Summer sun setting on one hand The winter moon rising on the other. Watching as my father’s son Is told of the loss of his brother.
Forces built up with only one end And the end will always come. More dreams lost than can be counted Began with the Pounding of a Drum.
We can no longer make sense of the world. We can’t protect loved ones, It has begun Hear the Pounding of the Drum.
There is no comprehension No mere words could ever describe. There is no excuse or reason In a righteous man’s diatribe.
Left standing in a different world So much life just swept away. The worst pain is not physical Like the memories from today.
We can no longer make sense of the world. We can’t protect loved ones, It had begun long ago it is true The Pounding of the Drum now heard from Beirut.
Summer sun setting on one hand The winter moon rising on the other. Watching as my father’s son Is told of the loss of his brother.
Forces built up with only one end And the end will always come. More dreams lost than can be counted Began with the Pounding of a Drum.
I now see the infinite wisdom here. God made us in his image and likeness So we are told. Angels are white and robed in gold
There are demons and that’s for sure. Tempting us toward an unholy path To steal your heart. Man questioned how he might tell them apart
So he made one red, and another black. Colors of hair and eyes and some stand tall Now you can see. The faces that belong here with thee
But what for the blind that cannot know The wisdom of the lord from above? To save them too. Languages were created no one knew
It is so simple as to be part of my face We just need a color-guided human race. How thoughtful to make it so well known Good and evil separated by the color shown
Your enemy is also made in his image. And feels exactly the same way you do Love conquers all. As another peaceful day begins to fall
I posted a poem earlier called “Let You Go” https://midimike.com/2020/07/07/let-you-go/ that I really liked. While I was working on writing the music for these lyrics I got side-tracked. I had recorded a few MIDI drum parts and had a guitar theme I liked playing on my Martin Acoustic/Electric guitar chained together trying to get a feel for the song.
A good friend called me out of the blue and asked if I wanted to have his old MIDI studio gear. No instruments or toys will be orphaned if I can help it so I drove over that day. We chatted for a while and I left with a van full of what most people would call ‘ancient’ gear. This is the stuff hits were made with. Everything you heard growing up using electronic drums or synths used these gems.
I got home and hooked up a few pieces like a kid not knowing which present he wants to open first. DAYS LATER I opened up my recording project again and played with a vocal effect toy I had not gotten to yet. Not wanting to stop an idea I was working on I started recording in another section of the session. As you will hear, I decided not to sing the chorus parts. Instead I used some of the lyrics to do a chant-style intro and outro.
After juggling the original music around I started to work on a melody for the lyrics. I used some of the chant themes so the melody took shape pretty quickly. Not wanting to overdo the vocal effect, I just used reverb on my voice. Then I added some MIDI bass guitar sounds and put the pieces together.
Next, I added a little MIDI piano in the chorus sections and sprinkled through the end of the song. Then I made some stupid editing error and trashed all of the drum tracks!!! Redo the drum tracks and a few days later I have a rough mix for you.
As some of you will know, a rough mix is probably the last one I do! LOL.
Here is “Let You Go” as it stands today. I hope you enjoy this one.
This shuffle will take a while to get used to. Really, there is no groove here. No comedic relief either, but I do like the strangeness of it. How about that for an intro?!!
The recording was simple and there is a lot of open space in this one that makes most listeners a little uncomfortable. I played my Ibanez 6 string electric guitar and used effects from my PC after the recording to get the delay and chorus effects. I created the MIDI drums to match the odd beat in the guitar strums. After laying down a simple bass guitar track using computer plug-ins and the song is almost done.
I have not had the chance to get out and take pictures – or a bunch of other things – but here are a few pictures using my cell phone from around my house.
This is another one of my poems I pulled out of the archives recently. Written back on April 2nd, 1984 (what a good year!) and it has a few lines I like.
I want you to stay For the moments that last forever Like seasons that always change.
Not to change you But to watch you grow. Not to hold you Or to let you go.
It’s too late to cry Much too long since you went away Sometimes you just can’t look back.
Don’t need to know why Something beautiful goes the wrong way But you can never go back
Not to change you But to watch you grow. Not to hold you Or to let you go.
I want you to stay For the moments that last forever Like seasons that always change.
I found this poem in my archives that I wrote on June 26th, 2016 and I would like to share it with you.
I have a pretty long list Of all the things I love I can do any of them with you Or, if you prefer, none of the above.
Family, friends, writing music, singing songs Winter walks, coming home, sky full of stars. Solving problems, helping strangers, reading a book Practicing yoga, sometimes riding my bike too long.
Learning something new, teaching what I’ve learned Laughing at jokes, sharing good food, colorful sunsets Writing on my blog, sharing a story, liking a post Being silly, going for a swim, getting praise that I earned.
With you I can do anything And add it to the list of things I love With you I can do anything Or, if you prefer, none of the above.
Cuddle and watch a movie, listening to you breathe at night Playing games no matter who wins, a weekend unplugged Hearing from co-workers, dancing like a fool, laying in the snow There are so many other things I’ve added to my list tonight.
With you I can do anything And add it to the list of things I love With you I can do anything Or, if you prefer, none of the above.
I’m with you sometimes when you stay up late at night Watching a show or reading a book and you start to cry. I try not to interfere, so rarely ask if you’re alright It ruins the tears if you have to stop and tell me why.
Your eyes just light up as you get the widest grin Whenever animals or an old couple stop to chat. You never judged an animal by the color of their skin And I’ve never had the chance to thank you for that.
What Is It that makes you smile? What does it take to make you cry? How do you keep focused on those in need? Whatever it is it becomes obvious Because I love what I see.
Sitting on a hillside as the sunset puts on a show Looking forward to early morn’ to see the blooms. There are many things about you I still don’t know. Grab it before it becomes lost in ashes and fumes.
You look at things in ways I will never understand No interest in paybacks or evening the score. Never guaranteed things would go just like we planned. Saying life is a thrill a minute so keep looking for more.
No interest in paybacks or evening the score. Saying life is a thrill a minute so keep looking for more.
What Is It that makes you smile? What does it take to make you cry? How do you keep focused on those in need? Whatever it is it becomes obvious Because I love what I see.
MidiMike 