Eyes Without Sight

[offthewall]

As I've recently been experimenting with different combinations of instruments I thought I would try this set out on a thought-provoking song that I was sent.
We have nylon strung guitar, tenor guitar and acoustic fretless bass.
Accordion provided by a friend in Germany.

[elwoodblues91]

Wonderful instrumentation James...& such a soothing & serene composition!I've always admired and have been thoroughly impressed by you being a one-man-maestro,using all acoustic instruments...quite a task,that is.
For years,I have wrestled with the idea of taking up guitar...but ever since I got my first workstation synth keyboard back in the late 80's...I just fell in love with the concept of creating entire songs,without having to rely on a reel to reel tape machine,or other musicians and since then,the keyboards have improved dramatically and of course,with PC software,there was no going back.
In fact....until I had become a member of K-M,I had never collaborated with anyone...but with you guys,the collab thing has been very enriching and fulfilling and it expanded my horizons as a musician.

Again...lovely stuff here,my friend...keep it up!    

[offthewall]

Thanks for your kind comments Thom.
As it happens the only part I didn't put in here ( accordion) I have mixed in slightly out of sync, I have been informed, so will be putting out a new mix soon.

[MarioD]

James this is fantastic.  Your finger picking is second to none and it sounds gorgeous on the nylon!  Your bass sounds great; don't you just love fretless basses?

Your vocal is very good but I really liked the lyrics!  Did you write them?

Ps - I don't think you need the accordion.  YMMV.

[offthewall]

Thanks Mario, for all that.
It's very rare that I write lyrics these days as I have a circle of writers who send me stuff all the time. Sometimes far too often!
As for the accordion ... that was something I asked for on this.
I am often inspired, on this type of song, by Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits and I tend to get a particular sound stuck in my head. So often the nylon stringer makes me want to bring in other, more traditional, instruments.

[offthewall]

Final version with some slight adjustments.

[folderol]

Interesting, and good playing (as usual) but I had difficulty keeping up with the words.

[offthewall]

Maybe I should have posted the lyrics.
This was written by a guy who has had vast experience of homelessness in the past.
It was originally a poem but as soon as I read it I could see how musical the phrasing was.

We sat by the fire on cold winter nights
The other lost souls and me
Dreams turn to ash in flickering fire light
Disappearing like smoke in the trees
We knew what awaited when the fire burned out
Frozen to the ground it seems
On the icy walk out not a person about
Our souls did silently scream

In eyes without sight there’s no silent night
Where dreams and reality meet
No peace on earth and no star light
when the frost is taking your feet
When all you have left is a prayer for death
Christmas songs don’t mean a thing
They can carol on high but it’s all been a lie
Believing what salvation brings

We walked past the schools and churches and fools
huddled in doorways this night
Like statues of stone they were found all alone
clinging to blankets for life
The lucky ones move into buildings and sooth
from the frozen air in their chest
Inside boiler rooms sometimes become tombs
Their souls are finally at rest

Who’s to bless or to blame who coddle the flame
of desire and want and need
If it’s only by chance we welcome the dance
through anarchy lust and greed
We define right and wrong in play and in song
but deep in our hearts we know
We decide what is right we judge and in spite
of our blindness we sometimes grow

We decide what is right we judge and in spite
of our blindness we sometimes grow

[folderol]

Thanks James,
Makes all the difference, and you can tell the guy has been 'there' can't you.

[offthewall]

Yes.
He has a published novel based on a time when he was involved with drug gangs and various 'naughty boys' and much of his song writing is quite hard hitting but tries to deal a lot with redemption.
I've done a number of other songs with him over the past few years.