1.
Hello and welcome to my song-page.
(The songs are below para 7.
Please scroll down)
(The songs are below para 7.
Please scroll down)
I like to write songs
But I cannot really sing
Nor play any musical instrument
So:
I only seek a songwriting break
in the US, UK, Canada, Australia or New Zealand
But I cannot really sing
Nor play any musical instrument
So:
I only seek a songwriting break
in the US, UK, Canada, Australia or New Zealand
I prefer to write songs that others are not very likely to write
And I may be one of India's
Unknown pioneering songwriters
in English
So far I have heard
only one original song
in English
by an Indian
predating my songs
(I started writing in 1975):
"Love is a Mango"
by Dilip Balakrishnan
written in 1969
On Remo Fernandez's website or wikipedia
I learnt he had written a song at age 14
which would be 1967
But I haven't heard the song.
And I have no idea whether
the song is in English or Goanese
The Calcutta band "Great Bear"
which featured Dilip Balakrishnan
and existed between 1969-71
may have perhaps written some originals
But I haven't been able to dig up any.
I may have started writing songs
at a time when
every artist and band in India
only did covers
2.
My songs have received
appreciation / encouragement from:
Martin Reverby of Suicide,
Jon Foreman of Switchfoot,
Nils Lofgren of Bruce Springsteen's band,
Guy Fletcher of Dire Straits...
and some others
appreciation / encouragement from:
Martin Reverby of Suicide,
Jon Foreman of Switchfoot,
Nils Lofgren of Bruce Springsteen's band,
Guy Fletcher of Dire Straits...
and some others
3. But for the want of a songwriting break
in the US, UK, Canada, Australia or New Zealand
I have written only a very few songs
And I have wasted my existence
masquerading
as a Chartered Accountant
trapped in the emptiness between debit and credit
lost in labyrinths of life-sapping ledgers,
trapped in the emptiness between debit and credit
lost in labyrinths of life-sapping ledgers,
despairing
without hope of attaining
any
self-actualization
So
my quest for a songwriting break continues
4. After a complete circle of whims
about the soundscape for my songs,
including House and Punk to World Fusion music,
my current fascination is art post punk
with a mini rock choir,
by which I mean:
(i)
the post punk sound of guitar bass & drums
plus
(ii)
chameleon keyboards which would sound different in every song (one song piano,
one song flute, one song violin, one song strings, one song sitar, one song
church organ etc
plus
(iii)
two to four voices in tandem floating on the music instead of drowning it.
Ideally:
A
guitarist who can sing
A
Bassist who can sing
A
drummer who can sing
A
keyboardist who can sing
With
all four singing in tandem like a mini rock choir.
But you may know better about what soundscape my songs need.
5. This post contains lyrics and links to audio files of 14 of my songs below para 7:
a.
The Invisible Curse
b. What Anxiety Is The Shadow Of Freedom
b. What Anxiety Is The Shadow Of Freedom
c.
Why Are You
d.
Satan's Secret Sadness
e.
Sweetness
f.
Twisted Moonbeams
g.
Madness & Joy
h.
Sophistical Metaphysics
i.
Ode To A War Poet
j.
Now Lost
k.
The Looking Glass Syndrome
l.
Minerva
m.
Spring Rain
n.
A Providence Ordained
I have added a lyric video of a new song on the covid pandemic before the above collection of songs
Please
scroll down a bit for the songs.
The
title of this collection is "Existential Drama"
because the songs perhaps capture
the vicissitudes of life through which
the first principles of so many human ideas and beliefs
are still flawed by the fallacies of ignorance
and flawed imagination,
and some of them
flit through some of these songs like stray winds
and rage through some other songs like storms....
But I hope you will forgive and bear with
the quality of these demos because they were recorded onto a home computer
through its built in microphone ...
with a warped guitar as accompaniment. :|
the vicissitudes of life through which
the first principles of so many human ideas and beliefs
are still flawed by the fallacies of ignorance
and flawed imagination,
and some of them
flit through some of these songs like stray winds
and rage through some other songs like storms....
But I hope you will forgive and bear with
the quality of these demos because they were recorded onto a home computer
through its built in microphone ...
with a warped guitar as accompaniment. :|
6. The copyright of twelve of these songs
was registered at the Copyright Office
at the Library of Congress in Washington DC
on 14 April 2004
as advised by the office of Ms. Bonnie Raitt
to be eligible for submission to her for evaluation.
7. Links to audio files are lodged in brackets
with the description: (Click here to listen to the song)
somewhere between the titles and lyrics
of each song below.
(Their positions seem to shift this way or that
without my tinkering with them
every time I update this post.)
Sometimes the audio links throw up the message:
"Preview Not Available".
This
is not of my doing.
This
is a problem with 4shared.com
that I have not been able to decode.
If you return to the song later you may find this obstacle gone.
I have experienced this over and over
in respect of different songs at different times.
that I have not been able to decode.
If you return to the song later you may find this obstacle gone.
I have experienced this over and over
in respect of different songs at different times.
*****
Check out my songs below:
THE NEW PANDEMIC SONG
See if you enjoy it though I can't really sing nor play guitar
( Click here to listen to the song)
Want is a curse that comes built-in with life
Want is the seed of all conflict and strife
Today I sometimes wish for freedom from want
But how do I now sacrifice all that I can’t
Want has wrought political wars
And devastating religious wars
Want lies deep in the killer’s rage
Deep in the fanatic’s hate
Want has brought Mother Nature to ruin
Just as it brought our integrity to ruin
Want has built each destructive business
Sustained big crime’s heat and madness
How do I escape from want’s conquest of our conscience
The poison in Cupid’s arrows and blood stains in celebrations
If Satan truly stalks this earth "Want" must be his name
Somewhere behind all evil lurks want or what it became
Want has stoked each palace intrigue
Want has racked each rival’s fatigue
Want begets unwanted children
Want is why a home is broken
Want can lead us away from greatness
And drug our judgement with too-lateness
Want can rob our peace of mind
Want can even turn us asinine
Wish I could avenge this curse
Every day everything gets worse
Stealthily want leads us deeper into hell
The symptoms disturb and distract us
While the root cause revels within us
Want is the danger it’s not hard to tell
Wish I was courageous
Wish I had the greatness
To sacrifice a want every day
The sum of all our little self-denials
Could stamp out the devil’s vitals
And amaze us all with happiness one day
*****
WHAT ANXIETY IS THE SHADOW OF FREEDOM?
( Click here to listen to the song)
What madness warped his mind ?
What hatred gave him such a high ?
What desires choked his heart ?
What haunted him in the dark ?
What sermons did he hear ?
What tests of faith did he clear ?
What godmen was he near ?
What phantoms did he fear ?
What strange game did he like to play ?
What dragons did he seek to slay ?
What barbarism blessed his carnage ?
What ideology held him hostage ?
What delusions fogged his vision ?
What (un)holy war became his mission ?
What intolerance crowded his prayers ?
What destiny had plagued his cares ?
What wrong had he been done ?
What could never be undone ?
What poison flooded his veins ?
What injuries did he sustain ?
What ate him up inside ?
What heartbreaks did he hide ?
What curse did he have to dispel ?
What heaven is found by spreading hell ?
What pride of his was dragged in the dirt ?
What dangers did he pledge to flirt ?
What horror stalked his nightmares ?
What schemes lurked in his vacant stares ?
What trauma killed his intellect ?
What did his mirror not reflect ?
What vengeance brought him joy ?
What would he yet not destroy ?
What histories did him harm ?
What legacies did he charm ?
What paybacks did he not fear ?
What sacrifice could be so dear ?
What changes did he wish on earth ?
What turns of fate was life not worth ?
What "True Lies" whet his blazing irk ?
What harmless voices drove him berserk ?
What reasons did he love to splurge ?
What anthemised his proud dirge ?
What lessons did he leave for man ?
What could he not understand ?
What passports did he burn ?
What asylums did he spurn ?
What devotion delivers prejudice ?
What daring disguises cowardice ?
What feelings elated his last breath ?
What agony will trail his death ?
What rage and fears did he awake in man ?
What wisdom to better understand ?
What Armageddon is not mutual from the other side ?
What quirks of judgement so afflict the human mind ?
What makes humankind so graceless and faulty ?
What justice will silence the souls of the guilty ?
(Written : 11-Sep-2001 to 17-Sep-2001; previous titles ‘Inhumanity Day’ and “The Milk of Human Terror”)
*****
WHY ARE YOU ?What madness warped his mind ?
What hatred gave him such a high ?
What desires choked his heart ?
What haunted him in the dark ?
What sermons did he hear ?
What tests of faith did he clear ?
What godmen was he near ?
What phantoms did he fear ?
What strange game did he like to play ?
What dragons did he seek to slay ?
What barbarism blessed his carnage ?
What ideology held him hostage ?
What delusions fogged his vision ?
What (un)holy war became his mission ?
What intolerance crowded his prayers ?
What destiny had plagued his cares ?
What wrong had he been done ?
What could never be undone ?
What poison flooded his veins ?
What injuries did he sustain ?
What ate him up inside ?
What heartbreaks did he hide ?
What curse did he have to dispel ?
What heaven is found by spreading hell ?
What pride of his was dragged in the dirt ?
What dangers did he pledge to flirt ?
What horror stalked his nightmares ?
What schemes lurked in his vacant stares ?
What trauma killed his intellect ?
What did his mirror not reflect ?
What vengeance brought him joy ?
What would he yet not destroy ?
What histories did him harm ?
What legacies did he charm ?
What paybacks did he not fear ?
What sacrifice could be so dear ?
What changes did he wish on earth ?
What turns of fate was life not worth ?
What "True Lies" whet his blazing irk ?
What harmless voices drove him berserk ?
What reasons did he love to splurge ?
What anthemised his proud dirge ?
What lessons did he leave for man ?
What could he not understand ?
What passports did he burn ?
What asylums did he spurn ?
What devotion delivers prejudice ?
What daring disguises cowardice ?
What feelings elated his last breath ?
What agony will trail his death ?
What rage and fears did he awake in man ?
What wisdom to better understand ?
What Armageddon is not mutual from the other side ?
What quirks of judgement so afflict the human mind ?
What makes humankind so graceless and faulty ?
What justice will silence the souls of the guilty ?
(Written : 11-Sep-2001 to 17-Sep-2001; previous titles ‘Inhumanity Day’ and “The Milk of Human Terror”)
*****
( Click here to listen to the song)
Are you my soul-mate or are you not
Are you forever or are you not
Aren't you the childhood sweetheart that I used to wish for
Aren't you my contentment to the core
Are you a force of change or continuity
Are you the cause or effect of my ambiguity
Will you seep in deeper from year to year
Or will my smiles just hurt from ear to ear
Are you my soul-mate or are you not
Are you forever or are you not
Aren't you the childhood sweetheart that I used to wish for
Aren't you my contentment to the core
Are you a force of change or continuity
Are you the cause or effect of my ambiguity
Will you seep in deeper from year to year
Or will my smiles just hurt from ear to ear
Who are you ?
What are you ?
Why are you ?
What are you ?
Why are you ?
How come you sometimes hurt like a strange floating fear
Sometimes like emptiness, the truth or nostalgia
How come you sometimes comfort like a sacred soothing lie
Sometimes like a secret weapon, vengeance or the wish to die
Are you the seed of my fear of sudden redundancy
Or are you the transcendental wings of my ascendancy
Are you why I light up with uncommon sense
Or are you why I need to sustain my pretence
Who are you ?
What are you ?
Why are you ?
Have you seen the other side or will you lead me astray
Despite this doubt and confusion how come you're hard to betray
Are you guilty of arrogance, of uncovering the pitfalls of trust
If not will you show me the dungeon where your heart is caged and cursed
Are you my conscience-keeper or will you ravel me with guilt
Will you bring me tears of ecstacy or flowers that one day wilt
Will it ever matter if I don't return for you
Will you set the wind on my ashes if I burn for you
Who are you ?
What are you ?
Why are you ?
(Written: mid-1995)
Sometimes like emptiness, the truth or nostalgia
How come you sometimes comfort like a sacred soothing lie
Sometimes like a secret weapon, vengeance or the wish to die
Are you the seed of my fear of sudden redundancy
Or are you the transcendental wings of my ascendancy
Are you why I light up with uncommon sense
Or are you why I need to sustain my pretence
Who are you ?
What are you ?
Why are you ?
Have you seen the other side or will you lead me astray
Despite this doubt and confusion how come you're hard to betray
Are you guilty of arrogance, of uncovering the pitfalls of trust
If not will you show me the dungeon where your heart is caged and cursed
Are you my conscience-keeper or will you ravel me with guilt
Will you bring me tears of ecstacy or flowers that one day wilt
Will it ever matter if I don't return for you
Will you set the wind on my ashes if I burn for you
Who are you ?
What are you ?
Why are you ?
(Written: mid-1995)
*****
SATAN'S SECRET SADNESS
( Click here to listen to the song)
When the first thinking ape-men
Could not figure out the sun
"What is this undying ball ?"
They asked of everyone
Intrigued, obsessed, the first philosophers
In a tizzy, against all odds
Distilled their collective cunning and ignorance
And then created God
This God they claimed was the limit
That nothing could outshine
By their sleight of mind it soon subsumed
All space, time, life and mind
Their lord they rigged with the guts to be
Extra-universal
Man thus created what he
Could reckon any way at all
There were answers now to everything
In any which way you chose
The knaves all knew their time had come
For a harvest ready in rows
They wore grave cloaks of holy brokers
Between God and mere mortals
And human beliefs were led astray
Between thorns and false petals
Oh no
We've suffered religious bloodshed
We've heard religious lies
Still there's clamour for a nectar
That's thick with doubt-flies
A light is sought in empty darkness
A light that never was
A faith is held in unthinking awe
By a force that never was
Oh yeah
(Written : March 1997, earlier title: Strange Faith
In the 1999 reprise or plugged version, digital music arranged and performed by L.Sharma and Hari Om, except the little instrumental bits after ‘Oh no’ & ‘Oh yeah’ made up by Sourav Mitra but performed by L.Sharma and Hari Om)
*****
SWEETNESS
( Click here to listen to the song)
No road on earth is ever long
Every heartbeat carries a song
I can carry the cross of life
Life comes rushing back to life
I'm safe from the tragic course of man
I don't fret for my futile stands
I'm never uncertain of the day
So much madness melts away
I escape from chilling memories
When it's your sweetness my love
I spin in endless reveries
When it's your sweetness my love
There's nothing I need to wish for
When it's your sweetness my love
Fate waits humbled at the door
When it's your sweetness my love
Every moment is an enchanting dream
My faith is touched by magic it seems
The trickle of hope becomes a flood
I don't feel the sadness in my blood
Kind angels soothe my weary frown
A halo rests where I wear no crown
My dogging fears are tranquillised
The devil in me stands hypnotised
I get high on a dew-fresh sanity
When it's your sweetness my love
My pride is purged of vanity
When it's your sweetness my love
The sun bears not the wrath of fire
When it's your sweetness my love
I'm fulfilled unto my sublimest desires
When it's your sweetness my love
(Written : Dec-1994 to Jan-1995; previous title "When It's Your Sweetness")
*****
TWISTED MOONBEAMS
( Click here to listen to the song)
Ghosts drop dead in their frenzied flight
Wise-owls pray to the angels of light
The nightingale's song evokes plaguing insight
As twisted moonbeams derange the night
Lovers lie shattered by their heart-breaking fight
All goodness surrenders to evil sprites
Endless nightmares beget transcending fright
As twisted moonbeams derange the night
The wine has curdled to poison tonight
All music wails like the dirge tonight
Dance has turned into a heathen death-rite
As twisted moonbeams derange the night
The light looks dark and the darkness bright
Might crawls vanquished by the devil's knight
Sinners find no solace from feeling contrite
As twisted moonbeams derange the night
Twisted moonbeams ravaged my dreams
Till my silent screams could find nothing to redeem
Warped philosophies rule reason tonight
Human passions seem silly and trite
And paranoia runs a riot without respite
As twisted moonbeams derange the night
Hope gets frayed as man gets psych’d
The body live after the spirit has died
Life seems cursed and death a delight
As twisted moonbeams derange the night
Twisted moonbeams ravaged my dreams
Till my silent screams could find nothing to redeem
(Written: December 1991)
*****
MADNESS& JOY
( Click here to listen to the song)
No matter which way I close my eyes
I see something that shakes me down
Like demons, razing my life's
Sanctuaries to the ground
Oh madness, are you now the only key to all joy
Oh madness, every day adds to the tormenting void
Every time I'm stirred by a beacon of hope
The winds betray my sails
Partaking in a desperate conspiracy
Of desolation that never fails
Oh madness, are you now the only key to all joy
Oh madness, would your pleasures even visit paranoids
While life's pleasures fade like illusions in the sun
Madness throngs out to rescue anyone
Whenever new convictions start to charge me up
Life's rules will cast their spell
Until reasons explode with reasons
That perpetuate this hell
Oh madness, are you now the only key to all joy
Oh madness, could you save a spirit that's destroyed
No matter whatever my dreams inspire
They die unfulfilled deaths
All the heartbreaks I've had to swallow
Now choke me at every breath
Oh madness, are you now the only key to all joy
Oh madness, am I left with only life to be denied
While life's pleasures fade like illusions in the sun
Madness throngs out to rescue anyone
(Written: 1986)
*****
SOPHISTICAL METAPHYSICSSATAN'S SECRET SADNESS
( Click here to listen to the song)
When the first thinking ape-men
Could not figure out the sun
"What is this undying ball ?"
They asked of everyone
Intrigued, obsessed, the first philosophers
In a tizzy, against all odds
Distilled their collective cunning and ignorance
And then created God
This God they claimed was the limit
That nothing could outshine
By their sleight of mind it soon subsumed
All space, time, life and mind
Their lord they rigged with the guts to be
Extra-universal
Man thus created what he
Could reckon any way at all
There were answers now to everything
In any which way you chose
The knaves all knew their time had come
For a harvest ready in rows
They wore grave cloaks of holy brokers
Between God and mere mortals
And human beliefs were led astray
Between thorns and false petals
Oh no
We've suffered religious bloodshed
We've heard religious lies
Still there's clamour for a nectar
That's thick with doubt-flies
A light is sought in empty darkness
A light that never was
A faith is held in unthinking awe
By a force that never was
Oh yeah
(Written : March 1997, earlier title: Strange Faith
In the 1999 reprise or plugged version, digital music arranged and performed by L.Sharma and Hari Om, except the little instrumental bits after ‘Oh no’ & ‘Oh yeah’ made up by Sourav Mitra but performed by L.Sharma and Hari Om)
*****
SWEETNESS
( Click here to listen to the song)
No road on earth is ever long
Every heartbeat carries a song
I can carry the cross of life
Life comes rushing back to life
I'm safe from the tragic course of man
I don't fret for my futile stands
I'm never uncertain of the day
So much madness melts away
I escape from chilling memories
When it's your sweetness my love
I spin in endless reveries
When it's your sweetness my love
There's nothing I need to wish for
When it's your sweetness my love
Fate waits humbled at the door
When it's your sweetness my love
Every moment is an enchanting dream
My faith is touched by magic it seems
The trickle of hope becomes a flood
I don't feel the sadness in my blood
Kind angels soothe my weary frown
A halo rests where I wear no crown
My dogging fears are tranquillised
The devil in me stands hypnotised
I get high on a dew-fresh sanity
When it's your sweetness my love
My pride is purged of vanity
When it's your sweetness my love
The sun bears not the wrath of fire
When it's your sweetness my love
I'm fulfilled unto my sublimest desires
When it's your sweetness my love
(Written : Dec-1994 to Jan-1995; previous title "When It's Your Sweetness")
*****
TWISTED MOONBEAMS
( Click here to listen to the song)
Ghosts drop dead in their frenzied flight
Wise-owls pray to the angels of light
The nightingale's song evokes plaguing insight
As twisted moonbeams derange the night
Lovers lie shattered by their heart-breaking fight
All goodness surrenders to evil sprites
Endless nightmares beget transcending fright
As twisted moonbeams derange the night
The wine has curdled to poison tonight
All music wails like the dirge tonight
Dance has turned into a heathen death-rite
As twisted moonbeams derange the night
The light looks dark and the darkness bright
Might crawls vanquished by the devil's knight
Sinners find no solace from feeling contrite
As twisted moonbeams derange the night
Twisted moonbeams ravaged my dreams
Till my silent screams could find nothing to redeem
Warped philosophies rule reason tonight
Human passions seem silly and trite
And paranoia runs a riot without respite
As twisted moonbeams derange the night
Hope gets frayed as man gets psych’d
The body live after the spirit has died
Life seems cursed and death a delight
As twisted moonbeams derange the night
Twisted moonbeams ravaged my dreams
Till my silent screams could find nothing to redeem
(Written: December 1991)
*****
MADNESS& JOY
( Click here to listen to the song)
No matter which way I close my eyes
I see something that shakes me down
Like demons, razing my life's
Sanctuaries to the ground
Oh madness, are you now the only key to all joy
Oh madness, every day adds to the tormenting void
Every time I'm stirred by a beacon of hope
The winds betray my sails
Partaking in a desperate conspiracy
Of desolation that never fails
Oh madness, are you now the only key to all joy
Oh madness, would your pleasures even visit paranoids
While life's pleasures fade like illusions in the sun
Madness throngs out to rescue anyone
Whenever new convictions start to charge me up
Life's rules will cast their spell
Until reasons explode with reasons
That perpetuate this hell
Oh madness, are you now the only key to all joy
Oh madness, could you save a spirit that's destroyed
No matter whatever my dreams inspire
They die unfulfilled deaths
All the heartbreaks I've had to swallow
Now choke me at every breath
Oh madness, are you now the only key to all joy
Oh madness, am I left with only life to be denied
While life's pleasures fade like illusions in the sun
Madness throngs out to rescue anyone
(Written: 1986)
*****
( Click here to listen to the song)
Need we make time to discover the key
To the universe within us
How do we feel all that we feel
And think thoughts that occupy us
Is there an essence to our existence
Or is it a ghostly concert in vain
Is every joy that delights us deeply
To be diluted by some pain
Need we make time for the wonder of love
And selflessness to spate
Is desire the ultimate cause in our lives
Through happiness unto hate
Is it vain to lead and gratifying to serve
Can world brotherhood come to its prime
Are we the living as large as life
Or want-ridden absurdities enchanted by time
Is mind and matter a part of God
Or is it all but dust
Are pleasures all inroads to salvation
Or breaches in an ascetic trust
Does every harmful destructive thought
Rebound upon the conscience
How clearly is goodness defined today
With invincible convictions
Do we just pride to be mindless soldiers
Or do we rejoice at peace
Do we sparkle with inner light
Through times lost to the unholy darknessSometimes the reasons of the heart
The mind just cannot understand
Sometimes the spirit of the mind
Deserts the body where it stands
Sometimes the immortality of love and labour
Justifies my existence
Sometimes the certainty of death
Makes everything so meaningless
(Written: 1986-87. Previous Titles: “The Poopy Goopy Song” and “Na-Na-Na”)
*****
ODE TO A WAR POET
( Click here to listen to the song)
Will you now praise or curse this hazy dazy war ?
Could you ever tell what it was ever for ?
Is this how we sought to stop an amorphous angry force ?
With a scrambled up scapegoat running for life as a recourse ?
Who blurred the wisdom, wisely misjudged it all ?
Who 'cranked' the pretexts for the clarion call ?
Is war the symptom of heat in the head
When the course is uncertain and compassion dead ?
Will the justice of poets
Soon beg to be blind ?
Will we ever know it?
What soothes your hurting mind ?
Will you contraband the blind drug of ambiguous glory ?
Will you uncover the untruths that at times are so scary ?
Will you hear out what's been lost in exquisite vain ?
Or will you move mountains to show some profit from pain ?Are the dividends of war much sweeter than peace ?
Are arms dealers the cure or the disease ?
Who robs the fervour of the marching song
While doubts and dilemmas weaken the strong ?
Will the justice of poets
Soon beg to be blind ?
Will we ever know it?
What soothes your hurting mind ?
How do you judge the endless crusades of ever-hungry man ?
Is your conscience still standing or blown asunder and lost in the sand ?
Who wins, who loses from the uncountable collateral death ?
Who gains freedoms ? Who gains peace? Who gains threats ?
Why are some soldiers disillusioned today ?
Why have some prisoners huddled up to pray ?
Is all the hatred and fear a sign of decay ?
Who will be vindicated and who should have to pay ?
Will the justice of poets
Soon beg to be blind ?
Will we ever know it?
What soothes your hurting mind ?
(Words : May-June 2004; Melody : Aug 2004)
*****
*****
ODE TO A WAR POET
( Click here to listen to the song)
Will you now praise or curse this hazy dazy war ?
Could you ever tell what it was ever for ?
Is this how we sought to stop an amorphous angry force ?
With a scrambled up scapegoat running for life as a recourse ?
Who blurred the wisdom, wisely misjudged it all ?
Who 'cranked' the pretexts for the clarion call ?
Is war the symptom of heat in the head
When the course is uncertain and compassion dead ?
Will the justice of poets
Soon beg to be blind ?
Will we ever know it?
What soothes your hurting mind ?
Will you contraband the blind drug of ambiguous glory ?
Will you uncover the untruths that at times are so scary ?
Will you hear out what's been lost in exquisite vain ?
Or will you move mountains to show some profit from pain ?Are the dividends of war much sweeter than peace ?
Are arms dealers the cure or the disease ?
Who robs the fervour of the marching song
While doubts and dilemmas weaken the strong ?
Will the justice of poets
Soon beg to be blind ?
Will we ever know it?
What soothes your hurting mind ?
How do you judge the endless crusades of ever-hungry man ?
Is your conscience still standing or blown asunder and lost in the sand ?
Who wins, who loses from the uncountable collateral death ?
Who gains freedoms ? Who gains peace? Who gains threats ?
Why are some soldiers disillusioned today ?
Why have some prisoners huddled up to pray ?
Is all the hatred and fear a sign of decay ?
Who will be vindicated and who should have to pay ?
Will the justice of poets
Soon beg to be blind ?
Will we ever know it?
What soothes your hurting mind ?
(Words : May-June 2004; Melody : Aug 2004)
*****
NOW LOST
We have lived
So we must die
I wonder if we'll ever like to think of why
We have loved
So we must long
Why does it hurt so when my love is strong ?
So we must die
I wonder if we'll ever like to think of why
We have loved
So we must long
Why does it hurt so when my love is strong ?
Have we found
That we must lose ?
Why can't memories transmute into their sources if they choose ?
We have ailed
So craved for joy
Can this life ever give back what it destroys ?
That we must lose ?
Why can't memories transmute into their sources if they choose ?
We have ailed
So craved for joy
Can this life ever give back what it destroys ?
I am now lost in this good life
Until I can accost the truths I find
Until I can accost the truths I find
Have we strayed
Will we struggle with guilt
Behind strange walls that we can learn to build
Have we changed
That it seems strange
When life can't bear the things that we arrange
Will we struggle with guilt
Behind strange walls that we can learn to build
Have we changed
That it seems strange
When life can't bear the things that we arrange
I am now lost in this good life
Until I can accost the truths I find
Until I can accost the truths I find
We've had doubt
So we sought strength
Though all of human wisdom seemed a big pretense
We had prayed
So we had hope
That we could overrule what life had wrote
So we sought strength
Though all of human wisdom seemed a big pretense
We had prayed
So we had hope
That we could overrule what life had wrote
I am now lost in this good life
Until I can accost the truths I find
Until I can accost the truths I find
(Written: mid-December 2001
Alternate title: “Lost in This Good Life”)
Alternate title: “Lost in This Good Life”)
*****
If you love me I will love you too
If you hate me I will hate you too
If you leave me I will leave you tooIf you deceive me I will deceive you too
Everything I say
Everything I do
Everything I feel
Depends on you
If you choose me I will choose you too
If you lose me I will lose you too
If you scream for me I will scream for you
If you stream in me I will stream in you
Every single game
Every single ruse
Every drama of my life
Depends on you
If you're high with me I'll be high with you
If you deny me I will deny you too
If you die for me I will die for you
If you cry for me I will cry for you
Every single daze
Every single clue
All my odd reflexes
Depend on you
If you save me I will save you too
If you betray me I will betray you too
If you long for me I will long for you
If you're strong by me I'll be strong by you
Everything I stake
Everything I strew
Every time I win or lose
Depends on you
If you love me I will love you
(Written: March 1998)
*****
( Click here to listen to the song)
Minerva, my Minerva
Secret of my life
You've come and set me dreaming again like a child
I had lost my sense and direction
I was talking to myself all the time
Till you released the frozen flood
Of visions that were mine
Minerva, my Minerva
Secret of my life
You've come and set me dreaming again like a child
Naked blades of insanity
Wagered upon my life
Till you came and washed the wounds and cleared
The cobwebs from my mind
Minerva, my Minerva
Secret of my life
You've come and set me dreaming again like a child
Stumbling through delusions
I looked for honour in vain
Till touched by your enlightenment
I was delivered beyond disdain
Minerva, my Minerva
Secret of my life
You've come and set me dreaming again like a child
Naked blades of insanity
Wagered upon my life
Till you came and washed the wounds and cleared
The cobwebs from my mind
Minerva, my Minerva
Secret of my life
You've come and set me dreaming again like a child
(Words: 1977-78, Melody: 1980)
*****
SPRING RAIN
( Click here to listen to the song)
It was a sunny evening of a drizzling sky
All nature looked so pleased
As man surrendered to serenity
A rainbow appeared in the east
Dream-washed trees in spring-green leaves
Under sunset copper clouds
As ever a sight of sheer delight
Until claimed by night's shrouds
Spring Rain, I'll await you for again
Springtime rain has magic
The world seems full of love
Everything seems happy
More than they deserve
Spring Rain, I'll await you for again
Springtime rain has magic
The world seems in the thrall of peace
All the guns seem to be silent
For all the innocents deceased
Spring Rain, I'll await you for again
Like unexpected satisfaction
Of unspoken desires
Spring rain heaves my love for life
And leaves my spirit higher
Flying higher
Spring Rain, I'll await you for again
Springtime rain has magic
All want it seems to sate
The spirit savours some selflessness
Defying the ghosts of hate
Spring Rain, I'll await you for again
(Written: 1985, modified 2002)
*****
A PROVIDENCE ORDAINED
( Click here to listen to the song)
I can use more sunshine
I can use more rain
Give me back my rousing winds
Take away my pain
For I've been ordained
A Providence Ordained
Take away that emptiness
Thaw out all the time that froze
Free me from all sense of loss
Surround me with my hope
For I've been ordained
A Providence Ordained
Tell me now
Tell me how
I wonder why
This dream has come to life
I've been ordained
A Providence Ordained
Find me all my laughter
Find me all I like
Light up all my freedoms
Darken my dislikes
For I've been ordained
A Providence Ordained
Drive away the dangers
Dry away my wounds
Unweave every harmful spell
Weave back all my tunes
For I've been ordained
A Providence Ordained
Tell me now
Tell me how
I wonder why
This dream has come to life
I've been ordained
A Providence Ordained
(Written: May 2003)
*****
