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 

Catching Lightning

Feel it out like a spider makes her web

It's time to see the proof
Truth is a cave in a cold backwater mountain
Isolated in the eyes of a new moon

Ohhh ohhh ohhh ohh
Yeh yeh

Ohh when you see fire, there is no higher high
Catching lightning all night till you see the horizon, in the morning light

Ohhh ohhh ohhh ohh
Yeh yeh

Ohhh ohhh ohhh ohh
Yeh yeh

Cargo cults comedies at bamboo airports
Straighten out so they see you
Sober up for the camera you’re facing
Switching the lights on in you

Ohh when you see fire, there is no higher high
Catching lightning all night till you see the horizon, in the morning light

Don’t check me out I'm out for lunch
Don’t check me out I'm out for lunch

We’re all catching lightning
We’re all catching lightning
We’re all catching
We’re all catching lightning
We’re all catching lightning
We’re all catching
We’re all catching
We’re all catching lightning

Conversations in D

It's when I say hello

It's when I call you on the phone

It's when I open up my heart enough to let you know

It's when I toss and turn at night

And wonder will you be alright?

Cos I don't have the answers much less the questions

Cos this is a one-way conversation

This is a one-way conversation

Man I know you've been let down

Even when you're not around

I can hear your voice tremble like it's hiding in a ghost town

And I wish we had more time

And a little piece of mind

Cos I don't have the answers much less the questions

Cos this is a one-way conversation

This is a one-way conversation

This is a one-way conversation

This is a one-way conversation

This is a one-way conversation

This is a one-way conversation

This is a one-way conversation

I don't have the answers much less the questions

Art can change the world

Art can change the world

Art can change the world

Paintbrush in a child's hand

See her universe expand

Color canvas with her love

Sharing joy and creation

Art can change the world

Art can change the world

Young man with his first guitar

Transported to worlds afar

Sharing songs with all the world

Melodies so magical

Art can change the world

I can change the world

Every moment is a chance to give

To someone who's hurting

Who's so deserving

Of a miracle

Art can change the world

You can change the world

Sculpture in refugee camps

Reminds us of our humanness

Come together as one blood

See what we're capable of

Art can change the world

We can change the world

Coincidentals

His assistants busy themselves

Fetching scissors and coloured papers

Mixing hues of different flavours

Painting blues and greens and purples

Cutting stars and squares and circles

Beginning the journey

Through a thicket of collage and texture and bread and

circuses

From his bed he considers the surfaces

He remembers his voyages

And he watches

Henri watches

Henri’s body is bed bound

But his mind isn’t even earthbound

He cuts into the form of a figure

He places it next to another

Improvisation,

No turning back, no hesitation

Letting go to muscle sense and iteration

Creativity in the present tense

No more sitting on the fence

Commit to the composition

And he watches…

Enrico watches…

The kids coming up through the quavers and crotchets

Little birds with their scales and rhythms and pitches

Finding their voices and hoping to sing

He’ll pass on the history, of princes and kings

Of Bix and Miles and the truth and the sophistry

Of Chet and Louis and the proof and the mystery

And he takes an occasional player under his wing

And flies through fundamentals

Improvisations and incidentals

And he watches…

Stefano watches…

The silence of the film and the stillness of the man

Deadpan

Buster

Keaton

The girl leaves

His heart heaves

His blank expression

Falls to his knees and then the horizon

He sits.

He thinks.

Pushing his hat

Back on his head.

Lost in this moment of loss, the signs he misread,

He fails to notice

The coupling rod on the train that is rising and falling

and that is where his seat is

He bobs up and down as his dignity decreases

His stone face flashes a moment of indignation beneath

his…

Hat.

To acquire learning you need to read

But to gain wisdom you must watch

Stefano watches

Through the bars of his cage

A cage of bar lines and staves

Something to break out of

To fight with

To play with

To push and pull and tear and tickle and sway with

All those accidentals

Co-accidentals

Incidental music for life

Incidental music for life 

Fiery skies

Distant worlds from a past life, they haunt me

Memories blurred from that time, still find me

A shell of myself just trying to survive

Fiery Skies celebrate tonight, but I'm locked up

Trapped inside of my own mind, I'm fucked up

Maybe it's time to leave it all behind, and change my state of mind

No longer feel the need to wear my armor, long the way that it's been

And now I begin to see in colors, more than I've ever seen 

On the outside

On the Outside

Never quite at home

Always you’re alone

Always on the outside

Riding out the storm

So where do we now start

Where do we begin

Never looking outside

Always looking in

Always on the outside

And never quite at home

Always on the outside

And every Christmas you’re alone

Waiting for the dawn

Family full of strangers

Barely holding on

Always on the outside

You know you must be strong

Always on the outside

And you’ll survive the storm

And always you’ll belong

Always you’ll belong

Always you’ll belong

Animam Nondum Efflavi (I Have Not Yet Exhaled My Spirit)

Animam Nondum Efflavi (I Have Not Yet Exhaled My Spirit)

[Latin original]:

animam nondum efflavi,
tametsi eam vulneravi;
parce mihi frater,
tam longe meo carne.

quando te deterrui
et quo furtim effugisti?
te quoniam necavi.

mortuis adiunxisti
vel phasmatibus perditis?
redde mihi vitam
quam in noctem abstractam.

[English]:

I have not yet exhaled (flared out) my spirit,
Though I have caused her harm (wounded her) ;
Forgive me, my brother,
So distant (remote) from my flesh.

When did I cause you to flee in terror,
and whither have you quietly (furtively) fled?
For I have murdered (killed) you.

Have you joined the company of [the] depraved phasms (spirits) ?
Return to me the life (vitality)
that was dragged off into the night.

Shane Joshua Thomas 

Change or Die

VERSE 1

Cm

So many people I meet every day on the street

Have their life on a loop and a day on repeat

Fm

I can't go down that rut it would drive me crazy

Gm

Perhaps I'm gifted or maybe just not lazy

Cm

I go for perplex aspects of complex subjects

And at the apex of multiple projects. 

Fm

The questions hard, the answers evolve, simple

Gm

Change or Die!!!

VERSE 2

Cm

To repeat myself, is to defeat myself

Gotta unseat myself, need to beat myself

Fm

Why once you've mastered the art by heart 

Gm

would you continue to take on every upstart? Is that smart?

Cm

Instead I profess finesse for progress

To make egress a process for success 

Fm

I see my destiny as a legacy of tenacity, 

Gm

that's why I'll, Change or die

VERSE 3

Cm

I seen friends disappear now they're a name on a phone

The chat stops here and I'm left all alone

Fm

I don't have time to greave, I got the need to achieve

Gm

I up and leave, I got a thread to weave

Cm

I got sent here to reinvent not be content to create content 

like the people I see on a mental ferment in their one segment 

Fm

what they represent to me is torment

Gm

To me it's simple change or die

VERSE 4

Cm

I move to the vacuum, do what's not getting done

Even if it's thankless and the job's no fun

Fm

Fill the gap at the back just to simplify

Gm

People watch in awe they see how hard I try

Cm

Why'll they're repeating their style, they say they're building a brand

They don't understand that one day soon they'll

Fm                               

Replace you with a fucking AI

Gm

Change or Die!

VERSE 5 

Cm

If art is a wager and every line is your last

You gotta think fast what will make the contrast

Fm

I'm in a battle with history I don't have peers

Gm

A fight for the ages, and I ain't got no fears

Cm

Tell me what's unique with you

Can what you're doing be

Fm                                Gm                  

done by another guy? Change or die

Hollow Bones

CHORDS 

A - E - D - E

CHORUS

Hollow bones

Divining from River Stones

Thriving on

The world contained in a moment of play

And every beings a thought away

Hollow bones

Human-based telephones

All-embraced

Calling all creatures, every race

Tune into your inner space

VERSE

Journeying on a magic trip
Into the underworld
There we met the special ones
Our spirit animals

The ripple effect is playing out

Raising consciousness

Connecting to the source of life

With greater confidence

BRIDGE

And still you try try try

CHORUS

VERSE

Metamorph into alignment

By tapping into tools

Mirroring and taking on

As you journey through the rules

Love and forgiveness both come first

In everything you do

Saying your sorry and ask forgiveness

And they you say thank you

BRIDGE

And still you try try try

CHORUS

MIDDLE/OUTRO? 

Study the well to cure the sick

Is your methodology

Subtly manipulating

Self-talk psychology

LYRICS

Hollow bones

Divining from River Stones

Thriving on

The world contained in a moment of play

And every being's a thought away

Hollow bones

Human-based telephones

All-embraced

Calling all creatures, every race

Tune into your inner space

Journeying on a magic trip
Into the underworld
There we met the special ones
Our spirit animals

The ripple effect is playing out

Raising consciousness

Connecting to the source of life

With greater confidence

And still you try try try

Hollow bones

Divining from River Stones

Thriving on

The world contained in a moment of play

And every being's a thought away

Hollow bones

Human-based telephones

All-embraced

Calling all creatures, every race

Tune into your inner space

Metamorph into alignment

By tapping into tools

Mirroring and taking on

As you journey through the rules

Love and forgiveness both come first

In everything you do

Saying your sorry and ask forgiveness

And they you say thank you

And still you try try try

Hollow bones

Divining from River Stones

Thriving on

The world contained in a moment of play

And every being's a thought away

Hollow bones

Human-based telephones

All-embraced

Calling all creatures, every race

Tune into your inner space

Hollow bones

Divining from River Stones

Thriving on

The world contained in a moment of play

And every being's a thought away

Hollow bones

Hollow bones

Hollow bones

Candy Land

 Mother, father I’ve seen signs
In the symbols of your faith
Gone are days of muscadine
Nightmares follow like a wraith

Tears of sparrows, Brothers blood
Laid a curse on holy ground
Buried boundless in the mud
For the joy of tainted crowns

Go down Moses lead the band
Fill their mouths with desert sand
Milk and honey in their heads
Dreaming of a candy land

Children’s sorrow, hidden well
Drowned out by a gospel song
Trouble hid behind the veil
Lost in plain sight all along

Go down Moses lead the band
Fill their mouths with desert sand
Milk and honey in their heads
Dreaming of a candy land

Milk and honey
Running wild
Hungry mouths are full of sand
Go down Moses, meek and mild
Raise your cane and lead the band
Say farewell to freedom child
Welcome them to
Candy land  

Rend Your Heart

VERSE

It's not a matter of propriety

If you should do your praying quietly

There's a private sort of piety

In the silence that you find

In a corner of your mind

Might be the God you love is Lord alone

But do you know Him like you know your own

Is it His footstool or is it His throne?

That your life is aiming for

While your knees are on the floor

CHORUS

My dear your soul is a hidden thing

Like a diamond in the coal or a bud before the spring

And what's gonna make you whole is gonna pull you all apart

So don't tear your garments, tear your heart

VERSE

There's no finding any clarity

Through the veil of your prosperity

It's better kindling for Charity

Just to burn up all you know

To just what's real left in the glow

What now seems just like a senseless beast

Is preparation for a wedding feast

Where first come last until the most are least

The beginning and the end

Are both a lover and a friend 

Human human

VERSE
Human human, wallow in fear
Human this fear, is Spirit killing 
Down down deluge, soul desert thee
Put down the fear, Spirit's willing

CHORUS 
Turn back to the source, almighty
Take the smallest step - take the hardest
Go on, within. Listen within, 

Be still. Within. Spirit's willing

VERSE
Human human, wallow in fear
Human this fear, is Spirit killing 
Down down deluge, soul desert thee
Put down the fear, Spirit's willing

CHORUS 
Turn back to the source, almighty
Take the smallest step - take the hardest
Go on, within. Listen within, 

Be still. Within. Spirit's willing

 

MIDDLE
Can you see then? Would you be one?
Burn up thee, torch your own karma
Channeling come feel it, the one

In touch within, Spirit's willing

CHORUS
Oh mighty creator
Let the light flow
Onto heads and into hearts here
So that they might get

CHORUS

God is everywhere

A glimpse

Realise inner self

Divine heritage

 

CHORUS

 

VERSE

 

CHORUS

 

MIDDLE

 

CHORUS

 

VERSE

 

CHORUS

 

MIDDLE

 

CHORUS

 

VERSE

 

CHORUS

 

 

Valley of decision

 

 

 

 

The Kingdom of Heaven lies within

 

 

 

 

 

 

The song “İnsan İnsan” by Fazıl Say featuring Burcu Uyar, Cem Adrian, Güvenç Dağüstün and Selva Erdener conveys the idea of discovering one’s true self, and the importance of knowing one’s identity; knowing what it means to be human. The lyrics talk about the realization of humanity through a questioning of the words “insan" (person/man) and “can" (soul). It also discusses the idea of faith, the idea that one can find the true essence of humanity within themselves if they look for it. The song is ultimately about the discovery of one’s true self through learning the meaning of basic words, and the importance of faith for self-discovery.

 

Human, human that they were saying,
Now I know what it have been a human
Soul, soul that they were saying,
Now I know what it have been a soul

Muhiddin says God is almighty,
he appears ready in everything.
That which is evident, that which is hidden,
That which is an engagement, now I know.

Human, human that they were saying,
Now I know what it have been a human
Soul, soul that they were saying,
Now I know what it have been a soul

Muhiddin says God is almighty,
he appears ready in everything.
That which is evident, that which is hidden,
That which is an engagement, now I know.

Human, human that they were saying,
Now I know what it have been a human
Soul, soul that they were saying,
Now I know what it have been a soul

Muhiddin says God is almighty,
he appears ready in everything.
That which is evident, that which is hidden,
That which is an engagement, now I know.

The seeker finds it in himself
Those left outside still look for it.

In the souls heart which is,
What is believing now I know.
That which is evident, that which is hidden,
That which is an engagement, now I know.

Muhiddin says God is almighty,
he appears ready in everything.
That which is evident, that which is hidden,
That which is an engagement, now I know.

Human, human that they were saying,
Now I know what it have been a human
Soul, soul that they were saying,
Now I know what it have been a soul

Muhiddin says God is almighty,
he appears ready in everything.
That which is evident, that which is hidden,
That which is an engagement, now I know.

The seeker finds it in himself
Those left outside still look for it.

Human, human that they were saying,
Now I know what it have been a human
Soul, soul that they were saying,
Now I know what it have been a soul