poetry | MidiMike

Posts Tagged ‘poetry’

The Answer Might be 42

Posted: December 18, 2020 in projects
Tags: #42, #faith, #hitchhikersguidetothegalaxy, #life, #michaelskennedy, #midimike.com, #poem, #poetry, poetry

I went searching for years to learn the important things in life.
Some spent in luxury, too many were spent in strife.
Truly believing if I could just find the right questions
Throughout all of humanity, someone would surely know.

What happens after death, are we all alone?
The answers were never written in stone.
What is the real difference between love and faith?
Is it too late with three out at the bottom of the eighth?

The Answer Might Be 42
But it never was about that.
Finding neither question or answer
Nor even a wise old sage or wizard.

To learn how to listen I sought out musicians
To know what is real I studied magicians.
Accountants I’ve met could never measure true cost.
Preparing for challenge I drank with those who have lost.

To see both sides I closely examined the moon.
You can see the ground better from a hot air balloon.
Can’t understand demons if you always talk to saints.
What is freedom if you’ve never known restraints?

The Answer Might Be 42
But it was never about that.
The secret of life is not found in questions
Better served by learning whom to ask.

Test of Time

Posted: October 6, 2020 in Poetry
Tags: #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #midimike.com, lyrics, MIDI Mike, music, poetry

How many ways can you stack the same eight letters
That was a rhetorical question not a mathematical one.
You can say some are a bit too sharp and others a little flat
But when you get to the end it comes down to this or that.

Some fall while others land, though more crash and burn.
I am curious maybe concerned but mostly do not care.
In the end the Test of Time offers the pretentious and the real
Which one is which is determined by how it makes you feel.

Do you want to get up and go for a ride
Or does it make your blood boil inside?
Are you ready to shout at the top of your lungs,
Or for a whispering of words that cannot be sung?

There is the occasion where you can just push it through
Things started working and soon it’s complete.
Thinking this unique creation is by far your greatest
Looking back now it’s no different than all the rest.

Do you want to get up and go for a ride
Or does it make your blood boil inside?
Are you ready to shout at the top of your lungs,
Or maybe a whispering of words that cannot be sung?

Do you want to get up and go for a ride
Or to shout at the top of your lungs?
Does it make your blood boil inside?
Listening to words that cannot be sung?

The Intersection of Karma and Irony

Posted: September 11, 2020 in Poetry
Tags: #karma, #karmaandirony, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #midimike.com, #poem, #songwriter, irony, karma, poem, poetry

It didn’t take long to get here but it never does.
Every answer I get lately is, ‘just because’.
It takes so long to retrace steps carelessly made.
No winners or losers whenever the game is played.

A never ending stream of lies like burning arrows
Directed at the innocent as the fire grows.
Family or friends you’d throw anybody under the bus
Hard to believe who could but someone always does.

The Intersection of Karma and Irony
When everything gets thrown back in your face.
The Intersection of Karma and Irony
Your empire demolished and a temple in its place.

Thinking you’re so clever with all the right things to say
Hoping the pretty dance you do makes it all go away.
With power you didn’t earn you push and shove the weak
The sheer weight you have has now left you up a creek.

The Intersection of Karma and Irony
When everything gets thrown back in your face.
The Intersection of Karma and Irony
Your empire demolished and a temple in its place.

It’s not like we believed you, no one could be that dumb
The hidden agendas just make us a little numb.
The pedestal you stood on was never really there.
And the truth of the matter is that we never even cared.

Your words are meaningless and soon forgotten
But the bitterness remains as the fruit becomes rotten.
With power you didn’t earn you push and shove the weak
The sheer weight you have has now left you up a creek.

“Let You Go”

Posted: July 7, 2020 in My Tunes, Poetry
Tags: #lostlove, #love, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #relationships, #singer song-writer, #songwriter, MIDI Mike, poem, poetry

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.

“Not Now” put to music

Posted: June 6, 2020 in Midi Series, MUSIC, music technology, My Tunes
Tags: #acoustic, #acoustic guitars, #bandLab, #Cakewalk, #guitar, #lyrics, #Martinguitars, #Michael s Kennedy, #michaelskennedy, #microphone, #Midi, #midimike, #midimike.com, #mixing board, #mixingboard, #music, #original songs, #poetry, #recording, #recordingstudio, #singer, #sonar, #vocalist, lyrics, original music, originals, poetry, singer song-writer, singing

Sonar Track Panel Wave and MIDI files that generate sounds from computer programs called plug-ins

I mentioned experimenting with an on-line jamming program. It became the clipboard for a few guitar sections I created while waiting for one thing or another to work. I titled each as verse, bridge, chorus, etc. I had to give it a project name to save the clipboard and I came up with “Not Now”.

I used those short pieces and assembled them into a song arrangement. Once the chords and arrangement were in place I naturally started thinking of lyrics (as I have a tendency to do). The file was named Not Now so I kept it as my Cakewalk (BandLab) project name. So it becomes the theme of the lyrics. In one hour they were written. Getting them to match the odd rhythms and sparse instrumentation became a challenge. It took me a few days to come up with the melody and then practice it enough to get the rough tracks down. To all just joining; I get things down to rough tracks and then write another song, poetry, lyric or instrumental. When I was young I hoped some band would do my songs correctly in a studio. I am not young now.

Here is a rough mix of “Not Now”. I used a Martin Acoustic/Electric guitar for the guitar track. Using my MIDI keyboard I pulled up a plug-in for drum sounds. I imported the original noodling guitar parts I did from the clipboard but they were not recorded to a metronome or drum pattern. I listened and figured out the tempo of the segments and set Cakewalk to match. That way I could listen to the short guitar segments as I created the basic drum parts and arranged all the segments in order. I pulled up a bass guitar sound and played the MIDI keyboard to generate the bass line.

Next, I Muted the original guitar tracks and recorded a new track to replace it. The song seemed to cry out for strings but that is usually just me. I like good sounding strings in various styles of music.

Lyrics were posted here: https://midimike.com/2020/06/01/not-now/

I use two monitors as there is a lot of information to keep ‘track’ of even for a small project.

This is the Piano Roll view. Each color represents different instruments. The lower group triggers drum sounds.

I gave a link to BandLab above. Full disclaimer this is not a commercial and I do not get paid for anything I do here. However….. if you are interested I used to pay hundreds of dollars every year or so to keep this great recording program updated. They now offer the program and all updates for FREE. No kidding.

I hope you enjoy “Not Now”. Each time I listen to it I like it more. Again, this is just me as each new song I write becomes my newest favorite.

If just for a little while.

A Simple Gift

Posted: December 11, 2018 in Poetry
Tags: #answer, #friendship, #personal, #perspective, #questions, poetry, trust

I see you are disappointed by the answers

But it’s really the questions that you ask.

Critical of the way things look

Yet you will never remove your mask.

So what if you keep painting masterpieces

Clearly no one else will ever see?

Surrounding yourself with splendor

Makes you lazy and rarely sets you free.

So let me leave you with this;

It is but a simple gift.

Friendship is the only thing

That can reach across the rift.

Soon you may face the edge;

One you cannot cross or could not see.

Only friends will tell you when to jump

Or when to just let it be.

From nowhere you are puzzled by a memory

So clear you question who you are.

You have heard it a million times before:

You are the center of a fallen star.

Soon you may face the edge;

One you cannot cross or could not see.

Only friends will tell you when to jump

Or when to just let it be.

So let me leave you with this;

It is but a simple gift.

Friendship is the only thing

That can reach across the rift.

“The Weapons We Wield”

Posted: November 19, 2018 in Poetry, Uncategorized
Tags: #questions, faith, love, poetry, reason, relationships, truth, weapons, writing

Let’s say it like it really is.

We use so many words that hide what they are.

Wherever there is an imbalance

And desires are raised beyond reason.

We make everything sound fine.

Truth is where we look it’s not very pretty.

What appears to be the best things in life

Turns against us when we need it the most.

Guns, lies, love, faith, kindness and truth.

They are all weapons in the wrong hands.

Call them what you will but don’t turn your back:

They are all weapons in the wrong hands.

Guns have no power to do harm.

Before adoration or anger picks one up.

The empty lies should have no meaning

Until they come from someone we trust.

There’s nothing we won’t do for love.

No end to the crimes committed in blinding faith.

Murder is no more than taking a life

Unless it hides behind kindness and truth.

Guns, lies, love, faith, kindness and truth.

They are all weapons in the wrong hands.

Call them what you will but don’t turn your back:

They are all weapons in the wrong hands.

MidiMike

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MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘poetry’

The Answer Might be 42

Test of Time

The Intersection of Karma and Irony

“Let You Go”

“Not Now” put to music

A Simple Gift

“The Weapons We Wield”

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Available on iTunes and CD Baby

Social Media

MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘poetry’

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