Ever wonder how there are so many love songs out there, yet people keep writing more? Surely we’ll reach saturation point? … run out of ideas or melodies one day? But love keeps on singing … And if you’re lucky, sometimes a beautiful new love song bursts forth.
Every time I write a love song I hope it’s my ‘golden’ one … a timeless song. People tell me this one is … and the sing the chorus with me, thinking of someone close …
Light of Love
If I couldn’t see you in the light of the moon
Or the glow of the stars in the Milky Way above
If I couldn’t see you even in the brightest sun at noon
I would still see you
In the light of love, see you in the light of love
In the light of love, see you in the light of love
If you forget to brush your hair or you wear those funny shoes
If you don’t understand my feelings when the going’s rough
If you leave your dirty clothes and stuff across the bathroom floor
You’re beautiful. And I can only see you
In the light of love, see you in the light of love …
Don’t tend to see crazy me in an aura so bright
I go too far, don’t go far enough, can’t seem to get the balance right
Then you come along with your great big heart, embracing all that stuff
Thank you for seeing me in the light of love
When we cannot see each other in the light of the moon
Or the glow of the stars in the Milky Way above
When we can’t see each other even in the brightest sun at noon
I will still see you, you will still see me
We will be together
In the light of love, see you in the light of love
In the light of love, see you in the light of love
You’re a creative type? Love the buzz of that busy mind bursting forth new ideas? Of course! There’s only one little hiccup; a bug in the cranial software. It’s called ‘conscience’.
This little pest insists on telling you you should be exercising (just when you thought you’d mastered the fabulously healthy skill of dismissing all ‘shoulds’). It gnaws at you with the ‘exercise’ message, ensuring you faintly recall a virtuous feeling you had when you did some years ago. But a huge groan keeps pace with conscience, fuelling an ongoing battle for songwriters like me, who are notorious for not exercising anything other than the mind. Until now.
Today, a new sport, Songline Running, invented itself. And it’s not the regular sport of running with headphones on. It goes like this:
You take up Songline Running, (having a name for something always helps). In your first session, totally new, (and, you tell yourself, ‘vastly better’), songlines run through your mind as you run – (and, you tell yourself, this is the only way they come in at this level). Even miniature runs yield this quality of creative occurrences. I call my miniature runs ‘shuffles’ …
Then follows the best bit. You treat yourself with the well deserved REWARD – (you might need to picture the reward before you begin, to get you out the door in the first place). And the reward is? Vastly better songlines of course, (or poetry if you’re a poet, novel ideas if you’re a novelist, and so on). You get to slam all that breakthrough, higher level brilliance into your songwriting software the moment you get home. Athletes call this a ‘warm down’ – you see them stretching in all sorts of gangly poses after the run. But for we ‘arteests’ the best ‘warm down’ is to ‘get it down’ … I’ve just completed my first Songline Run and I couldn’t wait to tell you! I’m FULL of world-shattering new ideas.
Next time I post a song, you’ll be so impressed you’ll immediately take up the sport yourself, (that is, unless you’re already impressed with this triumphant little article, in which case, you’ll take up the sport now). OK. I’ve warmed down getting this all down. And I’ve popped those gorgeous new lines into my songwriting software, which I reckon is thanking me. Now it’s time for brekkies.
1. Dare I mention wrinkles? … waves of skin falling over skin? 2. Do you feel younger in ‘hide-the-evidence’ clothing? 3. Is your mental composure lost at the look of your anatomy while engaging in a forward bend?
Having answered yes to the above, I had to do something about it. I tried the gym … and lasted about two minutes. Then, breakthrough … a way to get my stubbornly sagging biceps to actual lift off point. This song, on my Still Dancing album, does the trick!
Gravity
Good old Newton had a flash Evolved the idea, gave it a bash Wrote it on paper for all to see And now we have the theory of gravity What was firm is not so sound What stayed up must come down Look at great grandma and you will see The long term effect of gravity!
Gravity, gravity It’s all happening to you & me We take it all so seriously May as well laugh at gravity
What was tight is growing slack. You want your youthful figure back But a face lift’s just a bit of messing around When even your internals are falling down! That’s nature – It’s all fine. She gave the solution It’s in the mind. Forget the lines, and sing with me May as well laugh at gravity
Gravity, gravity – It’s all happening to you & me …
But Newton’s in a grave situation Physicists across the nation say Our subatomic essence is totally free Beyond the pull of gravity!
Quantum physics says your face consists of little – mainly space Celebrate! It could be worse – Our essence is the universe! So why not entertain this truth And drink from the quantum fountain of youth? You’re beautiful! Set yourself free! May as well laugh at gravity.
Gravity, gravity, it’s all happening to you & me We take it all so seriously May as well laugh at gravity
Women, they say, are like a book
Hard to read but it’s easy to look
They might dress up in leopard skin tights
They’re animal types
When they set their sights on you
They’re either apples, bananas or pears
But I say women are cuddly bears
They might dress down for menial chores
But love’s in store
When they wrap their paws around you
Now it’s time to pause
For more than a cup of tea
Yes it’s time to pause babe, and
Wrap your paws, your pretty paws around me!
Women are beautiful at every age
Even at the ‘don’t mention it’ stage
When we mention being very wise
Life brings many blessings in disguise
Now it’s time to pause …
Women turn up with plates of food
Often in a playful mood
Wild cats or quiet birds in the nest
You are blessed
Coz they give their best to you
Now it’s time to pause
For more than a cup of tea
It’s time to pause, and
Wrap your paws, your pretty paws around me!
Your partner is not into it? You don’t have a partner – (and you’re not looking either)? So what?$#!! This is a day to smell the flowers, to eat a little dark chocolate … and to write a ditty just for the heck of it. So you wrote it in a card and sent it to yourself? Good! If you’re not the ditty-writing type, here’s one of mine you’re welcome to croon out to the night air, send to a lusciously desired love or, more realistically, read to your partner snoring in the chair …
A Chocolate Rose
Tis said St Valentine fervently prayed
To serve a world divinely made
His deepest prayers to the almighty
Were also heard by Aphrodite
So he was blessed from high above with
A double dose of divine love
What to do with the overflow?
So much love and nowhere to go!
(No planes or cars on air or street;
He only had two sandal’d feet)
Luckily Cupid rescued the fellow
Providing wings and a bow and arrow
Now every year around Beltane
The forces of love conspire to inflame
Each heart to soar and seek a mate
And you, my love, I ask to take
Will you be my sweet Valentine
To share with me the love divine?
Would you I pledge my life this day?
Or rather you fancy an evening’s play?
A burst of lust – lofty or sporty?
Long live love – and Aphrodite!
Here’s to love and discarded clothes!
Here’s to St Val, and a chocolate rose!
What woman would you nominate for the Anchorstone & Star award? No doubt you’ve several in mind. Tell us a little about those special women – we can’t wait to hear about them!
Anchorstone & Star
Do you want to hear a picture of a walking inspiration? She’s an open invitation to a heart that looks to love She embodies truth and style. She is solid gold, she’s wild She’s the quintessential woman, aunt or mother, loyal friend
You know when she’s around as faces light up everywhere She has a place for everyone. Everyone has a place for her When she wraps her warmth around you, you never want to leave. Her Belly laugh is rolling thunder, casual chat a summer breeze
Yes, lovely lady, I’m talking about you Trumpeting your praises – the whole country should be too Awarding you a gong for how remarkable you are! In our honours list you’ve won the Anchorstone & Star
You have a certain style – sort of ‘humble universal’ Embracing every goddamn soul and showing them you care I cannot put my finger on what it is about you It’s a privilege to know you, and a treat to have you near Yes, lovely lady …
You have so much to teach me that I cannot find in writing And I get it by osmosis over fresh date scones and tea You’re relaxed & grounded, cruising through a list that’s overflowing That reminds me, time is going. Friends! Your attention please …
If this song is pretty it’s her beauty – I’m in debt to her and Call on you to call her name out loud, applaud and cheer She says she’s just an ordinary person. We know better She’s a winner, and we wish her her own stone & starbright year Yes, lovely lady …
… I didn’t have a clue what it was like to break up when I sang that old ‘Breaking Up is Hard to Do, song, way back when. I heard it recently on the radio and for the first time, actually thought about it’s quaint old lyrics, and the painful break-ups we experience along love’s way.
When life is bustling and family and friends are planning happy get-togethers, what if you can’t get together with the one you love? What if you recently broke up, and everyone’s trying to cheer you up? … and it makes you feel even more down? – like they don’t really ‘see’ you. I hope this song, in some small way, might help see you through …
More Love
Two hearts beating as one – that’s how it seemed to be
Suddenly you’re breaking up. It’s hard, and hard to believe
You thought alike, or so you thought, then a rift began to show
Now you’re drifting poles apart
From a soul you hardly know
When do you sing your own song? How can you cross the sea?
When do you give up hope that things could change if only …
Letting go is hard, I know. You lie awake in the dark
Still the tears fall. You gave your all
You got so much love in your heart
You got more love, much more love to give
You got more life, much more life to live
Through the grieving, and the lows,
Keep believing in yourself. I can’t help feeling
You got more love tomorrow to receive
More love
In times gone by we found a mate and gave ourselves away
Our hearts could break only once
And if they did, they had to stay that way
These days life is kinder – we can find ourselves again
You would say to me, I know
So I say, beautiful friend
You got more love, much more love to give
You got more life, much more life to live
Through the grieving, and the lows
Keep believing in yourself – I can’t help feeling
You got more love tomorrow to receive
Hang on in there, there’s more love to receive
More love … in it’s own time, more love
You’ve heard of our Kids Sing Bob Dylan album? We did a video of it too – The Starbugs Sing Mr Tambourine Man. It went viral. BUT once we clocked over a million hits, it was taken offline!? We were informed, (probably by a machine) that it had ‘unsuitable content for children.’ Take a look and see what you think … Luckily a keen fan posted it on their page and You Tube hasn’t caught up with them yet – so take a look while you can!
AI, (Artificial Intelligence) systems decide what music & videos are placed where nowadays. I guess AI is experiencing birthing problems …
Meanwhile let’s credit the kids. One viewer, commented, “That is simply incredible. I’m a lifetime Dylan fan, and I’ve never heard a better lead vocal of Tambourine Man than that little girl is doing. She is a truly great singer.” Yes. At only 9 years old, Jessie has already won several world singing competitions … Then there’s Sarah, Ben, Roisin and Jessica – they’re all fantastic! Pop into the UCA Music website and take a listen to the sample audio clips: make sure you scroll right down (on the thin red line), to hear them take Forever Young, and many other tracks, into new realms.
Make their day boosting their viewing numbers, leaving a comment, and spreading the word.
Let’s journey to Planet Pandora, and see exactly how those Navi Aliens maintain perfect health and their slim, blue waists.
Dinner on Planet Pandora Seems a balanced diet of plants and unprocessed, plant-based foods is all they eat there on Pandora. And it’s what our human ancestors ate way back in our primate days. Meeting up with all those gorgeous Aliens munching vegetation, I asked them “You’re not Vegan are you?” They told me that, in common with vegans on Planet Earth, they don’t eat animal foods. But they are horrified at what can constitute ‘plant foods’ here on Earth: highly processed foods such as white flour, sugar, and oil. The Navi won’t touch them. They eat whole foods.
Why don’t they eat Oils? The Navi tell me that ‘healthy oils’ are the oils inherent in whole foods themselves. There is no need to eat that refined oil stuff we have on Earth: it is far healthier to not eat it. While oil is essential to their health, all the oil they need can be adequately sourced from plants – even the omegas. That goes for we humans too, they said.
Do the Aliens only eat Raw Foods? They eat lots of raw, but they eat cooked too. They told me this enables more balanced nutrition and better protein levels. They cook mainly the foods that are not healthy or easy to eat raw – e.g. potatoes, soy, dhal & beans, grains. Together with greens, these provide the Navi with complete protein, and billions of micro nutrients. They prefer including legumes & grains to the high intake of nuts & seeds, dried fruit and rare superfoods needed in a dedicated raw food regime.
Did this Way of Eating Originate on Planet Pandora? It did. But it also did on Planet Earth at the same time – amazing eh! With their extra-terrestrial powers, the Navi have been able to watch us down here on planet Earth. They were happy that plant-based wholefood nutrition formed the predominant content of the human diet for millennia. They knew that peoples such as the Inuit, the Tibetans, and others in cold climates evolved to eat animals; – they had no other choice). And they knew humans have always eaten some form of animal food to get Vit B12. But the masses ate much smaller quantities than we do today. The Navi are so evolved they even synthesize their own B12 – they reckon we’ll evolve to that too!
Well, thanks guys! I’m sold. And the following ‘Earthly’ credits are due …
The contemporary plant-based whole-food movement, where no animal protein is eaten, grew from research done by several American nutritionists, doctors and scientists. At the core are Dr T Colin Campbell, (Professor Emeritus, Biochemistry & Nutrition, CornellUniversity), Dr Caldwell Esselstyn, (heart surgeon, Cleveland Clinic), Drs Dean Ornish & John McDougall, John Robbins. (see the bios in the last section of the Presentation Folder). Find out more on the T Colin Campbell Foundation website.
Now before you elaborate on the finer differences between me and the Navi Babe in part 1, realise we are on another planet. On Pandora, eating unprocessed, plant-based wholefood, they’re naturally lithe. The idea of slimming has been irrelevant.
But recently, I met one or two Navi who had visited planet Earth, (invisible as they were in their beyond-the-speed of light spacecraft). Evidently, they had innocently tried some of the nosh down here, and it affected their genetic code. Sadly, they now have to keep an inner-third eye on alert when eating food high in fats and carbs. Turns out there is no outsize apparel is available in Pandora. And though I wouldn’t mind seeing a few of them running around naked, they’re not into it. Clothing is essential in the daily hunt for berries, nuts, edible greens. One gorgeous, sexy looking dude put me in the picture …
‘You leap through the forest and dive into pure waters, harvesting with care so each food source can readily sustain itself. Traditionally there’s no temptation to graze because you know food is precious. You gather & hunt for the whole clan – none of this individual indulgence stuff. You take what you need and no more – no private pigging out! Earthly diseases of ‘civilisation,’ do not occur here …’ he said, proudly. Then his face fell. ‘Now I’m a bit gutted. I need to watch my gut now.’ I was puzzled. His gut looked hellava trim to me, so I replied with a curious look. His divine-goddess-looking partner picked up the narrative.
‘There’s food available, and the Avatar Tea in your hunting pouch sports a little plant-milk; just enough protein and carbohydrate to keep you going for a few hours until we all gather to eat’. She explained that they still observe the ancient ways. Like their ancestors, they eat according to the sparse cycle of hunger, when and if there is food to go around.
It brough back memories. During my Navi training, when I first went without snacks, I experienced a new feeling – hunger!!! What I used to call hunger was just my stomach digesting. Real hunger felt different – primal and healthy. I found it occurs in waves every four to six daylight hours.
So the slimming tips I secretly hoped to pick up during my Navi training turned out to be, in essence, ‘live the green prescription.’ A bit of cajoling myself into health ways, and lots of inspiration, worked. Yes -I did it! And I’m still doing it, to the best of my ability. It can be challenging at times, especially in our society. But others are doing it too, working on eating more consciously, and taking a break to relax with a Whole Food Living magazine; recipes to try, new things to learn.
Evidently the apex of human induction has recently been reached. You can aim, fire and stay on target. We now have the knowledge needed to have a body like an Avatar Alien: be active & eat healthy food in small amounts when you’re genuinely hungry,period. Back to Earth … Galump! As mother used to say, “Give thanks”, “Eat your greens” and “Think of all the starving children.”
As you pop a can of baked beans in the food bank trolley at the supermarket, you’re glad to be sharing whole plant food staples with others in the human clan – lots of struggling families out there. Tuning into your body, you notice you’re gradually turning a rather triumphant shade of blue …