
And I don't complain about a lot 
But it's just been getting so damn hot! 

Oh, I'm begging you please 
Oh, please 
Don't deny this

Denial

All instruments and production - Xander Mancino
Album Art Inspired By Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (1818) by Caspar David Friedrich and Penguin Classics

Lyrics:
I've never felt so much at peace 
The whispering from the aspen leaves 
Sings ancient myths and melodies 
Oh mountain breeze, Oh 
Oh mountain breeze 

The lake below so clear and blue 
It's like my own baptismal font 
And is it you I'm praying to 
Oh mountain breeze, oh 
Sweet mountain breeze 

And all the people down below 
They rush around as if they know 
Exactly where they're going 
And when I'm in the thick of it 
I know I act the same 
But for now 
I see the whole world turning 

Prometheus blow right through me 
Am I like you with rocky reach? 
But oh how warm this sun that beams 
Oh mountain breeze, oh 
Sweet mountain breeze 

And all the people down below 
They rush as if they know 
Exactly where they're going 
And when I'm in the thick of it 
I know I act the same 
But for now 
I see the whole world flowing 

And when I find eternal sleep 
There'll be no need for you to weep 
Just carry me back to the peak 
Oh mountain breeze, carry me away 
Oh mountain breeze 
Oh mountain breeze, carry me away 
Oh mountain breeze 
Oh mountain

Mountain Breeze

All instruments and production except Tenor Sax - Xander Mancino
Tenor Sax - Anthony Mancino
Album Art Inspired By Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Penguin Classics

Lyrics:
I'm here with you
Now ain't that reason enough to be alive
Sometimes our brains don't act like we want them to
In the end it's all alright
I may not be who you want me to be
I'm working on it all the time
But you're always who I want you to be
Even though that don't always seem right

And no one seems to want to hear about it anymore
Interpersonal connections that are crucial to our lives
But you won't find me on my deathbed crying out
For the colleges I wished that I'd applied

Chorus:
Oh my friends you've created me
Though the world is always dark you bring the light
Spread wide like a spider web
Hold me when I fall and wrap me tight

I've got friends I've been an asshole to
Now I know that's hurting me as much them
And every punch I've thrown away from me
Comes back to pluck the leaves from my own stem
Polarity Polarity
It's taken to such far extremes
But this dichotomy can help you see
What lies directly in between

And no one seems to want to hear about it anymore
Maybe it's become cliche to seek a healthy happy life
But don't blame me on your deathbed crying out
For the people that you pushed away in spite

Chorus

Pratityasamutpada
I would cease to be if not for you
I'm more you than I am myself
Ubuntu Ubuntu

Oh my friends you've created me
Though the world is always dark you bring the light
Spread wide like a spider web
Hold me when I fall and wrap me tight

Webs

Singer/Songwriter in NM / AZ

Xander Mancino is a 22 year old singer/songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist from New Mexico and living part-time in Phoenix, AZ. He plays Keyboards, Drums, Bass, and Guitar and has been playing music since second grade. Recording and producing entirely in a home studio, Xander creates all of his music by multi-tracking himself playing each instrument on top of each other and singing. Employing a diverse array of genres in his music, Xander’s style incorporates elements of jazz, folk, funk, gospel, rock, and music from all over the world. In addition, he focuses heavily on his lyrics, which are influenced by everything from ancient philosophy to rap music. Gaining an avid curiosity in music theory and arranging at a young age, Xander set out on a mission to perform with as many ensembles as he could and gain a wide knowledge of different types of music. These ensembles included jazz combos, choirs, rock bands, barbershop quartets, and jazz bands. Xander recently graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in music. With a deep love for performing and creating music, Xander’s main goal is to share his music and connect with audiences everywhere. His full EPs and albums are available on streaming services everywhere as well as iTunes and Amazon MP3.