This week i finally debuted the song, Unexpected which completes "The Mandalay Trilogy". It was a back to front process as, "Unexpected" is the first song in the trilogy.
Some of the song came quickly - the melody, a few lines of interesting lyrics and the lalalas of the chorus but then the demo spent some time in the SOAR Vault, while Experiment Rhode and i tried out different lyrics. It was the hardest of the three to finish and the finishing of it got overwhelmed by the next two songs.
I have sung the three songs one after the other in my shows but in normal circumstances this won't be the usual case - so I thought I would put all the lyrics here for you to read in sequence.
Thanks for reading. Hugs
UNEXPECTED
Faint Sound of Insects in The Afternoon
along the streets of ancient Mandalay
where I’m Falling
I’m Falling into love
Yes I’m Falling into love with you
A double Rainbow in a rain soaked Sky
the smell of incense down a steamy lane
as I’m Falling
as I’m Falling into love
As I’m Falling into love with you
Soft Scent of Jasmine Floats upon The Breeze
Takes Me To a Place (only) a woman sees
when she's Falling
she's Falling into love
when she's Falling into love with me
Tell me do you want to be my queen
do you want to run away from the things
you can't explain anymore
Cooling Purple Mist behind a Waterfall
soft on our skin as the truth unfolds
that we're Falling
we're Falling into love
we're Falling into love in another world
JASMINE
Jasmine take a walk with me until we reach the sea
listen as the fisherman's children play happily
and taste the salty air upon my lips and fingertips
then give yourself to me tonight like we were meant to be
So Jasmine from old England let me take soft hold of you
and whisper what the prophet says about the coming of this day
No coincidence no rhyme no reason or complicated view
just you and i along the beach where the flying fishes play
Quiet Jasmine listen do you hear the things i hear
the early morning chatter rising from dark and ancient streets
the scent of oils and the touch of lace upon these silken sheets
brings me back to paradise to steal another kiss
Jasmine from old England from yesterday and far away
our lives have changed forevermore because of Mandalay
now not a single day will ever pass without the sharing of these words
that you and i have found our place and we will want no more
INNOCENCE
in the moment before waking when you're in another world
i reached out my hand and found you there
and we made a toast to innocence and the things it let us be
as we made our plans we smiled helplessly
would we climb high up to the pagoda
would we ask for buddhas blessings one more time
i don't know, what i would say if i hadn't had today
i remember our first breakfast you and i alone
skipping along the riverbank like we were still at school
how we made a toast to silliness when laughter told us when
and i found the child within my heart again
then we climbed up to the old pagoda
and thanked holy buddha for his peaceful prayers
then i tried, to find a way to thank you for this day
Now my heart knows the truth and its telling you how
that it wouldn't change one little thing
my heart, your heart, our hearts, belong to love
When The lights on the horizon Ceased Their Jewelled Display
we pressed against each other where the willows trees swayed
and we made a toast to destiny and all that she would bring
memorising each and every precious thing
so we danced until morning bid us home
and into each others arms we moved
i don't know, what i would say if i hadn't known today
i saw you on the balcony wrapped in a satin robe
and quietly i watched and admired the unknown
and we drank a toast to each other and all our memories
for we found love in Mandalay and now we can believe
and for every single moment more
i'll give thanks to every god that heaven knows
and then i'll say, in every way i know that i'll never let you go
Ahhh September I shall remember you fondly for you gave me so many songs. I mostly have songwriting bursts and have written other blog entries about these. I hope these entries act as a kind of reference point for what i was doing, feeling, thinking, and capable of musically at the time.
From these bursts there are always many more incomplete songs than there are finished ones and if I get back to some and finish them it is nice to be able to look back and see where their beginnings were.
I wrote, "Endlessly" on June 19, 2012 and had not completed another song through July and August, and then September 1, Experiment sent me the lyrics to a song he was working on called "Eucalypt Candlelight" which he and I finished over the next couple of days. After this - another ten completed songs and twenty plus partial songs. Here is the list of the completed songs so you will recognise their names when you hear them in one of my shows. I hope you like some of them. You can listen to "Innocence" by clicking on the title.
I'm still fiddling with some song titles but these will do for now :)
Eucalypt Candlelight
Where Our Secrets Are
Will You Be
All In A Circle
The Unicorns Promise
Friends and Lovers
Unexpected
Jasmine
Innocence
Pretty Boy
Photographs
As always, thanks for reading this far.
Hugs
Bright
Someone, (maybe even your God) planned it this way - that throughout our lives there would be times when we needed a helping hand and other times when we were the helping hand. Cast an eye around your life at this very moment and you will likely see this thread of human existence being played out. It is a beautiful thing :)
About ten days ago there was a 26 MUSIC MARATHON staged at the Colour Factory in SecondLife to support RebelMum Slade with whatever joy the music would bring, with whatever money it would raise, and to raise awareness of her battle against cancer and her pursuit of a wonderful adventure. The marathon WON on every level - but there is work to be done still.
But first. The music!!!! Just freaking incredible - some of SL's most generous and enjoyable and vibrant musicians - and at their very best. Max Kleene, Sid Slade, Josi Anderton, Theresa Nayer, AMForte, Edward Kyomoon, Tamra Hayden, Shannon Oherlihy, Gina Gracemount, Quantamis, Marky Helstein and SONIX, and the boys from SOAR. Thank you people, SO MUCH!
The organisers! Yep, yep and yep. Imagine trying to organise all of this, and then be there to make it happen. Whisper and Precious - you are such treasures. Hugs. And to the bunch of people who jumped at the chance to help everything along during the 26 hours - i saw what you were doing and it was wonderful. Big hugs to you folks too.
The money! YIKES. In SL linden dollar terms over 500,000 was raised. Around $US1900.
Truly amazing and just another example of people knowing when it is their turn to be the helping hands. Love you all!
There is a wonderful review of the whole show at www.theparfaitparty.com
The work still to be done. When you read RebelMum's blog you will know what more there is to be done. It will take more money to guide her and drive her on her adventure and more importantly it will take many more words of support and friendship to sustain her through good and bad days alike. Some of us can most easily do the money thing and some of us are more able to do the support and friendship thing - just another of the clever things about life - there is something of enormous value that each of us can do!
RebelMum is a wonderful person and a sweet sweet friend of mine. I commend her heart and her adventure to you. Please take a few minutes to read some more about her, in her own words :)
www.theparfaitparty.com
And as always, thanks for getting to the end of another blog post :)
Hugs
Bright
On Friday i played my regular fortnightly gig at the beautiful Under the Willows (incarnation 54d - in joke). My set was after the sweet and relatively new sounds of Amelie Mayr, and one of SL's best known, AcousticEnergy (AE). Max Kleene followed me. It is always such an honour to play at the same shows as these people. See the pic advertising a very special night of shows at Under the Willows this coming Friday - i'd love to see you there :)
During my intro to one of my newest songs, EAST OF NOWHERE i was explaining how i can lose confidence in a song sometimes and that this can delay my debuting of it in my shows and how often i sing it once i have. AE commented that this happens to him too. This is reassuring news and has prompted this blog entry.
Some songs are quickly written and others take an amount of trial and error to finish. For some songs i may been singing them to myself for hour after hour as i work on them, and then somehow, just as they are about complete i lose my feel/confidence for them. It is hard to explain - but have you ever said a single word over and over to yourself and discovered that the word loses all meaning somehow? If you have then this is a bit like how it is. If you haven't then it's impossible to explain. Try it :)
This confidence loss happens even though the people who i use as crash test dummies for my new songs are telling me that the song is ok/good/wonderful. I have blogged before about how Experiment has played this part in my songwriting with incredible accuracy over the years and while i trust his feedback i am the one who has to sing them and i can't sing them unless i believe in them.
Later in the day at my gig at the Colour Factory i decided to put aside this songwriting fog and to debut my newest song, ENDLESSLY and to bring back into my show another new song, THE STING IN THE TAIL OF LOVE that i sang twice a month ago and then dropped from my set list. I am happy to say that they appear to have been well received :)
Sometimes it is simply a matter of singing them live in a show that brings me back closer to the song (something that can't be replicated in my studio at home), and of course the feedback from the people at the show makes so much difference to me and every performer in the world. Thank you sweet peoples :)
So today sometime i am going to take a lesson from all of this, again and finish another song or two that have been languishing in the fog.
WHEEEEEE.
Thanks for reading and getting this far.
Hugs. Bright
There are many surprises in store for people as they become familiar with SecondLife - one of them is the incredible generosity of the people in the live music scene. On the 26th of June at the Colour Factory the friends and fans of SL performers Russell Eponym, SOAR and Gina Gracemount donated over 150,000L$ during their performances to benefit the Cancer Council of Australia. We are all touched by cancer and by this generosity. Thank you sweet sweet people. And to Whis and Precious who organised it all - an extra "sweet" for you girls :)
Hugs. Bright
The weekend just passed saw the three year anniversary of SOAR music coming into SL. I wasn't planning anything special cos i am the same shy guy you know, in all things :) But as things turned out it became a lovely little celebration anyways.
My Saturday started out with a gig at the Bleu Katt. It was the first time there for me (thank you kiki for having me over) and a sweet bunch of SOARINGS came over to keep me company. Thank you gang! And then sweet Precious from Under The Willows had a cancellation and asked if i would like to fill it. Sure i would :) And another great bunch of SOARINGS came on over - and well i had let it slip that the anniversary thing was real. So a great morning for me with two ballad sets done and dusted as well as the debut of The Mountains Where We Live!
I was ready for a rest, except for something i almost missed because i cant ever get my calendar working perfectly. During the last week Experiment and I had been working with our great mate MichaelJames Magic (DOM) on a new song that he wanted to dedicate to some people close to his heart affected by a recent tornado. It was debut time for the song during MJ's gig at Purelife. Oh man i'm so glad i was reminded about this and didn't miss it. MJ did a fantastic job performing the song in his usual wholehearted and sincere way. Love your work MJ!!
Then night time. Then a show to finish my Saturday, on the wonderful Colour Factory main stage. All the worlds insomniacs were there and it was really a fun time with a full mid tempo rock set. Thank you Whisper and Precious for going out of your way to make it a happy time :)
So thank you everyone for a great day of gigs. Your support, love and attendance never goes unnoticed whether there is only you at a gig or sixty. In our own ways, however it finds us on any given day we get to share the joy of music and this is a wonderful thing. Throughout my life there are many crystal clear memories of times spent and loved sharing music. These days singing in SL have a special place amongst them forevermore.
Thank you sweet peoples :)
Oh yeah, the photo of me!! Hehehe. I couldn't find a photo of a cake with three candles on it........
I know it goes with the territory but when people ask me for my bio, i get palpitations. Now that SOAR is taking a little break i know i need a new bio, and i have tried - really.
I sit down armed with a whole list of awesome adjectives - the ones no other musician has ever thought of using, and i begin. And then i realise that i have to write it as if it's not me writing it - hence, Bright is this, Bright does that, Bright charges this much. HE WHAT!!! This is all very unnatural to me.
I have sometimes gotten a paragraph or two done and then i make the next big mistake - yeah, i reread it to fix any mistakes. And that finishes it - i cant publish this rubbish.
Against my better judgement, but i am in a jam cos people are starting to think its a bit odd that i don't give over with my bio within the first five seconds of meeting them, i do need one. Here it is then - a couple of bio type paragraphs that the wonderful people from venues can use if they wish, and then a bunch of paragraphs that are really about me and will fit better on my website and stuff. And figured that both may make a good blog entry for today :)
It's ok if you cant read it all to the end - i cant either :)
Hugs sweet people!
New Official Bio - for immediate press release (oh man i love this kinda talk)
Bright Oh is one third of the band, SOAR who played over 600 shows of their original songs in SecondLife from early 2009 until taking a break in early 2012. Bright’s solo shows include his own songs as well as the songs written with his mates from SOAR, Charles and Experiment and a handful of wonderful collaborations with other friends.
Bright is a singer/songwriter and story teller in the finest tradition of, of, well of himself. His shows flow between ballads, mid-tempo rock and ecopolitical rants (unplugged, and/or with backing tracks), and with stories so real you will want to cry or burst out laughing, and tales so fanciful that you will want to shake him :) So, don't believe everything you hear at a Bright show.
With lyrics that will touch your heart, melodies that will linger on, harmonies from another time and with lashings of sweetness, fun and mayhem thrown in, you really should take a chance on Bright, one day :)
Unofficial Guff and Gushy stuff
You gotta love the stuff written to be put in bios :) Now some first person stuff from me!
I feel as though i am on a wonderful musical journey - one i never quite imagined taking. I am a songwriter, entertainer, singer, producer and guitar player - in about this order of preference. I LOVE writing songs and i LOVE performing them. For now these efforts are concentrated in the virtual world, SecondLife where it’s wonderful people and friendships and opportunities has given me a musical journey i don’t want to get off any time soon and for which i am so grateful.
I have spent lots of time in real life being a singer of other peoples songs - i loved this too because it is through the wonders of other peoples music that i discovered my own. But now is the time for me to dedicate myself to my own music and that of my close friends Charles and Experiment. I don’t set out to write good songs or bad ones and i don’t get absorbed with critiquing my own work, i just want to let the songs flow, try new things and grow as a songwriter.
I write for myself and i’m not trying to appeal to anyone or fall into line with the cool people or mimic the best songwriters in the world, i just love writing songs from whatever comes out of my mouth and from my fingers onto the frets of my guitar. There will be good songs and ordinary songs - good days and bad days. So be it :)
Love, appreciation and respect for ALL music expression rules in my world. This is why i yawn (with a mouthfull of food) at anyone who wants to tell me how i should play my songs in SecondLife or anywhere else :)
I am amazed by the appreciation and love and opportunity many people have given me (and SOAR) in this journey. I say it often but i don’t know that you truly believe it. You people are so many of my reasons for writing and performing. It would be nothing like the same journey without you. I hope you know who you are - cos you would be embarrassed if i wrote your names here :)
So, thank you, truly, for all you have given me. You are wonderful. I know that many of you love some of my (and SOARs) music - so i guess we have a pretty good arrangement going here!!
You did good reading to here. Hugs
Hi Folks :)
I have blogged twice about a song i began writing in Jan/Feb 2011 called, THE MOUNTAINS WHERE WE LIVE and today i can blog about it again because it is all but finished.
It was one of a bunch of songs i wrote and began in early 2011 (last update on Nov 8, 2011 blog entry). I got about sixty seconds worth of demo done on it in Feb 2011 before the completion of other songs took priority. Once i got a bunch of songs completed i was pooped and didn't get back to "THE MOUNTAINS".
I knew i was taking a risk not finishing the song while the original energy for it was still fresh but i also knew that i liked it a lot, and i fully intended to get back to it. A year later i have and it is complete bar for a few lyrics i'm fiddling with.
This blog entry breaks a couple of my songwriting rules - don't hype any song i write - cos i'm a songwriter not a spin doctor, and especially don't hype a song that isn't complete. But well, i'm overdue a blog entry, and i am happy the song is about finished and how it has turned out.
I should be debuting it in the next week so i no longer need the gentle reminders i asked you to give me about finishing it :) Thank you!
Thanks for reading.
Hugs
Bright
You'll have to wait for just, the story :)
I had a wonderful burst of song writing in November last year. From it there are about ten songs happily in the song list for my shows in SecondLife. New songs dried up soon after but i didn't worry because i was very content with the November songs, and this is a cycle of songwriting that i have been through before.
As the new year began something was on my mind, and i do know that this is silly, that the songwriting output from 2010 and 2011 was going to be hard to match. Yeah, see, told you it was a silly thought. But i hadn't even written one for 2012 yet!
So i started to pick up my guitar and try a few things out and soon i had this four bar riff thing going that i really liked. Every day i would come back to the riff and start trying to develop it further and almost every time i would come up with a new version of a song based on the riff. But i wasn't quite ready to commit to any version and i kept writing more variations of the song. Maybe i ended up with seven! Anyways comes the day when i decide that the most recent version is the one to do a proper demo of.
In my head the song just sings. I just love it, in my head. So i record an acoustic guitar version - it sucks. But it cant be because the song is bad, so i do a more produced version - it sucks. But in my head, it is great.
I tried and tried, day after day, and every day i was getting deeper and deeper into January with still nothing to show for my efforts.
You prolly need to know this about me about now (repeated from earlier blogs i think) that i live in fear of not having any songs to write - of them just drying up. So i get nervous, real nervous :)
Finally i got so frustrated with this new song and my inability to make it work that i literally said "damn you song, i'm going to write a completely different one"! It's getting weird now isn't it :)
Twelve hours later i had finished Mesmerised, and a few days later i sang it for the first time, at the beautiful new venue, Ce Soir.
As for the original song, well it's headed to the SOAR vault for a bits.
You can listen to the song by clicking on the heading of this blog entry.
Thanks for reading and thank you for listening.
Have a sweet 2012 kids.
Hugs
Bright
