Random – George Blamey-Steeden

A HAT FULL OF SONGS

‘Charleville-Mézières Poster Display’

I guess like any art form sometimes you have to look back to places where creativity came easy – back to when words and melody were best mates – to when a hat full of songs pretty much created themselves. Looking back at photos of personal memories and things that made you think generally works.

‘Musée La Coupole – Holocaust Exhibit’

‘Boulogne-sur-Mer – view from the ramparts of The Old Town’

‘The Ardennes – Gowns designed by Madame La Guillotine?’

‘Inside The French Tree of Creativity’

Here’s a piano piece from my RAINBOWS END album. The album is mainly songs with just a couple of instrumentals, of which, the number ‘Castaway’ is one.

If you’re interested in my inexpensive PROMO VIDEOS FOR AUTHORS hit the link here or aim at the one at the top of this blog.

As ever, if any poets out there are interested in having their poems turned into songs then click here to check it out: POETRY TO SONG

If you are looking for all my other music then you’ll find it to download on BANDCAMP or you can stream and/or make a playlist of it on SPOTIFY

If you’re thinking about new t-shirts and similar for the summer, you might be interested in ZOOLON’S MERCHANDISE

PLACES I MISS

‘I swear it is true, the past isn’t dead, it’s alive, it is happening, in the back of my head’
Agnes Obel

‘And if I’m blinded, will my eyes become the planets?’
Aurora Aksnes

‘Each town looks the same to me, the movies and the factories’
Paul Simon

‘Darkness creeps in like a thief and offers no relief’
Peter Gabriel

An old song in demo mode called ‘Rebirth’. I hope you enjoy;

If you’re interested in my inexpensive PROMO VIDEOS FOR AUTHORS hit the link here or aim at the one at the top of this blog.

As ever, if any poets out there are interested in having their poems turned into songs then click here to check it out: POETRY TO SONG

If you are looking for all my other music then you’ll find it to download on BANDCAMP or you can stream and/or make a playlist of it on SPOTIFY

If you’re thinking about new t-shirts and similar for the summer, you might be interested in ZOOLON’S MERCHANDISE

I’LL SETTLE FOR ADIEU

‘Un jour, je reviendrai’

Living proof a lyricist can get away with murder. Here’s some new words I’ve been playing around with.

Give me an illusion, a multi-coloured fusion
Give me back that sense of deja vu
Give me toast and honey, car keys and loads of money
And a guarantee that when I find you there’s no queue

I don’t need suntan lotion when I’m drowning in an ocean
And you’re dancing on the shoreline, what a view
I’ll take you to Morocco, we’ll dine on coke and taco
If you change your mind will Santiago do?

Although it might sound crazy, the truth is I get lazy
But if I can write you a brand new song I might pull through
If I can’t then I will borrow, an epitaph from tomorrow
And hope you never say au revoir ‘cause I’ll settle for adieu

Keeping up the French theme, a short piece that sounds more French on every replay. I must have been missing the place when I composed this one. I hope you enjoy.

As ever, if any poets out there are interested in having your poems turned into songs then click here to check it out: POETRY TO SONG

If you are looking for all my other music then you’ll find it to download on BANDCAMP or you can stream and/or make a playlist of it on SPOTIFY

If you’re thinking about new t-shirts and similar for the summer, you might be interested in ZOOLON’S MERCHANDISE

LIVING INSIDE YOUR HEAD

‘Last year in Berck, south of Le Touquet’

I can’t see me back in Berck any time soon. Anyway, some happier words for a change.

You can’t travel in your body
So you travel in your mind
No tickets, no passports
You left reality behind

Yesterday, off to New York
Tomorrow, off to Rome
Today, who knows where you’ll end up
Take a break and stay at home?

Possibilities are endless
All dreamed up asleep and in your bed
Maybe that’s the way it should be
You know – living inside your head

No diseases, no terrorists
No departure lounge delays
No obstacles, no worries
Just dream on those dreamy days

All the safest places at the moment are ‘Hidden Beneath’ – so is this number. I hope you enjoy;

As ever, if any poets out there are interested in having your poems turned into songs then click here to check it out: POETRY TO SONG

If you are looking for all my other music then you’ll find it to download on BANDCAMP or you can stream and/or make a playlist of it on SPOTIFY

If you’re thinking about new t-shirts and similar for the summer, you might be interested in ZOOLON’S MERCHANDISE

PICTURES FROM ISOLATION CENTRAL

‘Things to do when in lockdown’

It’s become a challenge now. I’m 10 days in to my lockdown and so far I’ve not stepped outside the house at all. Not even once. Not even to clean the seagull shit off my car. I’ve seen it from the window. It’s not a denim blue car anymore. I don’t fancy cleaning it just yet.

It’s still vitamin D tab day every day. At least the tabs – unlike the sun – are ready and waiting for me at breakfast time.

I’ve been wondering what the world record for self-isolation lockdown is? Google doesn’t know. It’ll be sad if I break the record without knowing I’d done it. Nothing comes easy.

So, no outside photos to take. Instead some pictures of pictures hanging on the walls. The same walls that have me in lockdown.

‘Lockdown boredom’

‘The lockdown girl from The Pigeons Are Switzerland album cover’

‘No humans; clean water’

‘Doesn’t everyone have a pic of their mum? Maybe, maybe not. I was 10 when this one was taken on the day she and dad finally got married. That was the day my dad – joking I hope – said, “George, at last you are only a bastard in one sense of the word”

To my slow build, semi-surreal, composition, ‘Dead Rain’, today’s music for the blog post.

As ever, if any poets out there are interested in having your poems turned into songs then click here to check it out: POETRY TO SONG

If you are looking for all my other music then you’ll find it to download on BANDCAMP or you can stream and/or make a playlist of it on SPOTIFY

If you’re thinking about new t-shirts and similar for the summer, you might be interested in ZOOLON’S MERCHANDISE

THE MUSICIAN’S CURSE

‘Following on from the graffiti blog post of last week here’s another similar – except it’s artistically rubbish – pic. This one got a few laughs doing the family and friends rounds a while back. If you check out the ‘Cyclists Dismount’ sign you’ll see why. It doesn’t say a lot for Kyran’s mum, whoever she might be.’

Going through my unused skeleton lyrics from 2012 that I’d discovered on yet another long forgotten external hard drive I found this one. Did I really write that? Guess I must have. Talk about teenage angst!

My past is in my pocket
My future in my hands?
I’ve thrown away the worry beads
The old dreams and other plans

Lost myself to the bogeyman
Visiting tomorrow’s new dark place
Couldn’t find the exit door
Got lost without a trace

Save your pointless prayers for others
Don’t waste your time on me
I’ve got no need for divine words
Besides, blind faith’s a mystery
A mystery to me

They say there’s beauty in my mind’s eye
No one ever gets to see
Since moving on means turning back
Since the sound of music set me free

Time for music. First, my number ‘Sunlight & The Dust’ for no other reason than it jumped the thousand streams hurdle on ReverbNation last week. Apparently that’s rare’ish on that platform. It’s a shame I haven’t got the same stat on SPOTIFY – then again I only joined them recently;

Lastly, a guitar jam backing track – Punk Pop Groove – that works as something to listen and maybe write to. I hope you enjoy;

If any poets out there are interested in having your poems turned into songs then click here to check it out: POETRY TO SONG

If you are looking for all my other music then you’ll find it to download on BANDCAMP or you can stream and/or make a playlist of it on SPOTIFY

THE WORLD ENDED AT MIDNIGHT

The ceiling of my favourite Turkish restaurant

Twice a week I go down to the café for a free breakfast, usually the eggs Benedict with mushrooms on the side that I’m addicted to, and as ever the old fool – I’ll not name – gives out his working man’s academic view of the world. Like how some politicians seem to be promoting racism and ignoring climate change – stuff like that. I’ve always got stuck on his theory that without the evolution of human consciousness nothing has ever existed. If nothing else, that idea has prompted these words.

The world ended at midnight
No one noticed at all
The lights weren’t on anyway
No one saw the sky fall

The Earth slipped off its axis
The moon took a holiday
The air we breathed turned to poison
We all died anyway

Consciousness has vanished
As was, as is, as now
No one to go to war with
No sacred holy cow

Right now there is no history
A closed door without lock or key
Without a past and present
There is no destiny

A void is not a nothing
The void is there all right
It’s just the sun gave up the ghost
There is neither day nor night

If it can’t be measured
Time does not exist
If souls can’t reach out to each other
Souls cannot persist

Music time. A ‘Dirty Rock Groove’ from Volume One of my backing tracks album. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s not just music for songwriters to play around with. These types of tracks make for just listening as well. I hope you enjoy;

If any poets out there are interested in having your poems turned into songs then click here to check it out: POETRY TO SONG

If you are looking for all my other music then you’ll find it to download on BANDCAMP or you can stream and/or make a playlist of it on SPOTIFY

THE LADY WHO SPEAKS OF INTERESTING THINGS

‘Earlier That Night’ – adapted from a photo by Christian Lagereek

Why me? I couldn’t work out what was happening at first. The sky looked weird. There’s not too much light pollution on the coast yet this night the sky had no flickering stars nor the black blanket the stars take a rest on. It wasn’t sea mist, clouds or fog either. It was big and getting bigger all the time. It didn’t take long before it filled the sky with somethingness. Only then did I work it out. The moon had decided to crash into the earth and there was nothing I could do about it.

All around me, people not looking up. Happy smiling people without a clue what was about to happen. I tried to tell them but although my mouth mimed the words the words weren’t coming out. Fear and anger. Anger and fear.

Soon I could see not just the outlines of the moon’s craters like you would with a telescope. This time I could see them clearly, like people on holiday flying over the Grand Canyon, except that I was looking up while they’d be looking down. I figured I had about five minutes to live. The bloke on his mountain bike who passed by didn’t have a clue, nor the group of girls sat on the bench eating their takeaway something. It was probably for the best they weren’t looking up. That way they’d die without having to get stressed about it.

Then I remembered that the lady from Vladivostok who always speaks of interesting things was arriving later to cut my hair. That’s when I woke up.

Here’s both the lyric & the song, ‘Ticking Clock’. I hope you enjoy;

In this land
The sky only knows
How to rain and how to hide us from the sun
The ticking clock
Stuck in reverse
They lead us all backwards to when time had just begun

Pretending all along they had a plan a morale plan
The chatter of the mindless now has made this mess
Made this mess

In this place
Threats turn to war
Bombs and poor excuses feed the starving hawk
The ticking clock
Stuck in reverse
Can we leave these leaders fighting on their own?

from Dream Rescuer, released May 15, 2017

If any poets out there are interested in having your poems turned into songs then click here to check it out: POETRY TO SONG

If you are looking for all my other music then you’ll find it to download on BANDCAMP or you can stream and/or make a playlist of it on SPOTIFY

SHE COULDN’T HELP HERSELF

‘Black Widow Marionette’ – Artwork by Johan Swanepoel

All decent blokes support the feminists. However, in one society the masculists – is that a real word? – need a helping hand. You probably knew this already. In case you didn’t, ‘Black widow spiders are arachnids that are known for the females’ unique appearance and tendency to eat their mates’ – courtesy of livescience.com.

The spider climbed the old brick wall
He was looking for a bed
He’d left his web unattended
At least that’s what he said

By the time he’d reached the rooftop
He stopped to take a rest
And that was when he saw her
She looked great, he was impressed

So he thought that he must tell her
She was the most beautiful black spider girl
She smiled and said ‘thank you, Sir’
And gave him a sexy twirl

Later, under a full moon
They made love on a chimney stack
When that was over and done with
Was the time of her attack

She didn’t plan to do it
It’s just the way that she was made
She ate him alive for supper
Straight after getting laid

She never could help herself
Every lover she had got ate
Not one of them escaped her bite
Was it bad luck or was it fate?

Today, just my ‘heartbeat silhouette’ song called ‘Tick Tock’. I hope you enjoy.

If any poets out there are interested in having your poems turned into songs then click here to check it out: POETRY TO SONG

If you are looking for all my other music then you’ll find it to download on BANDCAMP or you can stream and/or make a playlist of it on SPOTIFY

LETTER IN A BOTTLE

‘Claudette Colbert still from Cecil B. DeMille’s ‘Cleopatra’ movie 85 years ago’

He was thinking to himself that he’d never written a letter. A proper letter, using a pen and paper. A letter he would write, sign and post. He decided he’d have a go although the absence of pre-emptive text was worrying him. His spelling wasn’t that great. After more thought he came up with the idea of writing a love letter. The only problem being that he didn’t know who to write to as he didn’t know anyone. Because of that he went for a random ‘too whom it may concern’ type of letter.

After going down to the shops to get hold of a pen (he didn’t own a pen) and paper (the only paper he had at home was toilet paper) he wrote his love letter. The letter didn’t say much. Just his address and a couple of lines that read, “Dear Whoever You Are, I’m looking for a soul mate to love. If you’re interested please get in touch, Yours Sincerely, Джордж” – his dad was Russian.

The only problem was that he had a letterbox phobia so instead of posting the letter in the post-box up the road he went down the seafront. It was handy he lived by the sea. He took with him the letter, an empty bottle and a cork. He was pleased to have thought of this idea because had he posted the letter in an envelope it didn’t have a forwarding address written on it anyway. Making sure the tide was on the way out he put the letter in the bottle then stuffed the cork in, then chucked the bottle in the sea.

Cleopatra also lived by the sea. She was out walking her leopard along the shoreline when she spotted the letter in a bottle. The cork was stuck in the bottle. She tried to pull it out with her teeth. She failed, so she smashed it on the rocks, careful to pick up the pieces. Джордж’s letter made Cleo smile. She decided to reply. The stamps cost her a small fortune as she lived in Egypt and he lived England.

When Джордж received Cleo’s letter he was over the moon. He took a ship all the way to Egypt and met up with her at her grand palace. Джордж was most impressed. That night they had a meal together at a McDonald in Alexandria. They got on well and planned to meet up again the next day, even though Джордж was allergic to big cats. After Джордж had given Cleo a polite kiss and said, ‘Goodnight Cleopatra’ he went back to his hotel and wrote her this song.

Here’s Cleo’s song. I hope you enjoy;

The instrumental album this number is on is available to download via the link below;