When You Are Old
William Butler Yeats
Words: William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)
Music: Michael Michaelis
When You Are Old
When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
Michael: Vocals, Guitars, Violin & Viola, Seaboard, Bass, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Snare, Toms, Bass Drum).
Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.
[All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2019]
When I Have Fears
John Keats
Words: John Keats (1795 – 1821)
Music: Michael Michaelis
When I have Fears
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love - then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.
Michael: Vocals, Guitars, Violin & Viola, Piano, Bass, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Percussion), additional sequencer programming (Marimba, Clarinets, Timpani).
Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.
(Last Update: 3.11.2018)
[All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2018]
Gravity (Remix)
For some reason, I didn't wrote any new music for the last couple of month. Instead, I spent my time exploring guitar sounds, and practicing violin. As a „playing ground” for my experiments I used a song I wrote about two years ago, Gravity. Almost all tracks are new recordings – not with the results I dreamed about, but much closer to what I want to hear.
„Gravity” was the first song I unpacked my violin again, after I stopped playing pretty much exactly forty years ago. That was the main reason for me to go back to that specific song: convincing myself that constant practice (for almost two years, now) really makes a difference.
Telling Fairy Tales (Children's Song)
When I watch a child lost for the world in it's game,
I wish so much I could do the same,
becoming myself without being alone,
becoming the center of a world that is my own.
Wish I could close my eyes and bad things go away,
wish I could yawn about what important people say,
wish I could be innocent and honest about anything and everyone,
wish I'd be certain again that after the rain comes the sun.
There is a holy place where children play,
I was there, I learned a lot, I even knew my way,
but I had to leave, I'm so sorry, I couldn't stay.
Once I was steering a ship thru time and space,
but wherever I went I always could see my mother's face,
I still know how these wrinkles feel,
smiling at her, and the doubts her smiling could heal.
Words & Music: Michael Michaelis
Michael: Vocals, Guitars, Violin, Bass, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Bass Drum, Snare, Percussion), Keyboards (Marimba).
Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.
[All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2018]
Children's Song - Interlude+Solo
Music: Michael Michaelis
Michael: Guitars, Bass, Viola, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Bass Drum, Percussion).
Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.
Salt Of The Earth
(1)
When you look out of your window, what do you see?
Traffic and people, maybe a cut-down tree.
When you open your door, what do you smell?
Almost odorless, probably poison, but you never can tell.
When you open your window, what do you hear?
The sound of the beast, feeding of domesticated fear.
What do you see looking at the sky at night?
Barley a star, just a blanketed dome made of city light.
(2)
Poor people's barracks covering the valley like straggly moss,
churches like breathing giants, bearing their builder's cross.
High towers bending like grass in the storm,
bridges made of steel, cooing like a newly-born.
(3)
What would happen if you look out your window at the open seas?
Or if you start your day watching a line of trees?
What would you do for a clear vision of the stars at night?
But what about the horrors that are back with no light?
How would you feel living in a home like a breath of roses?
But would you face the perils untamed nature imposes?
(4)
This city was raised by many generations, stone by stone,
It has a graveyard for it's builders, and a life of its own.
Words & Music: Michael Michaelis
Michael: Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keyboard, Alto Recorder, Violin & Viola, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Snare, Bass Drum, Toms, Percussion).
Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.
(Last Update: 17.2.2018)
[All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2018]
Changes
Music: Michael Michaelis (based on the Changes of "Giant Steps", written by John Coltrane)
Michael: Guitar, Bass, Piano, Viola, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Snare, Bass Drum, Toms).
Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.
(Last Update: 15.5.2018)
[All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2017]
Revolution
I still dream of a revolution,
not because I'm bored of evolution,
but things won't end well, that's just another illusion,
waiting for the end is no solution.
Sure: you want to sit back and watch how the game plays out,
but you're watching those who are weaving your shroud.
You might have a craving for that ivory to build up your own tower,
and you can't do that by raising your hands against those in power,
but you can't live in peace in thunder and lightning,
'cause what you hear and see, it's not mother nature, it's armies, fighting.
Sometimes you just want to be left alone,
but you can't merely survive on your own,
we're all citizens of planet earth,
being part of human nature is what makes living worth.
I know, you've heard these lines before,
and you would listen, but you're fighting a fucking war,
maybe you're wearing a shining armor, but I bet you're not,
praying for help from a king or a god is all you got,
but praying won't help, it won't even call a truce,
'cause all hell is about to break loose.
Words & Music: Michael Michaelis
Michael: Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Violin & Viola (String Sections), Cymbals & HiHat, Wavedrum (Bass Drum, Snare, Toms), Percussion (Bamboo Cata), Synthesizer Programming.
Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.
(Last Update: 26.11.2017)
[All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2017]