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ATMOSPHERE II

by Richard Peter Morris

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1.
High school Bonfire Under the trees Peach fuzz Beer buzz Homecoming Eve Football Baseball Who really cares We''re here To cheer The girls in the sweaters Doing flips in the air We knew the truth Was hiding in plain view We tasted True freedom Red leaves Gold leaves Pile in the road We speed Between Blowing up clouds As the music explodes Drive home Stoned on Maxell cassettes Bootlegs Live Dead Haven't stopped listening yet Outside the windows Neighborhoods uniform and old Inside this ride Every thought sounds so new just like it's never been told just like it's never been told We knew the truth Was hiding in plain view We tasted True freedom You told me truth When I relied on you You showed me True freedom
2.
You have a way of being kind To guys who might be by wasting time And you have a way of wasting time on guys who might not be so kind Any day, any day, any day now You're going to find me for sure Think about your good friend And how I've been by your side You have a way of saving face for guys who might be wasting space And you have a way of wasting space on guys who won't be saving face Any day, any day, any day now You're going to find me for sure Think about your good friend And how I've been by your side
3.
Faking It 03:53
When you were faking it But you still weren't making it Did the wheels go round and round? You needed confidence But you had no competence To get your motor off the ground And the wheels go round and round Was this your destiny Or just some mess you made On another side of town? And in your bed at night Looking up at orange light Did your soul feel underground? The wheels go round and round The wheels go round and round The wheels go round and round The wheels go round and round Can you make believe You're chosen to receive Both the scepter and the crown? Can you act as if You can climb the highest cliff And come floating gently down? And the wheels go round and round The wheels go round and round The wheels go round and round And the wheels go round and round
4.
Little grey creatures Came into our house And took my older sister They shone a beam of light She floated of the bed And vanished through the window They thought they were the rulers But they didn't know Not to mess with Older Sisters They got her in the ship But nothing after that seemed to go there way they wanted She talked their little ears off Organized their gear And had them fly her straight home Ooh wee ooh The one they returned The one they returned Ooh wee ooh The one they returned Back to Back to Mother Mother Earth A couple months later She hooked up with a guy I think he is an alien She used used to have a cat Now there is no cat I think he might have eaten it Ooh wee ooh The one they returned The one they returned Ooh wee ooh The one they returned Back to Back to Mother Mother Earth
5.
He picks her up on his cherry red Vespa Heading for the pickleball courts He's wearing neon green 'cause he likes to be seen She wears a matching purple tank top and shorts He's making heart healthy lifestyle decisions She isn't worried that she's not in his will With a prescription for grass He's got a full tank of gas And a pocketful of little blue pills 'Cause they're sixty-six going on sixteen Yeah, you've gotta give 'em their due Sixty-six going on sixteen And you know they're having more fun than you TTFN to her daughter and grandkids "Meemaw's getting back on the horse" She's gonna meet her new flame after the Mahjong game She likes them widowed, but she'll take 'em divorced If you doubt it Think about it Age is just a number, it's true You can decide To play the B-side Just remember who's zooming who Sixty-six going on sixteen The love you take equals the love that you make Sixty-six going on sixteen Put sixteen candles on that R-rated cake Sixty-six going on sixteen Yeah, you've gotta give 'em their due Sixty-six going on sixteen And you know they're having more fun than you
6.
Debesėlis 03:15
"Be cool" Jesus says in my head as I lay in a stream watching clouds disappearing Filigree vapor curls And dissolves into blueness What was the word I learned Long ago Debesėlis Lift me up Take me away Debesėlis "Be cool" Jesus says Like the birds of the sky You'll survive By the grace Of the Father Can we escape the heat Of the sun like a furnace Water to gas again And return Debesėlis Can I release the fear that I feel like a harness Lift me up, take me away Debesėlis
7.
When you wake and you rub your eyes And you remember what you did last night Was it someone else, or was it you? These days you don't know what is true You're losing your way Losing your way When you put yourself down down, down You're losing your way Losing your way When you put yourself down down, down As you ran down the beach in the darkness Away from those angry words that you said Did you think loving arms would find you Or your mother would put you down too bed Down, down safe in bed You're losing your way Losing your way When you put yourself down down, down You're losing your way Losing your way When you put yourself down down, down In the fresh light of morning With the sun sparkling on the sea Is it almost like there's still hope left in this world If you could lift this thing And maybe you'd be free
8.
Always set an alarm to wake up on time (I'm on it) Learn to cook a few nutritious meals (I'm on it) Practice regular exercise to stay healthy (I'm on it, yeah) Plan for the future Take out the trash (I'm on it) Track your monthly expenses for budgeting Make good choices (I'm on it, I'm on it) Keep your financial house in order (I'm on it, yeah) Put the toilet seat down Navigate complex tax codes while high (I'm on it) Satisfy me (I'm on it, yeah) Remember the Golden Rule (I'm on it, I'm on it) Drop the kids off at the pool (I'm on it, I'm on it) Achieve world peace through pickleball diplomacy Never let them see you sweat (I'm on it, yeah) Decode the secrets of time travel for efficient scheduling (I'm on it, I'm on it) Create a color-coded filing system for your snack wrappers to better understand your dietary habits (I'm on it, I'm on it) Unlock the secret To teleportation, but only to reach the remote control from the couch Schedule quarterly meetings with your houseplants to better understand their growth aspirations (I'm on it. I'm on it, yeah) Materially and psychologically provide for your children while living a healthy, well-balanced life together with a faithful, loving partner (I'm on it. I'm on it, yeah)
9.
Sugaring 03:24
You're a snowy Sunday I'm a Thursday night We can get together If the moon's just right You're a homemade doughnut And I'm a pickle spear We need some maple syrup To get it into gear Maybe it's time Maybe it's past time Before the bears have wandered out The mud's coming down the mountain And the sugar's in the trees So maybe it's time we thaw ourselves out You're a frozen dinner And I'm a hungry dog Once you're out of the box I can't wait too long You're a Fraidy Cat And I'm a Wild Hog You can sit in my lap While you're sawing logs Maybe it's time... Maybe it's time Maybe it's past time Before the bears have wandered out The mud's coming down the mountain And the sugar's in the trees So maybe it's time we thaw ourselves out Maybe it's time Maybe it's past time Before the bears have wandered out The mud's coming down the mountain And the sugar's in the trees So maybe it's time we thaw ourselves out
10.
In command of a Falcon Underneath Northern Lights We are five hours from touch down I feel so near yet so far Past the nav screen display Underneath countless stars Green fire flickers atop clouds And I picture your eyes The moving map in slow rotation The final segment before home We begin to be vectored In the dim light before dawn I can see where you're sleeping By the shimmering sea On the radio slide To a frost-covered tarmac As the dark Earth approaches I concentrate on you The white lights guide us to the runway The final touch down before home Half the world I've flown before you And still so far before I'm home
11.
Cry if you want It happened much too fast Why won't the feeling last Cry if you want It's different than before It's never about you anymore Cry if you want You blew the big event The hours and hours you spent Cry if you want You gave it all you had But still it turned out bad for you Cry if you want Cry if you want Until you surface On this river of time Cry if you want Cry if you want Let it all out Until you run out of tears Cry if you want They got inside your head And now you're seeing red Cry if you want Cry if you want Let it all out Until you exit the maze Cry if you want Cry if you want Let it all out Until you need to return Cry if you want Cry if you want Let it all out Until there's nothing but now Cry if you want Cry if you want Let it all out Until you run out of tears Let it all out Until it all disappears Let it all out
12.
Undying Love 03:06
In the morning When you descend From our bedroom down the stairs With your soft eyes and Sexy bedhead Rocking t-shirt and underwear I want to hold you close And whisper in your ear You are my rising sun How can I make it clear? In the corner Silver and cool Mr. Coffee caught your eye Now we both know He's really hot How can I compete with that? I try to play it off Act like I shouldn't care But we can't deny the truth You're taking him back upstairs Ours is a higher love Ours is undying love I try to play it off Act like I shouldn't care But we can't deny the truth You're taking those beans upstairs Ours is a higher love Ours is undying love Ours is undying love

about

In the summer of 2020, I had just released my first solo album, Ironstone, and I was looking for something new to do musically. Inspired by the synthesizer sounds from Stranger Things, I was brought back to my formative years as a musician in the 1980's.

I unpacked a long-unused software synthesizer purchased n 2003 during my days as an aspiring mastering engineer in NYC. This virtual instrument contained recreations of all the classic synths, plus hundreds of original sound design textures, It was made by Spectrasonics and called Atmosphere - Dream Synth Module (www.spectrasonics.net/products/legacy/atmosphere.php)

Getting back into it after so many years, I wanted to explore the entire catalog of sounds available. I began recording and naming melodic ideas informed by the many different timbres I discovered as I perused the banks (I'm not much of a keyboardist, but as a kid I noodled around on the family piano enough to be dangerous.) This seemed like a novel way to approach songwriting: getting away from the guitar or mandolin and trying to coax, construct, or reveal melodies from interesting sounds...

About half the songs in this collection were started that way. The rest are of relatively recent vintage, with the exception of track 2, which I started writing in 1995. After a while, the project took on a nostalgic quality for me. I began thinking about the many connections (musical and otherwise) that I have been blessed with since those teenage years when my friends and I started our first band, Boom Shanka.

Not least among these life-defining relationships is the one I share with my wife, Jenna, whom I first met way back in high school. We met again in 2004, and that was the end of messing around with the software synthesizer for a while! Jenna has always supported and encouraged my creative life as a musician (even the bluegrass stuff), and I am so grateful to her. She says she doesn't need me to write songs for her, but I do anyway.

credits

released December 5, 2023

Written, Performed, and Produced by Richard Peter Morris

Mastered by Andy Bova at Asbury Media

Cover photo by Bryan Lazewski

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Richard Peter Morris Highlands, New Jersey

Multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter Richard Peter Morris creates music that draws on the past and looks hopefully toward the future.

As a member of the bands Kül d'Sack and M Shanghai, he has contributed to thousands of joyful live performances.

He worked for several years as a mastering engineer at Sterling Sound and Masterdisk, and he has mixed and produced dozens of recordings.
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