MUSIC

This super-fresh feelgood little number was spawned from a chain of discussions with my good friends Ralph Johnstone and Matt Rodd. It’s a rolling work in progress. a song about freedom and celebration, and about all the 'valuable positives' we can take from this momentous shared experience of lockdowns and loneliness. We remain hopeful that our sacrifices as a community can stand as a lasting lesson to us all, about what's possible when you place the needs of the many over those of the few and always look forward to celebrating the victories, however small they might be. Our love and thoughts go out to those in need across all borders and waters. *Note: At the time we wrote 'Please give us some friggin' leaders who truly care', we were rueing the lack of empathy and emotional intelligence that seems to pervade many of our current crop of leaders. Since then, of course, we've had a heartening election result across the Pacific - and the arrival of two leaders who genuinely seem to embody the empathy and social justice needed to heal our wounded world. Viva Joe and Kamala! Rolling On The Tide Lyrics by Tom Williams and Ralph Johnstone Arranged, performed and recorded by Tom C.C.Bones Feel I’m bursting at the seams To get back out and catch my dreams Throw me a single golden ray of hope Seize the gauntlet, chase the sun Let’s play together everyone We should cherish all the good things we have done Now take your time and reimagine Where we could wind up if all goes well. Reflect in awe at ourselves in the future How we helped each other through this wretched spell And let’s go, sky high with elation Stay one for all while we ride As it should be. living with a human connection Days are endless, nights are long We’ve got to be strong Rolling on the tide. Hey, hey, hey. Collaborate, let’s activate Refuse to bow to others’ hate Please give us some friggin’ leaders who truly care We know we’ve learned to look again And lift our hearts to others’ pain To touch the Earth ‘neath Mother Nature’s glare Now take your time and reimagine Where we could wind up if all goes well. Reflect in awe at ourselves in the future If we help each other, only time will tell So let’s go, sky high with elation Stay all for one while we ride As it should be. living with a human connection This enemy has made us one A better new wave is set to come. Rolling on the tide. Hey, hey, hey. Unlock the children. Set them free Reunite with loving family Let’s excavate the chasms of our past A new configuration looms No opportunity’s too soon Come on we’ll make these vital moments last Now let’s go, sky high with elation Stay one for all while we ride As it should be. living with a human connection Days are endless, nights are long, we’ve got to be strong And let’s go, sky high with elation Stand all for one while we ride As it should be better than we ever remember Don’t bite the apple, spare the cost Don’t ever count yourself as lost. Rolling on the tide Hey, hey, hey. Rolling on the tide. Hey, hey, hey. Equity, empathy, humanity That’s all you really need right there

This original song came together ridiculously quickly about 15 years ago now. From a musical noodling that needed some lyrics, I asked my sister Briony to send me some words. As soon as she did, I managed to fuse these two ideas together in no more than an hour, just playing around at home with my guitar one lonely afternoon. The song has been a regular inclusion in live sets of Cousin Leonard around the world ever since. ‘That’s Me’ is ultimately about celebrating our imaginations. THAT'S ME By Cousin Leonard Lyrics by Briony Williams and Tom Williams Pushing with that evil laugh Saying yes should be saying no Who are you when you are not Thinking straight Now here I go out to space Where nothing is too hard And the world is my oyster That’s me when I’m in disguise Keeping myself company And all you have will never turn out bad The mad, fun pictures in your head Dancing with hip-hugging big, flared pants Don’t give a rats’ who sees you play Putting feathers in your hair Snorting shot to fend off sleep Where do you go when you blink? Do you think at all that nothing is too hard And the world is your oyster? Well that’s me when I’m in disguise Keeping myself company And all you have will never turn out bad The mad, fun pictures in your head If I could sing like Sinead and dance like Madonna And fight like the villain in a Tarantino flick. That’s me when I’m in disguise Just keeping myself company ‘Cause all you have will never turn out bad The mad, fun pictures in your head That’s me when I’m in disguise Just keeping myself company And all you have will never turn out bad The mad, fun pictures in your head That’s me When I’m in disguise That’s me With these mad, fun pictures in my head

Here’s a gentle thigh-slapping rendition of a 19th century American gospel song, that first came to my attention on the soundtrack of ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’. I ran out of time this week to add some double bass, a choir and the rest of the heavenly horns. Perhaps they’ll be included in the next incarnation. Anywho, hope it tickles your fancy. Angel Band By Williams Bradbury and Jefferson Hascall with additional lyrics by Tom Williams Arranged, performed and recorded by Tom C.C.Bones My latest sun is sinking fast My race is nearly run My strongest trials now are past My triumph has begun Oh, come, angel band Come and around me stand Bear me away on your snow white wings To my immortal home Oh bear me away on your snow white wings To my immortal home With nothing but love in our hearts to bring Embrace now one and all Deliver us freely from our sins Rejoice in heaven's call Oh, come, angel band Come and around me stand Bear me away on your snow white wings To my immortal home Oh bear me away on your snow white wings To my immortal home Now purge my longing soul to him Who bled and died for me oh holy one alight yours wings That bring me to victory Oh, come, angel band Come and around me stand Bear me away on your snow white wings To my immortal home Oh bear me away on your snow white wings To my immortal home

As far as songwriting goes, I wrote this one relatively quickly almost 18 years ago now, for the Cousin Leonard album ‘Under One Sun’. I have never performed it on piano, so, I thought I would give that a go here, just for something different. This is a song about hope and an unerring belief in the human spirit as a positive force. Have patience and love and the good will come Jigsaw (Peace) By Cousin Leonard Arranged, performed and recorded by Tom C.C.Bones Vs1: Got a piece of puzzle in my hand Sweet, little, stray, brave piece. A grain of sand Wash into our shores, three new pieces Now the trouble has begun Ch: Come together. Come as one
 Fight for freedom in the sun It’s all we live for so don’t give in Because tomorrow peace will come Vs2: Got a piece of heaven (and) a piece of hell Each day is a new piece of life in this well An untouched island drifts away Because my wish is here to stay Ch: 
Come together. Come as one Fight for freedom in the sun It’s all we live for so don’t give in Because tomorrow peace will come Br: We’re alive, living now (So) Let’s take the best and leave the worst behind Give all that you can to a worthy cause, in the daily grind Dream of bright beginnings (and) remember who’s in charge You’re going to see your future through Ch: Come together as one For freedom in the sun It’s all we live for so don’t give in Because tomorrow peace will come Tomorrow peace will come You know tomorrow Peace will come

Another first time for me and I dare say that this is not the most covered of classic Neil Young songs. However it was the versions with Crazy Horse on their (1979) album ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ that helped spark my interest in his work many years ago. There is something in those dual variations that definitely appealed to my teenage ways at the time. I have been a fan of the enigmatic, folk, alt-country, grunge and rock stylings of Neil Young ever since. So beautifully simple. Long live the king! My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) By Neil Young Arranged, performed and recorded by Tom C.C. Bones Hey Hey, My My. Rock and roll can never die There's more to the picture Than meets the eye Hey Hey, My My. Out of the blue and into the black They give you this but you pay for that And once you're gone, you can never come back When you're out of the blue and into the black The king is gone but he's not forgotten Is this the story of a Johnny Rotten? It's better to burn out than it is to rust The king is gone but he's not forgotten Hey Hey, My My. Rock and roll can never die My My, Hey Hey. Rock and roll is here to stay It’s better to burn out Than to fade away Hey Hey, My My.

My ‘Just A Song’ this week is quite possibly the oldest original that I will record in the series. It is however the very first time I have performed it solo, in public as I have done here. This song is a narrative centered on a shy, young woman and her impassioned pleas for love. A beautiful ballad brought to The Jaynes not long after we moved to Melbourne in the mid-90’s by one of the bands’ founding members and my dear, old friend Ben Abbott. Ben has always had a wonderful knack of writing hooky riffs, lyrical lines and catchy tunes. I’ve always loved making music with Ben and continue to relish any opportunity to sing his songs. CANDLE LIT By Ben Abbott and The Jaynes Arranged, performed and recorded by Tom C.C.Bones All she does is stay at home She just sits inside her telephone. She can’t help it. “Will he ring? I know he will. Or will I have to take the pills I need for love, Just to show him” “I can’t find a way to ask him over. But I tried yesterday there wasn’t anybody home. The fire is high I know too well Only fire keeps the candle lit. He makes me want to melt” She gets dressed up for the night. Dressed because she knows that this could be the night. She is hoping. “You don’t make things easy. Being sick into my basin’s killing me I can’t take it.” And she says “I can’t find a way to ask him over But I tried yesterday and there wasn’t anybody home. The fire is high I know too well Only fire keeps the candle lit. He makes me want to melt” “The fire is high I know too well Only fire keeps the candle lit. He makes me want to melt. The fire is high I know too well It’s your light that keeps the flame that makes me want to melt.” The fire is high The fire is high “He makes me want to melt” It makes me want too.

I have been writing and making music with my dear friend Matt Banks since not long after we first met at the start of high school. Matt’s always possessed a wonderful way with words as well as having an exceptional talent for crafting many evocative, bittersweet little diddies. It’s always a pleasure for me to sing and work on any Matt Banks composition. I hope you enjoy this one that he brought to a musical side-project we called 'illuminati'. Special thanks to a more recent friend Lorenzo Vecchiato, for the loan of his Blueridge guitar which I happily recorded for the first time in this video. SHE BREAKS MY WORLD IN TWO By Matt Banks and illuminati Arranged, performed and recorded by Tom C.C.Bones You, feeling like an instrument of doom The week of heart were forced to leave the room And those souls learned in the practices of dogs Who put aside their loyalties and gladly draw a claw When she rhymes she breaks my world in two It’s gonna take a few blue skies Floating in these eyes to get you through I hope it works for you Powered through a cigarette or three That pathos ridden sit-com shit had really hit the screen Sometimes it sucks me in It really makes me think It kind of turns my crank When she rhymes she breaks my world in two It’s gonna take a few blue skies Floating in these eyes to get you through Whatever works for you Whatever works for you I know she’s gonna break my world in two You, feeling like an instrument of doom The week of heart were forced to leave the room Yes you scared them too You really made them think And yes you turn my crank When she rhymes she breaks my world in two It’s gonna take a few blue skies Floating in these eyes to get you through Standing on my best friends feet Nodding our agreement, we just shoot through It’s gonna take a few blue skies Floating in these eyes to get you through I hope it works for you You, Feeling like an instrument of truth We’ll put this down to the darker side of youth

This ‘Just A Song’ is a relatively new original. In many ways, I wrote this as an internal conversation whilst reflecting on my feelings for someone that was very special in my life. Inevitably, it is an affirmation to keep striving with all that we are. I would have loved to have overdubbed the vocal with a head less full of hay fever but . . . ‘tis what it is and the show goes on. Either way, I hope it brings a little happy to your day. Generosity (All your life) by Tom Williams Arranged, performed and recorded by Tom C.C.Bones I see you in the stars looking out at night You lit a light in my life And from the other side (I’m) remembering How you’d lift me up whenever I was down With one step over the bread line and six thousand miles from all you truly value You never stopped reaching out for more All your life I heard somebody say the strangest thing about you to me yesterday I couldn’t comprehend, knowing who you are They must have misunderstood your generosity As gossip only fuels the fire and talk sits in between the truthful and the liars You never stopped reaching out for more All your life I wrestle with my conscience, try to make a difference Do all I can Find comfort with my bare hands, a shiver that we all share As it comes to an end The day you helped me mend that broken wing Of our little, furry, feathered friend Right from the start without eyes to see You led the way forward in the dark As greed, wealth, control and power dictate the way we live and how we treat each other You never stopped reaching out for more All your life Now you’re shining bright in the night sky Your words ring in my ears “Care for one another and never stop reaching out for more. No, no, no, never stop reaching out for more.” You never stopped reaching out for more All your life