Magus72 – Page 4 – Kevin Trent Boswell

Seven Spanish Angels

My cover of Willie Nelson’s “Seven Spanish Angels”, a wonderful song that he got Ray Charles to do a duet with him on. I don’t care for modern country music but I love Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn… to me, that’s real country music.

The great jazz saxophonist, Charlie Patker would go into a bar and load up the jukebox with country songs, which puzzled his jazz cat friends. When they asked why, he’d say “It’s in the stories, man. Listen to the stories.” Nobody can tell a story like Willie Nelson. How much more true is that, when Ray Charles is helping him tell it?

I’m doing the vocal, playing all the guitar parts and the bass. I’ve never been much of a slide guitarist, so it’s not exactly amazing slide work but it came out just well enough that I didn’t ditch it entirely. Since I didn’t have Ry Cooder’s number, it will have to do.

You can support this work and download the song for free at:

https://Patreon.com/Magus72

Seven Spanish Angels

He looked down into her brown eyes
And said “Say a prayer for me”
She threw her arms around him
Whispered “God will keep us free”
They could hear the riders comin’
He said “This is my last fight
If they take me back to Texas
They won’t take me back alive”

There were seven Spanish Angels
At the Altar of the Sun
They were prayin’ for the lovers
In the Valley of the Gun
When the battle stopped and the smoke cleared
There was thunder from the throne
And seven Spanish Angels
Took another angel home

She reached down and picked the gun up
That lay smokin’ in his hand
She said, “Father please forgive me
I can’t make it without my man”
And she knew the gun was empty
And she knew she couldn’t win
But her final prayer was answered
When the rifles fired again

Words and music by Willie Nelson

Special Thanks

Special thanks to the following people for their video and photo contributions:

and Jeff Ross

That One Time

Happy first day of Halloween. I put something dark and sweet into your pumpkin for you.

That One Time

Your belongings will not likely be stolen
In the times you watched them like a hawk
But rather, they up and run away
The one time that you forget about the lock

Your blessings will surely not come to an end
In those times in which you’re praying a lot
No, your blessing well will only run dry
Because of the one time you did not

You’re unlikely to be brutally murdered,
Your corpse buried beneath someone’s floor
On most days, that is…
Unless, of course, you forget to latch the door

Photo by Faruk Tokluoğlu

From the black book of unimaginably horrible things, Out On The Killing Floor

Out On The Killing Floor, by Kevin Trent Boswell — Available on Amazon

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Even In The Littlest Things

“Even In The Littlest Things”, from my book Dark Matter – Poems of Horror and Depravity

Even In The Littlest Things – from Dark Matter

With Samhain/Halloween/All Hallow’s Eve and Day of the Dead fast approaching, I’m doing readings from my book of horror poetry, called Dark Matter. Most of them will have some type of music and/or sound effects that accompany them, to lend to the experience.

However, for most of these, I won’t be doing anything fancy with the visual aspects. There will be some that have interesting video or photos to look at but this will be more of an auditory experience than a visual one.

This particular piece is different from most of the book, as it’s not really horror. I included it because it’s quite dark, indeed. I wrote it because it was a personal demon that I had to exorcise, get the poison out of my system. I personally find myself both fascinated and revolted by this poem, even though I’m the one who penned it.

This is because it deals with a heavy, human problem… that of deception and who can we trust? We’ve all found out the hard way that someone we cared deeply for was deceiving us about something. If that person meant enough to you, then you most likely considered it not just inconvenient or frustrating but literally horrible.

Lies can be even more efficient weapons than guns or knives, given the right circumstances and for this reason, Even In The Littlest Things rightfully earns its place in the book and into this series of recordings.

Even In The Littlest Things

Even in the littlest things, you lie
Promises of civil courtesies so small,
To fulfill them, one barely need try
Even in the littlest things, you lie

So many pieces to your hate
Some are hidden, some stand tall
None create joy, only weight
So many pieces to your hate

Your darkness is beyond blinding
Wondering if there’s any light at all
Mislabeling what I was finding
Your darkness is beyond blinding

A forgery, nearly perfect, passing
Mask chipped, the disguise did fall
Recidivist, apology count surpassing
A forgery, nearly perfect, passing

But hey, at least you got to try it
Labeled thing, you renamed it all
No one ever insisted you buy it
But hey, at least you got to try it

And now, we all feel less than good
Endless, useless, talking, small
Nothing gained, nothing goes as it should,
And now, we all feel less than good

Dark Matter – Poems of Horror and Depravity

Available on Amazon

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Help me make more music, poetry and other kinds of madness, by becoming a patron.

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Full Moon Song

This is a song that I wrote in my early twenties but until now, no proper recording of it existed.

Trent Boswell – Full Moon Song

In the past year, I’ve learned several truckloads about “desktop music production” and how to get studio-quality recordings, using only my computer DAW (audio recording program) a basic, two input audio interface and a simple, Shure-58, dynamic microphone.

Also, I finally got a decent pair of studio monitors, so I can hear what is actually going on in the mix, without it being colored too much by the automatic tweaking of frequencies that is present in most speaker systems.

These factors combined, I’m now putting out recordings that are vastly superior to what I was producing last year. The latest material is sonically improved at least a couple hundred percent.

Lyrics

Sometimes I find out things about me
Just a little bit more than I’d ever want to know
Kind of put a damper on a real good mood
Just when I was sure I was on a roll

I was sure I was

In the face of greatness, we often feel small
Yeah, the Full Moon, she spits in my eye
And wouldn’t we all just love to know
Ooh, yeah… exactly why

I know I would

I look for answers in the other dimensions
I listen for stories that cannot be told
I seek someone to take my confessions
And if there is no one, then I want control

God knows, I could use some control

Control

If you could only see what I saw
You’d surely say that I’d lost my mind
But I know it’s true that all are one and one is all
I’ve seen it going on, all the time

Anyway you turn the question,
It cannot be answered
But anyway you turn the answer,
It cannot be questioned
I took a toothless profession in cancer
On a slighted word, best not to mention

No, no

And I look for answers in the other dimensions
I listen for stories that cannot be told
And I’ll do anything for direction
Anything short of sell my soul

If I’ve got one to bargain away

Away

from the album Something in the Air, by Trent Boswell, 2022

Something in the Air by Trent Boswell ©2022 Kevin Trent Boswell — Something in the Air – Music by Trent Boswell

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Thank You

Special thanks to the following people for their video contributions:

Samphan Korwong https://instagram.com/kws636

Tact

This is another song that I wrote in my early twenties but it’s only now getting a proper recording.

https://youtu.be/jRSqwb3LqWs

Magus – Tact

Back Story

I played this tune with various bands over the years but we never got a usable recording, because they were usually done in dive bars with poor acoustics. There was no separation of the instruments, only the chaotic din of drunken idiots in the background.

I do still have the original, cassette demo that I recorded on a reel to reel tape machine. I no longer have that machine [insert sadness and woe, here] but I have the recording. It’s ok but it’s just guitar and vocals and covered in that old school, analog tape hiss.

This is a full treatment, with rhythm guitar, lead guitar, vocals, bass, all of which I’m doing. The lead guitar part is a first take improvisation. I’ve never played lead over this song before, because I was always busy playing the rhythm and singing the lead part.

Actually, I’d never even thought about what I’d want the lead guitar part to sound like, because keeping a band together was trouble enough to keep my mind thoroughly occupied. So, I just hit record and rolled with it. I’m pretty pleased with the result.

It’s also got drums and hand percussion, performed by Stinky the Robot drummer. I’ve got him trained pretty well at this point. He eats a small amount of electricity, sleeps in his little box and he only bites occasionally, now; I’ve even removed the shock collar.

It’s really one of the most simple, straightforward songs that I’ve ever written. There’s a main riff and a slight variation on it, toward the middle. Then, there’s the verse part, a two-measure figure that repeats, over and over.

There’s three, short verses, no chorus and no bridge. That’s because it was originally a poem and I had no desire to adapt the words, just to flesh out the musical bits.

The rhythm guitar part really emphasizes the drums and bass anyway, thus making it more of a groove tune than a standard, pop formula type of song. The lyrics take up only about the first third of it and the rest is just an excuse to do what musicians love to do… jam.

Lyrics

Pilgrimage to the mountain,
On through a hurricane
Going to pray for my family,
And for those who lay in the clay
I don’t know who will hear me
But I will cry on the wind
Grant me strength and compassion
Give me self-discipline

Oh, the pressure and the pride, now
They can split your skull
When your best ain’t enough, now
All you can do is let go
A thousand years’ wisdom
Will set it all straight
A fool’s minute will erase it
Ah, but that is the Way

I was tied to a tree
And whipped like a dog
It’s where I learned to be free
And to trust in God
In the center of the mountain
You will find a ring
When you wear that piece/peace
No man’s words will sting

Thank you!

Special thanks to my wonderful supporters on Patreon.

If you like what you hear and see, help me make more of my weird music, poetry and other, assorted types of madness, by becoming a patron today.

Patrons get early access, super neato, patrons-only content, music downloads, books, my undying love and backstage passes to the end of the world.

Magus - Kevin Trent Boswell on Patreon - Magus72 — Magus72 on Patreon

More special thanks, to the following for their video contributions:

As well as: Ivan Samkov, Mikhail Nilov, Joffray Jouve, Tima Miroshnichenko, Nitin Arya, Daniel Absi, Ron Lach, Timur Weber

Contact any of them about making a professional video or graphics for your next project. They deserve the work, as you can see.

Something Like A Rainbow

Something Like A Rainbow from Something in the Air

This is “Something Like A Rainbow ”, my first Orchestral Pop song.

It’s only a string section, not an entire orchestra. But what sets this apart from anything that I’ve ever done before is that, in addition to writing the chord progression, the guitar and bass parts and the lyrics, I also wrote the string part. That’s a new one for me.

And I didn’t just write something on guitar and then transpose it for strings. Instead, I wrote it the way a classical composer would.

To do this, I had to draw on the part writing rules that we learned in music theory class in college, something that I thought I’d never actually use. It was a long time ago, so I feel sure that I broke some of those rules in various places but remembering the basics (no parallel 4ths or 5ths, etc) got me through it.

Something Like A Rainbow

Lost and alone and wandering
Finding a true friend there, in the rain
Hold fast, together
Warmth in a lover’s arms
Loving each other heals the pain

A soft and gentle light, to lead the way
Something like a rainbow

So many things we were told we’d see
Most of them never came to be
But no one can explain the redeeming grace
That shines from the light in your face

A soft and gentle light, it leads the way
Something like a rainbow

And it shines into forever
Walk in its light, into forever

So many things we were told we’d see
Most of them never came to be
Still, no one can explain the redeeming grace
That shines when a smile is upon your face

A soft and gentle light, it leads the way
Something like a rainbow
Soft and gentle light, it leads the way
Something like a rainbow

And its light goes into forever
Ride the light into forever