The Music Of JC Harris

positively the most intelligent progressive rock on this here planet

positively the most intelligent progressive rock on this here planet

Beautiful Sounds

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If you purchase the CD, you will also have the opportunity to download the Digital Album and get some instant gratification while yer waiting for the postman.

Either way, if you're getting a download, it will be served up as a 'zip' file with all those juicy MP3s stuffed inside.

Do not attempt to download via smartphone. Please use a computer!

  • It's A RacketDownload

    It's A Racket?

    Everybody that you know
    And every place that you ever thought that you’d go
    And every thing that you wanted
    And everyone that was ever on board.

    Now everyday you’ve been haunted
    About the times you just had to look the other way.
    About that guy that was wanted
    On every charge that was ever trumped up.

    There were new lines drawn
    On the maps laid down
    All new places you’d never know

    Why’s your face so long?
    When you hear what’s wrong
    All the time you knew it was
    Just a racket.
    Just a racket.

    Now on their ponies came the law
    And with him brought a defining moment
    And no one notice as they rode
    There was no dust on the shiny uniforms.

    And everybody in the town
    Enjoyed the glow until the sun went down.
    But in the end they showed ‘em how
    To get the fuck out on the horses they rode on.

    All the green is gone
    From those desert lawns
    Where the black gold would never flow.

    Why’s your face so long?
    When you’ve seen what’s wrong
    All the time you knew it was

    There were new lines drawn
    On the maps laid down
    All new places you’d never go.

    Why’s your face so glum?
    When you see it, chum?
    Every one of us knows it’s all

    Just a racket.

    Seattle 2012

    Yeah, the fix is in. How bad does it have to get for cynical acceptance of the status quo to stop being 'cool'? How bad does it have to get before doing something stops being 'uncool'?
  • For AlastairDownload

    For Alastair?

    I wish I could tell you
    What happened to me.
    I wish that I could hold you
    And you’d see.

    I wish that I could
    tell you
    What happened to me.
    I wish there were words to show you
    But you can’t know what I see.

    -I-
    Now the road is
    long that you are on
    And you can’t seen anything new,
    But I know there is more left for you to do.

    And though there are some things I will
    see
    That you can never do.
    It doesn’t mean we’re through.

    And through this life
    we go.
    Why things happen?
    No one knows.

    I guess it would be
    easy for me to be bitter
    For all the things I’ll never get.
    It’s all for myself.
    Nobody else.
    Because I can’t reach you.

    -II-
    Now with each coming dawn I see more of you gone.
    And we still see nothing new.
    Yet I know there is more left for you to do.

    And you can’t see how your words now will ever be heard
    For I can’t heal what you lose.
    It’s doesn’t mean we’re through.

    Believe me,
    If I had known
    Why you’d sit alone
    While I was standing here
    So at home

    Push it in.
    Push it out.
    Tear it down,
    Until it all comes out.
    And then just when you think you’ve figured out,
    That you’ve tested yourself till you’re almost drowned.
    There’s an evil living both in and out,
    Stretching every day.
    Forcing every doubt.
    When you feel your life giving out.

    CODA
    I wish I could tell you
    What happened to me.
    I wish that I could hold you
    And you’d see.

    I wish that I could
    tell you
    What happened to me.
    I wish there were words to show you

    But you can’t know what I’ve seen.
    You can’t know how I feel.
    You don’t know what I see.
    You can’t know what I’ll see.

    Seattle 2012

    For as dear a friend as I ever had; lost before his time  because of the dreaded Parkinson's Disease and the dementia associated with it's various treatments.

    Watching him 'go away' was one of the more painful episodes of my life.

  • Twenty YearsDownload

    Twenty Years?

    Let me make it clear
    Let me show you how
    We gotta to find ourselves a home.

    Wonderfully planned
    The comforting place
    Your heart has never known.

    Let me tell you now
    You don’t understand.
    When all is said and done.
    I believe that we can have it all.

    BRIDGE
    You can’t expand the picture.
    You can’t extend the frame.
    It might take twenty years to find this place again.

    II
    Let make this clear
    Let me tell you now
    You’ll never find yourself alone.

    Worrying about
    That sorry old place.
    Where your heart could never grow.

    Let me tell you now.
    You don’t see a plan.
    Beyond these dues and jobs.
    I believe that we can touch the stars.

    You can’t expect the future
    To ever heal the pain.
    It might take twenty years to feel this way again.

    You can’t decode the symbols.
    You can’t deflect the plan.
    It might take twenty years to find your heart again.

    It might take twenty years to find your home.
    It might take twenty years to reach that door.

    It might take twenty years to find your heart again.

    Seattle 2012

    Grace Jones used to use the phrase 'Now I'm right on time' a lot. This song is about finding love after being 'out of the game' for a while. You have to recognise it (and value it) when you see it... As one gets older, the chances come somewhat further apart.
  • Walk On My BackDownload

    Walk On My Back?

    Trying to find my baby.
    Need to feel all right.
    Hope she’ll spend some time with me,
    When there’s no hope left in sight.
    I roll and roll and roll the floor but still can’t get it right,
    With everything I can’t endure at night.

    So she walks on my back.
    So she walks on my back.

    Reach up to the ceiling!

    Knead those muscles to and fro,

    Now press your stomach to the floor,
    And remember to focus on your core.
    With each turn,

    Looking great.
    Now give me twenty more!

    (Can you move one step to the right.)

    (Man, I didn’t know I was this tight.)

    (Hey, is it supposed to burn?)

    So she walks on my back.
    So she walks on my back.

    Dreaming of my saviour.
    An angel dressed in white.
    Who offers me serenity
    Clad in her silken tights.

    I used to swear by opiates,
    But now I’ve seen the light.
    With every step she takes
    I reach new heights.

    So she walks on my back.
    So she walks on my back.
    So she walks on my back.
    So she walks on my back.

    (It’s a step in the right direction.)

    Seattle 2012

    It hurts so good.
  • PowerDownload

    Power?

    Laid so low…

    Take a walk along the street.
    See everybody that you know
    Why they stand there in the heat?
    Because everybody seems to know.

    Grains of sand along the beach
    They’re with you everywhere you go
    Feel them underneath your feet
    Does anyone really know?

    CHORUS
    Because you talk really nice,
    And act real cool.
    Guys like you can break all the rules.
    You walk real smooth
    And roll real tight.
    But baby I think you might.

    Make my heart break.

    INTERLUDE
    Always believed
    My country, right or wrong,
    Would stand.
    Only now do I see clearly,
    What comes from one man.

    CHORUS
    Because you talk really nice,
    And act real cool.
    Guys like you can break all the rules.
    You walk real smooth
    And roll real tight.
    But baby I think you might.

    Make my heart break.

    Seattle 2012

    I confess. I originally conceived this years ago as yet another in a long line of 'angry' songs against my ex-wife (man has she suffered in effigy.) I was so angry that she had such 'power' to make me happy or unhappy. I was angry at her and myself for allowing her that amount of control. But that alone doesn't make a song and I had no idea where to go with it. So it remained a simple fragment that kept rolling around in my head for years like a mantra.

    Then one day, I was humming the fragment as I heard another piece of bad news about the Bush Administration and I accidentally mis-sang the line 'Girls like you can break all the rules' as 'Guys like you can break all the rules.'

    As so often happens, this 'Freudian slip' did the trick. It's not just about 'power', but the self-hatred we have for giving up control so willingly.

  • That Just Seems Like WorkDownload

    That Just Seems Like Work?

    Don’t talk about all the places you’ve been to
    We stumbled on by luck.
    Don’t make a scene of the friends that you know.
    When they can’t be counted up.

    It’s all been blamed on simplicity of vision
    For all the things we’re not.
    It just a shame how the the people can’t cope
    When nothing seemed to add quite up.

    CHORUS
    There’s a lot of crazy people talking ruin like that.
    You can see it on the news
    Spinning rumour like fact.
    There’s a cynical tone
    That we’ll turn it all back.

    But that just seems like work.

    II
    We all presumed when our leaders made decisions
    That everyone’s grown up.
    And even though all the times it got rough,
    We thought we were tough enough.

    And don’t forget all the theatre still in you.
    And all the face we lost.
    And all the ways that we still get wound up.
    But never follow up.
    And ever foul up.

    CHORUS

    BRIDGE
    Change your heart.
    Don’t ever think that we can make it
    If you don’t get involved.

    III
    So after all of the places we’ve been to
    Not stumbled on by luck.
    I’m guessing now as the payments add up.
    That there can never be enough.

    It’s all began as simplicity of vision,
    From all the things we’re not.
    We can’t agree with the things that we’ve got
    How everything’s is so fucked up.

    BRIDGE
    Change your heart.
    Don’t ever think that you can make it
    If you don’t get involved.

    Change your mind.
    Charge your heart.
    You know that we can never make it
    If you don’t get involved.

    FINAL CHORUS
    There’s a lot of crazy people talking ruin like that.
    You can see it on the news
    Spinning rumour like fact.
    There’s a cynical tone
    That we’ll turn it all back.
    It’s the oldies show that they always bring back.
    We could make the train run if we lay a new track.

    But that just seems like work.

    Seattle 2012

    Sure, we can fix things. Sure we can come together as one people;  united to accomplish a great task. Sounds great!
  • No DriveDownload

    No Drive?

    Baby’s got a car.
    A real fine car.
    But no drive.
    Baby’s got a motor.
    A real motor scooter
    With no drive.

    Baby’s got the keys,
    But she won’t give them to me
    There’s no drive.

    (Test drive for sixteen bars…)

    CHORUS
    She says I’m nothing
    But I tell her,
    Even I go places.

    She says that I mean nothing it all,
    But even I go places.

    Seattle 2012

    A lesson from my alter-ego, our Italian friend Dino, in managing affairs of the heart— as well as those of the road.

    Ever had a ride that looked so cool you just couldn't believe it?

    Ever had a ride that had all the get up and go of one of those moving sidewalks at the airport?

    That kind of frustration can take years off a guy's life.

  • Still In Love With YouDownload

    Still In Love With You?

    Wasn’t there a time when this
    was all natural?
    When dreams we had could still come true.
    Walking by these city streets
    I’d think of you at my own side
    And dream.

    Wasn’t there a time when this was all so wonderful?
    The dreams we had, outside this garden.
    Floating by these often travelled streets
    I tell you I saw them all
    And I said…
    So in love with you!
    So in love with you!
    So in love with you!
    So in love with you!

    I’d be beside myself
    If there could come a time.
    When all of this would seem unnatural to me.
    Just standing by myself
    Outside your door and beside myself in grief.

    Wasn’t there a time when this was all wonderful?
    What happened to the dreams we had?
    Walking by this often travelled street
    I tell you I saw them all

    And I said…
    So in love with you!
    So in love with you!
    So in love with you!
    So in love with you!

    Wasn’t there a time when this had all been natural?
    A dream we had that did come true..
    Floating by these often travelled streets
    I tell you I saw them all and I said…
    Still in love with you!
    Still in love with you!
    Still in love with you!

    Still in love with you.

    Seattle 2012

    No comment.
  • Crossing The Shannon With Bernadette DunneDownload

    Crossing The Shannon With Bernadette Dunne?

    Sea bright.
    Clouds go by.
    Carried along like the waves.

    I can never have enough pictures of you…

    Day bright.
    Passing sights,
    Beautiful as your eyes.

    Seattle 2012

    I can never have enough pictures of you.
  • Beautiful SoundsDownload

    Beautiful Sounds?

    Take all you want.
    Show me everything you don’t.
    But I will be loved.

    Read every book your shown
    Tell me everything you know.
    Of what you believe.

    Leave every place you go.
    Sell back everything you owned.
    But I will be loved
    It won’t do
    To break my heart.
    Suffice to say,
    I’ll be home soon.

    For the things I’ve found
    Are the beautiful sounds
    That echo in even the angriest of hearts.

    And one thing you’ll know
    That wherever you go.
    I’ll alway long to hear you sing
    Again and again and again and again…

    You ask me why I never sleep at night.
    It feels like my head will explode.
    I often wonder if I ever feared
    to see the reason why.

    The Well

    One time,
    In the back of the old yard we had.
    Was a well,
    Beneath the storage shed.

    At night,
    While you both did sleep,
    I filled that hole,
    With at least,
    A hundred feet of dirt and stones.

    (And all the time I lied…)

    So afraid that you would fall.
    And now as I sit laid so low,
    I wish I’d let you know.

    Finale

    Tell me did you ever love,
    When you first you saw me smile?
    I believe before we go.
    We’re all going to know just why.

    Tell me could you see before
    That everything would die?
    I know you’ve been on that shore
    Where nothing built survives.

    But the things I found
    Were the beautiful sounds
    That echo in even the angriest of hearts.
    And one thing you’ll know
    that wherever you go,
    There’s always one heart that longs to
    hear you sing
    Again and again and again and again…

    Seattle 2012

    When I was married we threw away so much over so many little things that, in retrospect, now seem so petty. Why can't people see the big picture?

    It's not just the Big Yellow Taxi effect. People aren't like parking lots that can't be undone. At any point, you or I could forgive and could choose to 'fix' things.

    Why doesn't this happen? What is it that 'breaks' that is so important to our psyche that we can rarely even conceive of reconciliation? Is it in our genes? Are we not 'wired' for forgiveness and reconciliation?

    'The Well' refers to a real well that was beneath a shed in our garage. It had become extremely dangerous from decades of neglect (I discovered it accidentally by almost falling in!)

    Both the kids were rambunctious and curious and I knew that if they found out about it they wouldn't be able to help but 'explore it'.

    So at night, I would go out to the shed after they went to sleep and slowly, over a fortnight, filled it in with spare rocks from around the property. The whoppers I had to tell from time to time to keep them from figuring out what I was doing!

    Now I wonder if I did the right thing by not trusting them with this magical secret.

I'm not going to try and tell you that this is some cure for cancer. Or that it will change your life. Or make your body move while you do the dishes. Or bring a sentimental tear to your eye on demand. Or help you to achieve ananda while meditating. Or become your song for you and that special someone you're destined to meet tomorrow. Or stir you to action where heretofore you were content to sit on the couch and tell everyone how outraged you are by whatever it is that demands immediate attention.

All I was trying to do was make some music. Nothing purpose-driven, I'm afraid.

Unless of course, your purpose was to listen to some music; for no other reason than that you're the kind of person that still just listens to music and who thinks that this is, in itself, an important and necessary part of your day.

I sometimes go down to the strand and watch and listen—sometimes for hours. And I do this for the very same reasons we both listen to music.

Some personal notes on Beautiful Sounds...

Look, There's Just No Reason To Be Shy!

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