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Summer of Ice

by Mike Skliar

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Cairo Braga
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Cairo Braga a truly inspired collection of songs from Mr. Skliar, indeed. Favorite track: Walter White (warning Breaking Bad spoilers).
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1.
Judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree Somehow misses the mark Judging you by your similarity to me Leaves us both in the dark Politics is religion Religion is all or nothing Nothing is true for everyone everyone’s broken from something Waiting for evidence of something that can’t be seen And we keep on waiting Divided by visions of what might never be And we keep on hating Politics is religion Religion is all or nothing Nothing is true for everyone everyone’s broken from something We’re carbon copies of each other, deep in our bones Connected by biology but feeling like we’re all alone Politics is religion Religion is all or nothing Nothing is true for everyone everyone’s broken from something Everyone’s broken but perfect © M. Skliar 2014
2.
Robin Williams Some minds are fast, yours was faster And the things that you turned into laughter Came right from a heart of joy and of depression A million voices you could express Your mind was ten steps ahead of the rest But in the end the darkness took possession I'm wishing you some peace Your impact will never cease And damn, I'm gonna miss you.. With the force of a thousand supernovas You'd take time and space and move it on over You were better then good and maybe stranger then fiction You made it this far but there's no guarantee That you can see yourself the way others will see Are we all in the end just the sum of our addictions? I'm wishing you some peace And laughter that will never cease And damn, we’re gonna miss you.. Like the shoemaker who fixes everyone’s shoes but his own You brought joy to so many but couldn’t always bring it home The best thinkers who thinks outside the box Cannot be constrained by boundaries or locks Deep behind enemy lines, always exploring Some minds are fast, yours was faster So many things that you turned into laughter And now you’re gone, the world has turned a little more boring (c) 2014 M. Skliar
3.
Waking Up 02:39
Do you ever find yourself waking up On a walk down a familiar street As from slumber your senses kick in And suddenly the blossoms smell so sweet And the color of the changing light As it falls As it slowly falls And the essence of the big and the small And you wonder how you never saw it all That’s the way I felt today waking up Open eyes to see the day so new And the only other thing that I want Is to share this happiness with you And the color of the changing light As it falls As it slowly falls And the essence of the big and the small And you wonder how you never saw it all lyric (c) Nancy Rost and Mike Skliar
4.
There will be peace, someday there will be peace Its hard to believe, the bloodshed will cease Back in olden days, the whole world was crazed But violence has decreased, and yes there will be peace In ancient civilizations, there were human sacrifices And in the middle ages, a huge parade of vices Murder was everywhere, torture a state affair Endless wars and homicides and death by a thousand slices Look around us now, seems like it’s never been worse That we’ve never been more violent, in blood we are immersed But in old days they were silent, to what we now see as so violent Yes the old days were worse, positively perverse We’re actually much better but it seems like so much worse (c) M. Skliar 2014
5.
Use my phone to take a picture Use my toaster to brush my teeth Use the blender to open the garage door use black holes instead of bleach My radio flips the pancakes The CanOpener cooks an egg The pillows balance the checkbook And the floor massages my leg Use my camera to breathe underwater Use Jell-O to paint the room While the towels discuss relativity The toothbrush shoots the moon All those things are false except the first one I did say 20 years ago if you had said that line They would've locked you away So the futures going to be a trip It's going to be weird When I surf the Internet and read your mind By just stroking my beard You never know what will happen The strangest things can come true So darling how about it Me and you (c) M. Skliar
6.
Throw it away, throw it away No good reason to let it stay Throw it away throw it away That’s the new mantra that I’m hearing today The things that craftsman used to spend their years creating No match for a culture not used to waiting Marble and wood, black and white film, old fashioned oils and a brush These days no match for those who are in some big rush Throw it away, throw it away No good reason to let it stay Throw it away throw it away That’s the new mantra that I’m hearing today When the product is disposable, it changes your disposition You don’t think of it as timeless, just this week’s edition I used to value all my record albums, when I had about thirty five Now I own more music then I’ll get to listen to if I live to 195 (c) M. Skliar 2014
7.
I looked at my computer the only words I could see were ice bucket Got the same message when I turned on my TV ice bucket Ice bucket ice bucket ice bucket ice bucket ice bucket…… Looked up at the sky they were skywriting with a plane ice bucket Someone sent me a text the message was the same ice bucket Ice bucket ice bucket ice bucket ice bucket ice bucket…… I went to shakespeare in the park they were reciting of course ice bucket In iambic pentameter my bucket for a horse ice bucket Ice bucket….. I could sing more verses but the only words will be ice bucket The new wisdom of the 21st century ice bucket (c) M. Skliar 2014
8.
Joan Rivers 02:40
If there’s an afterlife, she’s probably sticking in the knife to some angel who does not look so steller And whatever God is wearing, she’s probably declaring, ‘who was the designer, Helen Keller” You know she would say whatever she wanted to There were no rules no taboos Except, make it funny…. She said I knew I was unwanted when my bath toys were a toaster and a microwave She said a peeping tom looked in my window and then pulled down the shade You know she would say whatever she wanted to There were no rules no taboos Except, make it funny…. Nothing was off limits to her, she’d talk about whatever she found After 9/11 she said to a friend, let’s eat at windows on the ground If there is an afterlife she’s probably sticking in the knife and making Johnny Carson moan There were lots of great woman comediennes, but there’ll never be another Joan © M. Skliar 2014
9.
Heart Skip 02:17
I don’t know the words in every language But when the message is love it still translates A nod become a smile that becomes laughter And maybe after, love has conquered hate And the key to win my heart is in the corners of your lips When you curl them towards the heavens and make my heart just skip in my world, a smile should be required and you acquire all the love that laughter brings and in courts of law, there should be way more singing ‘cause you cannot tell a lie when you sing © M. Skliar 2014
10.
Ferguson 02:06
11.
Walter put down that Bunsen burner There’s got to be another way to be a wage earner You know every chemical’s building blocks Did you have to also be the one who knocks? If you had only had a better medical plan You woudn’t have had to cook meth in that RV van Obamacare would have paid your medical claims Would not have had to stand there and say ‘say my name’ Walter don’t go to los pollos hermanos Junior’s freaking out and Skylar’s getting morose Jesse’s gonna find out what you did You thought he thought that someone else poisoned that kid you know the right chemicals to cover your tracks the bodies and the money piling up in stacks You’re playing with fire, your hand’s in the flame You know you want that closeup to say ‘say my name’ Walter don’t steal methylamine from the train By the end of the series you’re gonna be so insane Walter don’t leave out that Walt Whitman book Cause Hank is gonna find it and know that you’re the cook Tho you sort of made it work out in the finale There was still enough dead bodies to fill death valley You started out so innocent, look what you became And now everyone is gonna ‘say your name’ “heisenberg” Walter put down that Bunsen burner, got to be another way to be a wage earner You know every chemical building blocks/Did ya have to be the one who knocks? © M. Skliar 2014
12.
Feeling Old 02:21
Writing something new, feeling somewhat old My pop culture references are dated And most of the brand new ones, they just leave me cold They’re overhyped or maybe overrated “They don’t make em like they used to”, I’ve heard that before It’s the standard “alta-caca” favorite phrase Or “this, ah this is nothing, back then we were at war” Or “I walked to school and back, uphill both ways” You start to have it figured out when lots of time has passed But by the time that happens, here’s the rub Not many are interested, not many think to ask It seems to be a young person’s club Writing something new, feeling like an antique My pop culture references are obits And yes there is some wisdom that comes if you seek But mostly getting old, yeah it’s the pits (c) M. Skliar

about

These 12 songs were all written in the summer of 2014, and paint a picture of some of the many things that were going on.

Why the title "Summer of Ice"? Well, first, its a reference to that pervasive summer 2014 meme the so-called 'ice bucket challenge' (of which there is a song about same). Second, at least here in the eastern part of North America it was a cooler- then-usual summer. (Does this mean that global climate change/warming does not exist? of course not, (unless you're Fox news).. but it was a summer of 'ice' in several other respects- the lack of any thawing in the relationship between countries in the mid-east and other places, for example... the increasing 'iciness' and polarization here in the US politically, etc etc.

But maybe that's all thinking too much, just sit back and enjoy... sing along to 'ice bucket' and the rest, and I hope this little summer project i've made is at least a fun little temporary diversion and maybe food for thought, or at least a musical time capsule of some of the things we've all been going thru these days.

And that photo of NY Harbor was taken by me, from the Staten Island ferry, back in January 2014, when we had a winter of ice, as well!

I should also mention that the original audience for these songs was the wonderful community of songwriters that make up the "50 songs in 90 days" challenge (which community overlaps as well with the FAWM "February Album Writing Month" folks - confused yet)

A big thank you to Nancy Rost, my co-writer on "Waking Up", to Paul "Hoops" Turrell, who inspired the Beethoven-themes of "Better Angels of our nature" , to the 50/90 and FAWM communities, and to all the friends and family out there who take the time to check out all this new music I keep putting out there after all this time.. Thanks Seth, Arnie, Joel, Mitch, Rich, Bob B., Jon B. Bruce, Julie, Dawn, David, Tom T., Tom R., Ken F., Joe Brent, and all my nieces and nephews all over the place, my parents, my wife Helen, , and a million other names I should mention...

Enjoy!

credits

released October 6, 2014

Mike Skliar- guitars, bass, harmonica, mandolin, vocals

All songs written by Mike Skliar, except "Waking Up" written by Mike Skliar & Nancy Rost.

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mike skliar New York, New York

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