Sweet Nothing

Well it's been a while, hasn't it?

This blog is slowly turning into a decaying holiday home that I can no longer afford to maintain, but perhaps a new cover will get me back into the writing vein.

I've been meaning to cover this song for ages, but I never got around to it until last weekend. A few found hours at home, and this is what turned out. It's rare to find a 'dance' song that has such good lyrics, but I'll put that down to Florence Welch's input (from Florence & The Machine).

Either way, it's actually a very haunting song when you listen to it, and hopefully that translates somewhat in this cover. Enjoy!

As always, the original is here, you can check out more of my videos here, and also my soundcloud page here.

 

Butterfly (A 'One Billion Rising' Post)

It's amazing how easy it is for us to ignore what is sometimes right in front of our eyes. Often, we get so conditioned to particular ways and accepted norms, that our senses become deadened and numbed to certain stimuli. Like spending too long in a cellar, our eyes grow accustomed to the gloom and dank surroundings, and before we know it we no longer ache for the fresh air and the sun upon our faces.

I'm ashamed to admit that sometimes I am like that too, when it comes to violence against women. I tell myself that the overwhelming data and statistics are wrong, and that the situation may be slightly blown out of proportion, and that maybe this doesn't happen to all women, but just to women who are 'unfortunate' enough to come across a crazed pervert. I'm ashamed that I entertain such thoughts for even the briefest of nanoseconds.

The fact is that it's hard for a man like me to understand that women live through the fear of harassment on a daily basis. That at every juncture or turn, they have to be constantly vigilant, constantly vary of their surroundings and the circumstances they are in. Driving late at night is not even an option; women don't even attempt it anymore. Walking home from work after dark is an unknown activity if you are a woman. Travelling by bus becomes an exercise in strategy: is the bus too full, too empty? Are there enough seats with women seated adjacent, and if not, are the men at least decent human beings in appearance? If I have to stand, is my bag long enough to cover my front and/or my rear, should the need arise?

These are just a few examples of the dangers every women face in our world; I could go on and on if I considered the work environment, home, family, women of different ages, etc. We've come to the point where women are raped in our neighbourhoods, and we can only shrug when the perpetrators claim she was a prostitute, as if that is somehow relevant to the brutal assault. We've come to the point where little girls are violated in ways so graphic that they are unable to continue living, while their supposed protectors are given a slap on the wrist and told sternly to not do it again. We've come to the point where even some women believe it is their right to be only second-class citizens, and that any woman who dares claim otherwise is a godless, westernized anarchist.

I hope to be a father one day, in the not too distant future. I don't know how much the world will change between then and now, but I refuse to believe that there may be a chance I bring a girl into this world that can only hope the odds are stacked in her favour for a normal life, that can only cross her innocent fingers and wish that she can have an equal chance at success, that can only sit and pray she goes through life as one of the few lucky individuals who gets away from the leering, bullying beast that is rape culture.

I refuse to believe that there may be a chance my daughter will go through her entire life looking over her shoulders and running away from dark corners.

So today, I choose to rise.

 

 

If you want to rise with me, click here to join the One Billion Rising campaign in Sri Lanka. Add your voice to those who choose to speak out. Stand united and join the demonstration on Feb 14th in Colombo.

Rise.

---

After 3 years and many headless cover videos, I finally wrote my very first song over the weekend, and it was inspired by the One Billion Rising campaign. I was very nervous, this being my first foray into writing and composing, but I hope you enjoy this simple tune; hopefully, the first of many.

Many thanks to Nishan for working on this with me over the weekend. Stellar, cuz!




 

New Year, New Cover Song - "The End"

I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions, but I did promise myself I would be more active with regards to my music and the covers I upload here. One of the hardest things is to find the right song to cover, that converts well to piano, and that I can do justice to. I'm probably my harshest critic when it comes to my music, and so a lot of covers have died an early death before even seeing the light of the.. internet?

So for my first cover of the year, I've decided to try out one of my favourite Pearl Jam songs - "The End". At first I thought it was a song about two lovers separating, but after a second listen it's actually about somone who is, well, dying. Too early, too soon, and with so many plans and dreams "left beside the road".

 

Bit depressing, no doubt, but it's there's a sincerity in Eddie Vedder's lyrics that somehow make it so poetic.

 

Anyways, I hope you like it! Original can be found here, the and you can download the audio via soundcloud here. Don't forget to check out my other videos as well.

Enjoy!

 

Long December (Or Good Riddance 2012)

Well, here we are again. The end of yet another year. I had such grand plans for my year ending post, but I thought I'd save that for a first of 2013 post instead.

I suppose I should reflect on the year and all, right? Well, it's been a terrible year for blogging - I've posted the least number of posts this year since I started this blog. I shall attribute this to less time in front of the computer and more time actually doing things, and I'd only be half lying. It's been a pretty good year on the music front though, what with the Colombo Music Festival, my introduction to the Melomanic Sessions in January, and the recently concluded "Final Wishlist". When it comes to music, there are few better teachers than experience, and I've had a lot of hard lessons this year. Some good shows at Melo, a few good performances at the Music Festival, and a lot of bombs that have me still shaking my head. Still, I'm so glad for all the opportunities I've had to perform and I hope 2013 brings even more my way.

It's hard for me to write about the personal front. It's been challenging, and I have made mistakes more often than I have succeeded, but isn't that life in general? I've watched the people I love let me down, and I in turn have let down the people that love me, and at the end of the day all we can do is try to forgive, try to heal, try to live with the things that have been said to us or by us. Our hearts keep beating, our lungs keep breathing, and time calls out from ahead of us asking if we're coming or not. Is it easy? No. But mixed in among all the bad, there is a lot of good, and sometimes that's enough to make peace with the rest of it.

My brother moved to Switzerland for his higher studies, and I miss him terribly. I wish he had been here to watch my sing; he has always been an honest critic. Christmas was tough without him, but apparently he was working on Christmas so I suppose we got the better end of that deal. Looking forward to seeing him in 2013.

All in all, 2012 was memorable, for both good and not-so-good reasons, and if anything is 'memorable' then I suppose it was worth it, wasn't it?

So here's to a new year, with more of the new and less of the old. May you, dear readers, always journey forwards and onwards to brighter, better things.

To sign off, let me add a few songs to this post. The first is a video of one of my solos at the "Final Wishlist" programme 3 weeks ago. The second is a rush job, hastily edited cover made with my hoarse vocals and zero editing. Not something I would normally do, but I just wanted to get it out there.

Happy New Year everyone!

G

Free Fallin' At The Colombo Music Festival 2012

As some of you may know, I took part in the Spirit singing competition which was part of the Colombo Music Festival 2012. The finals were last Sunday, for Rock, Pop & RnB, Gospel, Fusion and Instrumentals. While there were a few technical glitches, the show was, in my opinion, of very high standard. I myself was extremely entertained with the talent that was on offer, on that day and even the day prior when the finals for Musical Theatre, Jazz and Classical was held.

There have been several poor reviews of this Colombo Music Festival, and most of them have been more than justified, but I must say that the singing competition went off pretty well. The show opened with Gospel and Rock, with some very memorable performances. One of the competitors for Rock solo opened with a great acoustic rendition of The Police's "Message in a bottle". Another played a soulful piano rendition of Aerosmith's "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing". I had decided (rather quickly I must add) to go with "Adrienne" by The Calling and "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty for my song choices, and in hindsight with more time I probably would have picked a more popular song than "Adrienne". However, limited time and a rushed schedule meant I had to stick with my choices. We went with The Calling first, and sat back in the audience to listen to the other categories as they all finished their first song choices in sequence.

Those of you that came for the show will know that there were a few people that really stood out from the pack, showing some amazing soul and character vocally. Dave, Mayanthi, Dominic and recent Onstage winner Melissa were to me the cream of the crop, far outdistancing themselves from the rest, despite the high standard exhibited by the contestants overall.

There were some performances that were not so great as well, but not because of a lack of talent. Despite years of reality singing shows, the simple rule eludes most of us, myself included: pick the right songs! I felt that a few contestants in the pop category really suffered here, choosing songs that were a little too old fashioned (honestly, no one sings Bonnie Tyler's "I Need A Hero" voluntarily). On top of that, some people  ended up incorporating a huge band, complete with backup singers, drums, lead guitars and a horrendous keyboard player who seemed determined to drown out everyone and everything all by himself. This was really unfortunate, because I had heard their previous performances, and they have some serious talent. However I am not at all surprised that the eventual winners of the genre were accompanied by a maximum of two instruments.

Speaking of instruments, I can't say enough about the two contestants in the Contemporary Instrumental category. You couldn't find two more contrasting styles for such a category, yet they both blew the roof off the place. Joshua is a young piano maestro, putting together an entire composition made up of popular movie themes, while Nisal is a guitar genius, playing John Petrucci with ease. Their combined four pieces were a treat to the ears, and the judges decided to award them as joint winners, and deservedly so. 

Anyway, by the time I sang my second song, I somehow had a sense that this was probably the last time I was going to step on a stage like this with a full band behind me for a while, and so I decided to really soak in the atmosphere while I could. "Free Fallin'" went of pretty well, if I do say so myself, and I was quite proud of the way we had engineered it despite the limited hours we had to rehearse. Many thanks to Nishan and the band for that!

Unfortunately, the judges decided not to place me when the results came out, and so I remained simply a 'finalist'. I'll admit, I was pretty disappointed, but at the same time I had learned so much about myself musically, as well as pushed myself to sing songs that I normally would have been hesitant to. My main learning though? I need vocal training; pronto!

Without much further ado, here's "Free Fallin'" - probably one of my better live performances (narrowly edging out "Roxanne"). I hope you enjoy it.

The Darkside Has Come To The Colombo Music Festival

Greetings one and all. The rumours of my passing have been wildly exaggerated; I have merely been too busy of late to blog. Much to your relief, no doubt.

Just thought I'd write a quick update on what I've been up to in the last month or so. Besides the daily grind that work provides, I've found myself rather busy with an "extra-curricular" activity - singing. A few weeks ago I heard about the "Senses and Soul" Colombo Musical Festival, which is to be held during the end of August. Along with several workshops, talks and performances from reputed foreign artists, the music festival is also organising, as a lead up event, a singing competition, with the finals to be held during the festival week itself. The contest spans various genres, including Jazz, Pop & RnB, Rock, Classical, Musical Theatre, Gospel as well as group and solo events in each category. With the promise of international talent scouts coming to view the finalists, and the possibility of 'international' exposure, the music festival seemed to be a real first for Colombo, and so it was with much excitement (and a slight bit of nerves) that I applied in both Gospel and Rock solo.

The first audition was very American Idol-esque, with three judges giving you roughly a minute to impress them with any choice of song, sung without accompaniment. I sang snippets of "And Now My Lifesong Sings" and "Dolphin's Cry" for my auditions, with the judges asking me to sing another song for the Rock audition to show my 'variety'. In a panic I sang Incubus' "Dig", and crossed my fingers. Luckily, I made it through to the next round.

The preliminaries required music, so after a few rushed practices with Bro during the weekend, I managed to work out Building 429's "Always" for the Gospel solo and Alter Bridge's "Watch Over You" for Rock solo.. This was the first time we saw the other competitors in our categories, as the initial audition was for all genres. I had to admit there were some amazing voices on display, especially in the Pop & RnB category. The whole day was spent at the venue, and by the time the results came out I had heard some of the best jazz, broadway, opera, pop and rock singers Colombo had to offer (as well as some Korean Pop - I'll get to that later).

Again, I was lucky enough to make it to the semi final round for both categories! I had to admit I was feeling a bit confident at this stage, but then I was told we had to sing something in complete contrast to what we sang for the preliminaries. This sort of threw me: what the heck is a contrast to "Watch Over You"? After several nights on Youtube and going through my iTunes playlists, I finally settled on what would easily be my hardest cover song: "Roxanne" by The Police.

It was definitely one of the most fun performances I've done, and it was enough to get me through into the final round of the Rock solo category. Unfortunately I wasn't so lucky for the Gospel round, but I'll upload that video as soon as I can too.

Well that's what I've been up to! I'll write more later on my observations during this competition and working with all these extremely talented musicians and performers; it's definitely been a very eye-opening experience.

The finals are on August 25th-26th; more details soon! Hope to see you there as well.

Update:

I've uploaded the audio on Soundcloud: enjoy!

Melomanic Musings

It's been a very busy week, and I haven't had time to blog about the Melomanic Sessions last Saturday. If you weren't there, you definitely missed out; this was only my second time but it was so refreshing to be part of a group of such talented musicians and singers (not forgetting the very appreciative and faithful crowd). A lot of credit has to go to CC and Asela for putting on a fantastic show; the stage layout was especially excellent (though the photographers were not so enthusiastic in their praise).

Since I'm late, let me link to a better review by T. Below are the videos for my set; we did a bit of everything, and overall I think it turned out alright, if I do say so myself.

It was a special night for me, personally, performing with my brother. I always enjoy it, as you can tell from the videos when I look at him and laugh after each song. We improvised on the fly for one of the songs, changing the ending at the performance itself for some reason, but I suppose that's all part and parcel of the 'live' experience. He did a stellar job, and I'm extremely proud of him.

Of course I have to mention how great CC was; his cover of Florence and The Machine's "Cosmic Love" is still getting rave reviews all over my Twitter and Facebook feeds.

So without further ado, here are the videos from the show. Hope you like them; do leave me some comments!

Shinedown - "If You Only Knew"



Pearl Jam - "Black"


Sting - "Fields of Gold"



Switchfoot - "Vice Verses"

In closing, let me just say something about "Vice Verses". I've always believed that singing words that you actually agree with brings more meaning and power in to a performance. Despite the song not going too well during our rehearsals, I was adamant that we do it because it was the perfect song for me and the situation I was (am) in. How often have I felt lost and confused, disillusioned by what I once thought was gospel, by what I once thought was infallible truth. As I sang "Where are you in my broken heart/ everything seems to fall apart/ everything feels rusted over/ tell me that you're there", it wasn't Jon Foreman's words coming out of my mouth, it was mine. 

It was a good night, and I am so, so grateful for opportunities like these where I can just 'sing out'. 

Again, if you missed out this month, I hope to see you the next time.

Before I go, let me leave you with this:

♫ I know that there's a meaning to it all,A little resurrection every time I fall.. ♫

The Melomanic Sessions: A Brief Recap

So the Melomanic Sessions last Sunday at the Warehouse Project was fun! It was just a little over a couple of weeks back that Asela asked me to perform, so picking out a 3 song set was a bit more stressful than I would have liked. Still, after practising after work for a week, I felt somewhat confident turning up on Sunday.

The Warehouse Project is seriously the perfect location for a stripped down, acoustic show - especially considering that the warehouse itself has sections that are in various stages of being stripped down as well. The large open hall, the warm lighting and echo-filled acoustics are begging for nice, clean and precise music. We started a little late but not nearly as late as the earlier show, and by some luck of the draw I had been pencilled in to open the proceedings.

It was definitely a fun experience! Opening can be a bit of a curse however; I'm sure a majority of the audience completely forgot my performance after hearing the serious talent of our other guests. From original compositions to The Beatles to Live to Adele to The Cranberries, from pianos to guitars to flutes to cellos, there was no shortage of variety. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and I say this not just because I was playing! In fact, once the pressure of performing was removed, I was able to sit back and really appreciate some great local talent.

I've yet to upload the videos for my performance but they should be up by the weekend. Unlike past videos, you'll (finally) be able to see me while I sing instead of my animated fingers and torso. Enjoy it while it lasts! Until then though I've attached the Soundcloud recording of the set, I hope you like it!

A couple of pictures from the show; all except the first picture courtesy of T.

Gehan's Set by themelomanicsessions 

Edit: Finally uploaded the videos, so linking them here.

 

Enjoy!

Black

What happens when love dies?

Does it simply evaporate like the morning mist, to be forgotten till it is seen again and no sooner? Or does it transform itself into another emotion with equal intensity; anger, depression, apathy? Some say that losing love is almost as powerful an emotion as being in love, and I would have to agree.

Here's a song that to me, is one of the most gut-wrenching, most powerful songs about love I've heard, and Eddie Vedder just sings it with such raw emotion. I've always wanted to sing this song live, but never had the opportunity to; it would sound beautiful with strings, don't you think?

It's been a while, but I hope you know the routine: click here to listen to the original, and click here to download the mp3. Don't forget to check out my youtube channel to see some other covers I've done (my cover of Rob Thomas' "Ever The Same" is about to become my 5th song with 3000+  views - mindblown!) (Hi Pseudorandom!).

I must admit I worked my ass off for this one; let me know what you think!

Models & Music: Playing For The "En Vous" Fashion Show

Even though my 'headless videos' only make a rare appearance on the blog these days, I assure you that my piano playing ways remain intact. Which is why I was glad to be asked to sing at a friend's fashion show in Kandy a couple of weeks ago. She was looking for some acoustic-type live music to be played between sets while the models changed outfits, and I was more than willing to do it for her. So I worked out a few songs with my brother and a friend on guitar, and the results are below.

Thanks to A for recording the videos; unfortunately the sound isn't too great since the camera seems to have been right next to a speaker.

Kings of Leon - Use Somebody

Adele - Rolling In The Deep

Switchfoot - Always

As for the show itself, I must say it went really well. It was titled "En Vous", and featured some original designs by my friend for swimwear, casuals, evening and an especially nice linen collection. However it wasn't just the collection that was high class; the venue was extremely well done as well, with the runway being set up on the pool.

I know what you're thinking, and no; none of the models fell into the pool, despite how unsteady it seemed to be to walk on. Though come to think of it, how awesome would it have been having the models 'surface' from the pool itself wearing the swimwear collection? Perhaps a suggestion for another time.

All in all it was a grand success, and I was lucky enough to meet a few people who were interested in our 'services' for future events. I sincerely hope I handled those conversations well, despite not having a smooth enough reply for when people asked me for my card. Luckily Kandy is a small town, and when I mentioned my name, most people simply asked if I was my father's son, and after replying in the affirmative, they said they'd get in touch with him for my details. Perhaps I should make him my manager.

Either way, the Darkside is definitely in the market for more low-key sideshow musical attractions! If nothing else, it'll serve to be a welcome distraction from my mundane work life. Thank you all for the positive and constructive comments made on all my uploads, I probably wouldn't have had the nerve, nor would I have been heard of, to do stuff like this without them.

PS: I managed a sneak peak into the world of modelling at the show. Await a post on that soon..

The Return of The Headless Videos: 311 - "Love Song"

Wow, I can't believe it's been a whole year since I've uploaded a cover! It goes to show that I've just been that busy, and also I suppose, that lazy! However, since the last time I posted a video it was for T's birthday, I thought what better occasion to return to the musical scene than again on her birthday.

This isn't my usual style of cover, but I must admit it felt good when T suggested I cover it, and soon it grew on me. It's not the best quality because sadly my camera has suffered a series of unfortunate events and rendered it near inoperable. I will be setting up the "Raise Money For Gehan's Camera" fund shortly.

Anyway without much further ado, here it is: "Love Song"

PS: Dear T, wishing you a very, very happy birthday, and I hope you like this cover as much as you liked the last!

You can view it on Youtube here, and you can download the mp3 here.

Happy Belated Birthday, T...!

This post is largely redundant (in more ways than one), especially since T's birthday was a good two days ago. However, I am going to ignore that minor technicality and cling to the hope that it really is better late than never.


I have known T for quite a long time, in fact it was on her birthday last year that I first spoke to her. Well, that's not entirely true; I called her, and she put me on voicemail. Needless to say, my planned smooth dialogue promptly fell to pieces when faced with the silence of a voicemail.


Despite this, we had been in contact for a long time via email, which all started due to her rather shady comment she posted here.(You'll have to scroll all the way to the bottom; on a side note, wow I used to get a lot of comments!) As it turned out (and much to my disappointment, I must add), it was a song request. I was very touched, and most of our correspondence from then on was always centered around the music I did, and suggestions for new covers. I remember smiling to myself when she suggested some extremely difficult songs, as she seemed convinced I could sing anything. The most famous ones though will always be the 'mystery songs' she heard while smoking up in Jamaica, the ones she would have told me about if only she could remember!


While she has been one of my biggest fans, she has also been one of my harshest critics, and I think perhaps that made me respect her opinion even more. I would later find out that she was head groupie/music critic for the band LBW, a very talented local band over in the States, and so she was no rookie at this.


Over the last year, she has gone from an anonymous blogger to someone who will forever be rooted in a special corner of my heart. We meet people every day that we sometimes laugh at, sometimes forget. Rarely do we find those unique people that challenge us in the way T has done to me. Rarely do we find people with a face (the horror!) like hers either, but that's another story entirely...


So, when she first stumbled across this song and told me how much she loved it, I think it was only natural I should attempt to cover it for her, seeing as I lost the keys to my private jet and wouldn't be able to be there for her big non-birthday. While I am always wary of my own music, forever analysing and over-analysing each minute note and bar, her reaction when she first heard it, and her subsequent reactions to every other listen, easily erase any technical faults I may find in it.


So, happy birthday T. Thank you for the wonderful, wicked, whirlwind year we had together so far, the scandalous adventures, the heart-warming moments, the lows and the dizzying highs. Here's to many more years of face-jokes, failed attempts at dieting and generous dissing of the world in general.


Much love (and a slice of cheesecake, 'cos we both know you prefer that!)


G

If you want to download the audio, just click here.

Wherever You Will Go

I'm not even sure what to write about this song; I find it increasingly hard to explain the thought processes that go on while doing a cover. When it's straight forward, you can write about the lyrics and the tune and how you decided on doing it, but that's all rather academic and no one's really interested in that.

This cover is pretty unique, simply because I may have actually created a song that is too difficult for me to sing. Switching up a song and making it your own is always risky, and more often than not it ends in failure. Trust me, I've listened to this cover at least 50 times since I recorded it and I'm still not sure which category it falls into.

"Wherever You Will Go" is such a classic early 2000's happy song, back from the golden era of alternative rock music. I was told recently that I sometimes do songs that are too similar, and that I tend to favour the moody minor songs. Which is why I thought I'd do this as a cover, and honestly it sounded good until I played a wrong chord, and all of a sudden this haunting, echoing version was born.

While I played it I felt all the happy hopefulness of the original song drain away into this empty, almost desperate alternate version. The promise of 'going wherever you will go' had turned into 'I'm not there, but you will never be able to get rid of me'. A declaration of love had turned into an ominous vow of sorts.

My imagery is heavily biased towards all things dark and shady, I admit. So I'll leave that to you, the listener.

As always, click here for the original, and click here to download the mp3 of the cover.

Peace.

G

Aerials

Greetings from the Darkside.

Yes, it's that time of month. No, not that time of month. It's time for a headless video.

This cover has been a while in the making, mainly because nowadays it's a lot harder for me to find time to work on these covers. I had toyed with the music a lot, but through experience I've learned to not rush into recording something until I've really got the music down 100%. Confidence in the music gives me more freedom to experiment in the vocals.

Either way, the end result is a bit 'brave' I'd say, and no doubt will draw sharp criticism from all the metal heads and other S.O.A.D. fans out there, but then again this is just an interpretation; nothing more, nothing less. I enjoyed doing the harmonies, but honestly it was such a hassle mixing it all together with my amateur skills.

Enough blabbering though; here is my piano cover of System of a Down's "Aerials". No doubt you are used to the routine by now, but if not - click here for the original, and click here to download the audio mp3 file.

Enjoy!

G

Under The Bridge

Once in a while, you hear a song that goes on to define a certain period of time in your life. For me, there are many songs that remind me of either high school, college, or some other specific time period. This could be either due to the way in which I first heard it, or where I was when I used to listen to it, etc.

Then there are songs that go bigger, and are forever associated with a generation; a decade even. The Red Hot Chili Pepppers "Under The Bridge" is one such song. Few songs define the 90's like this classic, which cemented RHCP into the minds of all those 80's babies forever. Even the music video is a classic, something that is instantly remembered for the young fresh-faced Frusciante in the beginning of the video, and the long haired, bare-chested Anthony Kiedis running in slow-motion towards the camera.

Recently the topic of song meanings came up in a conversation, and I mentioned how interesting it was to find out what the artists had in mind when writing the lyrics to certain songs. The meaning behind "Under The Bridge" is haunting; a personal statement from Anthony who wrote this song after he had given up drugs. Due to his newly found clean-streak, he felt somewhat alienated from his band mates who would continuously get high while practising and jamming, thus making Anthony feel a stranger in his own band, and to his own friends. This forced him into long drives around L.A, helping him recall the days when he would do anything to 'score' some drugs, even once pretending to be the fiance of a local drug lord's sister to gain entrance into their circle, all this while having a loving girlfriend waiting for him at home.


Without much further ado then, here is "Under The Bridge". This cover is also special to me because it's the first one featuring my kid brother on guitars, so do take some time to appreciate his fancy finger work as well. If you haven't checked out the video before, you HAVE to do so! Click here for the original (it's not on youtube, but be patient and check it out), and click here to download the audio for the song. As always, I hope you enjoy it!

Fast Car - Tracy Chapman and.. Kings of Leon?

I haven't put up a proper cover since before the great viral infection of 12/09 (yes, that's what it's called!). The main reason for this has been the death of my trusty Sony Cybershot, which I shot my original videos with. My new camera, despite being better at taking pictures, is sadly a little lacking in the video department, at least where sound is concerned.

Which prompted me to dig into our music room, and actually put together a microphone and mixer to record.

It was a fun project, even if the song is not my best. The Bro and I had a lot of fun setting it up and messing with all sorts of different arrangements and settings.

The result is a better sounding video, and an interesting mix between Tracy Chapman and a not-so-popular Kings of Leon song.


So without much further ado, here is "Fast Car". The original is here, and the Kings of Leon song is here. As always, you can download the audio from here and see the Youtube video here.

Phew.

Enjoy (here)!

G

O Holy Night - Merry Christmas Everyone!

First of all, a very merry Christmas to all my readers! I hope you have had a wonderful holiday season (better than mine at least) and here's to rounding off the year 2009 on a positive note!

As promised, here is a headless video for the season. It's been exactly a year since I first put up a video, and that was "Away in a manger". This song is not as good as the others as I did it in a bit of a hurry, but I hope you all enjoy it either way.

Well I'm off for Christmas lunch! Once again, a wonderful Christmas to all!

To download the audio, just click here.

Dolphin's Cry

Well, apparently they do.


As is often the case, I turn to the other keyboard when I struggle with writer's block. This time I've decided to experiment with one of my favourite 90's rock songs, and hopefully I've been able to do it justice. I had actually planned on doing this a long time ago, but never had the confidence to record it. As a result, this is probably one of my most worked-on covers, though you probably won't be able to tell from listening to it.


Once again I apologise for the poor video quality. If the dodgy quality and annoying auto-focus bothers you that much, feel free to donate a better quality camera to the Darkside. Christmas is just around the corner, so let's be generous people!


So without much further ado, here is "Dolphin's Cry" by Live. As always, you can find the original here, and to download the audio version of this cover just click here.

Ever The Same

It's 11pm as I sit down to write this post, and I'm struggling to find the right words to convey what this song reminds me of. Lyrically it's a beautiful song, and that really comes through in this live acoustic version that I found on YouTube recently.

Of late I've been reading a lot of posts, tweets and emails about the 'economics' of love, marriage and relationships, their logical and practical applications and limitations. I read about how love is blind, how it fades, how things change, about compromise and sacrifice and self-development, plus a lot of jargon that I don't fully understand.

It breaks my heart; or, in the words of Collective Soul - "And I laugh to myself, as the tears roll down, 'cos it's the world I know..."

Bible teachers often speak of the greek term "agape", which is used for "love" in many of the New Testament scriptures. The greek language has many words for "love", varying in degree and meaning. "Agape" love, if I may condense Wikipedia, is an 'unconditional, self-sacrificing, volitional and thoughtful love'. Now that's a love I want to believe in.

While this song conveys feeling that is nowhere near as intense as what I just described, it still brings to my mind questions of whether I would be able to display such powerful emotion. I want to believe that I can; that I am capable of putting someone else first, of voluntarily making sacrifices and showing unconditional support for someone. I want to believe that I can still show love in a way that, sadly, has become a bit of a joke in this cold, logical and theoretical world.

But enough of my rambling. This is "Ever The Same" by Rob Thomas. As always, the original is here and you can click here to download the audio. Many thanks to Pseudorandom for lending her fantastic voice for the backing vocals on this one.

I hope you enjoy it!

G

"Ever The Same"

We were drawn from the weeds
We were brave like soldiers
Falling down under the pale moonlight
You were holding to me
Like a someone broken
And I couldn't tell you but I'm telling you now

Just let me hold you while you're falling apart
Just let me hold you and we'll both fall down

Fall on me
Tell me everything you want me to be
Forever with you forever in me
Ever the same

We would stand in the wind
We were free like water
Flowing down
Under the warmth of the sun
Now it's cold and we're scared
And we've both been shaken
Hey, look at us
Man, this doesn't need to be the end

Just let me hold you while you're falling apart
Just let me hold you and we'll both fall down

Fall on me tell me everything you want me to be
Forever with you
Forever in me
Ever the same
Call on me
I'll be there for you and you'll be there for me
Forever it's you
Forever in me
Ever the same

You may need me there
To carry all your weight
But you're no burden I assure
You tide me over
With a warmth I'll not forget
But I can only give you love

Fall on me tell me everything you want me to be
Forever with you
Forever in me
Ever the same
Call on me
I'll be there for you and you'll be there for me
Forever it's you
Forever in me
Ever the same

Forever with you
Forever in me
Ever the same

Diary - Secrets Part 2

continued from here....

Diary - Alicia Keys

Lay your head on my pillow
Here you can be yourself
No one has to know what you are feeling
No one but me and you

I won't tell
Your secrets
Your secrets are safe with me
I will keep
Your secrets
Just think of me as the pages in your diary

I feel such a connection
Even when you're far away
If there's anything that you fear
Call 489 4608 and I'll be here

Only we know what is talked about baby
I don't know how you could be driving me so crazy
So when you're in town
Why don't you come around?
I'll be the loyalty you need
You can trust me


I won't tell
Your secrets
Your secrets are safe with me
I will keep
Your secrets
Just think of me as the pages in your diary

---

My earlier post was sort of inspired by that single from Alicia Keys' second album "The Diary of Alicia Keys". It's a lovely album and that song is one of my favourites. There's something very beautiful and even sensual about the tone, the words and the song in general. I am a rather private person, and I don't open up much. In today's world, having a guard and a safe zone is always a good thing, because we've just grown accustomed to not trusting a living breathing soul. We read of heartache and betrayal on every corner, and every person we meet tells us about how they were stabbed in the back and taken by surprise about it, summarizing it all with the eventual ".. but I should have seen it coming".


Wouldn't it be nice to share our secrets, freely, without fear of blackmail or condemnation?


Hope you enjoy the cover, though covering Alicia Keys is always going to be difficult so I had to try and change it up a little bit. As always, the original is here and you can download the audio over here.