There come dark times, When the words come flow, When the quill won’t incise deep enough, And the veins runneth only with dust, In these hapless moments, He comes to me, Across grey matter and stars, My other self, The clown in my head,
It’s an intervention by oneself, The man in the top hat, A hand resting on my shoulders, And a swift bat on the ear from his cane, He speaks new hopes into my hands, Baring every positive I won’t allow myself, Filling my veins anew, Ratifying my creative soul, In his usual unhinged style,
Through his words I know, When I struggle to push forth, He’ll lift my hand to the page.
I don’t recognise our world, Was it supposed to be a modern purgatory? Have they made us devils? Feasting on a diet of microplastics, From this trough of serfdom, Tiptoeing on hooves to find that lithium, Earning those insufficient pennies,
These lords in their walled estates, They promised all a chill life, But it’s only grown hotter, Life is still full of those daily gifts though, Canned beans and cyanide, Toxic fumes and tree-stumps, Playing collectable card games with endangered species,
I daresay they lied to us, We shouldn’t be demons to one another, But they gave us these pitchforks, In the name of progress, They brought us hell on Earth.
It’s been a rather emotional week already. Yesterday in particular was certainly a long one but we got through it. Yesterdays poem was rather important for me to write about the particular situation, but as I mentioned before I won’t be going into any details. I hoped the poem would at least give some clues without being all “Oh, woe is me!”, you know? So how about all of you? How are you all doing? I hope all of your personal and creative endeavours are going as well as they possibly can out there. It’s rather cold again, with some places getting a lot of snow so I’ve heard. You better be keeping safe out on the roads! The island generally tends to avoid snow most years, only receiving a bit of frost or sleet. As a bike rider, it’s a bit of a godsend.
So it’s the day of the week for the Harlequins writing music y’all! Did anybody see the clue today? It was something of a red herring in a way. The theme of the day could have been one of two ideas that I had and the clue kind of related to both. I can’t say it was planned though, it was just me being indecisive!
The theme of this weeks writing music is, in fact, vampires! It was either going to be vampires or canines. You see what I meant about the clue now? But yes, for this week, we’re talking about those bloodthirsty lord and ladies of the night. From Dracula to Nosferatu. From the Lost Boys to 30 days of night. From Queen of the damned to… I’m not going to say that sparkly vampire film because hell no! However they appear, they are most certainly a staple of the horror genre, though they often find themselves in other scenarios as well. As with many horrific creatures, they obviously have inspired artists of all kinds, not just musicians. It’s easy to be afraid of a creature that looks like us, but is something a whole more savage and unknowable. Musically, I think the mind would probably jump to the gothic subgenre, but there is other stuff out there. I’m going to attempt poorly to do that for you today. Want to see what I can do? Or rather the music artists can do?
Well then, join me as we delve into the musical minds of nocturnal artists the world over!
And there we have it for another week! What do you all think of these choices eh? Anybody else have a thirst for blood all of a sudden? Only me? Oh bugger. Well, remember if strange pallid looking gentlemen in old clothes knocks at your door, be sure to not invite them in. On the other hand, I hope you check out all of these artists and send them some love as well!
Speaking of some love, would you kindly allow me some? The social media kind that is! The asylum has some sites that are just salivating at the thought of you following or liking them. It would mean a great deal to me if you did check them out. The asylum has a page over on Facebook, an account over on Instagram and lastly and leastly a page over on Twitter as well. Also, if you enjoy what I do here at the asylum, please consider supporting me over on the Ko-Fi page as well. Thanks for everything!
Towards the end, We embraced your every breath, Holding on for dear life, But like fragile pottery, You began to crack in our arms, Wilting, Fading, Now resting, We’ll be curators of your name, We no longer have the full article, But in our tearstrewn hands, We still hold the shards of your memory, Ever and always.
Are we not living a virtual reality? Are we living in binary? Chrome-filled goggles over our eyes, Flashing every shade of ruby, Screens of ones and zeroes, Winners and losers,
It’s a life within a life, Unreal, Fake, As if nature were moved to the recycle bin, It’s all apps and numbers on screens, And media that is less than social,
This VR world, It’s a misery machine, It’s not living, And when it gets too much, When our eyes are straining, Can we even take the headset off?
Are we not but sinking ships? Slowly but surely, Fathom by fathom, Taking on caustic water yearly, Our cerebral captains have run a loose ship, Mutiny is the standard, The posts aren’t manned, And the hull is leaking,
The navigator is mollified at the helm, Drunk on a rum of broken aspirations, And there’s always a storm in the distance, We drift past similar vessels, Kindred spirits, Unable to salvage one another, And is that not what we are, Just shipwrecks in the end.
Each day, We enter uncharted territory, Unknown waters, A new chronology, And each hour, We take another cagey step, Afeared of the possibilities and consequences, There is no knowing what we’ll uncover,
Steep cliffs and jungle heat, Glaciers and deserted Chernobyls, Places not on the map of yesterday, Sandy tombs of new information, Great canyons of unforeseen challenges, Sanctuaries of familiarity, And drakes masquerading as new friends, All are on the map of today,
This fluid geographic chart, It’s wiped clean at midnight, And tomorrow, We venture out again.
Dear stranger, You are my foil, My counterpart, Your virtues shine light upon my limits, Pulling them to the stagefront,
The comparisons are stark, You are an attractive prospect, Whereas I am a red flag, Whilst you enjoy success and royalties, I sit in grey and anonymity,
You’re everything I am not, But perhaps it’s right, The world needs losers too, I’ll be hydra to your Hercules, And so I’ll be your foil too.
There is a ruckus in my skull, Like static and flame coupled, It is a scene of havoc, Only visible to my minds eye, Yet this is no storm of the brain, But an armageddon, While red skies enshroud, Memory lanes are being churned up, Every cottage on the way in embers, Memories and photos vaporised in the inferno, While tidal waves are swallowing every anecdote,
This is a time time coming, It may yet desist, For now it is just havoc, But I let it happen.
Bloody hell, part 177 of these posts already eh? And the beginning of a new month as well. Why, it feels like just yesterday I was inflicting my musical tastes and interests upon you poor people. In seriousness though, I appreciate you all humouring me over the years. I’m sorry to say the melancholy has returned a bit this week. I think there are numerous reasons for that at this point. I can’t say I’m the best at dealing with change. I’ve been feeling strangely isolated, which is absurd since I have friends and family everywhere around me. I just feel like I’m withdrawing into myself without even necessarily meaning to. It’s a hard mindset to describe. I’m unsure if the poems this week have shown any of that.
Well, let’s not worry and get on to the subject of todays post. I’ve chosen a very light-hearted and creative theme for this week, a bit of a boost for us all eh? Did anybody see the clue earlier on today? I admit it’s a little niche if you didn’t recognise the individual in the photo but hopefully I’ll get you up to speed today eh?
The musical theme for todays writing music post is… 10 Second Songs! Ok, I can hear you screeching already: “What the hell is that, you peculiarly short clown?”. You didn’t need to bring my height into this, but I’m going to explain. 10 Second songs is a well-known YouTube channel run by an undeniably talented bloke called Anthony Vincent from the USA. I’m not particularly well-versed in how he came to create the channel or his earlier works but he is one of the best “Cover” channels that I know of. It’s actually unfair to say covers, as Vincent has a method all of his. He will cover a song beginning in the creators own style and at various points he will switch to emulate a completely different artist while keeping to the lyrics. No genre is off the cards! So, he can go from a dour alternative style ala Linkin Park, to a country singer, a popstar or a rapper. He even puts joke bits in like random segments of Bollywood, bluegrass or dog sounds. He can often fit from 20-40 styles in one song. It’s really something to witness actually. I think a demonstration would help more than my mumbling wouldn’t it? Ok, let’s do it!
Please join me as we delve into the musical minds of 10 Second Songs!
10 Second Songs – In The End
10 Second Songs – Talk Dirty
10 Second Songs – Rap God
10 Second Songs – Dark Horse
10 Second Songs – Take On Me
And there we have it! What do you think eh? Those are among my personal favourites of Mr. Vincent’s videos, but certainly not all of them. I wasn’t going to regale you with every single one as that would mean you may not go and check out his channel. I absolutely want you to go and do that by the way. Show Mr. Vincent the love eh? After listening to his work, I’m sure you’ll agree that he deserves it! I’ll include a link to his channel just below here.
Though I clearly don’t compare, would you still be so kind as to visit my own social media sites as well? Every like or follow would help me enormously! The asylum has a few sites that you could follow, at your discretion. I have a page over on Facebook, an account on Instagram also a page over on Twitter as well. Thank you for considering it! Also, if you really like what I do here at the asylum, please consider supporting me over on the Ko-Fi page as well. Thanks for everything my friends!
WorldofHarley 