Musings

My first entry of the year! I hope everyone is doing well. I have a song that became very appropriate last month since my niece Kailey and her husband Bruce celebrated their wedding reception. Unfortunately, we heard the news that my aunt Annette Potter passed away on the Friday before the wedding party so we were at the funeral on Monday. Although it was great to see family and friends on both occasions, one was happy and one was sad. Here are my thoughts about all of that. Click on the lyric title to play the song.

Weddings & Funerals (Edit) Jan. 6/13 Karl Rigelhof

Matrimony
Where two become one
Harmony
A new life begun
Ceremony
Before God and men
Testimony
Of love between friends
For life
And the pursuit of happiness
We hope
We are all truly blessed

CHORUS:
Weddings and funerals
One happy one sad
We gather together
As family and friends
And comfort each other
In sadness and sorrow
To celebrate life
From the start to the end

Life
Make the best of it
Love
Every moment you get
Give
More than you receive
Live
What you believe
And care
For the one's you love
Be there
When they need someone

CHORUS:
Weddings and funerals
Happy and sad
We gather together
With family and friends
To comfort each other
In gladness and sorrow
To celebrate life
From beginning to end

BRIDGE:
We all are born
We all must die
In between
We live our lives
With all of our hearts

Death
Is the fate of us all
One day
We must heed the call
In heaven
A new life is started
Remember
Our dearly departed
Are not gone
For they live on
In our hearts
In our memories

CHORUS:
Weddings and funerals
One happy one sad
We gather together
As family and friends
Comfort each other
In sadness and sorrow
Celebrate life
From start to the end

Hey gang. Here's one I totally forgot about which I really like because it has a latino/salsa/joropa beat. Joropa is what they call the music from Venezuala.

Give it a go: Venezuala

Venezuela (Edit) May 22/11 Karl Rigelhof

I was in Caracas
Taking in some sun and some sand
You were shakin' them maracas
And singing in a latino band

And you said to me
As you took me by the hand
I'll show you a mystery
And why they call this a magical land

CHORUS:
Come down to Venezuela
Where they dance and swing and sway
To that joropo beat
To sounds oh so sweet
You just have to move your feet
Down in Venezuela

I was sippin' a cerveza
And I couldn't help thinking about you
My hot passionate lover
And the crazy times I remember

Through the thunder and lightning
We moved to the rumbling rhythm
And the band played music so enticing
We kissed as though it never ends

CHORUS:
Come down to Venezuela
Where they dance and swing and sway
To that joropo beat
To sounds oh so sweet

And during the storm
We danced the night away
Until the early dawn
I awoke to a note and here's what it said

CHORUS:
Come down to Venezuela
Where they dance and swing and sway
To that joropo beat
To sounds oh so sweet
You just have to move your feet
Down in Venezuela

Back again with another remix but this time of a song that was not mentioned before. Here's my demo version.

IN TRANSIT (Edit) Oct. 16/84 Karl Rigelhof

Hello
Here we go
Gentlemen
Start your engines

Always in transit
I never stop, I never slow down
I can't understand it
The things you have to do just to get around

Forever in transit
Feel like a cheque stuck in the mail
I don't know if I can stand it
I'm always late, it never seems to fail

CHORUS:
TTC, GO, LRT
It's all the same to me
Subways, trains, streetcars, buses, boats, and planes
All this Random Motion will drive me insane
All this tandem emotion will leave me completely deranged
In transit

In out, stop go, up down, all around
Squish squash, push shove, people bustling to and fro
BO, bad breath, cigarette smoke, exhaust fume choke
Hustle bustle, shuffle shovel, stuffed into tin cans like sardines
An elbow in your side, a newspaper in your face, someone is standing on your foot
Oh great, the train is late, you just missed the bus, don't cuss, mustn't fuss
It's from home to work, work to home or bust
Loud noises, screaming voices, boys toys, oh what joy, to foil the play, it destroys the will
We're programed to run this race of rats

CHORUS

Life is intransient
Time flies by without a care
Our energies are well spent
But we never seem to get anywhere

Life is rapid transit
From the beginning to the end
An urgent message to transmit
But nowhere to send it
Quick, hit the emergency stop

CHORUS


Also, we used to do a version of this song back in the Tardigrada days called Commuter Madness which was a combination of James Wallace's song for the verses and choruses and my part for the middle "rap" section. We had recorded a couple of takes during our rehearsals and did actually play the song a few times live before James left the band. Have a listen.

Here's another "Song of the Day" rehashed, retreaded and remixed with my old friend Don Popert's brilliant unrehearsed, one take drums. Remember all of these recordings are rough demos but at least this one has real drums by a really great drummer. Click on the title below to listen.

EVERYWHERE Aug. 29/85 Karl Rigelhof (Revised: Mar. 28/05)

Read what I have written
Tell me have I bitten
Off more than I can chew

Hear what I am saying
The game that I am playing
Has finally fallen through

BRIDGE:
Feel depressurizing
I am past my eyes in
Things I have no time for

It seems I am mistaken
Extremes that I have taken
Have left me feeling blue

Speak when you are spoken
After you have awoken
Your dreams will all come true

CHORUS:
Everywhere
Everything
Reminds me of you
Every time
Everyone
Feels it too

(Lead)

CHORUS:
Everywhere
People swear
You're better off without
Every time
You seem to find
The shadow of a doubt

Listen when I’m talking
The position I was stalking
Was not meant for you

Believe what I have taught
Deceive you I have not
Nothing I have said is new

BRIDGE:
Feel depressurizing
I am up to my eyes in
Things I did not choose to do

Read what I have written
Indeed I was smitten
By the bitter truth

CHORUS:
Everywhere
Everything
Reminds me of you
Every time
Everyone
Feels it too
It's everywhere

More songs dug up, dusted off, reviatalized and remixed:

Complications

Ingratitude

 

COMPLICATIONS (Edit) Nov. 6/06 Karl Rigelhof

Life is full of complications
You have to deal with the situation

Do the best you can
Please understand
Things don't always turn out
The way you planned

As long as you believe
Everything will be
All right
It'll be all right

It's not that difficult
For you to figure out
What it's all about
It's really no one's fault
There is no doubt
It makes you want to scream and shout

BRIDGE:
When everything is a hassle
And nothing seems to be going right
Just remember this one thing
That it's always darkest
Before the light

No matter how bad it gets
There is no regret
You can always bet
The worst is yet to come

As long as you believe
Everything will be
All right
It'll be all right

 

INGRATITUDE (Edit) Sept. 13/06 Karl Rigelhof

The pen is mightier than the sword
But it depends on the words
Peace is definitely preferred
Over deadly weapons
With assault and battery
Or war of mass destruction

To pretend you were on board
And everything was straight forward
But now we chart a different course
To destinations unknown
We even steer by different stars
And must make it on our own

BRIDGE:
I've had enough
Of your insensitivity
Your constant swing in mood
Your doom, gloom, and rude
Your bad attitude
And your ingratitude

CHORUS:
You're an ingrate
You're much too late
It's all too late
You're too late
Too late
Too late
Too late
Too late
Too late

The ends don't justify the means
It won't defend how you feel
With you it's always overkill
Black or white, do or die
You never stop to question
Or even wonder why

BRIDGE

CHORUS

Hey folks. Sorry I haven't posted anything in almost a year but now that it is summer again I have a little ditty that is a great campfire song. I have also updated the instrument sounds and remixed it so now it sounds much better than the older version. Y'all sing along now, ya hear!

(I LOVE) NATURE(ALLY) Mar. 31/06 Karl Rigelhof

I love nature
Nature loves me
Take a walk in the forest
Hear the birds and the bees

And on a starry night
Under the light of the moon
It will be all right
At least it will be soon

I love nature
Nature loves me
Take a walk in the forest
Smell the flowers and the trees

And on a starry night
Under the light of the moon
By the camp fire light
Playing our favourite tunes

I love nature
Nature loves me
Take a walk in the forest
Feel the warmth of the breeze

And on a starry night
Under the light of the moon
It will be all right
At least it will be soon

And on a starry night
Under the light of the moon
By the camp fire's light
Singing our favourite tunes

I love nature
Nature loves me
Take a walk in the forest
See the sky through the leaves

And on a starry night
Under the light of the moon
It will be all right
At least it will be soon

I love nature
Nature loves me
Take a walk in the forest
Taste the wild berries

And on a starry night
Under the light of the moon
By the camp fire's light
Playing our favourite tunes

Hello everyone. I hope you are all enjoying the Civic Holiday long weekend! Today's "Song-of-the-Day" in the Karl Kalendar is "Burn in Effigy" which was an interesting song since I wrote the title based on the chords in the chorus (but there is an A, C and D in there somewhere as well, however, "Burned An Effigy" didn't quite sound right!) and I gave a list of my demo recordings to the members to the band I was in called "The Genuines" and one of our singers Artemis said she liked this one. Anyway, it wasn't a song I would do with the band but the acknowledgement from a great musician/singer/songwriter was nice to hear. I did include a link to this song in a previous post under "Volatile Mix" so if you didn't listen to it before click on the title link and have a look at the lyrics below.

BURN IN EFFIGY (Edit) Aug. 1/06 Karl Rigelhof

Crying out loud
Doesn't seem to help
You feel lost in the crowd
Wash up in a sea of doubt
Fallen on deaf ears
Echoes scream and shout
Your name
Again

CHORUS:
Burn in effigy
Pictures of you and me
Everything up in smoke
Burn in effigy

Happy smiling people
Lead their happy little lives
Sad to see that evil
Shines like daggers from their eyes
Swallowing their joy
Without compromise
It's all the same
Once again

The best laid plans
Of mice and men
Just understand
Don't try to pretend
We all know it's over
It just a question of when
Never again

CHORUS:
Burn in effigy
Pictures of you and me
Have all gone up in smoke
Burn in effigy

Photos shattered and torn
Feed the fire
Ashes scattered by the storm
Salted with tears
Fallow fields forgotten
Hallowed earth never to be sewn

CHORUS:
Burn in effigy
Pictures of you and me
It's all gone up in smoke
Burn in effigy

Burn in effigy
Burn in effigy
Burn in effigy

Also related to that is another "Song-of-the-Day" from earlier this week "Circumstances" which was in the list and the leader of the band and another great musician, Jim Parker, commented "Karl what the hell was that!". I guess it wasn't pop enough like most of his songs.

Happy Canada Day! Just over a year ago I posted "The Flame Within" which was one of my early original tunes that I had recorded a demo for on the computer.

I have remixed it with updated instruments and sound and hopefully you will enjoy it.

THE FLAME WITHIN June 28/84 Karl Rigelhof

You can not extinguish the fire that is burning
You can not distinguish desire that is yearning
To break free
To consume all with its flame
To assume its rightful place
And bring glory to its name

You can not relinquish the heat of intensity
You can not diminish the feat of immensity
To be achieved
To attempt impossible
To exempt no ambition
And overcome every obstacle

All your tears of sorrow
Can not quench the flame within
What will be tomorrow
Will not cause the flame to dim
The knowledge that you borrow
Sparks the flame to begin
Everything you do only feeds the fire
Of the flame within

I look into your eyes
And they burn with the colour blue
The hue of the heat at the centre of the flame
I look deep inside
And I learn that you say is true
Run through defeat you have only yourself to blame
If you get burned by the flame within

You can not deter the hunger of the flame
You can not infer it brings you under without shame
To look behind
To close the doors of the past
To look beyond the future
Where only the flame will last

All your tears of sorrow
Can not quench the flame within
What will be tomorrow
Will not cause the flame to dim
The knowledge that you borrow
Sparks the flame to begin
Everything you do only feeds the fire
Of the flame within

Sorry I haven't had much time to concentrate on music stuff lately but dug up this old "gem" of an instrumental I had written the music for back in 1990 which initially was named "The Blarney Stone" and repurposed as "Music Of The Masses". This was one of the first few songs I worked with on the computer.

It is also part of the Krysylys concept and here is an outline of where it fits in the scheme of things:

Krysylys: (UP) THE REVOLUTION (Part 2) July 6/86 Karl Rigelhof

Several of the technicians and scientists are also involved or become involved with this underground society with one technician, Jezery, masterminding the entire operation. Jezery is an electronics technician who is working on a part of the project to improve the computer programming functions to be more respondent to emergency situations in the mines to insure minimal loss of krystyl and maintain maximum telepathic control over the workers while the waves of anti-telepathic krystyl `resonance' disrupt the computer telepathic fields. The problem of control is one of accuracy and anticipation of programming modes and having a certain `intuitive' feel for the computer keyboard entry devices. It requires an experienced and inventive operator/programmer to handle crisis situations and to also maintain a smooth running operation during standard conditions. Jezery is brilliant on the `keyboard' and is unrecognized by his superiors for his useful talents which mostly involve the savior of human life (as well as krystyl) during a `crack up'. One of the high maestros on a visit of some importance had a chance to view Jezery's talents during a cave-in and was delighted by the lad's dexterity and virtuosity and invites him to perform at the maestros' concert that evening.

The upper echelon of the tech society had gathered for the concert and were shocked and overwhelmed at the intensity of Jezery's "Music of the Mass(es)". The Maestro, Rzah, was ecstatic and complemented Jezery in almost approaching his brilliance and invites Jezery for some private lessons as his new protege. The Maestro's present protege, Shale, is of course humiliated and infuriated by this outrage and vows retribution against both Jezery and the Maestro for inflicting this public shame upon him (Shale played the first part of the concert with a special piece he had written and dedicated to his `inspiration and mentor "The Grand Maestro"' which the Maestro liked the least of the two pieces performed that evening and of course animately voiced his opinion publicly).

While visiting with the Maestro, Jezery meets and falls in love with one of the Maestro's service maids whom he calls Jade because of her sparkling green eyes (her real name is Three which is the last digit of her worker number). Jade is very beautiful and fragile (of course) and the Maestro treasures her as one of his `prized possessions' and treats her with a little less contempt than he feels for most of his servants since she is not under the influence of the "Portal Link" or the krystyl and has some intelligence and vitality (and her own free will). Jezery convinces her to aid in his `cause' even though she is unaware of the Maestro's cruelty and excesses and has led a sheltered life under his benevolent care, reverence, and guidance. But little does she realize that he is `saving' her to `ripen' and then he will `pluck' her from her tree of sheltered security and cast her into the terror of his ultimate cruelty in his own private ritual to "The Creator" of his power and wealth: the computer "Brain" where he shares (in) the communion of his power "The Nektyr of Life" fresh from the body of a young delicious virgin (and Jezery must save her from this tragic fate). She agrees to supply information concerning the Maestro's moves and manipulations and to warn of any developments in the search for the rebel hideout.

A few years ago I picked up this beautiful Rosewood (newer models are walnut front) 7 String Ibanez B2B bass for a great deal and because it was the newest version back then they didn't offer it with gold hardware which I had noticed that they had in the first year it came out. Anyway, still a thing of beauty and sounds and plays great. I have only technically played it once with a band and that was jamming at my brother Noel's with the old Brock Bottoms gang. I do own 4, 5 and 6-string basses but just like in Spinal Tap "this one has 7!" which the way I have it tuned is basically 6 guitar strings (of course a couple of octaves lower) along with that big, beautiful, beafy B string on the bottom end!

So, having a 7 string bass I thought perhaps I should write some songs based on using all 7 strings and thought up a few ideas for a single instrument, multiple basses and bass with other instruments along with maybe even a few vocals thrown in for good measure here and there. You can see the rough shell of my concept for an album or collection of songs on my website under 7 String Things and I did start with a rough demo of one song which is still in progress.

I would like this one concept song to be a major part of the total package and it will probably be quite long once finished but broken into many smaller parts kind of like a symphony or "rock opera". Have a look at the first draft of the lyrics for The 7 Revelations. Naturally since this was just after Covid hit hard many people were probably thinking that this was "The End of Days" or many other things that people would call it. At least this story has a happy ending. Enjoy!

The 7 Revelations (Edited) Karl Rigelhof Apr. 12/20

1. Seven Stars, Golden Lamp Stands, Spirits of God and Thunders

He holds the seven stars in his right hand
And walks among the seven golden lamp stands
He has the seven spirits of God and seven stars
(And) when the seven thunders had sounded we could not hear

2. Seven Seals

He was seated on the throne
With a scroll in his right hand
Which was written within and on the back
And sealed with seven seals

Then the Lamb breaks/broke the Seven Seals

a) The 1st seal

A white horse and its rider
With a bow appear
He is given a crown
And he went out to conquer

b) The 2nd seal

A red horse and its rider
Are given a great sword
He takes peace from the earth
(So/as/and) men (should) slay one another

c)The 3rd seal

A rider on a black horse
(Holds) (the) balance(s) in his hand
He brings famine
Oil and wine are not harmed

d) The 4th seal

A pale horse appears
Its rider’s name was Death
And Hades followed him
Both were given power
Over a fourth of the earth

e) The 5th seal

The souls of those
Who had been slain
For the word of God
Cry out for vengeance

f) The 6th seal

There was a great earthquake
Thousands are sealed
Out of every tribe
Of the sons of Israel

A great multitude of people
From every nation
Came to worship God

g) The 7th seal

There was silence in heaven
For half an hour
Seven angels are then given
Seven trumpets to blow

3. Seven Angels Sound Seven Trumpets

The first angel blew his trumpet
And hail and fire followed
A third of the earth was burnt
And a third of the trees and grass

The second angel blew his trumpet
And a third of the sea became blood
A third of the living creatures in the sea died
And a third of the ships were destroyed

The third angel blew his trumpet
And a great star fell from heaven
A third of the waters became Wormwood
Many men died of the bitter water

The fourth angel blew his trumpet
And a third of the sun, moon and stars
Had a third of their light (was} darkened
And for a third of the day was kept from shining

The fifth angel blew his trumpet
Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth
They were told not to harm the grass or any green growth
But only those of mankind who have not the seal of God upon his/their forehead(s)
They were allowed to torture them for five months

The sixth angel blew his trumpet
The four angels who were bound
At the great river (of) (Euphrates) are released

An army of 200 million men
Kill a third of mankind
The seven thunders are sounded
John eats a little scroll, tasting sweet in the mouth, but bitter in the stomach
I heard a voice from heaven say
Do not write (it) (down) (what it/they say(s))

Two witnesses have the power to prophesy
For a thousand days
They will then be killed
And their bodies will lie in the street
For three and a half days
Then they will come back to life

The seventh angel blew his trumpet
And the Ark of the Covenant
Was seen in God’s temple in heaven

A woman clothed with the sun
With the moon under her feet
On her head a crown of twelve stars
And she is with child

Satan is thrown down to earth
The beast of the sea arrives
The beast of the earth appears
This second beast forces people
To worship the first beast
(Thousands with his Father’s Name on their forehead)
(Are seen by John on Mount Zion)

(As) the trumpet call (to be)/is sounded by the seventh angel
The mystery of God
As he announced to his servants the prophets
Should be fulfilled

4. Seven Bowls of Wrath: Seven Angels with Seven Plagues

And out of the temple came seven angels
With seven bowls filled with the seven plagues

The first angel poured his bowl on the earth
And fowl and evil sores came upon the men
Who bore the mark of the beast
And worshiped his image

The second angel poured his bowl into the sea
And it became like the blood of dead man
And every living thing died
That was in the sea

The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers
And fountains of water
And they became blood

The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun
And it scorched
Men with fire

The fifth angel poured his bowl
On the throne of the beast
And its kingdom was in darkness

The sixth angel poured his bowl
On the great river (of) (Euphrates)
And its water(s) dried up

The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air
There were flashes of lightning, peals of thunder
Hailstorms and a great earthquake
Such had never been seen
Since men were on the earth
And the great city
Split into three parts

5. The Whore of Babylon

I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast
Which was full of blasphemous names
And it had seven heads and ten horns

The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet
And bedecked with gold, jewels and pearls
Holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations
And the impurities of her fornication

And on her forehead was written
A name of mystery
Babylon the great
Mother of harlots
And of earth’s abominations

And I saw the woman
Drunk with the blood of saints
And the blood of martyrs of Jesus

6. Seven heads, hills and kings

This calls for a mind of wisdom
The seven heads
Are on seven hills
And the woman is seated
There among the seven kings

7. A New Heaven, a New Earth and a New Jerusalem

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth
For the first had passed away
And there was no longer any sea

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem
Coming down out of heaven from God
Prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying
God now dwells among the people
He will wipe every tear from their eyes
There will be no more death, mourning or crying or pain
For the old order of things has passed away

Seated on the throne he said
I am making everything new
I am the Alpha and the Omega
The Beginning and the End
All thirst I will quench
From the spring of the water of life

Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb
And (he) showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem
Coming down out of heaven from God
It shone with the glory of God
And its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel
Like a jasper, clear as crystal

It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates
On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel
There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west
The wall of the city had twelve foundations
And on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb
The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide
The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass

The foundations were decorated with every kind of precious stone
The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald
The fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl
The ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth and the twelfth amethyst
The twelve gates were each made of a single pearl
The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass

The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple
And the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it
For the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp
The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it

On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there
The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it
Nothing impure will ever enter it
Nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful
Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life

So for the last couple of years (not so much last year at all) I've gotten back together with Don Popert on drums and Dan Lester from the old Gold Coast, Fragile, Salem Road, etc. days on lead guitar, keyboards and vocals along with Dan's nephew Alex Guthrie on guitar, keyboards, trumpet, trombone and vocals to form the band Nostalgesiatics (working name).

We were rehearsing in 2019 and took a break for Christmas and vacations and then Covid hit and we haven't done anything since. Hopefully once everyone has been vaccinated we can get back at it this summer or fall. Have a look at our website (a work still in progress) and in particular a list of songs we have worked on so far in the meantime.

After Sue passed away from cancer, I moved very close to where I work at York University and I could walk to work every day and take my dog Bella for strolls through the forest outside of my apartment building or the Black Creek Ravine behind us. Mostly I was concentrating on work at this time and with the gang I worked with a few were musicians and some even bass players. I dreamed up this concept of putting together a band that did mostly songs played only on bass, with maybe some drums/percussion or guitar/keyboards here and there. Have a look at the "imaginary" super group I put together on my website for bass6 and check out the info on the individual band members, in particular Zeb is quite the character!

Here's a demo of a concept of classical music songs that I was putting together eventually for a medley of several songs/composers but this one is dedicated to the Magnificent Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart based on "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" which I inappropriately entitled Wolfgang Krang. The drums need a lot of work but the rest is getting there.

Through the summer and fall of 2015 I was working with Doug and Bruce to audition and rehearse for the rest of Doug's old band Midnight Council and we had a couple of lead guitarists and drummers come and go. And speaking of get up and went, Doug's old band said they were still using the name Midnight Council so we came up with the Roller Coaster Band.

By December the first love of my life, Susan, was getting very ill from cancer so I quit the band and took time off work to take care of her until she passed away in January.

I did write a few songs for Sue and here are the lyrics and a demo of the music for one I wrote to her when we got back together in 2008, 30 years after we were together in high school.

LOST AND YET FOUND Feb. 26/08 Karl Rigelhof

How have you been
It's great to see you again
It's been such a long time
But now I've found you again

And now that we're here
Together once again
Do not fear
The end is near

BRIDGE:
Now that I have found you
I want to put my arms around you
And never let you go
The feeling is astounding
As our hearts are pounding
To the rhythm of our love
Swirling with the stars above
Surging to the sound
Of the music in our souls

CHORUS:
What was lost is now found
It was never really gone
It was there along
Hidden deep within our hearts

Where did you go
When I needed you the most
Why did you leave me
With an empty space in my life

Now that I know
It was all a big mistake
It's time to mend
The heart I thought couldn't break

BRIDGE

CHORUS

OK, here's another oldy but moldy original tune that was written a while back that I was hoping we could do with North of 7 but unfortunately that didn't happen.

SOUTHERN FRIED (Edit) May 12/83 Karl Rigelhof

Ooh, yeah

Get up it's morning the sun is shining bright
But you can't move your body 'cause what you did last night
The ocean in the morning is such a pretty sight
But your eyes can't see they're blinded by the light

Lyin' on the beach toes stuck in the sand soakin' up the sun
Golden hair golden skin women everywhere
Baked right to a crisp

Ooh yeah

There's only one cure when you're in this condition
It's to drag your butt on down to the exhibition
Stake out your position
Take in some nutrition
And some heat

Lyin' on the beach guitar in my hand soakin' up some suds
Playin' music playin' games playin' it for keeps
Watchin' all the pretty girls go bouncin' by

CHORUS:
'Cause it's southern fried
Yes we're baked alive
But it's the only, it's the only way to go
We're southern fried
We like to tan our hides
Because beauty, beauty is only skin deep
Southern fried
'Cause we're stewed inside
Personally I like mine well done

Lyin' on the beach splashin' in the waves lookin' cool in them shades
Red eye red sun ain't we havin' fun
MMM I gotta get me some

CHORUS:
'Cause it's southern fried
It feels so good inside
Yes it's, it's finger lickin' good
We're southern fried
And we have no pride
Ah fuck it
Just get a bucket

After taking a break I joined up with a bunch of dudes who were doing a Pink Floyd clone band thing. They were just starting rehearsing but after a couple of months I was frustrated because they were not working very hard at "perfecting" their parts and Christian (lead guitar/vocals) said it was more of a "in the spirit of" Pink Floyd effort. I recorded a couple of songs during rehearsal and quit afterwards. Here's what we got:

Comfortably Numb (No Keyboards)

Money

Sister Mary Elephant and City Gypsy were the last bands I played with live. Of course, more songwriting ensued with mostly demos recorded and lyrics written without vocals. Here's a couple that do have me singing my thing and swinging my swing and I was hoping we could perform Troubadours with Sister Mary Elephant but we never got around to it.

Weddings & Funerals

Troubradours

Troubadours (Edit) Apr. 6/13 Karl Rigelhof

Troubadours
Troubadours

BRIDGE:
Hey
Oi, Eh Ho
Dum Dee
Dum Dee Dee
Dum Diddy
Dum Diddly
Da Da Dum

The wandering minstrels
Stroll from town to village
To spread good cheer
Not fire, rape and pillage

BRIDGE:
Oi, Eh Ho
Dum Dee
Dum Dee Dee
Dum Diddy
Dum Diddly
Da Da Dum

Singing songs of romance
Princes, damsels and love
From city to country
In the south of France

We tell the tales
Of the common folk
And it never fails
They get the joke

CHORUS:
Sing our song
Strum along
If you don't sing or play
Then just clap your hands
Stomp your feet
Join with the band
Dance to the beat
'Til you can't take it any more
Troubadours
Troubadours

BRIDGE:
Singin'
Oi, Eh Ho
Dum Dee
Dum Dee Dee
Dum Diddy
Dum Diddly
Da Da Dum

It's a carnival
Of sight and sound
But after the show
Time to tear it all down

We must move on
To the next summer fair
But we leave behind
The joy we shared

CHORUS:
Sing our song
Strum along
If you don't sing or play
Then just clap your hands
Stomp your feet
Join with the band
Dance to the beat
Troubadours
Troubadours
Troubadours

BRIDGE:
Singin'
Oi, Eh Ho
Dum Dee
Dum Dee Dee
Dum Diddy
Dum Diddly
Da Da Dum

Sing our song
Sing along
Sing our song
Sing along
Sing our song

As mentioned before I did continue to write some songs over the last few years and if you have visited my website you may notice that I have grouped them into Volumes. What Took You So Long is one with the year 2010 songs/yrics/music and some demo recordings but none with vocals.

But here is one that doesn't have lyrics or vocals because it is just me playing bass.

Onslaught

Don Popert and I joined forces with Karen Dinardo on vocals for her project City Gypsy which featured a few of her original songs and a bunch of new covers we were working on. Carl Pauf from The Genuines replaced Don on drums and we were searching for a guitarist to replace Richard Fortin's exceptional contributions but things fizzled out eventually. I will include Karen and Richard's songs below and I did add bass to a few.

Amor D'Invierno
Come Dance In The Night
Hola
Purple Magic
Save Me
Tu Perdida

And here is another of Karen's solo recordings:

Please Be Mine

And here is a demo recording of Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move" which we did record for Sister Mary Elephant so we reused the Piano from that (which was played by Tricia Myles) and I redid the bass and Carl the drums. Unfortunately there are no vocals or guitar, so just sing and play along!

I Feel The Earth Move (Bass, Drums, Piano)

While Karen, Don and I were playing with Sister Mary Elephant we also backed up Anna Guitmanis on a few occasions and a show with both bands plus Sharron Katz. Karen and I went on to record on Anna's Lately It's Cold single. Here's the track that I played bass on.

I also helped Anna Gutmanis record Karen's backing vocals in the bathroom of my apartment and mixed the multi-harmony tracks together and they went with that for the album. Have a listen to the rough mix version of People (Got to Get It Together) from her Glimmer In The Dark album.

After playing the Winner's Walk of Hope as She Loves You with only a bunch of Beatles songs the girls already knew, it was time to buckle down and learn some new songs. After much debate about a new name as well, we settled on Sister Mary Elephant. We played a few select venues and I have some videos from those along with demo/live recordings.

AUDIO:
Operator [Jim Croce]
Rain (Live - 13-05-18) [Sister Mary Elephant]

VIDEO:
Have You Ever Seen The Rain [CCR]
I Feel The Earth Move [Carole King]
I'd Rather Go Blind [Etta James]
Rain (Live - 13-05-18) [Sister Mary Elephant]

After Group Therapy came The Beatles, or at least mostly Beatles covers. I joined up with Karen Dinardo who got us into playing the Winner's Walk of Hope and her new band She Loves You which was an acapella all woman group who sang Beatles songs. One of their members left and they wanted a change in direction so Don Popert and I got together with the girls and Steve Shelton on guitar who's band had played at the Winner's Walk of Hope the previous year. We only played once as She Loves You which again was at the (Winner's) Ovarian Cancer Walk of Hope on Sept. 8, 2012.

Prior to and during this time I continued to write songs and recorded a few with no vocals but here's one with me sort of singing while dancing the samba wambo.

Venezuela (Edit) May 22/11 Karl Rigelhof

I was in Caracas
Taking in some sun and some sand
You were shakin' them maracas
And singing in a latino band

And you said to me
As you took me by the hand
I\'ll show you a mystery
And why they call this a magical land

CHORUS:
Come down to Venezuela
Where they dance and swing and sway
To that joropo beat
To sounds oh so sweet
You just have to move your feet
Down in Venezuela

I was sippin' a cerveza
And I couldn't help thinking about you
My hot passionate lover
And the crazy times I remember

Through the thunder and lightning
We moved to the rumbling rhythm
And the band played music so enticing
We kissed as though it never ends

CHORUS:
Come down to Venezuela
Where they dance and swing and sway
To that joropo beat
To sounds oh so sweet

And during the storm
We danced the night away
Until the early dawn
I awoke to a note and here's what it said

CHORUS:
Come down to Venezuela
Where they dance and swing and sway
To that joropo beat
To sounds oh so sweet
You just have to move your feet
Down in Venezuela

Here's a video of Group Therapy performing a song I wrote specifically for the Winner's Walk of Hope which we performed on this occasion live with Karen Dinardo on lead vocals. I have a demo of me singing it with Don Popert on drums as well.

I HOPE (Edit) Aug. 8/10 Karl Rigelhof

You don't need religion
To find faith
And you don't need to suffer
To feel pain
There's no need to cry, in sorrow
If we all have hope today
It will be a better tomorrow

PRE-CHORUS:
I know you've heard it all before
But I need to say it once again

CHORUS:
I hope, I do
I hope, for you
There's hope, for us
I hope

You need some compassion
To help you through
And give you the strength
To do what you have to do
And if you're lost
You will find your way
As long as there is hope
It will be a better day

PRE-CHORUS

CHORUS

BRIDGE:
I hope everything is gonna be all right
I know the agony burns deep inside
I pray every night for a miracle
I dream that some day this will all go away

CHORUS

Moving along to another gang of geezers or goofs Group Therapy was prescribed.

Here's some demos along with more video and yes all three of us sang lead or backing vocals:

AUDIO:
Gel [Collective Soul]
La Grange [ZZ Top]
Low Rider [War]
Pick Up The Pieces (Live) [Average White Band]
Play That Funky Music [Wild Cherry]
Shine [Collective Soul]

VIDEO:
Hush [Deep Purple]
I Wish [Stevie Wonder]
La Grange [ZZ Top]
Play That Funky Music [Wild Cherry]
Shine [Collective Soul]
Superstition [Jeff Beck Group]

Here's another one I didn't include earlier. I still want to redo the drums for this one and my brother Noel added a bluesy lead over top so we're getting close. This is a love song for my X in case the meaning is not clear! Click on the title below to laugh along.

GOOD FOR NUTTIN' (Edit) July 24/06 By: Karl Rigelhof

You call me a loser
And a lazy flake
A bar room boozer
And your worst mistake

You say I'm bad
That ain't the worst
Stark ravin' mad
My luck is cursed

CHORUS:
Good for nuttin'
You always put me down
I ain't good for nuttin'
'Cept for singin' the blues

You say I'm pathetic
That I'm a useless twit
When I'm apologetic
I'm still full of shit

You call me a cheater
A lousy liar
My soul'll burn
In hell's fire

CHORUS:
Good for nuttin'
You always drag me down
I ain't good for nuttin'
'Cept when I play this here guitar

Show 'em how it's done

LEAD (2 verses)

You 'cuse me of bein'
A drunken slob
Ain' got no money
Ain' got no job
My jokes ain't funny
But you laugh in my face
That ain't all honey
I'm wasted space

CHORUS:
Good for nuttin'
You always put me down
I ain't good for nuttin'
'Cept singin' them blues

You say I'm pretentious
And that I 'm a jerk
You never fail to mention
That I don't work

You say I ain't got no style
Ain't got no class
What I really need
Is your boot up my ass

CHORUS:
Good for nuttin'
You're always draggin' me down
Ain't good for nuttin'
'Cept for playin' this guitar

Play it for 'em one more time

LEAD (1 verse)

You call me stupid
You say I'm dumb
That arrow from cupid
Has left me numb
I should be thankful
Under your thumb
When you blow your whistle
I should come

CHORUS:
Good for nuttin'
Always goin' down
But when it come to lovin'
Nuttin's good to you

Just a bunch of old Geezers creaking out Rock & Drool. I joined up with my old guitarist Pete Leonard from Rags but after a few months of rehearsals everyone got too busy. Besides it was too hard getting up and down the stairs with our equipment!

Also, here's another of my original blues songs for you. I wrote quite a few blues tunes but not many recorded as demos with vocals. I would like to redo the horn section in this one but you might wish to torture yourself with a listen as is. Click on the song title below.

BARRELL BOTTOM BLUES Nov. 7/88 Karl Rigelhof

CHORUS:
I've been down so long
I don't know which way is up
Yeah, yeah
Hey, hey
I've been down so long
I don't know which way is up
Hey, hey
Yeah, yeah
I've hit rock bottom baby
The blues ain't never gonna stop

I thought I had everything I wanted
That was until I met you
Now my life is haunted
By the memory of you
I've climbed that ladder of success
Power, lust, and greed
To find myself in an awful mess
It seems the more you got, the more you need

BRIDGE:
I was on top of the world baby
Until you took control
You stole my heart, my mind, my body, and my soul

CHORUS:
I've been down so long
I don't know which way is up
Hey, hey
Yeah, yeah
I've been down so long
I don't know which way is up
Hey, hey
Yeah, yeah
I'm drowning my sorrow baby
In the bottom of this cup

I was happy when you found me
I thank the lord above
The feeling still astounds me
I fell head over heels in love
And then you went and left me
For some other man
I wish you'd never met me
You ruined all of my plans

BRIDGE

CHORUS:
I've been down so long
I don't know which way is up
Yeah, yeah
Hey, hey
I've been down so long
I don't know which way is up
Hey, hey
Yeah, yeah
Now I'm scrapin' barrel bottom baby
I'm left here holding this empty cup

Here's a song that I thought would work well with The Genuines but we split up before I could suggest it. Yes I have heard many other Bounce songs since, mostly by rappers, but mine was the original! Click on the title below to have a listen to another delightful demo.

Bounce (Edit) Nov. 27/09 Karl Rigelhof

I'd like to bounce this one
Off you If I could
Don't tell me I can't do it
Only if I should

Let's bounce it around
A little longer if you please
It may shake lose
Something that we need

BRIDGE:
If you don't bend
You're gonna break
Make amends
For your mistakes
If you won't listen
You'll never learn
Just be patient
You'll get your turn

CHORUS:
Bounce to the left
And bounce to the right
Bounce all day
And bounce all night
Bouncing up
And bouncing down
Bouncing all around
Bounce everywhere
Everyone bounce

Now I've got you
Bouncing off the walls
Filled with the excitement
Of it all

Just follow along
With the bouncing ball
It will all be clearer
To you in the end

BRIDGE:
If you don't bend
You're gonna break
Make amends
For your mistakes
If you won't listen
You'll never learn
Please hold on
Just wait your turn

CHORUS:
Bounce to the left
And bounce to the right
Bounce all day
And bounce all night
Bouncing up
And bouncing down
Bouncing all around
Bounce everywhere
Everybody bounce

We're gonna bounce back
Just you wait and see
In a dog eat dog world
Who'll win the cat and mouse game

If we catch it on the rebound
We may yet score
If we don't take a shot
Then we'll never know

Not Fake! Real Genuine Rock & Roll. The Genuines was our lead singer/guitarist/keyboadist Jim Parker's baby and we do a lot of original songs and of course mostly his tunes.

We have a lot of live recordings taken from video and I will include both below:

VIDEO:
I Saw Her Standing There [The Beatles]
Paperback Writer [The Beatles]
Bad Woman [The Genuines]
Love Me Like You Do [The Genuines]
Motortown [The Genuines]
Tide You Over [The Genuines]
Two Steps [The Genuines]
What Kind Of World [The Genuines]

AUDIO:
I Saw Her Standing There [The Beatles]
Paperback Writer [The Beatles]
Bad Woman [The Genuines]
Love Me Like You Do [The Genuines]
Motortown [The Genuines]
Tide You Over [The Genuines]
Two Steps [The Genuines]
What Kind Of World [The Genuines]

We didn't record any demos while I was with The Genuines but of course Jim recorded all of his songs playing almost all of the instruments in every song. When I first met the band they were playing live with backing drum and bass tracks for most songs and some songs with just drums and Jim played bass live. Here's one of Jim's demos without bass that I recording the bass part for:

Miss Me When I'm Gone [The Genuines]

Here's a few original songs that slipped through the cracks in my previous postings:

Any Time
If You Were Here
Janice
Lynne3
Tomorrow's Just Another Day

Next came a short stint with Volatile Mix, which didn't last very long because things were too volatile, at least with our lead guitarist Brian Northcott and his wife. We used to rehearsal in their basement and I would leave my equipment there including a spare 1967 Mustang Fender Bass Anyway when they split up suddenly my equipment went mysteriously missing. It was not the first time or last time I was ripped off. Ah, the life of a musician!

Anyway, during this time I continued to write new songs and here are a few more rough demos I will continue to torture you with:

Burn In Effigy
Complications
The Realization Of Desire

Of course while I was busy with family, bands, work and life I did find time to write a few songs. Most were just music or lyrics or music with lyrics but no vocals recorded. Here are a few that have me screeching in the background:

Naturally
Ingratitude
Circumstances

I joined the Ilse Themen Band for a few gigs but was overwhelmed with too many bands and other obligations so that didn't last long. No demos we recorded but there was a song I had written that I thought Ilse would like to sing entitled "On The Wings Of Angels" but she thought it wasn't really her style. Here's a demo version of me warbling it out! Or you can view the lyrics and hear a heavier version of the song on YouTube.

ON THE WINGS OF ANGELS (Edit) May 26/05 Karl Rigelhof

CHORUS:
On the wings of angels
My love will fly
From the depth of my soul
Across the sky
To the heavens above
Among the stars
To wherever you are
My love will fly
On the wings of angels

I feel so lucky
I have been blessed
Beyond my wildest dreams
I must confess

That I am grateful
For what I've been given
The best things in life
More than worth living for

BRIDGE:
If it's all gone tomorrow
What will I say
I feel no sorrow
Please take me away

CHORUS

LEAD

You are my love my life
My reason for being
You help me through my strife
Keep my faith believing

No matter what happens
As long as we're together
There will be no end
Our love will last forever

BRIDGE

CHORUS x 2

From Life on the Farm to Life in the Wild! Back at it again with my old friend and singer Terry Mancini from Lifeline to enjoy the Wild Life. We only played one gig but it was fun while it lasted.

Of course we took time to record a few demos during rehearsals:

All Day & All Of The Night / You Really Got Me [The Kinks]
Good Lovin' [The Young Rascals]
Twist And Shout [The Beatles]
What's Your Name [Lynyrd Skynyrd]

The Boyz are back! I joined up with my brother Noel's band The Brock Bottoms and we had a fluctuating lineup with 4 drummers (they seemed to keep disappearing under mysterious circumstances) and our brother Paul was in there for a few gigs including the New Year's Eve show we did for the Sunderland Hockey Association. We performed a couple of gigs for the SHA and a couple of private parties at Noel's along with a few bars.

Here's some demos we did "live off the floor" from our rehearsal space at Noel's ranch:

Sunspot Baby [Bob Seger]
How Long [Blue Rodeo]
Pink Cadillac [Bruce Springsteen]
You Wreck Me [Tom Petty]
8675309 Jenny [Tommy Tutone]

Happy Valentines Day! Here's a love song for you or at least a song about a woman who loves to sing Karaoke. I wrote this a couple of years before we formed FeMVoxX and thought it would be appropriate for us to do since Connie was the winner of many Karaoke contests but the band split up before we could get around to it. Here's a demo version for your dining and dancing pleasure.

KARAOKE QUEEN (EDIT) Dec. 4/04 Karl Rigelhof

9 to 5
Working just to survive
The boss is a jerk
But she needs the work
To make ends meet

She's a slave to the grind
And she's going out of her mind
Waiting for a time
Hoping one day to find
A way out

BRIDGE 1:
When she's on the stage
The music playing loud
Hear the roaring of the crowd
Under the flashing lights
Night after night
Every night

CHORUS:
She's a karaoke queen
And she's living her dream
She just wants to sing, sing, sing
Karaoke

9 till closing time
She hits the bars
She doesn't need to be a star
But she'll give it her best shot
With all she's got

CHORUS:
Karaoke queen
And she's living her dream
She just wants to sing, sing, sing

BRIDGE 2:
She's not a country diva
Or a heavy metal sheba
She's not a disco girl
She can rock your world
Ain't no R & B'r
But you've just got to see her
She's got a lot of soul
She's all this and more

(LEAD)

BRIDGE 1

CHORUS:
She's a karaoke queen
And she's living her dream
She just wants to sing
Karaoke queen
Living her dream
She just wants to sing, sing
She just wants to sing, sing, sing
Karaoke

After the Robin Morrison Band "experience" we got rid of the old foggies, except for Rick and carried on with a new singer Connie Sturzenegger to form FeMVoxX. Randy left after a few rehearsals but Connie, Don, Rick and I persevered and recorded a few demos and then Connie "retired" from singing and that was that.

Have a listen to our demos:

A Broken Wing
Black Velvet
Here For The Party
I Saw Him Standing There
If It Makes You Happy

After Don had left North of 7 I hooked up with him in Cobourg with a few other area musicians and a couple of pros from Toronto who basically spent the weekend in Cobourg and lead by our singer Robin Morrison. We only played once at a open mic in Cobourg but did record some demos.

Have a listen to:
A Thousand Miles From Nowhere [Dwight Yoakam]
Boardwalk Angel [John Cafferty And The Beaver Brown Band]
Tender Years [John Cafferty And The Beaver Brown Band]
Wonderful Tonight [Eric Clapton]

After taking time off to raise a family, I met up again with Paul Tones in 2002 to get together and form North of 7. The first song we worked on was That Old Song which I had written the music and chorus for and Paul and I worked on completing it. We never recording this when together but have a listen to the demo I recorded a few years later.

I lived on Scugog Island and Paul was close by in Greenbank and Paul's friend and drummer Steve Lush happened to live just down the road from me - small world! We eventually found a lead guitarist/keyboard player Tony Bernardo and we played a couple of gigs until Tony was too busy as a pro gun lobbyist so he was replaced by another Port Perry area lead guitarist Brad Levere.

We played quite a few gigs together and here's a few demos we recorded including Bad Moon Rising [CCR], Closing Time [Semisonic], Dancing In The Moonlight [Thin Lizzy], Lost Together [Blue Rodeo], We Can Work It Out [The Beatles].

Steve retired and my old friend Don Popert filled in on drums. Again, we played many gigs and recorded a few more demos: Draggin' The Line [Tommy James] and Steppin' Stone [The Monkees] which I used to play with my brothers in The Rigelhof 5 when we were much younger.

Of course we did a few of Paul's original tunes as well. Here are some recordings from rehearsals: Could'a, Should'a, Would'a, The Code, The Jungle Answers Back, The Letter, The Lower 9th (In New Orleans), Why Am I, You Are The World (To Me). We did rehearse one of my original songs Kill Me but never played that one live. Have a listen to an early demo.

Don eventually left and drummer Mike Raines joined for a bit and then the band split up. They did reform later with a new bass player and called themselves Sticky Monkey and Don and I went on to play again in many more bands.

Hello everyone. After a break I'm back at it to continue documenting my musical journey. It is now the 90's and Dan Cormier and I are back in a band with Peter Lauda and Andy Peterznik called The Procrastinators. We started concentrating on blues rock, jamming in Dan's garage until he wanted to renovate it.

We moved to Ian McCullum's basement with Ian on drums and eventually Dan on keyboards and with Sue McCullum joining us on backing vocals and Andy left after a couple of months. We played a few "battle of the bands" and the Pow Wow on Scugog Island and performed originals and covers.

Here's a recording from rehearsal of Pete's original Take A Look In The Mirror. Maybe a bit rough but we got it tight before playing it live a few times.

Merry Christmas! I haven't posted anything in a while but thought I would send a bit of Christmas cheer to everyone in the year without much cheer. Here's a Christmas song I wrote a few years back called It Just Wouldn't Be Christmas and you can click on the title to play the MP3 or go to my website for more info or even play the song with lyrics on YouTube.

IT JUST WOULDN'T BE CHRISTMAS Dec. 13/03 Karl Rigelhof

CHORUS 1:
It just wouldn't be Christmas
Without a Christmas tree
It just wouldn't be Christmas
To me

The laughter of children
On Christmas morn
As they open their presents
With their family

CHORUS 2:
It just wouldn't be Christmas
Without some mistletoe
It just wouldn't be Christmas
Without a little snow
It just wouldn't be Christmas
Like we used to know

The birth of a child
In a manger long ago
Changed the world forever
Brought peace and love into our hearts
Something we can all share together

CHORUS 3:
It just wouldn't be Christmas
Without the ones we love
It just wouldn't be Christmas
Without the stars above
It just wouldn't be Christmas
The one we're thinking of

The feeling of joy
For every girl and boy
Every man, women and child
May each moment become a memory
To cherish for all time

CHORUS 4:
It just wouldn't be Christmas
Without some mistletoe
It just wouldn't be Christmas
Without a little snow
It just wouldn't be Christmas
Without the ones we love
It just wouldn't be Christmas
Without the stars above
It just wouldn't be Christmas
Without a Christmas tree
It just wouldn't be Christmas
To me

It just wouldn't be Christmas

Back again with more stuff! I had mentioned Krysylys in a previous entry and would like to expand on that here. Krysylys is concept I dreamed up back in the mid eighties and finally committed to "ink" early 1986. It began as a science fiction/fantasy novel (or series of novels) which involves the power of the human mind/brain and the power of music and their interrelationship with the universe. Of course with music and songs involved there would be an album, "broadway musical" style show and eventually a movie (and perhaps even a digital game)!

Check out the website for details on the concept on some songs and lyrics as well. I did feature Oceans of Earth and Sky as well as The Flame Within in previous posts and these have become part of Krysylys along with a few other songs/lyrics not necessarily written specifically for that purpose. Have a look and listen and let me know what you think.

Even though we didn't play many of my songs during the mid-eighties I continued to write over 300 lyrics in 1984 and 1985. Here's one I had written the music to later in the 90s and Don Popert did a one take drums thing in a hurry since he is always on the go! I have my rough demo vocals in there as well. Again just click on the title below to listen.

EVERYWHERE Aug. 29/85 Karl Rigelhof

Read what I have written
Tell me have I bitten
(Off) more than I can chew

Hear what I am saying
(Is) the game (that) I (a)m playing
(Is) finally falling/en through

BRIDGE:
Feel depressurizing
I am past/(up to) my eyes in
Things I have no(t) time (to do)/for /
Things I did not choose (to do)

It seems I am mistaken
Extremes that I have taken
Have left me feeling blue

Speak when you are spoken (to)
After you/I have awoken (you)/
(All) (of) (the/your) promises are/you've broken (Mar. 28/05)
(From/(may find)) your/the dream(s) (it) (will) (not) (has/have) (all) (not) come true

Listen when I (a)m talking
The position I was stalking
Was not meant for you

Believe what I have taught
Deceive you I have not
Nothing I have said is new

(Scatterings of the mind
Splatterings of my brain
Shatterings of (a) time
Smattering all the pain
Everywhere)

(Read what I have written
Indeed I was smitten
By the bitter truth)

CHORUS: (Nov. 30/04)
Everywhere
Everything
Reminds me of you
Every time
Everyone
Feels it too

CHORUS: (Mar. 28/05)
Everywhere
People swear
You're better off without
Everytime
You seem to find (it)/
It/you will find (you)
(Beyond) the shadow of a doubt
((It's) everywhere)

James Wallace left the band to pursue his solo career and so Dan, Tom and I bumbled on and joined up with Terry Mancini and Jim Chesworth from Lifeline. We did a lot of the same songs from Random Motion and of course some new ones Terry and Jim already knew plus of course we learned and wrote a few new ones along the way. Most of the originals are Terry's but everyone contributed when and where appropriate.

Aside from the ever popular "Credit Due, Money Don't" along with "Don't Need You" we also did a few old Lifeline originals "Stay Away" and "Magic Man". We also worked on "Journey" and "Once Burned, Twice Shy" but we only performed them a couple of times if any! I have included links to rehearsal recordings of those.

Here's the band description that I wrote for our promotional material:

Emergency! Emergency!

If you are in desperate need of musical resuscitation, we have the paramedic team to fill your prescription:

Our Expert anaesthetist. Dr. DAN CORMIER, is fully qualified to administer all of the requirements to make the operation a success. If his anaesthetics don't ease your pain, then his thunderous drumming will knock you out cold.

In control of pharmacology, our senior lab technician, Dr. TOM MURRAY, will make sure you get exactly what you need, when you need it. If it's not in stock, Tom will mix up a new batch, giving it a careful stir with his guitar. His centrifugal leads will inject more than enough of the right amount of solution to keep you going.

Our chief neurosurgeon, Dr. JIM CHESWORTH, has nerves of steel, (and hands that feel). His fingers become part of his instruments as he deftly cuts with precision right into the heart of the matter. His electronic surgery techniques, with his synthesized multi-keyboard system, are truly astounding.

In charge of our gynecology department, we have the eminent Dr. TERRY MANCINI. He has vast experience in this field and is quick to alleviate any problems that may arise. Dr. Mancini has devoted his life to helping women, as he will use every method available to relieve their suffering and frustrations, including his miraculously soothing voice to ease their discomfort.

Dr. KARL RIGELHOF is our resident general practitioner. He is on call to solve any minor difficulties and is very flexible in handling various emergency situations. He is diligent in his effects infusing the proper medication to bring the patients back to health and get them on their feet again, with the rhythmic pulses of his bass (guitar) monitors and his diverse diagnosis.

Holding the entire team together and keeping everything organized is our Director of Nursing, DEB ALLEN. If there is anything that the team or the patients need, she is extremely efficient at satisfying their requirements. She manages, with authority and insight, to take care of all complications and routine procedures.

There you have it. A group of interesting individuals, who when teamed together, with the purpose to revive anyone who is in need of musical aid and intensive entertainment care, with their unique life-support system, will ensure a swift recovery.

We can save your life. Count on us.

Call LIFELINE today!

As I mentioned previously we did record a new version of Credit Due, Money Don't with Random Motion with James and Mauritzio on Sax. Before Sly departed we used to play the song live with 3 Saxophones! You already have the lyrics from my previous post so have a listen to the new version and enjoy.

Back to the band! Sly was now out of the picture as you can see in the image of our Random Motion promo picture which was taken before he left the band, so he is replaced/hidden/devoured by the Tardigrada and the rest of us carried on. We did go back into the studio to record a version Tom's Don't Need You with James on Flute and Mauritzio on Sax.

Aside from playing in bands sometimes 3 nights a week and working every week day, I spent a lot of time writing new lyrics and some music and/or full songs. Here's one that we never did but I eventually put together a rough demo for it.

THE FLAME WITHIN June 28/84 Karl Rigelhof

You can not extinguish the fire that is burning
You can not distinguish (the) desire that is yearning
To break free
To consume all with its flame
(And(/)to) assume its rightful place
And bring glory to its name

You can not relinquish the heat of intensity
You can not diminish the feat of immensity
To be achieved
(To) attempt (the) impossible
(To) exempt no ambition
(And) overcome every obstacle

CHORUS: (Revised - Nov. 6/90)
All your tears of sorrow
Can not quench the flame within
What will be tomorrow
Will/can not cause the flame to dim
The knowledge that you borrow
Sparks the flame to begin/
Can not dowse/smother the flame within
Everything you do only feeds the fire
Of the flame within

I look into your eyes
And they burn with the colour of blue
The hue of the heat at the centre of the flame
I look deep inside
And I learn that all you say is true
Run through defeat, you have only yourself to blame
If you get burned by the flame within

You can not deter the (ravaging) hunger (of the flame)
You/it can/does not infer it/(the savage) brings you under (without shame)
(To) look behind
(To) close the doors of the past
(To) (look) beyond the future
Where only the flame will last

CHORUS:
All your tears of sorrow
Can not quench the flame within
What will be tomorrow
Will/can not cause the flame to dim
The knowledge that you borrow
Sparks the flame to begin/
Can not dowse/smother the flame within
Everything you do only feeds the fire
Of the flame within

Happy Canada Day everyone! I have left the song mentioned in the title off of the last entry for Tardigrada since it is an entire entity on its own. The Continued Amazing Adventures of TRAPEZOID FLOYD is a Sci-Fi concept I came up with for an animated TV or now perhaps Internet series about various characters with Trapezoid Floyd as the main character and most if not all episodes would revolve around him. Each show would start off with a short song to introduce the characters and the first one I came up with is (The Continued Amazing Adventures of) Trapezoid Floyd. We performed this with Tardigrada and I have included a rehearsal version of that one. More information on the The Continued Amazing Adventures of TRAPEZOID FLOYD series or at the least the lyrics and some of the music for the songs can be found on my website with more information coming to the Trapezoid Floyd website soon!

(THE CONTINUED AMAZING ADVENTURES OF) TRAPEZOID FLOYD 1984 Karl Rigelhof

Trapezoid Floyd's mining asteroids
Don't get annoyed Floyd
You're not stuck on this rock forever

Trapezoid Floyd's got his fleet deployed
They're being toyed with Floyd
Just a little bit longer and you'll be richer than ever

Trapezoid Floyd's about to be destroyed
It's something you can avoid Floyd
Just push that big red button and let the robots do the rest

Trapezoid Floyd's presently unemployed
Don't blame the droid Floyd
He just did what he thought was best


"This is another fine mess you've gotten me into!" screamed Floyd at his robot pLuk mark 2, whom he affectionately called Fluk.

"Out of." injected Fluk, "If I hadn't triggered the escape pod relays to eject the command capsule we would now be floating in space as a cloud of titanium dust!"

"Couldn't we have simply outrun them?"

"Negative. You know the Regalion Commissary ion beams fire at the nearest object in motion."

"We could've at least saved some of the ore..."

"That is precisely why they had fired upon us in the first place. You're lucky I engaged the hyperdrive when I did."

"Lucky, huh! I would have rather been blown to atoms than to stand in this stinkin' line trying to get a commission to haul grain to God knows where with what's left of my rig and I'm supposed to feel grateful to you!"

"Well if that's the way you feel about it!" muttered Fluk as he motored away.

"God damn cyborgs!"

Welcome our new singer / flautist James Wallace into the fold and because of the flute we did a few Jethro Tull songs and some more new originals aside from the aforementioned Bickering, Don't Need You and a saxophone infused version of Credit Due, Money Don't. We entered the Q107 Home Grown contest and we made it to the top 20! Our song Bare In Mind was actually played on the radio a few times and the first time I heard it was when I was working at the Seneca College, Leslie (Nursing) Campus as an AV Technician. My office was in the library and I always had Q107 playing quietly on the radio but when I heard our song announced I cranked it up and ran out into the library shouting "That's my band on the radio"!

We recorded two other songs as well, another version of Sly's Psychodelic Nightmare and one of my tunes: The Upper Echelon. I don't have any versions of these songs and I will recreate The Upper Echelon from scratch eventually but I will include the lyrics below. We also did a few more of my original tunes as well: Commuter Madness, You Can't Do This To Me Now and an instrumental inspired by jamming with old Midnight alumni Fred Collins and Dave Dreischen entitled Greasin' Down The Dreischen and performed a couple of James' songs such as Man On The Run.

THE UPPER ECHELON Dec. 28/82 Karl Rigelhof

It's hard to get to the top
When you can't even stand below
(Look out below)
It's hard to get it up
When you can't even get off the floor

It's so much easier coming off the wall
Than to find it once again
(Once again)
It's so easy to run screaming down the hall
Than to play along with this charade

CHORUS:
Keep it up
That's it, keep up the good work
Put you down
It's the only way to keep you in line
Light it up
We'll help to lighten up your day
Let's get down
We can take you all the way

The best things in life are not free
Everything has a price
But then again if I were you
It wouldn't be so nice

Do you really have what it takes
We can shape you to our needs
You say you're looking for an even break
You must open your eyes to read

CHORUS

Are you happy now that you're finally here
It isn't quite what you expected (is it)
Now that we've got you in our grasp
All transmissions are intercepted

Can you still remember a time
When life would just slip on by
And the only problem we could find
Was (if we could)/(how to) feel this way until we die

CHORUS

I did neglect another song I had written the lyrics for and Paul the music, which again is another silly political satire called Fuddle Duddle. You can guess by the title who it was about. I will include the lyric below since the only recording we made was when we were first working on the song and Paul was just learning the lyric.

Some more of Paul's songs with The Downboys that featured Tom Murray on Lead Guitar include Bottle For A Soul. We used to also play one of Tom's songs Don't Need You in The Downboys, Random Motion so click on the links for those. Also, here is a bunch of then new songs with Sly Vallee on Keyboards, Clarinet and Saxophone: Dear Ego, In One Out The Other, Madelle Cool, Psychodelic Nightmare (The Trip) and Trip Away.

FUDDLE DUDDLE July 8/83 Karl Rigelhof & Paul Tones

I can't stand this whole transgression
You beat my brow and this recession ain't through
What to do?

Beer is money and drugs cost more
You spend our taxes while you save all yours

CHORUS:
Well we may feel forgotten
What will you do?
Make them remember

Trips to ski and time out west
With 3 months off you've got the best of it

Middle finger's front page news
While 2 million people cry unemployment blues
What will you do?

CHORUS:
We feel forgotten
What will we do?
Make you remember

Maggie T's such a sleaze
Aims to please, why don't you get down on your knees
Oh Maggie

Brand new clothes, fresh cut rose
Up your nose with 6 and 5
And all that jive

CHORUS:
Well we may feel forgotten
What will you do?
Make us remember

Summit meetings, SALT talk treaties
Chinese graffiti, ooh no Candu
Oh (yes) it's true

Give us a break, we can't take it
Why don't you (just) quit and save the Great White North
Of course

CHORUS:
You feel forgotten
What will we do?
Make you remember

We played quite a few original songs with The Downboys, most of them Paul's but some were mine and a couple of Sly Vallee's when he joined the band and we eventually became KAOS. Another silly song I wrote and played guitar on was Bickering. My Pickering friends will appreciate this one since it is in the lyrics: what else rhymes with Bickering! Here's a live rehearsal recording of the song from our rehearsal space in the basement of my mother's store Quilter's Block in Pickering Village back in 1983. Just to make it interesting I have a recording from about a year later with another band Tardigrada shortly after singer / flautist James Wallace replaced Paul and I have spliced them together. if you wish to listen to the individual recordings just click on the aforementioned band names.

BICKERING June 26/83 Karl Rigelhof

CHORUS:
Why don't we stop (all) (of) (this) (useless) bickering
It's such a waste of all our energies
We seem to spend most of our time (out here in Pickering)/(fighting and snickering)
Arguing over trivialities
(Arguing over trivialities)

It's funny when you look back and see
How stupid the whole thing had to be
You have to laugh (ha ha)
(You have to laugh)
Hindsight is marvelous, actually

The issue gets blown way out of proportion
We shouldn't take out our frustrations
On each other
(On each other)
There seems to be a lack of communication

We shouldn't think of ourselves anymore
We've got to learn to live together
And love each other
((And) love each other)
After all what are friends for

It's time now for a silly song and I have written quite a few of those. After the demise of Manchester I joined back up with old high school fiends Dan Cormier and Paul Tones of Salem Road, Fragile, Rhapsody and Pegasus in their latest band The Downboys. We did a lot of Paul's original songs in those bands but I wrote the lyrics and sang a new song that Paul had written the music for on bass and it goes something like this.

CREDIT DUE, MONEY DON'T Jan. 21/83 Karl Rigelhof

How are ya, how are ya
Can I interest you in a shiny new car
It's just for you, yes it's just for you
And it's yours at only 23.4
It's a steal, what a deal
Well what do ya say can we shake on it
It's no go, thank you Joe
By the way, I think you're full of shit

Charge, charge
They march through malls with credit cards in hand
Buy buy, 'bye 'bye
Try to spend as much as we possibly can
Anyway, that's OK
We'll worry about the money the month after next
No restraint, ain't that quaint
Will that be cash or Chargex

CHORUS:
Credit due, money don't
Watch those bills come rolling in
Thought we would, but we won't
Have the cash by the end
By the end of the month

Credit due, money don't
They're coming to take it
Take it all away
Live now, pay later
Now we'll have to learn to do
We'll have to learn to do without

Write a cheque, oh you bet
After all it's cash and carry
To the banks we give thanks
They help to make it oh so easy
Until they say it's time to pay
If you don't you won't get anymore of it
Interest distress, drastic plastic
Burned a hole right through my pocket

CHORUS

Repeat 1st Verse

So, not all of the song lyrics I wrote in high school were filled with despair! Here is an epic love song which is part of a series of songs I had written for my Krysylys concept which was meant to be a book, album, rock opera / broadway show and movie if I ever got around to finishing it. I wrote this song not for just one woman I loved but 6. They know who they are so I will not reveal that information here but when I finally finished it in 1981 I recorded a rough draft demo and you can have a listen to it by clicking on the title below or even on YouTube.

Oceans Of Earth And Sky Dec. 20/81 Karl Rigelhof

i) Waves Of Passion (Instrumental)

ii) The Face Of The Dawn

She came to me one summer's eve
Like a cool breeze caressing the night
She smiled down on me in the morning light
Her golden hair ablaze with the sun
A kiss from her lips warms me deep inside
Gentle clouds drift through her clear blue skies
Her beauty is like a graceful hawk
Streaking across the face of the dawn

For I am Earth and you are Sky
The world is just you and I
And when our bodies meet
It makes our love complete

iii) An Ocean Of Tears

Water is the essence of life, love is a thirst
The memory of what we shared still flows through me
Surrounding me, eroding the walls around my heart
What desires swim among your deepest dreams
To think you could wash away my dry sands
With a wave from your raging seas
Or drown love in an ocean of tears

For I am Earth and you the Sea
The world is just you and me
And when our bodies meet
It makes our love complete

iv) The Starlit Night

As I gaze into the night
I see your stars shining bright
Your body bathed in soft moonlight
Something hidden deep within the darkness draws me near
To reach that place I must shed my fears
But I cannot break the chains binding me to this destiny
Just remember that I will always be here

For I am Earth and you the Night
Everything will be all right
When our bodies meet
At last we know defeat

For I am Earth and you are Sky
The world is just you and I
And when our bodies meet
It makes our love complete

v) The Endless Celestial Chorus

For I am Earth and you the Stars (Jan. 17/90)
(All (of) the universe)/((And) Everything between/beneath/above/below) is ours
(And) When our bodies meet
It makes our love complete

For I am Earth (July 10/97)
And you the sun
(Someday) soon we (wi)ll be (as) one
(And) When our bodies meet
We've only just begun/
We melt/burn (up) in/from the heat

For I am Earth
And you the storm/rain
(I want) to hold you in my arms/
(I want) to keep you from harm/
(I want) to (take away)/feel/ease your pain
(And) When our bodies meet
It makes our love complete

For I am Earth
And you the moon
We (wi)ll (be) (in) together/eclipse soon
(And) When our bodies meet
The shadows bear our fruit

For I am Earth (Jan. 12/00)
And you the tide
We flow/surge/merge together, arms open wide
(And) When our worlds collide
We feel it/the/our love deep inside

After playing with my brothers Noel and Paul in our first band Paradox with Fred and Stu from Midnight we joined up with Monica and Derek to form Manchester. We did a few original tunes but one that we actually went into our family friend Vezi Tayyeb's Kensingston Sound studio to record is one that I wrote the lyrics for back in high school and Noel, Paul and I collaborated on the music. Click on the title below to hear the song.

ANOTHER HOUR (c1975) Karl Rigelhof

As life-long dreams drift away like tinges of grey cloud across hopeless skies
My life seems to have no meaning
The rains of sorrow wash all light of reconciliation from my eyes
Tears of self-pity are streaming

The sun is fading fast, painting a smile of gloomy orange across the sky's saddened face
I've only tasted death but once
My life is sinking with the dusk, but the cold night I can't embrace
There is nothing left, only to die but twice
(Die but twice)

CHORUS:
For I shall never see another hour
For love shall never see another hour
Another hour

My heart was stolen by a princess with the beauty and grace of a snow white dove
Which masked the raven's coarse black feathers
But as the persistent sands of an hour glass reach the last few grains (so does love)
(As) love is stripped from my soul forever (forever)

CHORUS:
For I shall never see another hour
For time shall never see another hour
Another hour

For as the hour glass has spent all of its grains
If not turned over will not tell time again
Just like if love has run out on you
And is not given a second chance to flower
That shall never be able to mend
All meaning in life is through
And/as love and time shall never see another hour

CHORUS:
For time shall never see another hour
For love shall never see another hour
For I shall never see another hour
Another hour, another hour
Another hour

The next song that I had written that was actually performed live was entitled "Pegasus Rising" and this lyric was also featured in the Pickering High School 1978 Yearbook for those of you who think this sounds familiar. We only performed this song a few times with a band I was in at the end of high school called Gold Coast which featured Bruce Tutty from the aforementioned instrumental live "jam" and Dan Lester who joined Bruce and I in our first high school band Salem Road named after the road our drummer Jim Prosser lived on and where we rehearsed north of Pickering Village. George Czender (I think the C went in front of the Z) from the Al Arbor, Lady of the Bay band was originally on bass but he moved to Australia so with 3 guitarists now left in the band I volunteered to play bass since I was used to playing guitar with my fingers from taking Classical Guitar lessons. Of course this was "Knock & Know All" so I had to use a pick but that didn't last long.

I hope I can eventually dig up a live recording of Pegasus Rising on cassette and maybe find a working cassette player but for now here are the lyrics for your perusal.

PEGASUS RISING (c1977) Karl Rigelhof

I. Soliloquy to the Gods

As the night's opaque hand snatches the slumbering sun from its dying skies
The tribunes of the night blow the triumphant trumpets of the coming stars
With gleaming metallic eyes the priestess of the covenant released her sighs
Diffusing from the dirt, her plasmic blue-fleshed worshippers bow down to Mars

Slithering across the zenith, the sparkled laughing deity concocts a psalm
With voices raised against the silence, the screeching choirs of crickets sang
They sang with expectant voices flowing with tinges of awe
For the newly hatched conspirator

Erupting from the fires of hell
The rocket cracked its plastic shell
And shouted out in dying pain
That our tender ears in victory rang
TO DIE

II. Pegasus Rising

Beauty from ugliness, life from death
So unfolds the riddle of your birth
A genesis from blood which had once turned men to stone
Yes, it was from the very depths of obscurity that our winged steed did soa

Glistening in brilliance, you stand with head held high
Your wings of snow white plume braced to battle with the wind
A sparkle of expectation enhanced the beauty of your emerald eyes
Was it for you the gods had such a prosperous future in store

CHORUS:

Oh Pegasus
Immaculate stallion of flight
You could have stormed the world
In just one night

Oh Pegasus
Why could it not be
What would prevent
Your inevitable prosperity

Strength, Wisdom, and Determination were the essence of your being
No mortal man could ever harness your spirit to be free
You were engaged in such a treacherous flight, galloping across the very vaults of heaven
Drifting high above the clouds with silky mane dancing in the breeze

Your course was set for heights unknown
Mysterious destinations far away
Across the stormy zenith the persistent journey winged
As Time gasped at your Fortitude, but the gods they were not pleased (oh no)

CHORUS:

Oh Pegasus
Such stubbornness
Would it be the end
Of your unquenchable immortality

Oh Pegasus
One so restless
All your trials and tribulations
Could not erase the fate awaiting you

Incomprehensible, the aspirations you had locked up inside
But the nemesis of stagnation soon crept up on you from behind
The world will never know the wonders you could have achieved
No one will ever know the meaning of your quest
For fate had stolen all hope from your ambitious dreams
And all that remains is your undying memory

CHORUS:

Oh Pegasus
Immaculate stallion of flight
You could have stormed the world
In just one night

Oh Pegasus
Life short unlived
You who meant so much to me
Are no more

Oh Pegasus
Look to the sky
Look to the stars
And fly away

III. Requiem for a Mortal Man

Happy Father's Day and the first day of summer or the summer solstice. This is my first Father's Day without my father Rick who passed away in January. I will be working on a tribute page to him and many of the things he accomplished in his life but first let me tell you about a few things I have done.

Yes, I am finally coming out of my shell or the closet where beginning way back in the depths of time were locked up in the vault of the sieve that is my mind over 800 hundred songs that I have written through the ages. There are hundreds of even more fragments or uncompleted lyrics that I have saved in writing but may never make it to my website and of course probably dozens of others that I would start and think "I'll remember that one until I have a chance to write it down" that have slipped through the cracks. Most of the lyrics are in rough form and have many alternate ideas added for good (or bad) measure which are either separated by hyphens (-), slashes (/) and/or brackets () :} just to make it even more difficult to figure out what the hell I am writing about!

Almost all of the music you hear is computer generated and in very rough demo form along with my rather robotic voice which screeches in a few songs and is mostly just for reference. I have some songs that I did perform with various bands over the years which were thankfully sung by much better vocalists and were mostly recorded during rehearsals on cassette and you will hear some of these as well. So where to start: back to the beginning again!

In grade 7, three different Pickering area Catholic schools attended Our Lady of the Bay "Junior" high school or grade 7 and 8 and it was a strange open concept classroom where 3 classes were all together in the same huge room which needless to say became very noisy at times. That concept only lasted one year but while I was there I had the pleasure of playing in the Al Arbor band where I met and became friends with fellow band mates Dan Cormier and George Zender (he may have had a C in his last name somewhere). I was beginning to write songs back then and we played the first few songs I had ever written live: "Rain Is Falling" and I believe "I'm Not Very Happy" and "Francine". I may dig up the words for those buried in some of my old junk but can only recall parts of the choruses and no music.

And continuing with the theme of happy but mostly depressing songs I wrote in High School, the only one I had the opportunity to perform on stage was entitled "Her" and this was at an "open mic" presentation in front of the whole school. As we were changing over bands the drums were way in the back and I had guitarist Bruce Tutty who played in the previous band (and went on to play in many other bands with me) fill in on the spot with the three chords in the song. They took the microphone away so I had nothing to sing into so the show must go on and we just played the music which probably wasn't very exciting for people. Anyway, the words are a tragic tale of betrayal, murder and suicide - you know your typical teenage angst material! I do have those never before sung lyrics so let's start there.

HER (c1973?) Karl Rigelhof

One day I left work early, (I) couldn't take it anymore
I slipped in(to) the house very quietly to make it a surprise
I could hear laughter coming from behind my bedroom door
I kicked it down and looked around and (I) couldn't believe my eyes
I saw her, yes her, ooh her
I saw her, yes her, ooh her

She was lying naked on the bed with my best friend in her arms
I grabbed a lamp and in a fit of rage (I) hit him on the head
Lifelessly he fell to the floor and my wife screamed in alarm
I couldn't control myself, (and) (I) swung at her now both of them were dead
They're dead, yes dead, ooh dead
They're dead, yes dead, ooh dead

I looked at them and horribly (I) realized what I'd done
Frightened now I dashed outside and headed for the car
Frantically I sped away but there was nowhere to run
I couldn't hide from myself, at least I wouldn't get far
From me, yes me, ooh me
From me, yes me, ooh me

There was only one thing left to do and I knew (just) what it was
I'd take my life, kill myself, and that would end it all
(As) I drove my car into a wall (and) it's funny because
The last thing that I thought about when/before I hit the wall
Was her, yes her, ooh her
Was her, yes her, ooh her

Don't worry folks, it gets better or worse from here! Stay tuned for more postings in the future.

Love Karl.