Paul Murphy - Electric session 13.02.2024

An end of session jam/mini-set. Loose and spontaneous performances, always the way I like them. This is pretty much how I started out, back in the very early '80s. Given that I am 62, and terminally ill with F-MND, that's a pretty good testament.

Presented here are:

'Exit Wounds' - my latest, and almost certainly my last, song. Written 11.02.2024. i.e. 2 days ago. The title, by the way, is a duality (as indeed am I, being a Gemini) : i) suffering exit wounds, from life, relationship, etc; and, ii) one's exit, wounds [themselves and those left behind].

'Where The Hard Wind Blows' - this dates from 1987, an allegorical commentary on the Thatcher/Reagan years. I recorded this at my first studio session actually, it was on a 4-track single. I had this in my live set, although not every show, up until about 1991. It was the favourite song of mine of a lady I was probably involved with, and when that situation changed, I couldn't sing this song any more, much though it was a favourite of mine and an audience's. There's a lot of hard winds blowing even as I type. The world doesn't change, only the death tolls do.

'So-Called Friends (4th St)' - this is my rewrite of Bob Dylan's classic, 'Positively 4th Street'. Well, it's not exactly a rewrite, only 7 words are the same, so it is an entirely new lyric superimposed upon Bob's tune. Nothing allegorical about this one; every word is true. Bastar*s. Written 2023. The words are a lot milder than they could, maybe should, have been.

'The Good Christian' - another true story. Maybe a hundred thousand true stories. The title is ironic, the story is tragic. If anyone is upset by this, well, I'm upset that I contacted 3 churches [2 in UK 1 in US] for some help regarding my children, and got told there was no facility for help, or even bloody compassion. 'The lord is looking on you' said the american evangelist, at the end of her 'not my problem' email. If he was, he watched as 2 of my babies died. 5 years later, an alleged christian [she runs at least 3 churches and has been parading her book every Sunday for at least the last 45 years, knew that I was dying from an incurable, muscle-wasting auto-immune disease, with no GP or social care, and knew of 2 children who were suffering repeated injuries, food deprivation and abandonment from their controlling parent - 'Oh Paul, it's such a shame' read her texts. No one time did she lift the telephone to get them, or me, any assistance. So, I wrote this. If money is the root of all evil, piety is its father.

'Of' - back again to the dark days of Thatcherism. I wrote this in 1989, and it was on most of my set lists up until 2001. I always played it acoustic with harmonica, but I have neither the fingers or the diaphragm for that any longer. Works pretty well electric. Another one that I brought back into the light recently, given the state of the nation today.

Light and peace,
Me
13 Feb 2024

'Exit Wounds' - words and music by Paul Murphy © 2024
'Where The Hard Wind Blows' - words and music by Paul Murphy © 1987, 2024
'So-Called Friends' - words by Paul Murphy © 2023, 2024/music by Bob Dylan, 1965
'The Good Christian' - words and music by Paul Murphy © 2023, 2024
'Of' - words and music by Paul Murphy © 1989, 2024.

.

'Exit Wounds'

Another night, another game
Another early morning walk of shame
Sideways glances, the usual dances
Pointing fingers, words of blame

A truth, a lie, a reason why
Beyond the mountains, sold saints cry
Emotional blows from unnamed foes
Retributions hanging high

Against the wall spurned lovers fall
Compassion martyrs one and all
False accusers, four-time losers
Panting hands clutch a widow's shawl

Confusion winds decide who wins
As the first dream ends the nightmare begins
Claims are staked on those the gods forsake
Forever is a promise the dawn rescinds

Two steps forward, three leaps back
Ominous footsteps, coming down the track
Soothsayers chanting, victims panting
The Commandments' tablets starting to crack

Price up a soul and place a bet
Try to remember that it's better to forget
Peel back the shroud and cry out loud
The last refuge of the scoundrel is to plead regret
.

If you would like to buy my children a birthday card, many thanks - https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/DylEmTrust .

.

More of me on www.youtube.com/@paulmurphy4267

.

Big thanks to https://www.youtube.com/@wheezybaconrobloxmusic7505

.
.