Steve Low

Minimalist approach to JEALOUS with Guitar, bass, KB, vocals to click track. Also out on SPOTIFY a rerecording of POKER FACE with pro Auckland engineer Scot Seabight and session man Vince Not Bothering to be Jealous Had my eye on the half chance Though half would be exaggerating no? Cause she’s with that guy I hear And they’re really quite the pair But I’m not bothering. I’m not bothering, I’m not bothering To be jealous Suffering daily through her fragrance trail And her laugh behind - the office wall That guy she’s with must cavitate When she’s at his door Thank God I think at 5pm My reflection in the window of the tram Won’t think of her tonight I got songs I’m gonna write Yes I’m not bothering. I’m not bothering, I’m not bothering To be jealous Gotta go pour myself a heavy dose That calming thing Trouble is that’s when those big ideas Come flooding in Yeah I tell you what, I’ll text her now Let it all come out, this sacred cow That there is but one true love In this universe of lust So I’m not bothering. I’m not bothering, I’m not bothering To be jealous Yeah cause I know you and me Are the soul of ecstasy So I’m not bothering. I’m not bothering, I’m not bothering To be jealous

This is not my song or my voice - it's the work of Marc Steyn who I was in a duo with many years ago. Unfortunately Marc contracted a terminal illness a few years ago. He was such a perfectionist he only released songs reluctantly. I don't think this song has seen the light of day yet - A song Marc was working on in the latter years and which we extracted from his computer. I remember jamming on it when we met up to share songs at that time. Amazing memory. The photo was in the Nelson Evening Mail highlighting a house concert we put on in 2005. Also this week - out on SPOTIFY a rerecording of POKER FACE with pro Auckland engineer Scot Seabight and session man Vince

Anonymous as Cloud Where are you? I haven’t heard a sound There’s perversion of sensibility Since fools released the hound It wouldn’t take all that much To populate streets tonight Bring traffic to a standstill Like Prague in 89 We don’t need guns just numbers and belief oh yeah belief To flaunt the moral high-ground and get it on the streets There must be millions of us here With body and soul inflamed Hey where you all gone hiding You’re anonymous as cloud There’s urgency Don’t let the train leave the station The minds of the army Can be bought by mere oration Citizens Held hostage by a deranged few Think about that Don’t let it all come true

UNITED STATES Waking up to frosty landscapes Waiting on a desert sun Stopped into Nepali’s teahouse Looking down Milano’s lawn The scent of London’s summer Piquant whiff of chanel on a train Everywhere I look it’s United States Everything I hear it’s United States Where’s it going to end the United States Like their fathers before them They’re prone to crossing swords Shooting off their biggest mouth And prancing ‘round like Lords Internationals recoil Talking ‘bout the weather of their lives Met a Yankee couple at the old train station He was wringing his hands about that nation Semi comatose in Tehran Paper thin the walls around me Static and announcer’s parlance Creeping into conscious thought Crackling the searing bacon Every now and then a free man’s fate

Keeping it natural with the bass driving the rhythm and everything played and sung largely into a mic - the theme is rather self explanatory. Friend of the Fabulous Touched you are by latent hands of Gods Your face is bloated by the friend you’ve got You’ve always got the news of their stuff Someone’s elevated by their lateset bit of status You’re a friend of the fabulous It’s so good you’re almost tremulous You think that we’re hanging on your words But what’s she really like that piece of work Oh she’s just so normal and such fun Everyday’s a party oh if only we could come You’re a friend of the fabulous It’s so good you’re almost tremulous You’re a friend of the fabulous Let me bathe in your perspective You’re a friend of the fabulous If she knew us we’d be so blessed Everyday you’re locked away In your love of adulation So you’re a limpet clinging on To that association You’re a friend of the fabulous It’s the fundamental anchor of your life Like bees on speed they’re buzzing you a lot Must be more today who will feed another high

Re-recording of this 2003 song with Ted Key (Organ) and Adrian Secker (Piano). Adrian has played live with us a couple of times this year so it was a project to recreate the live sound in the studio. Back in 2003 there was no streaming and the original recording (song title 'Jack Johnson' ) was on CD and received local radio airplay for a few weeks. Spotify wouldn't accept a song titled with another artists name - hence the title change. Jack Johnson Driving up the Kawera gorge to Queenstown Looking out the windows at the cars Then you go and make a small commotion Pointing out the V-dub that went past Did you think you saw Jack Johnson Did you see a surfboard and guitar I think you’ve had way to much my friend Cause everybody here looks like a star Coronet is lovely as an ice cream We’re carving up the snow having a ball Then you go and make a small commotion Pointing out a cool dude on a board Sunday and we’re on the beach hung over Recalling when the Eichardts was a bar I feel like some kiwifruit pavlova You’re still musing bout that V-dub car

The first version of this in 2005 was a reaction to nationalism as exhibited via plane hijackings. This time the US border politics triggered a rewrite with a different chord structure and words. Just acoustic guitar and bass: back to basics! INTERNATIONAL NATIONALITY 2025 I woke up to face the day Acapulco Hilton I knew I had to catch a train to the USA I should be excited but I know I’m not I’m feeling all the fears that America’s got There are borders and a national guard There are people who are living so hard I think it’s time to make us all the same An international nationality Out of the xray beam to the border gate Who’s got a false passport are they here today? I’m looking around for a sweaty brow Has the guard gotta grudge and a sacred cow? Let’s get something underway Take away the borders of today I think it’s time to make us all the same An international nationality Free them . . . and you’ll be halfway human The children . . . let them be in arms tomorrow I’m looking out through the glass at the other’s world Seeing them through the fence where they’re all being held Who’s that getting up and walking around Are we just gonna leave without making a sound?

I was struck by an article in the Guardian 10 years ago about a woman who used to hang out and work with the Rolling Stones in the 60s and the article was about adapting to old age while having nostalgia for such a potent time in her life. For this recording I had to change one word - 70 to 80. Musically it needed to be rhythmic but melancholic: something you got from major and minor seventh songs in the mid 70s as disco kicked in YESTERDAY’S PEOPLE Yesterday’s people used to party, party, party Yesterday’s people were so cool so cool so cool There was a girl her skin so fresh and fine There was a guy as smooth as a dark red wine They were out there in a happening era Face to face so close and nearer Photogenic and oh so bold But that generation has all grown old In 69 it was crazy zany time In London town all that music going down Young people travelling - free love happening Beautiful people philosophizing Mary Jane twilight in the Mediterranean That generation they’ve all grown old If you’re talking to an 80 year old guy Remember he - was Mr cool way back in time Try to imagine the face much younger The yearning soul hormonal hunger Suite Judy blue eyes young people dancing That generation they’ve all grown old

A complete re-recording in the key played live. It was one of those recordings that sounded really messy. Dropping the fader on the acoustic guitar I'd started the whole thing off with revealed a different direction highlighting case and drums. It's about females who stand up for the community against arrogance and male chauvinism and I see them in my work environment - this song is about them.. Miss Rocket Launcher Hey hey you this Joan of Arc - Miss Rocket Launcher Love you sending into space – those flying saucers Your eyes they dart and sense corrosion You’re leaning forward in silky motion You know who is fit to govern For those who aren’t they get concussion Your elbows dent the seats of power Your rocket roars it’s getting louder Hey hey you Sister of Mercy – Miss Rocket Launcher Love it that they’re on your mind – the poor and poorer When you sense their exploitation Your voice it cracks and lips are brazen I’d hate to be your target right then A volley gone to crack their heads We’re hungry like Cohen’s Partisan We’ll force ‘em to the stones and hear the doors slam Room dust scatters as your strident voice rises Tables go silent as you render the kaisers Hey hey you this Mother Theresa – Miss Rocket Launcher Can feel the warmth inside of you – and getting warmer When they wallow in their greed You let one go and make em all flee I’m feeling for the hem of your gown The reverent touch the best to be found I know that you will win in the end And sharing it with you – what a send

A twist on the 'Appearance Medicine' phrase. APPEARANCE MEDICINE Tripping round some corridors Nothing but neon lights Floor polish and hidden voices There you are before my eyes It’s appearance medicine Like a hormone injects in a vein It’s appearance medicine A face that lights a flame S O B and tachy heart when lightning seeds a body start That jumps a gate to permeate my actual need For you with me - today This hospital’s a restaurant Medicine is the menu God’s own surgeon shaped the face That walks me to the moon It’s appearance medicine . . . Ah-huh Ah Huh da da da da da da da da It’s appearance medicine It’s appearance medicine Everyday it’s much the same Going on that ward round Floor polish and hidden voices Soon my heart it’s on the pound

New start after finishing SC and Spotify Album - Eccentricity so Beautiful. This title jumped off a page and lately in the live act we've been doing some 80s songs: I think that influenced the approach here. Decarbonizing Aviation Decarbonizing Aviation It’s a new concsiousness Vapor trails gone West Sometimes you got to make a change To keep love on forever’s path Your shaking trees are exhausting me Better a sundown heart to heart Decarbonizing Aviation – night swimming and seeing it spark Decarbonizing Aviation – going steady yeah not too fast Glaciers and shrinking Habitats and mourning Can we glide the plane back home Gotta give up on bad bad stuff Seven days of denial nights I think we know that enough’s enough

Written 11 years ago: recalls the days when music was vinyl only and a magical retreat from disabling matters of the heart 33 RPM NIRVANA Flattened faces pressed up against the glass It’s well known no-one needs to ask People talking ‘bout how I’m feeling If they were me yes they’d be reeling They’d need time and recuperation But at night I take up station Hanging around in 33 RPM Nirvana Getting away to 33 RPM Nirvana She’s a stranger that’s her right to choose Who can blame her she don’t like old news You might say she’s one go getter And why did she not treat me better I admit I loved her deeply But right now I’m kind of sleepy Hanging around in 33 RPM Nirvana Getting away in 33 RPM Nirvana I’m pulling the curtains and switching it on Watching the tone arm lower onto my black vinyl Drifting away now the music is my river Not analyzing I’m seeking separation Through the mists of time I wander What is life I’m bound to ponder Gonna get to shrug my shoulders Moving on and getting bolder Hanging around in 33 RPM Nirvana Getting away in 33 RPM Nirvana

Wrote the title phrase on a birthday card and immediately thought that's a 'song title'. The first take of the vocal was a loose ramble but I just left it in - it seemed to fit. Love Our Together Life That cliché thick and thin about loving all the time We’re not vascillating over always gotta rhyme Doubling up in laughter keeps an even keel And getting to a sweet spot finally it’s real We drove out to the cliff and back Now it’s all about giving back It’s life upon a road with little jobs to do And a race across the sand to share the view It’s pouring out the drinks as the sun dips down And talking ‘bout the people who we see around Love our together life Love our together life Back in days of war it was tight in the lip And the putting up of walls with a face half lit Cause expectations could never be met And it takes a lot of years to wind it back to less Yeah giving up on hurt and feeling how it was In the years embryonic burning hot And the psyche bathed in the songs of the time But transplanting now to a wiser kind of rhyme

GREATEST HITS I’m blowin’ notes streetside in a horn section Blown garbage and coppered boots all gone tangling. You’re Bixby’s Bridge above Kerouac’s canyon. Way above the ruts in your trending fashion You’ve been playin’ me your greatest hits. But I need from you something ordinary (Like) Falling vacant down a slip What capture’s me is the fragmentary - humanity You’re all coiff n pressed jeans uber-reaching Gripping on to a scene and about it beseeching You’re jetting over Miller’s Big Sur resident shack History is nothing but a scratch on your back You’ve been playin’ me your greatest hits. . . But I need from you something ordinary (Like) A eureka moment guilt trip What capture’s me is the fragmentary – humanity What was I just a birthright the right side of the tracks But egalitarian ideas caught you in a trap Trying to show a social conscience don’t come naturally Such a handbrake on life’s beckoning verdant tapestry You’ve been playin’ me your greatest hits. . . You’ve been playin’ me your greatest hits. . .

I was fortunate to attend the International Health Institute conference in London last month and there were sessions run by a woman so passionate and committed to change to improve the delivery of healthcare to the masses and I thought her partner would be so proud . . . Eccentricity so Beautiful While life and limb can shatter It’s only hearts that matter - In our world - Darlin’ girl You’re out there proselytizing. And it’s so mesmerising - that’s your way – an ordinary day Something about you rising up Is cutting through my filling heart - it’s only love On your soap box agent change With so much to de-arrange - with a blast Eccentricity so Beautiful (that’s you girl -it’s your world) Those rank iconoclasts Bathe in their master class - impervious - in Ivory towers Talk as if they’ve got the plan Line up and shake their hands - feel the grip - the hand of power You’re raisin’ it from ground up Changing at the speed of trust – with such feel Building leaders everywhere Co-produce no limit skies – that’s our dream Eccentricity so Beautiful (that’s you girl -it’s your world) Exhausted but so energized - Trying to catch you in the eye - Need you close. I call you aphrodisiac - Hotel room take care of that – On that note

Harmony laden lyrical acoustic rhythmic soul Between Abstraction and Representation You don’t know which way to stand Is the light favorable? Or is black now passe I guess it’s all debatable I’m trailing in your scent You’re LA then New York Ghosting like the Zephyr Train Making sure you walk the walk You’re caught there in between abstraction and representation They watch you in between abstraction and representation Though you deny you seek to impress It’s other women for whom you get dressed In and out of the closet you float Strapping and weave – girdle and hose Delaunay or Cassatt? Hey honey bring it all back Home . . . I could be jealously mad Seeing all that attention you grab But bedroom’s night is painting your curves And only I will get to observe

Thunder Pants Too bad I was your Rembrandt in waiting Though you sensed you were Ms Convenience So many days in a chamber debating Instead of between sheets of Salinas There you go again Mount Vesuvius – in your hands Manufacturing pain Emphatically – Thunder Pants (your cross you bear is burning dangerously near) (Here seeking comfort from anxiety wizened) So soon the ejector seat after the thrill Brings the acid to the back of your teeth You can’t let it go like a Janice girl So it’s almost time to lay a wreath A rational man would cut you dead But testosterone makes fools of the best Sometimes it seems that you’re talking nice But I know it’s the crack end of the bench It’s a midday roast and my tongue is dry Anticipating that rapier sledge

WHEN YOU FINALLY L:EAVE Future sunset Omarama Knowing only you will see It’s a low brow shrinking ceiling A contract without words It’s the thick of family Harbinger of lonely hearts The fate of you and me And when you finally leave We gotta face it courageously When you finally leave We gonna have to suck it up – it’s the right thing to do We gonna have to draw down on memory Fate is born by trajectory Attraction mangles fences Leaving snow grass blowing free And how the years were kind to us Yearning for the workplace The weekends oh so bleak And when you finally leave . . . Instrumental You got a date stamp – a black hole in the sky - And I got to make way You and your Omarama – we’ll both be conscience free But how will we feel? . . . Cause when you finally . .

There's a fantastic 70s leaning pop-rock album Ticket to Shangri-La released in 2023 (Young Gun Silver Fox) with a song called Starting Wars. I miss heard and mis-read the title as Starling Wars which seemed a great metaphor for something. It could have applied to a relationship - but the 2 wars going on became the theme Starling Wars You fly in to foul my nest Seeing red I puff out my chest Aiming at your catacombs Dropping all my guano bombs Flit across and I peck at you Cause my beliefs are the only truth Starling wars it’s about pecking order Starling wars gonna bomb your son and daughter I ruffle your feathers You think that you’re better Ethnically superior The plumage of an emperor Gonna peck my eye’s right out Squawk about it loud and proud Starling wars it’s about pecking order Starling wars gonna bomb your son and daughter Em7 Dma7 Ami7 G Bb/C F F#m7 B Underneath there’s the dove of peace Peeking out at the busy streets I Wrap your eggs neath protective wings Drop a flower confess my sins Fleeting thought it just flies away Revenge is sweet gonna make you pay Starling wars it’s about pecking order Starling wars gonna bomb your son and daughter

I saw this headline in The Guardian and thought 'song title'. It gives us humans something else bizarre to wrestle with. AI FAKE NUDES ARE BOOMING THIS YEAR She comes up from harborside. Anchor orange and rusty grind Flanks of friends - jaded eyes Curve and laugh make me decide She spins a deft Utopia Now I’m starving Ethiopia. But AI fake nudes are booming this year. Look em in the eye there’s a smiling stare AI fake nudes are booming this year Say what you like and they won’t care Summer winds they soon abate While the hooks are steel and barbed Now the quips ingratiate And the bedroom falls apart She spins a deft Utopia Now I’m starving Ethiopia. But AI fake nudes are booming this year. . . Wallowing into internet Chained by fingers’ rings How something grew from nothing And finished less than that She spins a deft Utopia . . . AI fake nudes are booming this year. . .

Aside from musical satisfaction and $$$ - the motivations for artists to keeping going can be an addiction to the love from the audience. SCREAMING AND THROWING UNDIES Take my time with plug-ins Connection satisfaction Waving arms like a summons Pointy introductions And soon I’m ridin’ minor sevenths Endorphins in my canal I’m like a godly presence As music funks it’s way around But the pessimist inside – says shoot me your lovin’ arrows Cause the deficit is – oh - the needing of something so shallow Gimme screaming and throwing undies (love me love me love me) Gimme screaming and throwing undies Career or labour of love Try and define it Eyeing up those at the front Is anyone buyin’ it I’m phrasing out the words I wrote Looking for misty eyes Reaching for a soulful note Into clover wrap me tight Nature’s opium ride Musicality Bathing up here in spotlight Dopamine alchemy Yeah I’m riding . . .

Taking only about 30 min to write this seemed a bit of a throw away but had 'live' potential and so it proved. Looking back through life there's moments you would change if you could . . . See Yourself as Yourself Look back - go back - look in the rear view mirror And see yourself as yourself and shudder ‘Bout decisions and actions Thinking ‘bout her, flood the mind And hormone’s, long slow torture Shock of her face, hair in a state Can I just go, walk with her No no no – verboten – society thick in the air – claustrophobia Look back - go back - look in the rear view mirror And see yourself as yourself and shudder ‘Bout decisions and actions Seeing that, ‘out for myself’ thing Yeah, that gotta go, grab that pleasure Could’ve done that man, some real good But instead, closed up shop early Grim effort – rode a wave – he’ll be back tomorrow – ok! Get back look back, look in the rear view mirror And see yourself as yourself and shudder ‘Bout decisions and actions Yeah yeah yeah. Wo ho a couple of memories There’s so many more Yeah yeah yeah, so many more, try to bury them yeah

When that title slipped into my mind it was all go and the early verse work felt bluesy with certainly blue notes to sing. The chorus wrote itself around the title with jazz chords. Changing key to the variation was natural enough but quite a long journey back to the verse again. Art in her Bones Out on the left - she’s made it her home Some think she’s weird – and likely getting’ stoned alone But I’m on the hook - just reel me in It’s the art in her bones - that makes her what she seems to be The art in her bones - makes a thrill inside of me Sometimes at night- she wakes from a dream She runs to her paint – got to liberate that scene Then after an hour - she’s layin’ back down It’s the art in her bones . . . She don’t deal with accounts and rates and supermarkets She’s driftin’ through hazy lanes and blocks of colour And something someone said three nights ago She put that friend in embargo Gotta work it through on canvas - then they’ll thaw in a tryst They’ll work it out – those ladies of rhyme They just need the moon – to tell them when the time is right And me I can wait – for that special night When she gives she’s layin over us Starlight curves across her body real – we’re playin’ seals Lazy floppy as the sunlight grows We talk of us as forever – and after that still together Neath the door’s a gentle zephyr Hey let us rise – it’s quarter to one In the café - love our whacky talkie fun The way she sees things – my soul it just sings

3rd recording of this song which an African American producer contracted off Broadjam for a year but nothing was delivered. In the last few years I changed the structure of it to suit playing live - with the 2 chords in the chorus on repeat we can drag the ending out in an extended jam - easy money! So this is that version recorded as a studio track this week Dream Destination 3 Dudes are asking where to go If you gotta choice to go Where to go where to go Somewhere funky with ya beau Hey wait up doll n tell me honey What is your dream destination? Where in the world you wanna go? We’ll I’ll tell you babe just what I know My dream destination it’s you right here My dream destination it’s you – anywhere Some are junkies for the city London Paris they’re not picky I say nah I’m gonna park it In a wasteland like the arctic Chorus Mate he say oh come on please It’s Amsterdam and find the sleaze Not for him that lovin armpit He wanna have a lovin junket Me I wanna go dig deep Find your soul and feel the heat Be taken on a dreamy ride I don’t care where we reside

Kind of musical irony in a way with a horror theme immersed in a jaunty beat: an unintentional result where so often a song writes itself and you decide not to change it. Caught up in a War Hear the words why me See fiery horizons Eating up ground are black caterpillars We’re shrinking near the door They hardly gave a reason Sleeping is acid raw Forever is the ceiling Cause everything we made Will be shattered by the day of reckoning All the icons of love Will be broken on the grass just weathering We’re caught up in a war Thinkin’ bout religion The randomness of Gods What’s it about us that’s undeserving? We’re watching on the news The march of our dementors We’re lying close and squeezing Neath fragility of walls And everything we made Will be shattered by the day of reckoning All the icons of love Will be broken on the grass just weathering We’re caught up in a war If we could turn back time to days of peace and laughter

Modern Artists like Leon Bridges and Son Little marry hip hop or RnB rhythms often to acoustic based songs. Its an opportunity to blend elements that you love from 2 generations of music into one song - some lyrical bite, sweetened by 60s vocal harmonies. FAKING IRONY I see your troubles start from within And she is prickling cause you’re so wooden Look at her sparkle like the lemon Floating on her pour of bubbly gin Life is serious but only at certain times of day Where’s the gazelle leap to release your mind to play It’s a hard road when you take everything literally If only you could take a course in faking irony But here you are your face is pinched and spidery If only you could take a course in faking irony For you gravity and time operate differently You’re drowning in the history of epiphany Will you ever get to feel for the other side Letting go that crippling brainy ultra-pride She needs a belly laugh that drops her to the ground Nothing sexy ‘bout your analysing head up in the clouds It’s a hard road . . . faking irony Your birth blueprint and childhood pricked you like a thorn But your conscience can’t be faulted and you’re always doing good You probably can’t be changed and that’s an awful thought Cause things I’m advocating - they probably can’t be taught She needs a belly laugh that drops her to the ground Nothing sexy ‘bout your analysing head up in the clouds It’s a hard road . . . faking irony

Combining childhood and later relationship memories with the early sounds of electric piano: first heard on Help! "Chalking up belief" references 'Chalking up the Hurt" in the great Michael McDonald song 'Real Love' from the time when he created amazing piano based pop-rock, now termed Yacht Rock. And the song title 'Your Gold Teeth ii is of course piano based from the highly influential Steely Dan and makes a nice rhyme with 'room.' ELECTRIC PIANO Out of the womb into a musical reign Feeling it grab like the first light of day Bro old enough to procure some Help! Takes to my soul like the face of the girl Electric Piano you are chalking up belief A silky emotion walking you down the street Electric Piano you are black and white devine Your sound is forever it’s the girl in the back of my mind Song of first strike is ‘Tell me what you See’ While I yearn for the girls who are awaking a dream Sometimes the song is then a soundtrack to pain When desire returns it’s a permanent state Electric Piano . . . back of my mind I hear she’s quit Uni left a ghost in her room Now I bury my soul in Your Gold Teeth part 2 Now she has an aura in 1975 This is my soul being eaten alive Her face a portrail of a red Cilla Black Electric Piano you do leave me so bad Electric Piano . . . back of my mind

Behaviours are so important going forward. Going to have to be some selfless work from everyone - be exemplary. Exemplary We look out the window and we see it’s our turn We want to, we need to The river is rising and grass is burnt It’s a headache, it’s a heart ache So we’re walking through the streets so purposefully We’re marching, some are running We’re shoveling sand, we’re hosing the land We’re a commune, to the rescue Ba da ba da - We’re exemplary Ba da ba da - We’re exemplary Children are leaving their classes in droves They’re frightened and enlightened They’ve worked it all out, they actually know They can see it, they’re not stupid It’s everywhere they look, vapid posturing It’s so obvious, it’s so odious It’s all about ownership and total control They detest it, they reject it Ba da ba da - They’re exemplary Mother and daughter father and son By the 60s we could be gypsies Everyone a nomad everywhere a land grab Fight it – be united Ba da ba da - Be exemplary

Continuing the Jazz injected pop-rock theme of Collect the Moment and Better do SOME GOOD this one references AJA though it could easily be ASIA. My time spent in AJA (Steely Dan) was about the same time we were dissecting preserved bodies in Otago Medical School. Playing live then I was channeling more of a Neil Young, Bob Dylan and THE BAND pre Americana country rock thing. But jump ahead 40 years and here we were just this last Saturday night churning out JOSIE from AJA in a set of originals and covers full of Jazz Chords and RnB beats. So this new song absorbs a lot of that stuff. HR Kiosk Next to you, I feel a hero The maintenance of normal, while you’re a trip to Cairo Circa 2023 I’d like to paraphrase Cause cities like that and Khartoum Once set a soul ablaze So book yourself into an HR Kiosk tonight There’s gotta be an on-line guru who could shine a light Infiltate you with guile Make you think there’s actually an I in why Yeah yeah yeah Time spent in Aja did it make me cynical? Made me feel ok to rave And pull you off your pinnacle Of course it’s arrogant to judge, someone on culture But I see you circling thru the sky, with the eye of a vulture Know you kinda inside out So I’d try it with a hundred grand I bet you on your virtual couch You’re lying on a slippery Sam Course you’re going even lower - way below zero Sayin’ hey let’s all be friends Like Ghandi and Nehru Your time at the Taj Mahal, did us no favours After breathing in the rarified shrine Where’s your reconciliation pavers

Alexander King parachuted into our town from New Orleans via Brisbane and set up a recording studio. We combined on this song 'Collect the Moment' which I'd just written on piano. Alex: rhythm track, bass, some guitar, recording, production, mixing Steve: Vocals, keyboards, guitar Alexander King soundcloud site - https://on.soundcloud.com/PkSYD Alexander Ross Music (ARK)- alexanderrossmusic.com Collect the Moment You in sintered glass buildings - trapped in recycled air And I the frequent advisor - holding a too long stare Do hormones control decisions – I ruminate in silence While you the puppet’s mistress - are still non-compliant As a gaggle collects - a space encroachment And I brush your arm to collect the moment Is it just I who’s a physical poet? Did you brush my arm to collect the moment? Now here’s the start of something - a fomenting act two A party has erupted and lava like here’s you The music creates a wall – an easy place to hide To move the chess pieces – silently they glide Randomly dancing – it’s I the proponent And I brush your arm to collect the moment Is it just I who’s a physical poet? Did you brush my arm to collect the moment? What do they mean these tactile encounters Just a small hill or a range of mountains And naked by proximity – alone in a lift This accident of timing – embarrassment or gift? We blurt it out together – something about today And then an awkward silence – my courage gone astray But we’re squeezed together through the door’s opening And I brush your arm to collect the moment Is it just I who’s a physical poet? Did you brush my arm to collect the moment?

After 10 songs of jazzy singer songwriter it's time for a change. But not much! As science based as we are there's still that feeling of karma or whatever. So - better do some good! Better do some Good. Hey I don’t mind complicity in drinking all that wine It’s good to get the wheels up, but just from time to time But dwelling on this comfort food is brewing up a blood red sky You lapsing into navel gaze is goading kharma’s battle cry Better do some good oh darlin’ Make a start tonight You never know who’s out there watching Know your wrong from right Do do do do do do do do It’s no good you walking round as tho it’s you who’s missing out With lips so taught and victim eyes You’re looking like a sour kraut You’re always going to lose the war living in this ugly mess If Gods don’t see u clean the floor The frontline beckons to the West It’s a round and a round you’re swirling down Consumed and jealous You’re wanting needing ‘n nursing greed In a sump of trench warfare Aaah ooooh Nothing but the best Everyone at your behest Better do some good tonight Better do some good tonight

New recording of this song that was in the finals of the NZ MLT songwriting awards 2010 Is This Who I Think It Is Another tumble ‘cross the dance floor A tender hold onto someone I call my own A look into her eyes that lingers Another drink that goes from loving hand to hand Is this who I think it is A touch and a blown kiss I look at her I look at him Is this who I think it is A frozen minute in a lifetime I lurch and stumble to the dancers of the night As I push myself between them My life with her is playing out in black and white I wonder at the blind man Who was missing all the clues Once a happy go lucky guy Now with leaden shoes I am dancing in a wasteland She is speaking but I cannot hear a sound Her face resigned to do to her duty I can see him and his eyes are shifting round

HEY LOVE YOU! Hey love you More than LC would’ve craved for Marianne No manuscript could sing with more devotion A paper chain enough to fill an ocean I’m always up so close and being dutiful. Yeah I fix your hair and say you’re beautiful. Yeah I fix your hair and say you’re beautiful Mmmm breath you in ‘til I’m insensible Hey love you Like we’re barefoot down a street in Hydra It’s feet on top of feet in café’s shadows I hear applause and faintly drifting cello In sticky heat our limbs are stuck like glue And I kiss your brow and murmur hey I love you Yeah I kiss your brow and murmur hey love you Mmmm taste your cheek ‘til I’m insensible Hey love you Bathe your flashin’ teeth in tangerine The last of breezes scurry into hiding Nights are satin sheets with harbour lighting I’m layin’ out your silk across the dresser I hold you close knowing it’s forever Yeah I hold you close knowing it’s forever Mmmm moving slow ‘til I’m insensible

Not really alt rock but the guitar solo at the end is fairly anarchic. To Fly or not to Fly To fly or not to fly YES! To fly or not to fly NO! To fly or not to fly that is the question. It’s a no brainer ‘cept for the greedy and absurd. There’s kilos of carbon coming from engines. While the earth below - floods and burns M’lady says she’s gotta fly yeah it’s in the blood She’s gotta have exotica - it’s there for the taking Even though people of the world - are under the pump And down there in the wheat fields – the crops are baking To fly or not to fly YES! To fly or not to fly NO! Hate being a gloomy carrier pigeon But the writings there on the internet The forecast for earth - it’s grim and turgid Makes it dumb to fly airliner jets M’lady says the scientists - will find a solution There’s no need to live - like a peasant farmer She don’t need to feel shame - about her vapor trail Hey she’s never been - to West Estonia

Miss Rocket Launcher Hey hey you this Joan of Arc - Miss Rocket Launcher Love you sending into space – those flying saucers Your eyes they dart and sense corrosion You’re leaning forward in silky motion You know who is fit to govern For those who aren’t they get concussion Your elbows dent the seats of power Your rocket roars it’s getting louder Hey hey you Sister of Mercy – Miss Rocket Launcher Love it that they’re on your mind – the poor and poorer When you sense their exploitation Your voice it cracks and lips are brazen I’d hate to be your target right then A volley gone to crack their heads We’re hungry like Cohen’s Partisan We’ll force ‘em to the stones and hear the doors slam Room dust scatters as your strident voice rises Tables go silent as you render the kaiser Hey hey you this Mother Theresa – Miss Rocket Launcher Can feel the warmth inside of you – and getting warmer When they wallow in their greed You let one go and make em all flee I’m feeling for the hem of your gown The reverent touch the best to be found I know that you will win in the end And sharing it with you – what a send

In so Deep I'm carryin' weight – beast of burden streets of Ankara My feet they hurt – my saddle gonna wrench apart My hunger never stops – the wave it never crests I’m drowning in consequence I’m in so deep – and I won’t let you down a bit It’s history – I made you all these promises Our worlds depart – the continents divide I’m in so deep – I can look you in the eye Haven’t felt a falter – never told you a lie Is it in the realm – that the others will survive When I see you in the door – I’m clutching a sea wall In the Bosphorous Long ago – she had my full devotion I changed her name – like Constantinople I felt the streets go dead All the hawkers they had fled - Into armament Behind a curtain – breathing incense and a huffin’ pipe Mural on the wall – the mountains of Anatolia If I have to pick and choose I can’t crawl away from you - You’re in my heart I’m in so deep – and I won’t let you down a bit It’s history – I made you all these promises Our world’s depart – the continents divide I’m in so deep – I can look you in the eye

Sleeps on Fire I’m dwelling on rocket fire Piano fragments and twisted strings Lady rag doll dead at the door Dementor soldier with lips so thin Sleep Killer’s messing with my head Gotta rise up get a change of thought Find a codeine and a TV show My feet are cold and my tongues like chalk Back in bed and it’s Mr Psycho Ugly boss gotta face him away And lady friend of the underground We’ll be busted yeah maybe today Sleeps on fire yeah Sleeps on fire yeah All the news is existential Who’s going to go have kids today? I’m rolling round my sheets are tenting The latest vaccine is a throat spray Sleeps on fire yeah Sleeps on fire yeah

Hazy Ocean I see you at the break of day A flash of gold across a bay I watch you you’re a dolphin riding rail And then it comes the perfect wave And balancing you show the way Your love of life it’s written in your trail Hazy Ocean - you wash all over me And I’m diving after you Like the tide follows the moon Hazy Ocean - your spirit’s phosphorent And your colour’s vivid blue While my love is all for you You’re always wanting cosmic rhymes To come and take us for a ride And when they do it’s reason to believe There’s trust in nature’s open door It lets you know why you were born Your real life’s the script of other’s dreams And when you paddle to the shore You’re reaching out to one and all You know the truth that happiness is laughter And across the night your flame is warm Your star is up and all adore They’re crowding round They’re hanging from the rafters

I had this title – 'come back to real' – lying around unused and thought it would work with a lyric about an imaginary couple with different views on the topic . . . Come Back to Real You’re the one who found revision History’s just a false depiction you say The government’s trolling all our messages But it seems to me – not reality. Hey, I know the world ain’t perfect But you could make your life much more easy yeah Don’t buy virus is fiction claims Cause I’ve been to see and I know what’s real Come back to real Come back to real and free your mind - free your mind Come back to real Come back to real and love re-find - love re-find Come back to real – Come back to real – mmm mmm yeah I get up in morning n seek out the sunshine But you meet agents with a war to fight Cause RNA gonna claim your body What a shame you’re lost to conspiracy You’re a hell of lady and I’m always wanting you If only you could reason like the majority There’s a warm breeze off the ocean - come and cruise with me Flick the switch – and come to real

Love in the House You want to move me down to that ritzy neighbourhood Where there’s black cars by the stables And the grass is hissing gently & you know that starchy lady there might give U half a minute If she thinks you come from money & our star is still ascending But what’s the point of that unless there’s love in the house Yeah what’s the point of that – gotta be love in the house Love in the house And you’d love to travel Europe get a rental by the water And be dining out on tapas while the Spanish waiters hover And the wine it tastes sabrosa and it feels like Casablanca As the house is warm and dreamy and the sheet is softly under But what’s the point of that unless there’s love in the house Yeah what’s the point of that – gotta be love in the house Love in the house Now my music pours from fingers upon a restless pavement As a lady figure lingers in the memory of encounters And I have her number with me but it’s war again in Israel So I wander to the kitchen where there’s vases full of flowers But what’s the point of that unless there’s love in the house Yeah what’s the point of that – gotta be love in the house Love in the house, bodies alive, moving in rhyme, love in our eyes, lighting the sky

UR7 Final Flight The tail of aviation dies, As engines roar and cough. Vapor trails once crossed the skies But here’s the last take off I stare out of my window And my heart sinks like the moon I grab your hand so tightly While the cabin’s like a tomb UR7 final flight We know the skies are danger now They had to legislate The flights are full of terror gusts So wings they bend and break But let’s remember odysseys Romantic wanderlust As engines start their shrieking now As though they speak for us UR7 final flight And which asylum beckons me Now that we are broke A girl on Spanish beaches taunts Those years were full of hope Now feel the nose start dipping down Towards an aerodrome We’ll walk to different taxi’s now Love’s no longer home. UR7 final flight

Last of the Summer Flies At last you have left - my insecticide is spent Though your screw driver voice is reverberating Your tongue it got bent - drilling holes in my head Now I’m smoothing hurts by restorative ironing And though they must have a role in ecosystems I’m so glad to see the last of the summer flies I’m so glad to see the last of the summer flies I guess you’ll find a niche – with some human who can reach To find that tiny star behind the grating Your sun first shone so bright – enough to launch a kite But that superficial wind was soon deflating And though . . . . It’s in the news each day Insects will fade away Unless we realise Every living thing has a vital place I wish you the very best – maybe both of us are blessed We were counting down our days so surely numbered Hey you’re not to blame – I’m dreamy and often vague And for the earth I’ll pray for flies now just departed

Can Our Souls Stay Together Hey girl that was really something – truly unforgettable I’m staring right up at the ceiling – the air is perfectly still Cause I realise you’re not from here And your train gonna leave to your God out there Can our souls stay together Can your soul sleep another night Can our souls stay together Cause I fell in love at first sight But I know you You have to go Back to the keeper of the fire Feels like you’re going forever Feels like the end of my life I’m opening up my mind to the universe Will I find you out there tonight Cause I realise you’re not from here And your train gonna leave to your God out there Chorus You’re in the thick of that it’s all you ever had Wrap your fingers around The speaking stone You’ll never leave your spiritual home Chorus

You Don’t Talk Easy Yeah, I’m all over you Coming by your room Faking accidental - as if you didn't know These small steps up a mountain climb And nothing’s going to turn back time, hey you I’m crawling cross this chasm that I find I’m trying to talk my way into your eyes In real life you’re quick to speak your mind But you don’t talk easy here tonight You don’t talk easy here tonight So fate has brought you here You could have moved anywhere But now we got these workdays to share With my turn of phrase suggestible Your face it stays imperceptible, hey you Chorus A woman like you is surely spoken for And who am I to dare to come between Warm blood is going to make me stay the course Like the river flows from mountain to the sea

Exhaust Pipe In the shadow of a smokestack rising eating up the air Kinda gritty look you give me on this street to God knows where We’re ducking under extrusions in the face of water walls At least we got each other ‘neath this sky that’s like a war Eye brows on the ceiling even though we got the word Imagining is one thing but reality’s absurd Part of me is chill And part of you is screaming Now that we got choked in earth’s exhaust pipe I can pull you closer You can stare me out It’s getting hard to breath in earth’s exhaust pipe Creating scenes a hotel room the balm of bodies close And bricks so thick to hide the world is all that we can hope Nose in flesh the best to hide like puppies suckling mums And after rain the swollen streets be scorching in the sun How did it come to this . . . I just want to love you . . .

Floating into Wonder Now that the border’s open - she’s on the overnighter Up near the universe so vivid as it’s shining brighter So long in isolation – We living on our phones But what a torture that is - needing flesh n bone And I’m waiting near the runway’s end Watching descending lights And that final roar overhead – hey I’m lifted so high And we’ll be floating into wonder (mm mm mm) Gifted this new path Cause she is out the other side of it (now we can be) Floating into wonder This kiss is never ending - senses remember her Flooding skin in waves - how to find the words? We walking tied together – in love with baggage claim In love with everybody – and I just say her name And how we’ll sing - and the car will sing As I bring this girl back home And all who love her wait in clover at the end of the golden road And we’ll be floating into wonder . . . Yeah I’m chosen one tonight ‘cause I got my lady home

F Chord makes my Fingers Bleed All across the plain there’s a heavy kind of drone And the picking has cleared the fields And every one’s talkin’ bout where to go next Some with scars on hearts to keep But me I ain’t gonna be running anywhere I got land here to put on ice And I’m saying it to you there’s a song to sing But I sense you know you gonna take flight Want your breath upon my face Neath the still of the trees And feel the edging of your lace But there’s rot in the leaves I been playing long and loud But you haven’t come around Now F chord makes my fingers bleed F chord makes my fingers bleed I know you’re gonna rev up your car one night Yeah my bones fear the ebb of your heat And lonely be the grip of the ice breaker days And the strength of the clime to beat Yes the warmth of your body ‘n flickering flames Has fled to the universe And nothing but pain ‘til the end of time As the season stiffens up the earth

Sad to hear Rusty Young of Poco passed. Great band and I'm sure all good souls Good Souls When is this heart beat Going to be under skin I got my guard up Don’t know what dark you’ll bring You got something mmm That triggered a landslide But I never sensed The dead inside your eyes Hey good souls should be with good souls And bad smoke should drift away Yeah good souls should live with good souls And bad folk should make the break Oh sure I’ve hung on Wouldn’t drop you when you’re down Whatever bugs you It will always hang around Yeah I got a heart so I feel for you But the prison of your hurt I can’t steel from you Hey good souls should be with good souls And bad smoke should drift away Yeah good souls should live with good souls And bad folk should make the break When you find my closet’s empty hangers You’ll know that I cracked and abandoned. Hey . . .

Poker Face Seeing as light is fading from the centre of your eyes And the blog that I been posting Don’t change your face design I find I got no knowledge of the ways inside your mind Any feelings you have gathered are hidden by disguise How will I know you How do I get there What will I feel inside Will I be nowhere I’ve never seen or felt some kind of sign But I’m wishin’ for that magic kind of ride How will I know you How do I get there What will I feel inside Will you be elsewhere I’m seeing but I may as well be blind Your poker face is killing me inside I’m so ever hopeful I got sensors in my teeth If you favour me with meeting eyes I’m flushing red as beet And dissecting every phrase of yours and liberating nothing I got to get to you or else I’ll shrink away to stuffing

Poker Face Seeing as light is fading from the centre of your eyes And the blog that I been posting Don’t change your face design I find I got no knowledge of the ways inside your mind Any feelings you have gathered are hidden by disguise How will I know you How do I get there What will I feel inside Will I be nowhere I’ve never seen or felt some kind of sign But I’m wishin’ for that magic kind of ride How will I know you How do I get there What will I feel inside Will you be elsewhere I’m seeing but I may as well be blind Your poker face is killing me inside I’m so ever hopeful I got sensors in my teeth If you favour me with meeting eyes I’m flushing red as beet And dissecting every phrase of yours and liberating nothing I got to get to you or else I’ll shrink away to stuffing