Music the great healer

Been through all my vinyl
got them into plastic sleeves
protection from the dust and grime
that passing time it leaves
Cathartic, it was wholesome
remembering the time
when I purchased each and brought them
home when they were all then mine

And now I have a flight case
with a selection waiting there
to play on my turntable
and with some others share
Music, the great healer
it is a remedy to cure
or at very least bring respite
as its purpose is so pure

©Jemverse

Slipped Discs

A new record shop for Shoreham
hip hip hip hooray!
Not had a dedicated one right here
since the Atomic days
'Slipped Discs' right on the High Street
Vinyl heaven, I'll be there
to play on my new turntable
for pleasure and to share

©Jemverse

[Slipped Discs opens early April in time for ‘Record Store Day’ on the 20th]

Rediscovery

Rediscovery true. That's just what it is
as I listen once more to the joy
I have found in music all of my life
ever since I was a young boy
Enabled of course by extravagance
purchased, plugged in and turned loud
But the joy I am finding now once again
is sufficient to do my heart proud

©Jemverse

Christmas day music

Christmas day music, boiler room classics
rhythm into the night
The sound so cathartic
Healing me there
Loud and uplifting and bright

And we whooped and we danced
On the latter in spirit at least for me
prone at this time
But the unified pleasure
we all got from the vibe
was tangible as it was fine

Christmas day music, what better thing
to conclude a magical day
Shared with best people
finding zest in it all
In a joie de vivre exuberant way

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Reason to sing

And if I thought the words had escaped I was wrong
for this cancer has taught me one thing
that although it will steal the life from me
it can't take my reason to sing
That essence is mine and cannot be taken
by this vile, cantankerous blight
the treasure I hold in my heart which is me
which will ever be in my sight

©Jemverse

Music remains (Jemaiku)

Today the vibes will ring true
for my music month
Tigercub to kick things off
there for the dancing
and for appeasing the passion
music has for me

©Jemverse

[Jemaiku is poetic form of my own design; a six-line non-rhyming stanza with a syllabic sequence of 757575]

Tigercub are a Brighton based three-piece. They’re playing Brighton’s ‘Chalk’ tonight – 20 October 2023

Photo – Jempics

Season’s song (revisited)

9 of 10 in the ‘Fading 23’ series

I have a mind’s eye picture
of autumn here to find
which I’d like to share with you
and hope that you don’t mind
For though it’s one of fading
from a summer that’s now passed
it’s also one of hope
which I know is set to last

Yes the winter it is coming
and it will be long and cold
but to the autumn’s promise
throughout that I can hold
For I’ve entered an agreement
binding, absolute and strong
of a new hope come the Springtime
when I’ll sing that seasons song

©Jemverse

‘Season’s song‘ was first posted in November 2020

Photo – Jempics

Life’s gift

Love is life's gift 
like a favourite song
Goosebumps and spine tingles 
as you both sing along
And as soulmates together
the music is sweet
as the lyrics you sing
 make your life complete

©Jemverse

Floating my boat

Discovered a track that floated my boat
in every conceivable way
sent shivers and goose bumps, you know the kind
melted me good yesterday
And since then I've played it several times
loud - as it brings me a thrill
for discovering music that one's never heard
will always do that to fulfil.
It's a 'je ne sais quoi' kind of thing in my life
been there 'long as I can recall
Music, the constant, my exuberance of joy
my swansong, my one and my all

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

[The ‘track’ was ‘Watermelon & Black Coffee’ from Michael Katon’s 2012 album ‘Hard On (the Boogie)’]

Starfleet 40

Starfleet forty years ago sent tingles down the spine
'Bluesbreaker' in particular on vinyl which was mine
And here four decades later in twenty twenty-three
it's re-release still does the same for an much older me

Eddie sadly now has passed but his guitar it still sings
and combined with Brian's playing a vibrancy still brings
So with release the download was a no brainer here
Reliving eighties memories in twenty-three with cheer

©Jemverse

The Star Fleet Project was a 1983 collaboration between Brian May (Queen’s guitarist), Eddie Van Halen from Van Halen, drummer Alan Gratzer from REO Speedwagon, Phil Chen (a session bassist for Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart) and Fred Mandel, Alice Cooper’s keyboardist. It resulted in a three-track mini LP which subsequently gained cult status. The 40th anniversary re-release is a limited edition 32-track triple album featuring previously unheard out-takes and jams from the original studio sessions.