Hold On

 Weave yourself a way out of this cave

The water's rising to your feet

The hours speed and time is ticking

All alone you started out but

Listen to the breeze the sky is

Coming in to see how you are doing

Hold on

Open-eyed and eager you have

Followed every siren now you're

Stuck here in the dead and born and gone

Small and silent hands are waiting

Simply say the word, oh there is

Reason to believe the morrow's dawn

Hold on

And in and out the needle goes

The rise, the fall, the rest, the note

The in between, the never seen

And out and in the tidal waves

The pull, the push, the knife, the blade

The marks we make, the line won't break

Hold on

Hold on

Are You Gonna Rise (For LeVar)

If you get that call are you gonna rise?

If you get that call are you gonna rise?

If you hear their cries are you gonna rise?

If you get that call are you gonna rise?

If the children sing will you harmonise?

If the children sing will you harmonise?

If you hear their cries are you gonna rise?

If you hear their song are you gonna rise?

Are you gonna rise?

Are you gonna rise?

Are you gonna rise?

Are you gonna rise?

If faith comes in disguise will you recognize?

If you hear their call are you gonna rise?

If the ancestors call are you gonna rise?

If the ancestors call are you gonna rise?

If you hear their cries are you gonna rise?

If the ancestors call are you gonna rise?

Are you gonna rise?

Are you gonna rise?

Are you gonna rise?

Are you gonna rise?

If faith comes in disguise are you gonna rise?

If you hear their call are you gonna rise?

It echoes from the skies are you gonna rise?

It echoes from the skies are you gonna rise?

All the birds and butterflies, and all the stars in the skies?

If you hear their song are you gonna rise?

Are you gonna rise?

Are you gonna rise?

Are you gonna rise?

Are you gonna rise?

If faith comes in disguise will you recognize?

If you hear their cries are you gonna rise?

If you hear their cries are you gonna rise?

If you hear their cries are you gonna rise?

Time is a River

    

Rushing by my door 

I hear the babble

Hidden inside the war

The mystery of existences

Dances in my dreams

Closing the distances

Nothing's what it seems

The call of possibility

Gives me the courage to be free

To open up my mind's eye

To see what I can see  

And I don't have to go there

Cos I'm already here

On the road to nowhere as it disappears

When I'm feeling low down

Like I'm just about near the end

I listen to the sound and it picks me up

And takes me home again

Takes me home again

Takes me home again

With songs of another world

Painting pictures in my mind

Travelling towards infinity

I leave this world behind

I don't need a TV screen 

To carry me away

I've got Frieda, Jack and Mojo Sam

To take me where they may

And I don't have to go there

Cos I'm already here

On a moving road to nowhere as it disappears

When I'm feeling low down

Like I'm just about near the end

I listen to the sound and it picks me up

And takes me home again

Takes me home again

Takes me home again

They say a picture's worth a thousand words

But for me I know that isn't so

Cos the pictures come to me in a woven tapestry

Amadeo

On the radio

Change or Die

On Earth we’re briefly gorgeous
Connecticut gray
Wraps me in its carcass  
Where the fall meets fall from grace
I’ll never come up with a life hack or anything to save me from this place

Nah

I seek change not a savior
Some days living off loose change in the sofa
Don’t know the exact day that I became a grown up
Just know it was too soon
Live quick like a throw up

Graffiti or the bile
Since I was a child
Been breathing wild style
From heaters to the dome
To cooking rock  on stoves
With black & gold  kings as kid
To make a few bones  

Like

Jack Skellington
Mother fought hard to give us everything she did
Nightmares still stick to skin
Like my sins
And fucked up plenty times but tough like Ocean Vuong

Don’t ever say the homie’s soft
Mother is a hoarder
Mother raised a boss
Never disrespect me in my city little cop

I promise you the ending won’t  be pretty
So stop

Baby
I’m a Hartford Wells Fargo heist
1983
Swimming
In my dirty blood for life
Trying to get free

Boricua Machetero in my soul
Independent as fuck

Company Flow 

She's a Teacher

I can see you, bright as the sun

Oh you're a teacher, yea she's a teacher

Clear as I see

Wave after wave, space after space

Oh She's a teacher, yea she's a teacher

Taking the lead

In a million pieces, my thoughts dissolve

Time is an ocean, my body's a sail

It's illuminating, and I feel so small

Hold hands with creation, a profound ideation

Color me pink, color me black

Oh she's a teacher, yea she's a teacher

keep me on track

Is it the drugs, or is it in me

Or are you my teacher, oh you're a teacher

Clear as I see

Painted on the ceiling, show me what you mean

Glitter and thunder, pulls me down under

Tell me how much further, my brain can stretch

Hold hands with creation, a profound ideation

Hold hands with creation 

Threads

 A book is never just a book

there's always a backstory

an uphill climb that's overlooked

or something grim and gory 

Someone had to find the pieces

and put them together

Write a letter, get on a plane, go out and find the answers

There's so many stories to be told

all the threads that connect us

so many things we can't control 

all the different perceptions

Gotta let perfection go 

before it breaks us

On your desk, something grotesque

we hold hidden seasons

a paperweight, the skull of a snake

tell me all your reasons

So many stories to be told

all the threads that connect us

so many things we can't control 

all the different perceptions

Gotta let perfection go 

before it breaks us

It's okay to take some time

have the room to yourself

to make up your mind

Every look is just a look

we get to share the stages

take what we know and what we learn

and read between the pages

So many stories to be told

all the threads that connect us

so many things we can't control 

all the different perceptions

Gotta let perfection go 

before it breaks us

Rest Between Breaths

 CHORUS
 
C Am F
What the world needs now is a rest
G
Between breaths
C Am F
All the world needs now is a rest
G
Between breaths
 
G
 
Verse
F
When you’re feeling upside down
G
If you’re longing for higher ground
C
Might be with you all along
F
Just a breath to bring you home
 
Am
Butterflies and bumblebees
C
Feel the wind move through the trees
F
Settle with the flow of life
G
Finding treasures deep inside
 
CHORUS
What the world needs now is a rest
Between breaths
All the world needs now is a rest
Between breaths
 
One chorus Instrumental (theme) C Em F G
 
VERSE
Some might say that we are lost
Overwhelmed with such exhaust
Let each breath restore your soul
As you share that inner glow.
 
Butterflies and bumblebees
Feel the wind move through the trees
Settle with the flow of life
Finding treasures deep inside
 
Chorus Instrumental (theme)
 
MIDDLE
Am
Where you go
Em
Now here you are
F
You found yourself
G
You come so far
 
Em
There you are
Am
Now here you were
F
All this time
G
Glowing in stir
 
Dm Am Em F
There you’ll find..... me
 
 
CHORUS x2
C Dm Am Fm
 
Dm Em/C F G
 
C Dm F G
 
Am G F
 
 

Riane (Made For Love)

You were raised in domination

But there is another way babe

Take my hand and come with me

No bully boys or dictators father gods or fascist figures

No lords ladies or queens

Incels and redpills you aren’t wrong

You’re getting shafted all along

But don’t try and blame it on me

they ‘ve got you looking up and down

Instead of to those all those around

Who want to set you free

Riane Riane

Tells the story of man

And the truth about our creation

She’s seen enough

To know that love

Is the real wealth of nations

Well it can be real depressing

To see how we are regressing 

Into strongman theocracy 

They tell you it’s traditional 

But we know thats a load of bull

Their domination fantasies

From the homicidal bitchin that goes on in every kitchen over who serves and who eats (Like Leonard said)

There’s room enough for us all at the table if we’re willing if we’re able to give up hierarchy

Riane Riane 

Wrote the book on emancipation

She knows that love

Is the real wealth of nations

Tell me about sacred pleasure

The things that we do together

To give and to receive 

we don’t need force and coercion

Tainting erotic inclinations

Those movies or television

That destroys imaginations

And our relations

Cuz you were made for love

We know the time is running out

Our planets burning crying out 

For respect and for peace

She laid out all the facts about it

That war is just another tactic

Not our destiny

Riane is a hero of mine

She tells the truth and opened up my eyes

You were made for lo-o-o-ove

You were made for love

You were made for love

And that is enough

Storybook

This is a tale of life on planet earth
This is the story of the story’s birth
I found the answer in a cartoon frame
I heard a song and so my future changed

You draw from life which I believe in
You tear down walls; you raise the ceiling
To save the world depends on slowing down
And standing up for those you care about

Color and line
Give and take time

You are the answer to the argument
Our power lies within our resonance
This is the tale of how you plant the seed
This is the tree of fruit empowering how we see 

Cathedral of Pine

I hold discarded bows

That held your hand like

I wish you had held mine. 

In the dark, I taste the earth,

As the loon calls prayers 

Into the night

Oh This is way 

Of the chapel of light

Where the fire can grow

Something deep inside

Oh Take me away

To the cathedral of pines

Where my heart can be still

While the whippoorwill cries  

The thrush it ducks and weaves

Through rose and lets me know

The sun has caught fire

Does he like me come here 

to chase away his fear, 

And ease a  troubled mind

Oh This is way 

Of the chapel of light

Where the fire can grow

Something deep inside

Oh Take me away

To the cathedral of pines

Where my heart can be still

While the whippoorwill cries  

I count the breaths to take the shot, 

The light is still, my heart is not

I dress him down, the hours wain

His tale, my day, The end the same 

Because This is way 

Of the cathedral of light

Where the fire wil grow

Something deep inside

Go on and take me away

To the cathedral of the pines

Where my heart can be still

While the whippoorwill cries  

Freedive

From the surface where

Light meets water

Breathe in, push down

To the deep where I am

Just creature

Just bone, just flesh

Just blood, just breath

What's a tear that falls 

Underwater

Just you, just me

What is weightlessness

With a stranger

Two hearts, one sea

Where I come from

We don't deserve your trust

What we're made of

We couldn't earn your love

Like a spring from the center of the ocean

Breathe in, push down

There's a gaze that can cut through my commotion

Breathe in, push down

What are words when two are

Beholding

Just you, just me

When the tear and wave are

Communing

Just salt, just sea

Where I come from 

We don't deserve your trust

What we're made of

We couldn't earn your love

Where I come from

We use our strength to crush

What would happen

If we received your trust?

All my days I dream of

Returning

Breathe in, push down

To the deep where I am

Just creature

Just bone, just flesh

Just blood, just breath

Credits:

"Breathe In" was written by, arranged and produced by Lowland Hum at Home Team Studio just north of Charlottesville, VA
All instruments and voices by Daniel and Lauren
Mixed and Mastered by Rick Parker
Artwork and layout by Lauren Plank Goans
Lowland Hum is Lauren Plank Goans and Daniel Levi Goans

"Breathe In" © Daniel Levi Goans Music ASCAP 2024 

Secondhand Lemonade

Don’t overthink it
Even if you feel like sinking
Time will tell the tales of tomorrow
Sorrow will only get you so far

Only get you so so so so so so far

And it’s easy to believe
That everything will be handed to you on a plate

And it’s easy to concede
To the doubt that’s rife
That pulls you down

But strengths comes
To those who wait
Stand strong
Believe in fate
Believe in fate
Believe in fate

Secondhand lemonade
Still tastes the fucking same
But they just throw it away like it’s nothing

Secondhand lemonade
Still tastes the fucking same
But they just throw it away like it’s nothing

Secondhand lemonade
Still tastes the fucking same
But they just throw it away like it’s nothing

(She grabbed my hand
Told me to stay
Asked me what I wanted
I didn’t know what to say)

Secondhand lemonade
Still tastes the fucking same
But they just throw it away like it’s nothing

(Moment like this
They define us
Rise above the noise
That confines us)

My mind is caged by the doubt you see
Suffocates these dreams
Tell myself I won’t succeed

And I’ve been living like this
I’ve been living like this
Far too damn long now
Trying to find my way out

But my mind is maze
Circus tent ablaze
Clowns running round my head like little birds
Cartoon confusion depicted

And I’ve been living like this
I’ve been living like this
Far too damn long now
Trying to find my way out

So it’s time to reset
No time for regret
Time to turn this story around

So I’m holding on
Just about
Praying something comes from all these lyrics that I shout

Please someone to take a chance on me

Please

Secondhand lemonade
Still tastes the fucking same
But they just throw it away like it’s nothing

Secondhand lemonade
Still tastes the fucking same
But they just throw it away like it’s nothing

Secondhand lemonade
Still tastes the fucking same
But they just throw it away like it’s nothing

(She grabbed my hand
Told me to stay
Asked me what I wanted
I didn’t know what to say)

Secondhand lemonade
Still tastes the fucking same
But they just throw it away like it’s nothing

(Moment like this
They define us
Rise above the noise
That confines us)

I found myself
Caught in a landslide
Troubled youth
I Troubled you  

I learnt my lines
You taught your lessons
Beneath the lights
Sat down in our comfort

People grow
People change
Brand new beginnings

It’s alright
To feel this pain
Don’t live within it

Don’t overthink it
Even if you feel like sinking
Time will tell the tales of tomorrow

Sorrow will only get you so far