Back together!

After three and a half months spent on either side of the Channel and quite a few online videos, here we are, finally back together. And to celebrate, we recorded (live!) one of our old classics: Dr Schmidtz and His Monster.

Some French!

This week, some French singing to cheer you up.

Poker Game

This week on “A mad Belgian”: an A Capella song

Outer Space

Ten weeks already! Well this week we thought we’d share with you a lovely song Rupert wrote a while ago, which seems particularly relevant these days…

ESP

A new tune with One Voice, One Cello and A mad Belgian… Can you guess what it’s about?

Prisoner

This week on A Mad Belgian: a song!

Another Murder on Baker Street

Did you know that when the Sherlock Holmes books were first published, people thought Sherlock was a real person and many wrote to him to ask for his help?

So much so, in fact, that someone had to get hired by the post office just to deal with the mail that kept coming for 221B Baker Street (which wasn’t even a real address at the time)!

What am I getting at? Well this week’s quarantine song with One Voice, One Cello and A mad Belgian tells the story of Another murder on Baker Street. Enjoy!

Close Encounter of the Second Kind

How many of you know what “A close encounter of the second kind” is (apart from an awesome song by Rupert Gillett)?

The 11th person to pm me the right answer wins a CD! (No googling, we trust you…)

(Musical) notes from a while ago…

Years ago, I was living in Brussels with this Italian guy. He came with a lot of olive oil and many different kinds of pasta (true story). He could cook, he could sing… And mostly, he could play the double bass beautifully!

Now we’re miles apart but have recorded this for you. Such a great standard by Eden Ahbez.

A mad Belgian 2 — Nature Boy & Ramesses II

A second episode of A mad Belgian, in which you’ll find a duo version of “Nature Boy” with double bass player Alessio Campanozzi, and some information about the colossal head of Ramesses II that stands in the British Museum. Enjoy!

Across the channel…Don’t Look Now

First video of the Quarantine Sessions, a cross channel collaboration with One Voice, One Cello and A mad Belgian!

Tune in every Wednesday at 10am (11 on the continent) for more!

Cranky

 

Sometimes I get cranky
I can't help it, really
I do things on my own,
Like an odd and lonely soul

I'm told I'm too quirky
But that's the only way for me
I often don't realise
That's not the regular path

I'd love to be normal to do nothing special
I'd love to be banal
To go about my life in an orderly fashion
And to stop asking questions

But I'm trapped in myself 
I am done with pretence
I've never been good at being someone else

I am stuck with this brain
With these thoughts, with those games
The melancholy and the insecurities
And here you are, and I'm all sorted
You're there and everything seems simple again
And here you are and I'm just fine
For as long as you'll give me your time
Sometimes I get cranky
I let things get to me
I'm oversensitive
I've got nothing good to give

It's all too much for me
And I do get angry
The wars, the extreme right
Don't wanna live in a state of fright

I'd love to be useful to do something meaningful
I want to be crucial
To go about my life in a decisive manner
And to get much better at banter

But I'm trapped in myself 
I am done with pretence
I've never been good at being someone else

I am stuck with this brain
With these thoughts, with those games
The melancholy and the insecurities
And here you are, and I'm all sorted
You're there and everything seems simple again
And here you are and I'm just fine
For as long as you'll give me your time
but...
Sometimes you get cranky
And you leave suddenly
Leaving me alone to fight
The challenges of life

I struggle and frankly
It is far from easy
To know you are around
And won't lend me your hand

I know you're struggling too you've got other things to do
Than constantly save me
You've got your own issues I wish I could help you
Be truly happy

But I'm trapped in myself 
I am done with pretense
I've never been good at being someone else

I am stuck with this brain
With these thoughts, with those games
The melancholy and the insecurities
Still here I am with all these flaws
I'm here for you and everything seems simple again
And here I am and you're just fine
For as long as I'll give you my time

via Daily Prompt: Cranky

I don’t want to live this way

I ruminate on the meaning of life
I ruminate on the meaning of love
I ruminate on my jealousy 
On my inconsistencies   

I ruminate on my local pub
I ruminate on friendship 
I ruminate on food, 
I ruminate on fitness   
I ruminate on censorship
I ruminate on sadness 
I ruminate on people around 
On how most are doing their best   

I ruminate on people’s best often not being enough 
I ruminate on Trump, Le Pen and all the others 
I ruminate on skills, on time, on age 
I ruminate on fear, on luck, on hate   

I ruminate on the meaning of things
I ruminate on misunderstandings and the war that might be coming
I ruminate on dreams and realism
I ruminate on life and on what my cat thinks     
But I don’t want to spend my life this way
I would like to stop thinking and fly away
With the man I love, my music and my bike
We would spend our days giving new colours to life!    

But it can’t be stopped yet, 
My brain is always boiling 
With new things to understand 
In the Grand Scheme of things So…    
I ruminate on relationships
I ruminate on my man and
On why finding me seems to
Take him so much time

I ruminate on solitude, on habits, on tap dance 
I ruminate on wilderness, adventure and balance 
I ruminate on how disappointing people often prove to be 
I ruminate on how I can be both full of myself and insecurity 

On who invented sports and 
On why musicals exist 
I ruminate on Tinder 
I ruminate on hipsters   
But I don’t want to spend my life this way
I would like to stop thinking and fly away
With the man I love, my music and my bike
We would spend our days giving new colours to life!

via Daily Prompt: Ruminate

35 souls max

A song/poem inspired by a lovely concert I saw in Brussels, in a tiny venue. The artist, David Sire, was simply brilliant. And brilliantly mad (see his official “Ça me gonfle” clip below).

A tiny tiny gem in Central Brussels
35 seats max
You'll need patience and luck to discover the place
But you will go back
Arthème welcomes you to his living room cafe
He shows you around the little cabaret
Take a seat, make yourself at home
Have a drink, the artist won't be long
Take a sip, make yourself at home
The show will soon be on
A random collection of human characters
35 souls max
hippies, teachers, artists, bankers, too sane or too crazy,
together they're sat
They've all come to listen to his wanderings
To his illusions, his questions, his ramblings
They've all sat down, ready to take off
to leave their serious little lives behind
For a moment, they'll stop thinking of
Everything that's wrong
A tiny tiny stage near Saint-Catherine place
35 minds max
A very small venue for a truly great artist
Who'll leave us all gobsmacked
As he comes on stage, his energy fills the room
He talks of his demons, his desires and his wounds
His fears, his enthusiasms,
his "bidules" and "boudoules"
His encounters, his dreams, his artefacts
Mystify the room
A tiny tiny gem in Central Brussels
35 seats max
It took me time and luck to discover the place
But I will go back
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Sound Song

Sound. Safe and sound. I only feel safe when there's sound around.
Sound. Safe and sound. It makes me feel less lonely.
Which is why, I always leave the radio on,
and listen on and on and on...
To the news, the news, and some terrible commercial, 
to more news, more news, and a few pop/rock mega hits
to more news, more news, then a comedy show 
then back to news, news, news...
And it is so scary, it makes me feel lonely, it makes me feel weary of others.
And it is so scary, the world's too much for me and I will never leave the house
I crave some silence... but I need sound. Safe and sound. I only feel safe when there's sound around.

via Daily Prompt: Sound