Byroads

Salt Of The Earth


(1)

When you look out of your window, what do you see?
Traffic and people, maybe a cut-down tree.

When you open your door, what do you smell?
Almost odorless, probably poison, but you never can tell.

When you open your window, what do you hear?
The sound of the beast, feeding of domesticated fear.

What do you see looking at the sky at night?
Barley a star, just a blanketed dome made of city light.

(2)

Poor people's barracks covering the valley like straggly moss,
churches like breathing giants, bearing their builder's cross.

High towers bending like grass in the storm,
bridges made of steel, cooing like a newly-born.

(3)

What would happen if you look out your window at the open seas?
Or if you start your day watching a line of trees?

What would you do for a clear vision of the stars at night?
But what about the horrors that are back with no light?

How would you feel living in a home like a breath of roses?
But would you face the perils untamed nature imposes?

(4)

This city was raised by many generations, stone by stone,
It has a graveyard for it's builders, and a life of its own.




Words & Music: Michael Michaelis

Michael: Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keyboard, Alto Recorder, Violin & Viola, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Snare, Bass Drum, Toms, Percussion).

Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.

(Last Update: 17.2.2018)


[All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2018]



Program


When I was looking for a title for my project, I translated the German term “Nebenstraßen” into “Byroads” - which seems pretty obvious for my kind of music.

Another choice would have been a translation of “Programmmusik” (program music). I rejected that for obvious reasons – it has a silly sound, to say the least. But it might have been a better description of what I'm trying to do.

In my songs lyrics come first. The music is just commenting the words. If the words are simple – like in Memories or Echos - the music can stay simple as well. The first song in the current “cycle” of what I'm just doing is Becoming - written on a trip thru South Africa, featuring musical standards used in African popular music, like unmodified cadences and patterns of “call and response”.

Sometimes the topic touched by the lyrics needs some level of comment. The music I do is not just paraphrasing what is already said, but offers some kind of an emotional level of understanding. Big words! ..and I'm not even sure if I can even touch that level at all; if I have the skills, as a composer, to do so.

Nevertheless: Nightfall is a good example of what I'm trying to do. It's a reminiscence to Richard Wagner's “Tristan & Isolde” (the “sirene” in the lyrics is – pretty obvious, at least to me – Isolde); there are several occurrences of the “Tristan” chord in the music. The formal structure of the song follows a “program”: Daylight (the intro) – Sunset (verse 1), Nightfall (verse 2), Rite Of The Shadows (interlude), Night (verse3). The entire structure is “reverse”; as is living, dying..

And so on (the dissonant Harps in Lies are not a coincidence, when the lyrics states: “I love you”; neither is the marching snare in Child of My Time in the last verse).

But it's up to the listener to make the connections – I just had a thought that it might help to give a hint.



Memento


Wien, Staatsoper
Wien, Staatsoper
(right lower corner: mirroring myself)


Words: Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886)
Music: Michael Michaelis


The Bustle in a House

By Emily Dickinson

The bustle in a house
The morning after death
Is solemnest of industries
Enacted upon earth.

The sweeping up the heart
And putting love away
We shall not want to use again
Until eternity.




To the memory of Hedwig Getraude Michaelis (*19. March 1926; †28. February 2017), my father's older sister, my »Tante Traudchen«.




Michael: Vocals, Guitars, Violin & Viola, Bass, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Snare, Bass Drum, Toms), Percussion (Shaker, Caxixi, Tambourine).

Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.

(Last Update: 27.10.2019)

[All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2019]



First of all: I'm aware that it seems a pretty bad idea to analyze the music you wrote by yourself.

Doing so, you risk to be perceived as a musician who is steered „by her head”, rather than by her intuition. Using one's head is not a bad thing at all (I would consider anyone who thinks otherwise – well: headless?!). But an artist is supposed to follow her emotions rather than the „cold” working of her conscious mind. To conform with these expectations, I should keep my mouth shut.

To tell the truth: I don't think so much when playing my guitar or my violin, improvising on an attempt to come up with new ideas. What I do, though, is analyzing my playing afterwards (and writing it down, so I can get back to it later).

Nevertheless: here are some unsorted remarks to Memento:

  • The last verse of the choir is repeated twice: the introduction (minus the first two phrases of the solo-violin) is a variation, and so are the last few bars from the two guitars.
  • The first 4-bar pattern, in E-minor, played by the acoustic guitar, has a long breath: it continues until the solo of the distorted lead guitar ends – and it won't come back. The guitar solo prepares some new interpretations of the pure E-minor chord (it goes to B-major/A-minor). The string section picks up on these changes, when finally the basic harmonic structure „gives in”, and follows.
  • From that point, the chords get more and more „complicated”. At some point, the tempo slows down, with a melody presented by the acoustic guitar (plus bass & drums). In these eight bars, the melodic and harmonic material is introduced for almost all variations until the end.
  • There is a certain structure of rhythm: the entire section before the solo vocals kick in, is a straight 4/4, but structured as 3+3+2/8. In the first verse, there are some „breaks” in 3+2/8 (just “leaving out” one 3/8). The following passage leads from 3+3+2/8 to 3+3+3/8 (just „adding” one eight). The choir in the finale is a 9/8 (strictly „in time”, by the way – no tempo changes here), although the melody „hides” the simple meter.

    Choir Memento

  • Although I have to play to a click (all instruments are played „live”, but one after the other), the tempo is changing all the time. I spent a lot of time to build a „tempo-track” with my recording-software – I believe, this work pays off a great deal, and has a big impact on the „live”-feel of the recording.



  • Traumbild


    Musik: Michael Michaelis
    Text: Michael Michaelis & Andrea Hertz

    Andy: Vocals
    Michael: Akustische Gitarre, Violine, Baß, Becken & HiHat, Wave Drum (Bass Drum), Synthesizer ("Marimba").

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.


    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2023]



    When You Are Old


    William Butler Yeats
    William Butler Yeats


    Words: William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)
    Music: Michael Michaelis



    When You Are Old

    By William Butler Yeats

    When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
    And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
    And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
    Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

    How many loved your moments of glad grace,
    And loved your beauty with love false or true,
    But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,
    And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

    And bending down beside the glowing bars,
    Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
    And paced upon the mountains overhead
    And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.






    Michael: Vocals, Guitars, Violin & Viola, Seaboard, Bass, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Snare, Toms, Bass Drum).

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.

    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2019]

    (*) Some remarks (German)



    Den Text von William Butler Yeats hatte ich schon eine ganze Weile vor mir, mich aber schwer damit getan, ein Konzept für die Vertonung zu finden. Das Resultat ist ganz knapp (keine vier Minuten lang), harmonisch und formal sehr einfach, in einer eher kleinen „Besetzung”, aber – so hoffe ich zumindest – frei von Klischees. Ich habe nicht versucht, die Aussage des Textes zu verdeutlichen; das Gedicht ist derart stark, daß das nicht nötig ist, oder vielleicht sogar ein Fehler wäre.

    Ich will jetzt nicht mit einer ausführlichen Analyse des Textes daherkommen; zwei Anmerkungen kann ich mir aber doch nicht verkneifen:

  • Es heißt: „How many loved .. your beauty“; und: „But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you“. Ich hatte anfangs den Verdacht, daß sich hier Ironie oder sogar Sarkasmus versteckt. Dafür finden sich im Text aber keinerlei Hinweise; das ist mE. wörtlich zu nehmen.
  • In dem kurzen Text kommt „Love“ bzw. „loved“ sechsmal(!) vor – das ist natürlich kein Fehler eines schlechten Dichters, sondern präzises Kalkül. Das Wort wird leer und bekommt einen hohlen Klang. Yeats braucht keine Metaphern, um sein Thema zu erklären. Er legt seine Aussage in die Substanz seiner Sprache.


  • When I Have Fears


    John Keats
    John Keats


    Words: John Keats (1795 – 1821)
    Music: Michael Michaelis


    When I have Fears

    By John Keats

    When I have fears that I may cease to be
      Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
    Before high-piled books, in charactery,
      Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain;
    When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face,
      Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
    And think that I may never live to trace
      Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
    And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
      That I shall never look upon thee more,
    Never have relish in the faery power
      Of unreflecting love - then on the shore
    Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
      Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.







    Michael: Vocals, Guitars, Violin & Viola, Piano, Bass, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Percussion), additional sequencer programming (Marimba, Clarinets, Timpani).

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.

    (Last Update: 3.11.2018)

    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2018]



    Telling Fairy Tales (Children's Song)


    When I watch a child lost for the world in it's game,
    I wish so much I could do the same,
    becoming myself without being alone,
    becoming the center of a world that is my own.

    Wish I could close my eyes and bad things go away,
    wish I could yawn about what important people say,
    wish I could be innocent and honest about anything and everyone,
    wish I'd be certain again that after the rain comes the sun.

    There is a holy place where children play,
    I was there, I learned a lot, I even knew my way,
    but I had to leave, I'm so sorry, I couldn't stay.

    Once I was steering a ship thru time and space,
    but wherever I went I always could see my mother's face,
    I still know how these wrinkles feel,
    smiling at her, and the doubts her smiling could heal.


    Words & Music: Michael Michaelis

    Michael: Vocals, Guitars, Violin, Bass, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Bass Drum, Snare, Percussion), Keyboards (Marimba).

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.

    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2018]



    Children's Song - Interlude+Solo



    Music: Michael Michaelis

    Michael: Guitars, Bass, Viola, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Bass Drum, Percussion).

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.



    Changes


    Music: Michael Michaelis (based on the Changes of "Giant Steps", written by John Coltrane)

    Michael: Guitar, Bass, Piano, Viola, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Snare, Bass Drum, Toms).

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.

    (Last Update: 15.5.2018)


    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2017]











    Revolution


    I still dream of a revolution,
    not because I'm bored of evolution,
    but things won't end well, that's just another illusion,
    waiting for the end is no solution.

    Sure: you want to sit back and watch how the game plays out,
    but you're watching those who are weaving your shroud.

    You might have a craving for that ivory to build up your own tower,
    and you can't do that by raising your hands against those in power,
    but you can't live in peace in thunder and lightning,
    'cause what you hear and see, it's not mother nature, it's armies, fighting.

    Sometimes you just want to be left alone,
    but you can't merely survive on your own,
    we're all citizens of planet earth,
    being part of human nature is what makes living worth.

    I know, you've heard these lines before,
    and you would listen, but you're fighting a fucking war,
    maybe you're wearing a shining armor, but I bet you're not,
    praying for help from a king or a god is all you got,
    but praying won't help, it won't even call a truce,
    'cause all hell is about to break loose.


    Words & Music: Michael Michaelis

    Michael: Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Violin & Viola (String Sections), Cymbals & HiHat, Wavedrum (Bass Drum, Snare, Toms), Percussion (Bamboo Cata), Synthesizer Programming.

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.

    (Last Update: 26.11.2017)


    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2017]



    That Life


    They say: life is what you make of it,
    it's what the conductor preaches to the orchestra pit.
    (Life is what you make of it,
    but you'll burn yourself, ending in a fire pit.)

    You might have a song on your lips,
    all it takes is a single cloud for a full solar eclipse.
    (You might think you made a mark,
    it's just whistling in the dark.)

    I believe you when you say you want to make it right,
    finally you find yourself in the darkest night.
    (Every time you try to make it right,
    you end up stumbling thru the night.)


    [“Es gibt kein richtiges Leben im falschen” - Theodor W. Adorno (“There cannot be a right life amidst wrong”).]


    Words & Music: Michael Michaelis

    Michael: Vocals, Guitars, Piano & Synthesizer, Bass, Violin & Viola (String Section), Cymbals, Percussion (Shaker, Tambourine, Triangle, Claves), Wave Drum (Snare, Bass Drum, Toms).

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.

    (Last Update: 20.8.2017)


    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2017]



    Memories


    There was a ragged garden behind my childhood home,
    an enchanted place, a little world of it's own,
    it was a sacred site, I buried a treasure there,
    but I can't remember what and where.

    The first time I heard that song I was all alone,
    a stranger spoke to me I'd always known,
    this music is a true companion for many years,
    but I can't remember what once made me blink back tears.

    Wish I could remember the first time I saw your face,
    but that memory is just the center of a tangling maze,
    I remember it's alleys, I walk them every now and then,
    I circle it's center again and again.

    Refrain

    Memories are like a canvas, over-painted many times,
    like a line of poetry, twisted and bended until it rhymes,
    they feel real, but they're just a state of mind,
    the past hides a truth you'll never find.


    Words & Music: Michael Michaelis

    Michael: Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Violin & Viola, Cymbals.

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.

    (Last Update: 27.9.2017)


    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2017]



    The Jester


    I'm the one who casts that dark shadow deep inside of you,
    when you think you got rid of me, I jump out of the blue.

    My art of seduction is subtle, I'm just telling what's true,
    you'll side with me simply 'cause you know now what to do.

    If you want to be the king of the game -
    just do it, grab the crown in my name.

    I can make a mask, and your face will grow to fit it,
    but once you join my game you're not allowed to quit it.

    You can shine in all the power and the glory,
    just leave that life of yours at my soul depository.

    Ending

    Well I wish today is the day I take your soul,
    but geez! you're a trickster, you hid an ace in the hole.
    You denied the crown, took the role of the jester instead,
    running me down as a cartoon on your scribbling pad.


    (Unused Verses)

    When you're tested by your qualms, I whisper in your ears,
    I make a pledge to everything you wanna hear.

    I'm your gardener, you are my seeds,
    just do it, string my prayer beads.

    Head for the crown, try to be king,
    just do it, allowed is everything.


    Painting: Paul Klee, The Devil juggles.

    „He wears a mask, and his face will grow to fit it.” - George Orwell

    „Just do it.” - Nike Inc.


    Words & Music: Michael Michaelis

    Michael: Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Violin & Viola, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Bass Drum, Snare).

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.

    (Last Update: 8.6.2022)


    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2017]



    Persistence


    Music: Michael Michaelis

    Michael: Guitar, Piano, Bass, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Bass Drum, Snare), Percussion (Shaker, Darbuka, Rainmaker), Synthesizer- and Sequencer Programming.

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.

    (Last Update: 04.03.2018)


    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2017]



    Red Lights Behind


    Different places, some dark, some light,
    good or bad, wrong or right,
    but it's not up to you to decide,
    you can't place yourself on either side.

    Where you'll go is in the blind,
    all you see is red lights behind,
    when moving fast all you want is look ahead,
    but a blurred image of the past is all you get.

    There is an angel, a storm blowing into her face,
    a storm coming from the past at disturbing pace,
    she's bowed down in mourning sorrow,
    'cause all she wants is to turn around, to catch a sight of tomorrow.

    That angel is falling thru time,
    (same destiny as yours or mine,)
    all she wants is to look ahead,
    all she sees are the ashes of the past instead.

    [Verses 3+4 are paraphrasingWalter Benjamin's remarks on a painting of Paul Klee, “Angelus Novus”.]


    Words & Music: Michael Michaelis

    Michael: Vocals, Acoustic Guitars, Violin (String Sections), Piano, Bass, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Bass Drum, Snare), Percussion (Caxixi, Tambourine, Bamboo Cata).

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.

    (Last Update: 26.12.2016)


    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2016]



    Gravity


    Got some old books, telling stories about alien races,
    wondrous worlds, distant places,
    thought I can go there before I die,
    but I'm still stuck with a car that cannot fly.

    Machines were meant to get rid of hard work's pain,
    but the blue-collar worker became a puppet on a chain,
    once automated brooms start sweeping the floor,
    you're the sorcerer's apprentice, and can't stop them anymore.

    Internet turned everyone into a transmitter,
    mass media debunked as counterfeiter.
    Pretty soon big money jumped in and pulled the plug,
    speak up now, and you'll be fixed like any bug.

    I dreamed of a black man as president of the USA,
    thought I'll never live to see that day,
    thought he certainly would right a wrong, or two,
    can't believe he turned out a third rate actor, too.

    Refrain

    There is a place where the future died in agony,
    dreams pulled back by it's gravity.
    There's a graveyard where all good intentions rest,
    once embraced so hard, shrouded corpses now, at best.


    Words & Music: Michael Michaelis

    Michael: Vocals, Guitars, Violin, Bass, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Snare, Toms, Bass Drum), Percussion (Shaker, Tambourine)

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.

    (Last Update: 22.11.2018)


    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2016]



    Nightfall


    When the night falls,
    a siren calls,
    the sound of her voice
    conceals all noise
    in a precious alliance
    between a sound and the silence.

    When the sun is low,
    the shadows grow,
    words fail,
    plans grow stale,
    I form an alliance
    with the sound of silence.

    When the night is deep,
    I wouldn't sleep.
    I hear that voice,
    offering a choice.
    There is magic, and there is science,
    beyond that the sound of silence.


    Words & Music: Michael Michaelis

    Michael: Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Violin & Viola, Piano, Bass, Cymbals, Wave Drum (Snare), Percussion, Synthesizer- and Sequencer Programming.

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.

    (Last Update: 5.10.2017)


    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2016]



    Child Of My Time


    My hometown is surrounded by a city wall,
    I'm bound to a sphere dim-witted and small.
    It's a place called modern times,
    which was considered a good place betimes.

    Refrain

    I'm a child of my time,
    bound by rules that aren't mine,
    mother history teaches me what's true,
    father zeitgeist commands me what to do.

    Verses

    The world is on a mad doctor's spin,
    the black hats are about to win.
    I'm not wearing white either, though,
    I play my role in that all-embracing show.

    My hat is well fitting and gray,
    I want a living, which means to stay
    mingling with the bad guys,
    becoming part of their lies.

    The world is covered by a translucent sheet,
    it carries more weight than you'll ever concede,
    people fight it, but no one ever wins,
    it's a sheet made of our fathers' sins.


    Words & Music: Michael Michaelis

    Michael: Vocals, Guitars, Piano, Bass, Cymbals & HiHat, Percussion, Wave Drum (Snare, Toms, Bongos), Drum Programming (Marimba, Bass Drum).

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.


    (Last Update: 28.12.2016)

    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2016]



    Interlude



    Music: Michael Michaelis

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.


    (Last Update: 21.7.2016)

    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2016]



    Echos


    Back those days I used to knock at your door,
    never worried you won't open up anymore.
    I used to wave my goodbyes every now and then,
    wish I could do that again.

    I always had my own ways and means,
    we didn't shared the same kind of dreams,
    our lives were linked in some twisted ways,
    but that was then, back in the days.

    If we'd run into each other now,
    we'd be just strangers somehow,
    we wouldn't know how to look at each other at all,
    never figure why we fall.

    Refrain

    There is a shadow all around,
    echoes of a love I haven't found.
    There is a face in the dark,
    a faded image I can barely mark.


    Words & Music: Michael Michaelis

    Michael: Vocals, Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Cymbals, Percussion, Wave Drum (Bass Drum, Toms).

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.


    (Last Update: 29.9.2017)

    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2016]



    Belonging


    (Just Another Jazztune)



    Music: Michael Michaelis

    Michael: Guitars, Bass, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Dumbek, Snare), Synthesizer- and Sequencer Programming

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.


    (Last Update: 27.9.2017)

    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2016]



    Lies


    I'm an honorable merchant, and all I tell is true,
    the best friend I ever found is you,
    give me some money for my fairy tale,
    'cause I'm poor and have nothing but my lies on sale.

    Refrain

    Everybody lies
    just as well as everybody dies.
    But it's not a lie if truth would kill,
    but even so remains an empty space a liar cannot fill.

    Verses

    I tell you stories of a better future for us all,
    I'll lead you there, all you need is make the call,
    voice your wishes and I tell you every lie,
    'cause I want that power, your applause as alibi.

    I love you is what I want you to believe,
    I make a vow I'll never leave,
    I know it better since you're not my first,
    but you'd lie the same if the roles would be reversed.

    [Words written 22.12.2015 during a vacation in Marrakesh. The first verse has a subtitle: "The Merchant In The Souks"]


    Words & Music: Michael Michaelis

    Michael: Vocals, Guitars, Piano, Bass, Cymbals & HiHat, Percussion, Wave Drum (Snare, Toms, Dumbek), Drum Programming (Bass Drum).

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.


    (Last Update: 21.7.2016)

    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2016]



    Becoming



    Things are good when they come,
    they're different when they're done.

    Things may look like children's play,
    they become hard work when they stay.

    Things wide open in space,
    a scenery you cannot trace.

    Refrain

    Living in the now and here,
    past and future, the mind swept clear.
    It's a one way road, no U-turn anywhere,
    no matter what, you're gonna go from here to there.

    Searching for a home, another Itaca,
    traveling thousands miles thru Africa.

    Verses

    People looking scared and unsure,
    there might be more beauty than you can endure.

    People's life in poverty,
    The few they have, they share it equally.

    People on the brink of death,
    standing up and keep on going nevertheless

    Refrain

    Living in the now and here,
    [etc.]
    Let things and people stay the way they are,
    traveling thousands miles thru Africa.


    Words & Music: Michael Michaelis

    Michael: Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Piano, Bass, Cymbals & HiHat, Wave Drum (Bass Drum, Snare, Toms), Percussion.

    Frog Concert (in the Intro) recorded 2015/9/24 in the middle of Drakensberg, South Africa, with my cell phone.

    Dedicated to my fellow travelers, Cape Town - Johannesburg, 4.800km, 11.9. - 4.10.2015

    Recorded, edited, and mixed proudly using Cubase.

    (Last Update: 6.12.2018)


    [All Rights reserved. © Michael Michaelis, 2016]



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