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Positive Songs

by Granfalloon

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    New Granfalloon 11 track album 'Positive Songs' on Compact Disc

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1.
music merch subscribe edit navigation bar I Don't Feel Blue from Positive Songs for Positive People by Granfalloon private You own this Edit Bulk Edit 00:00 / 04:17 Digital Track Streaming + Download Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. You own this View the Full Digital Album Subscription Subscribe now to receive all the new music Granfalloon creates, including 5 back-catalog releases, delivered instantly to you via the Bandcamp app for iOS and Android. You’ll also get access to subscriber-only exclusives. Learn more. Subscribe Now £20 GBP/year or more about Deadline: Wed 8th April 2020 The Positive Songs Project was instigated by the wonderful musician Lobelia after our conversations of my previous 'song-a-week' project from 2014 and the suspicion that post-C-vid Lockdown (which we are in the heart of, as I type!) will lead to a deluge of songs about isolation and loneliness, sadness and misery. I have written about all of these subjects A LOT and I love many, many, MANY songs that are about these subjects but Lo and I wanted to challenge ourselves to write one positive song a week during this Lockdown (These Uncertain Times... These Strange Times... These Sesquipedalian Times...). Hopefully it will challenge us and improve our skills. I Don't Feel Blue is my first attempt at a positive song and it's not so much positive as it is, 'Not-Negative'. Picking a negative emotion and declaring I am not so... which is a bit of a cheat but this is a process. I feeling behind it is adaptation from panic and fear in the face of dramatic events to normalisation and the ability to cope. A transition that a lot of us are going through at the moment. Humans are wonderfully adaptable after all and this is my homage to their fluid nature. lyrics I don't know why I don't feel blue I don't know why How about you? How quickly new startlements Become the norm every day They skip and they jump And they rise and they fall And we change We change I don't know why I don't feel blue I don't know why How about you?
2.
The Pigeon 03:45
Come and see the doves At the window ledge There is hope On the outside In a world of wonder Who needs fantasy In a world of wonder Believe in you and me Who needs unicorns When we've got rhinos? Who needs doves When we've got pigeons? Who needs angels When I've got you?
3.
Save Point 04:56
Maybe we'll dance Like white bears in Honolulu We’ll be so rare and free Just You and me Perhaps some food and shelter Maybe we follow The example of moss And use air for moisture The light of the sun Live within our nature Take me to a save point Where we’ll be together We can rest forever Maybe we’ll drive the mainland The length and breadth Just a caravan and a dansette Live the European Dream The beautiful and precious ugliness of The cafes in Vienna Those Bolognese bars Streetmusick in Cologne Take me to a save point Where we’ll be together We can rest forever Take me to a save point Where we’ll be together We can heal forever Maybe you’d think that was all just a dream I would understand that Like Wonderboy III We change into animals Maybe your voice falls like rain On my ribcage And Soaks me through Drenched in dream We can rest and heal Take me to a save point Where we’ll be together We can rest forever Take me to a save point Where we’ll be together We can heal forever
4.
My Tribe 03:23
music merch subscribe edit navigation bar My Tribe from Positive Songs for Positive People by Granfalloon private You own this Edit Bulk Edit 00:00 / 03:26 Digital Track Streaming + Download Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. You own this View the Full Digital Album Subscription Subscribe now to receive all the new music Granfalloon creates, including 5 back-catalog releases, delivered instantly to you via the Bandcamp app for iOS and Android. You’ll also get access to subscriber-only exclusives. Learn more. Subscribe Now £20 GBP/year or more about Deadline: 29th April 2020 Recorded for the Positive Songs Project. A challenge to write a positive song every week. This project has been an emotional journey and it's only 4 weeks deep. Around week 2 some of my favourite musicians I've worked with started contacting me to work on these songs with me. It made me realise how long I'd gone without these people in my life. And how close I felt to them, ideologically. In a lonely world (at a lonely time) it was a very important realisation. It made me feel strong and loved and a part of the world. It means a lot to me to have these musicians on this recording. lyrics I didn't realise I'd been wandering In the desert for all these years Without my tribe Without my tribe Open arms for sisters, brothers, Bent and bloodied, unbroken How we've survived How we've survived I saw that I was only feeling lonely For no reason For all this time For all this time Turns out that everyone I love and loves me Were always here I've found my tribe I've found my tribe And when I'm down, struck out of luck And darkness starts to fall And in those quiet moments When there's no one there at all I just think of my clan And I remember who I am There are things we share inside That cannot be denied - I've found my tribe! I didn't realise I'd been wandering In the desert for all these years Without my tribe Without my tribe And even if I'm feeling lost And faraway from home I'm never alone I have my tribe!
5.
The LUV Song 03:38
Love luv love luv love luv love luv love Love luv love luv love luv love luv love What began as a trickle Has become tidal wave Brace your face for impact A great big splash, as the waters come crashing on you If You want love then you’ve got to give love Love’s a thing that you have got to dream of You were facing the sky And I would face the sea We are the architects of our own happiness O boy O boy! This Joy begets more joy Love luv love luv love luv love luv love Love luv love luv love luv love luv love We were stuck inside the night time And we turned it into day You know how to illuminate don't you? You put your lips together and glow If You want love then you’ve got to give love Love’s a thing that you have got to dream of Love luv love luv love luv love luv love Love luv love luv love luv love luv love LUV
6.
Turn on your mind, unplug, go somewhere else Journey to the centre of yourself Fear: I don't wish you were here I'll keep my soul as a souvenir I'm sending postcard to panic and pain, I won't see them again I'm on a holiday from nothing to nowhere I'm on a holiday from nothing to nowhere Pack my bag, got my passport and boarding pass I can feel that this voyage is going to be first class I plot a course fro contentment, a route for respite I'm on an early flight, I'll get an early night I've got my ticket booked for an outing into my mind I'm on a holiday from nothing to nowhere I'm on a holiday from nothing to nowhere The hungry sun munches through a tasty sky Shadows chase me around the borderline That I have to move means I change my perspective A constantly shifting, reflexive reflective I take the possessions I need and nothing more I'm on a holiday from nothing to nowhere I'm on a holiday from nothing to nowhere From Nothing to Nowhere From Nothing to Nowhere From Nothing to Nowhere From Nothing to Nowhere
7.
Close your eyes and face the sun Tell me what you see, is it real? Orange flashes purple-green And all the colours in between, it’s real How you feel O so real We're just Waterbabies making plans We make plans for the rain/storm/wind/ The future laughs at your plans The river laughs at your plans Laugh along with it Let your laughter flow Into the river The river knows I know boats get lost in storms I know your boat has been warned And you have things to do Hatches to batten, ropes to tie I’ll see you again when you’re sailing high Don’t pass me by Or leave me behind Don't pass me by We're just Waterbabies making plans We make plans for the rain/storm/wind/ The future laughs at your plans The river laughs at your plans Laugh along with it Let your laughter flow Into the river The river knows
8.
See You Soon 03:45
Last night I dreamt we played a real live show Last night I dreamt that we all sang the same tune Last night I dreamt that we all fell in love Last night I dreamt that I would see you soon Last night I dreamt that we were face to face Last night I dreamt that we were in the same room Last night I dreamt that we were understood Last night I dreamt that I would see you soon Please understand me Yeah my ideas seems crystal clear to me My intent gets lost Wires gets crossed We miscommunicate Yeah crystal fills with mud and inkblots But this connection we share Flying through the air Yeah We can work together Cos I can hear your voice And I can read your words But given the choice I choose to See your expression Up close Get it first hand It’s the only way to truly understand each other’s Mistakes Oh them’s just the breaks But all of the risks we take will all work out When we’re in the room together Last night I dreamt we played a real live show Last night I dreamt that we all sang the same tune Last night I dreamt that we all fell in love Last night I dreamt that I would see you soon
9.
Who You Are 03:20
Fuck a doodle do, What is wrong with you? You permanently transmit It’s the mouth it comes out of, It’s the head it goes in Listening through la-di-da ears I tried to bury it in an unmarked grave I had them salt the earth I had the graveyard paved I chartered a ship and sailed away I changed my face, I changed my name Embrace who you are You don’t have to run far Away from yourself I know it’s fun being someone else Embrace who are x2 It’s meticulous I’ve been sculpting this Exquisite chocolate teapot for years and years Cross my eyes and dot my teeth Now dressing up and playing make believe Seems a bit old hat to me I tried to bury it in an unmarked grave I had them salt the earth I had the graveyard paved I chartered a ship and sailed away I changed my face, I changed my name Embrace who you are You don’t have to run far Away from yourself I know it’s fun being someone else Embrace who are x8
10.
Molly please spare a smile for me It's so dark here in your company Drifting like a ghost through the badlands that we call home It chips away at your soul When you’re working on your own On the edge On the edges of civilisation Saturday night is the loneliest night of the week Shift workers of the world unite Bathe yourself in Piccadilly's multicolored lights When the human touch that means so much Is a phantom limb on social crutches Keep a little kind in your heart When you’re working on your own On the edge On the edges of civilisation Saturday night is the loneliest night of the week What else could you do with my nighttimes? (Could you do with a timeline?) What else would you do in the sunshine? (Would you do with lifetime?) When you’re working on your own On the edge On the edges of civilisation... Saturday night is the loneliest night of the week
11.
music merch subscribe edit navigation bar Better Than Today 2020 from Positive Songs for Positive People by Granfalloon private You own this Edit Bulk Edit 00:00 / 04:49 Digital Track Streaming + Download Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. You own this View the Full Digital Album Subscription Subscribe now to receive all the new music Granfalloon creates, including 5 back-catalog releases, delivered instantly to you via the Bandcamp app for iOS and Android. You’ll also get access to subscriber-only exclusives. Learn more. Subscribe Now £20 GBP/year or more about Deadline: Wed 10th June 2020 The music for this song came to me in a dream last week. In the dream I was in a huge bed. Somebody pressed play on a portable tape deck and an instrumental organ piece began playing. The cassette tape cover read that it was by Townes Van Zandt. The person who pressed 'play' began bowing violin along to it. I saw a cello leaning on a couch. Turning around awkwardly in the bed, I saw behind me some kind of crossbreed instrument... it look like a mix between an autoharp and a lapsteel. With my fingers I began to pluck and slide a melody over the drone created by Townes' organ and my companion's dream-violin. We played for a long time and then... I woke up. Back in the waking world I grabbed a 12-string guitar that I had come into possession of last week, went down to my living room and quickly recorded the music I remembered to my phone. The demo went to my bandmates with acoustic, 12-string, vocals, and no explanation. When it came back from drummer Andy Lyth, on a whim he'd added an accordion part that sounded exactly like the Townes Van Zandt organ music I'd heard in my dream! I love the instrumental section after the second chorus. The interplay between four lead instruments each trading moments of musical interest is wonderful and hats off to Thirds for spinning those plates like a wizard. All BV's courtesy of the dulcet tones of Daz Woodcock as well as some inspired synth touches that reward closer listening in headphones. This is the last song written for Phase One of the Positive Songs Project. There will be one more song of this album coming out next week which is my 'very special episode' and a fitting album album conclusion before myself and Lobelia Lawson launch Phase Two of the project. Find out more about it at positivesongsproject.org and listen to the other artists involved. lyrics I am transformed A man reborn You can fix yourself There's no one else Every time I make a wish It's always for the same damn For today to be better than yesterday For tomorrow to be better than today Dip your head into the stream Where it gets wet And what doesn't kill you Makes you fat Every time I make a wish It's always for the same damn For today to be better than yesterday For tomorrow to be better than today For today to be better than yesterday For tomorrow to be better than today

about

Remember the heady days of lockdown Mk1? Cancelled tours. Cancelled flights. Cancelled jobs. Cancelled everything. I had recently released my second album, RGB, with my band Granfalloon and my planned UK and European tours were to be crucial in selling the boxes of records and t-shirts that, as an independent musician, I had funded myself.

I first met the incredible singer-songwriter Lobelia Lawson through booking my 2019 tour. She puts gigs on at the Tower Of Song in Birmingham and she had kindly agreed to host me again for 2020. When my UK and European tours were cancelled that year (RGB is still available on vinyl and CD), Lobelia got in touch with me to suggest a live streamed show. It’s hard to imagine now but there was a time when the phrase “live stream” was probably more likely to summon up images of salmon fishing in the Hebrides than what it came to define in 2020 (i.e. the entirety of our music, comedy and theatre entertainment). It was Lobelia who mentored me through setting up a Twitch account and it was with her I was able to start live streaming gigs every month and keep some money coming in.

As our long-distance friendship was blossoming, we discussed a weekly songwriting project I’d undertaken in 2014 (one year, 52 songs), and those conversations resulted in us challenging each other to write a song a week during lockdown but with the caveat that these songs must focus on positive subject matter (to avoid adding to the deluge of songs titled Lockdown Lament and Isolation Blues). We set up a Facebook group, adding a couple of friends we thought might be interested in taking part and called it a night.

Then something wonderful happened.

More people than expected started submitting songs. Friends of friends. People we didn’t know. People from all over the world. The group grew from four members to 40 to 100 and kept growing. BBC Radio got in touch and wanted to cover it. Over the weeks that followed, some of my favourite musicians I’ve worked with got in touch with me, having seen what I was doing, and they wanted to work on the songs I was writing for this project. There were also many fruitful collaborations between the songwriters who had met remotely via this project. I managed some of my own fruitful collaborations with Lobelia, Test Card Girl, and Elbow co-founder Richard Jupp among others.

Lobelia and I began cooking up specific songwriting challenges for the group members for a second phase of the project, now dubbed the Positive Songs Project. Songs were being sent by songwriters based around the UK but also mainland Europe, the US, Mexico and Australia. By the time we announced the third phase of the project, over 300 songs had been written.

Being a part of this flood of creativity was personally inspiring and the result of my work was an album called Positive Songs, written and recorded for the most part in those first 10 weeks (plus one bonus not quite as positive track). There was, of course, some remixing and procrastinating. However, both the instancy and the constancy of writing on a Wednesday and shaping the songs throughout the week to hit the weekly deadline resulted in a kind of magical atmosphere that made this project feel very special. Over the last year, I found a great record label to release Positive Songs. Cosmic Glue is the new imprint from the musicians behind the band Hello Cosmos.

Like my previous live album, Positive Songs will only be available via Bandcamp and in physical format, though the singles will be out on Spotify (as it’s basically a radio station anyway). It’s old school, I know, but if the last year has taught me anything, it’s that the music industry is working with a broken model when it comes to sustaining independent musicians and my Bandcamp subscription model allows the people who want to support my music to do so, which allows me to keep making music. I find the relationship with the fans of my music very rewarding, and I get to interact with them via mine and Lobelia’s monthly live streams on Twitch, on the first Friday of every month.

With many people returning to work, and live music making its slow but sure re-emergence, the Positive Songs Project is currently on hiatus but Lobelia and I have discussed many exciting future plans for it, including an artist-led publishing label.

The album Positive Songs is out through Cosmic Glue on 27 August. You can hear the singles on Spotify, and the album is available through Bandcamp.

credits

released August 27, 2021

Richard Lomax
Andy Lyth
Daz Woodcock
Thirds
Maya McCourt
Erika Schweighofer
Adrian Ingham
Lobelia Lawson
Steve Lawson
Richard Jupp
Harpo Marx

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Granfalloon Manchester, UK

Manchester based composer and recordist. Lo-fi. Folk. Psych. Songs. Unusually long neck for a man my height.

Contact: info@granfalloonmusic.com

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