Some writing music: Part 167

Hello there inmates!

This is going to be the final writing music post before Christmas! The hour (or day) does indeed approach. It’s only about half a week until Christmas day now. Is anybody else feeling festive yet? I certainly hope so cause I’m not. I’ll leave all of the cheer to you guys I think. I’m not trying to be a scrooge, but as I mentioned previously, I don’t much care for Christmas or this time of year in general. It’s simply overhyped and over-commercialised in my eyes. I do however, hope that you’re all ready for the big day with gifts and food for the family and such. Nothing worse than last second panic shopping is there? Mind you, I’m probably going to be one of those poor souls on Friday. I still want to get some presents for my loved ones but it’ll have to wait until that day. That’s finances for you!

Today however, it’s time for music! The Harlequins writing music that is! Did anybody happen to see the clue for todays theme earlier today? It was over on my social media pages, you couldn’t miss it. Or you could I suppose. Anyways, it may not come as a huge surprise given the season right now.

The musical theme for todays post is family! It’s what the season is supposed to be about after all! Not material things. I suppose a little treat every now and then doesn’t go amiss but still. So families. We all have one and yet nobody’s experience is ever the same. There are as many styles of family as there are people on Earth. Biological, adopted, a person and their pets or a purely chosen family, there is no wrong kind of family. As such, music about families can manifest in all kinds of ways. It could be a song about particular family members (positively or otherwise), family events or simply the feeling of belonging to a clan. There is no rule to it of course, everyone views family completely differently. It could be a happy thought or a cause for distress. You know what shouldn’t be a cause of distress though? The following musical choices! Let’s get to it!

Please, join me as we delve into the musical minds of communal artists the world over!

Rina Sawayama – Chosen Family
https://www.rina.online/

James Blunt – Monsters
https://www.jamesblunt.com/

The Cranberries – Ode To My Family
https://www.cranberries.com/

Anna Clendening – To My Parents
https://www.annaclendening.com/

Ozzy Osbourne – Mama, I’m Coming Home
https://www.ozzy.com/

And there we have it! I actually found it hard to find some songs that weren’t sentimental or sad in nature. I’m sure there’s plenty of other happier songs I could have picked, but here we are! It makes me happy to know I’m seeing both of my parents this coming weekend actually. I always look forward to that, I don’t visit nearly often enough. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy the musical choices for this week and you go ahead and check out all of these artists as well. They definitely deserve it! While you’re at it, be sure to tell your family you love them, whoever they are.

Speaking of love, mind allowing me a snippet? Only in the social media sense, don’t worry! I have some social media sites that would greatly benefit from your attention my friends! Please consider following or liking me over on the Facebook page, over on Instagram and for the time being, also on Twitter. I’ll include links here, but they can always be found on the ‘Contact Me’ page above! Also, if you really enjoy what I do here at the asylum, please consider supporting me over on the Ko-Fi page as well! Thanks for everything!

So, until next week, have a very crazy day inmates! And have a great Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/ too I suppose! Haha!

Nighttide

The hour grows dire,
I retreat to my crib,
And yet my mind swims,
Drenched in a cornucopia of thought,
Unable to switch off,
To finally drown in the dark,

No degree of comfort seems to help,
Even Lady Lunar cannot assist,
Restrained from me by overcast skies,
I’m floating on a sea of gloom,
Intermittently hounded by the phone screen,
An unwanted lifeguard in this tide,

I need to sleep,
To descend,
Before the sunrise burns my bloodshot eyes.

Maybe Love

I find myself in a conundrum,
A dilemma in what this feeling is,
This dynamic,
Between me and this dark angel,
She haunts the recesses of my brain,
A thought hidden in every other,
She is the birds chirping,
The ones at the window as I wake,
She’s the warmth of my blanket,
The ease as I rest my eyes at night,
Her voice never truly fading,

It could be friendship,
I am not addled,
But I sense more,
If it even be reciprocated,
When I witness our meetings,
With this feeling,
This dynamic,
Could it be anything but love?

Listless Soldier

My friend,
I know that you’re suffering,
Wounded,
Ambushed by chance,
You were gut punched,
Ran through,
Left in a crater,
But you’re still on your feet,
You’ve been a soldier this far,
The best people are,

It’s true that you’re in pain,
And it’s true that the war rages on,
Time never ceases those dire barrages,
This is an uphill battle,
It’s true,
Life always was,
But you can do it,
You can rally,
You’re not alone on the frontline,
There’s a whole host behind you.

Lunacy

When it’s time to animate the ink,
I require ore of an inimitable nature,
To fuel my furnace,
So I mine down into my brain,
Struggling with the bedrock,
The quarry walls of normalcy,
Sanity is too rigid,
Too adamantine,
It blunts my cerebral pickaxe,
The mineral is unrefined and bland,

Giving up,
Instead I descend into lunacy,
That restricted pit,
To transcend this mundanity,
It’s the only way,
Here the material is ever more singular,
Gleaming colours that never were,
Containing ideas the world has never seen,
Ever I tunnel into this hoard singing,
Declaring I am a lunatic,

Gladly so.

Boilerplate

Sometimes,
When all else has failed,
There can only be one reply,
One reaction to a debacle,

A boilerplate response,
Prearranged for just this type of heartbreak,
Chiselled into my tongue,
Cached away like a trump card,

‘I’m fine,
I’m alright,
Don’t worry about me,
It’ll be better next time’,

These foreordained threads of speech,
Spat out while tears encroach,
They’re a smokescreen,
Designed to protect the guilt of another,

A witless stratagem,
Sadly exhibited on a piece of rusted brass.

Dark Thunder

Tonight I was struck by lightning,
And solicited by dark roaring thunder,
I brook this current through me,
A maniac charge surging all over,
Searing every nerve,
Exorcising any feelings,
Cremating any remaining heart,
And creating an electrified husk,

The tempest has changed me,
Galvanising,
Newly animating me,
It’s a passing of the torch,
So now I approach,
No more impeded by my humanity,
And I’m the dark storm on the horizon,
Ever fulminating.

Some writing music: Part 166

Hello there inmates!

Brrr! I’m bloody freezing! Winter is well and truly here at the asylum. I find I can’t move around the house without at least two layers on everywhere. Yes I know it gets far colder in other parts of the world, but I really don’t like this weather. Bad for the ol’ leg joints you know? Besides, I swear it feels colder in the UK than it actually is. Very bizarre. Besides that though, things seem to be fairly stable right now. No particularly outstanding negative things going on right now. I suppose we’re only half way through the week though. Haha!

On a touch more happy note, you know what day it is! Oh yes indeed! It’s time for the Harlequins writing music once again! Did anybody see the clue today? In some parts of the world/country I suppose you could look outside and see the same image. Did anybody get it?

It may come as no surprise to anybody but todays writing music theme is winter! How could it be anything else right now? Yes, todays musical theme is my least favourite time of the year. Did you get the impression I didn’t like the cold? You’d be bang on! With that said, chilly weather and the winter in general do make rather excellent inspirations for music. I’ve heard many songs about ice or being out in the snow. It can be a gloomy time, full of dark and loneliness. But on the other hand, it is a rather picturesque time of the year. I tell you, I don’t mind looking at heavy rain or snow from the relative comfort of my bedroom window. Like the sun and the beach in the summer, the cold and boreal of the terminal months also inspire people. Oh, and let’s not forget the music from the holiday season too. None of which you’ll find here, but it’s worth mentioning. I’m rambling again, aren’t I? Let’s get on!

So, join me as we delve into the musical minds of glacial artists the world over!

The Bangles – Hazy Shade of Winter
http://www.thebangles.com/

Lindsey Stirling – Snow Waltz
https://www.lindseystirling.com/

AFI – Love Like Winter
https://afireinside.net/

Genesis – Snowbound
https://www.genesis-music.com/

Sabaton – Christmas Truce
https://www.sabaton.net/

And there we have it! I’ve got to check my ears for frostbite after that. Yes I know, technically that last song is a Christmas song. But unlike the religion-infested and consumerist tosh we’re used to this time of year, I think it has a more important message. Regardless, I hope you enjoy the artists I’ve chosen this week and I encourage you to check out the other music by these groups. They all deserve the attention you know!

Speaking of attention, you know what I’m about to say don’t you? Care to offer me some? The asylum has a few social media pages and it would mean the world to me if you’d consider following or liking me over on those too. I’ll provide links here, but they are also available on the ‘Contact Me’ page above. I have a page over on Facebook, an account on Instagram and last but also kind of least, a page on Twitter as well. If you enjoy what I do here at the asylum, please consider supporting me over on the Ko-Fi page as well. Thank you all for everything!

Until next week, have a very crazy day inmates!

Last Spell

I have written poetry all of my life,
Intermittently over the years,
Playing at mastery,
Playing with sorcery,
Little magic spells,
Cast not with crystal and wand,
But with quill and felt tip,
Art that enchants this golem,

Enchantments wear though,
And one day,
One fateful day,
I shall write my final poem,
Cast my last spell,
And nobody,
Not even I,
Shall know when it shall be.

Jenga Tower

Life is a game of Jenga,
A contest of balance,
As the years go by,
We pile up the blocks,
Hands trembling,
Modest teak bricks in saffron placed gingerly,
Each one an achievement or idea,
A victory or love ballad,
Building materials of a good man,

An unseen hand haphazardly places opposing cubes,
A spectre with our own scent,
These sable blocks are insecurities and fears,
Each one providing instability,
So take utmost care,
The mind is a Jenga tower,
All it takes is a little tremor,
A little push,
A bad day,

And we come tumbling down.