Words by Daniel Kelly - 2022 Slava, Ukraine Praise to her name, Long may she be, Strong true and free. Christmas is near Russia is here, Kill’d young and old, Bringing the cold Violence so wrong, That’s Putin’s song, While rockets sing all murdering, Still we can hear No sound of fear, Soldier’s are brave Ukraine to save O, how they fight Shadows at night O'er hill and dale Never to fail, Power they bring while people sing Songs of good cheer Ukraine is still here! Slava, Ukraine! X 2 On, on they stand Saving their land, Their rifles strong, Fighting so long.
Archives: Projects
Hark the Nine Wraith Riders
Hark the nine wraith riders spring, searching for the missing ring Middle Earth is where it hides, to the shire nine dark lords ride Woeful all ye hobbits hide, prancing pony get inside Aragorn then will proclaim, "don’t tell anyone your name" Hark the nine wraith riders spring, "Searching for the one lost ring" Bilbo found it in a cave, lost by Gollum filled with rage; Then upon his last birthday, to Frodo gave it away Ring of magic, vile and feared, with it on he disappeared Better get it to mount doom, dark riders are coming soon, Hark the nine wraith riders spring, "Searching for the one lost ring" The Witch king can’t by men be slain, all who face him fear his name, Meri’s dagger will strike true, and Eowyn’s blade will run him through, A magic blade from Westerness, left out by Pete Jackson I guess, Should have kept Tom Bombadil, maybe the next re-make will, Eight wraith riders on the wing, "Searching for the one lost ring"
Ned’s Castle
by Daniel Kelly - December 2022 G C D G In Clonoulty, Tipperary, one cold September night, C G Am D 100 local Irishmen did work by candle light, G C D G To destroy Ballagh dispensary, with hammer, axe and saw C G D G In protest of the English Tithe, they did defy the law. Thirteen men were transported, to Australia they were bound, In chains of penal servitude, fourteen years to work the ground, Ned Ryan came to Goulburn, until 1825, When he got his leave ticket, lucky to be alive, D G C G One day I’ll build a castle, A castle tall and grand, C G Am D And I’ll own the land for miles around, where my family can stand, C G C G And they’ll hear the name of Ryan, and our power it will grow, C G D G Fear of English church and Englishmen my kids will never know, Ned became a squatter, when his freedom it was won, The family from Ireland, they joined him on the run, Brothers, Sisters, Cousins, helped the flocks to grow, With a hundred thousand acres, Ned was the man to know. Then Ned he build his castle, among the Galong hills, In stones of hard defiance, a symbol of his will, Proof that transported Irishmen, still retain their pride, A piece of Tipperary, just on the other side, Now Ned’s line it was ended, not long after it began, But his house became a monastery, for the raising of young men, To be warriors for Jesus, in the catholic empire, And he rests beneath the marble, of Rusconi’s ornate spire,
A Piece of White Paper
G C G Standing outside, with a piece of white paper, G D G All over China, we’re taking a stand. Our voices were silenced, on threat of violence, C G D G But now we’ve awoken, all over the land. G C G all over the land, all over the land, C G We defy the Party, D G all over the land. The children are burning, locked up in a tower, Out west in Urumqi, they’ll never come home, The government crackdown, on covid continues, While the rest of the world, are all free to roam. They’re all free to roam, They’re all free to roam, While we’re locked up in cages, They’re all free to roam We’re calling for Xi, to let go of power, He’s had his two terms, its time to step down, And while we are talking, of unfettered power, It’s time for the Party, to return to the ground, Return to the ground, Return to the ground, It’s the end of the Party, Now return to the ground. We’re standing in Shanghai, standing in Guangzhou, We stand in Beijing, and out in Chengdu, Listen to our voices, we will not be silenced, You may kill a few, but we’re coming for you. we’re coming for you, we’re coming for you, There’s power in the people, we’re coming for you.
The Forbidden Forest
by Daniel Kelly, on the passing of Robbie Coltrane
G Em C G The forest is dark, so wild and untamed, Em C D Filled with unicorns and spiders, G Em C G For a student forbidden, But there I must go, G Em Malfoy got me detention, D G I must face what I don’t know G C G Hagrid take my hand, C G D I’m heading for the forest, Em C D G Hold your glowing lantern high, C D G And lead me through the dark, Though scared I’ll be brave, If you walk beside, I’ll face the dark unknown If you tell me the things you shouldn’t have told, And lend to me your strength I’ll learn to be bold. You need your wits about you, When to the forest you go, Not everything’s safe or friendly, The Centaurs are noble, and no wizards slave, So learn to respect, If its power you crave, So walk closely by in Hagrid’s steps, Don’t stay into the darkness, There’s worse things than werewolves lurking in there, Wild cars and big spiders, And old devil’s snare.
The Price We Pay for Love
by Daniel Kelly 2022
(Written on the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
G D G I cannot lead you into battle. C D G Your laws I do not make G D G I cannot give you justice C D G but something else I hope you’ll take I gave my heart and my devotion, To these fine islands of old, And the people who dwell in them, The faithful, brave and bold C G Grief is the price we pay for love. C G Grief is the price we pay. C G Em As a queen, I rose above, C D G Grief is the price we pay for love. To all those who have suffered, From the violence of our past I extend my hand in sorrow, With sympathy at last. With the benefit of hindsight we come to see the ways we fall things we wish we had done better, or should not have done at all, Tradition stands behind me, More than a thousand years And the true strength of an Empire Born in fire, blood and tears; I am pledged unto your service, My life be short or long, I shall seek the wining of your trust. And keep our nation strong.
Hush Little Nav Com
by Daniel Kelly 2022
Hush little Nav Com, don’t make a beep Captain’s tired and needs to sleep. Keep our course, straight and true, Asteroid fields you steer us through, Hush little engines, just make a purr, Fold through space at the speed of a blur, Reactor metrics stable and tight, Pushing us past the speed of light. Hush little filters, scrub and compress, Keep the air breathable in bunks and mess, If that warning light comes one, Oxygen will fail and we’ll all be gone. Hush little doctor in med bay, Keep the viruses away, Find a cure for the alien flu, Don’t want crewmates turning blue. Hush little lasers, hold your fire, Keep your pulse till their shields expire, If they don’t surrender soon, You can blast them to the moon. Hush little cargo in the hold, Smugglers life is short and bold, If we make the drop as planned, I’m gonna buy me a piece of land.
The Man Who Let the Wall Come Down
on the passing of Mikhail Gorbachev
by Daniel Kelly 2022
Am Dm
Your father was a Russian, your mother from Ukraine,
E7 Am
You grew up in the peasant life, under Joseph Stalin’s reign,
Dm Am
Born in the years of famine, followed quickly by the Purge,
E7 E Am E7 Am E7 Am
Your grandfather told of torture, under the Marxist scourge,
E7 Am F E7 Am
You were the man, who let the wall come down,
Dm Am
Without a drop of blood, you watched it crumble to the ground,
Dm Am
A legacy of peace, born from the violent Stalin clown,
Am F E7 Am
the man who let the wall come down.
In Moscow in the fifties, you met your future wife,
A new member of the party, destined for an easy life,
As long as you kept quiet, and did what you were told,
Reporting on your comrades, whose speech was over bold.
You rose up in the party, an expert in the game,
Until in 1980, to the Politburo you came,
You took the reins of power, in nineteen eighty-five,
And quickly cleared for floor of enemies that were still alive.
The republic it unraveled, and in nineteen eighty nine,
The wall came down in Germany, the end of communisms line,
Yeltsin took the power, and drove it into the wall,
Russia headed to democracy, till Putin took the call.
Back to the Moon
by Daniel Kelly 2022 (written while waiting for the Artemis I launch)
G C Back to the moon, we’re going back to the moon, G D Artemis will take us there (my what a rocket) Back to the moon, we’re going back to the moon, G D G Her bounty for to share Eugene Cernan was the last man to walk there, Way back in seventy two, For more the fifty years, the moon has been alone, With no human life to view, When I say share, I mean share with our friends, Not Russia or the CCP, Unless they get there first, which would be the worst, For peace and liberty, Back to the Moon, this time to stay, The jumping point for mars, Back to the Moon, Back on the path The gateway to the Stars
Abandoned
by Daniel Kelly 2022
G C G When I open my eyes on the factory floor, Am G D Such a beautiful world, full of life to explore G C G My heart grew so full at each child’s embrace, G Bm D G The sparking of love in every new shopper’s face. G D G I still have hugs to give, C G D I still have love to live, G D G Don’t abandon me here in my prime, C D G For I can not run from time. You carried me home, set me up in the room, Where you declared your love, a heart in full bloom, The heavens cried beauty when your darling said yes, And I watched from the floor as she tried on the dress. But now I sit lonely here in the grass, Beside the old church, lost in the past, The rain it falls down, and my seams start to tear, No place in the world for an oversized bear.
The Alchemist
by Daniel Kelly – 2022
G D G The sheep they graze free on the meadow, C G The world turns beyond my command, C D What could be and has been, G Em Is shrouded in mystery C D G Only known is the place where I stand C D If I was back in the arms, G C Of the merchant’s daughter, C G D Far from the sands and the sea, Em D G Em Content with the field, the sun and the water, C D G A shepherd’s life is for me But treasure beyond calls to me, It haunts the depths of my dreams, To struggle and strive, With the base stuff of life, Until gold in the crucible gleams, I travel across the Sahara, Facing thieves and warlords and more, Caught up in the wind, Of circular metaphor, Sand as far as the falcon can soar, I should have never listened to the Gypsy, Or taken Melchizedek’s stones, The gold in my hand, Turns to ashes, When I think of my flock and my home.
There is Nothing Like a Flame
Parody Lyrics to “Nothing Like a Dame” by Rogers & Hammerstein
We got moonlight on the land,
But it’s very hard to see,
We got cats with teeth like sabres
Which will jump you from a tree,
We got knives and spears and axes
But they’re stone so very lame!
What ain’t we got?
We ain’t got flame!
We get eaten in our homes,
By the wolf, and by the bear,
We have tried hiding in caves
But the snakes they eat us there,
We get carried off by eagles
They can track us by our smell!
What should we do?
We just can’t tell!
We have nothin’ to scare off the predator with
What we need is some thing we can settle the score with
There is nothin’ like a flame,
Nothin’ in the world,
There is nothin’ you can name
That is anythin’ like a flame!
We feel queasy, we feel ill,
We feel nauseous, and in brief,
We get ev’ry kind of sickness’,
From the raw and uncooked beef,
But we feel hungry as the wolf felt
When he ate Red Hiding-hood
What don’t we feel?
We don’t feel good!
Lots of things to eat are very tasty, but brother,
There is one particular thing that if not cooked properly
will kill you much faster than any other.
Chorus
….Nothin’ else is built the same,
E A
Nothin’ in the world
E A
Warm and crackling and untamed
A D E A
Yes the flickering of a flame!
There is absolutely nothin’ you can name like a flame.
So suppose you’re out at night
And far away from home,
And you don’t want to get eaten,
When scared and all alone,
It’s a waste of time to worry
About the cat and wolf and biar,
Just build yourself a great big fire,
There is nothin’ you can name
That is anythin’ like a flame!
You can read books by a flame,
And nothin’ cooks like a flame.
You make wise cracks round a flame,
And dry you slacks by a flame,
Nothin’ acts like a flame,
Or Moth attracts like a flame.
There ain’t a thing that’s wrong with any one here
That can’t be cured by putting him near
A burning, roaring, crackling, warming, flame!
Eileen
Requiem for the Leaning Tree of the Yass River by Daniel Kelly 2022
G D G Sometimes I feel like a tree, C G Standing down by the river, Am D So happy and free, G Am I watch as the water, G Bm C Drifts slowly by, G Bm And I drink in the sun, D G From the blue summer sky, My roots they reach deep in the soil, of the river’s broad bank, Where the platypus toils, In times of the drought, There is always a drink, From the free flowing river, Where I stand on the brink. C G I’m leaning out into the river, C D G I lean a bit more every year, C D When the flood water comes, G down the next time, C D G I fear, I’ll no longer be here, I’m not old like the elm in the park, Not exotic at all, With plain sliver bark, Eucalyptus, like me, Dime a dozen you see, But I cherish my spot, While my roots will hold me, The river has risen once more, The torrent comes down, Higher than ever before, My roots cannot hold me, I’m starting to fall, But let me lie in the water, Where I once stood so tall,
The Milk Fun
a parody of The Bilk Run by Leslie Fish
There ain't no seed, can't be sowed,
There ain't no grass that can't be mowed,
Ain't no cow that can't be milked,
And there ain't no song that can't be filked
You're a Trekkie, I'm a Jedi,
She's a brown coat let's write a song,
Put our words to a good strong melody,
We'll win a Pegasus before long
Because there ain't no guitar, can't be played,
Ain't no cat that can't be spayed,
Ain't no Scotsman can't be kilt,
And there ain't no song that can't be filked
I'm a wizard, you're a cultist,
Grab a book and lets cast a spell,
We can raise and ancient terror,
Banished from Argo down to hell
Cause there ain't no spirit can't be raised,
Ain't no gods that want your praise,
Ain't no threads that can't be silked,
And their ain't no song that can't be filked.
Bring your song out, in the circle,
There's no judgement, anything goes,
What we praise is heart not mastery,
With listeners too, the filksing grows,
There ain't no voice that cannot sing,
Ain't no soul with naught to bring,
Ain't no stranger of any ilk,
And there ain't no song that can't be filked
City to Country Blues
by Daniel Kelly – 2022
G Well I moved here from the city, C G Just a few short months ago, C G From that new suburb in Canberra, D Where the Latte’s freely flow, C G But I notice things are different, D G Among these folks with backward ways, C G So I’m gonna put complaints in, D G And make sure the council pays, C G The smoke comes through my window, D G The rooster wakes me up at dawn, C G There’s sheep bleating at midnight, D And the dogs bark till the morn, C G People say hello at ALDI, D G There’s cow dung on my shoes, C D G I’ve got the city, to country blues Well I don’t know what to tell you mate, I’ve lived here for fifteen years, And the pretenses of city folks, They drive me half to tears, Give me dirt and dust and cattle, And a town that’s full of life, If you like your filtered air so much, You should go back to Latte Life. That rooster keeps the cats away, The dog she scares the thief, And the gentle moan of lambing flocks, Is the sweet sound of relief, They’ve been burning wood to keep warm here, For 60,000 years, So you if you can’t learnt to love the country, cry me a river with your tears.
The Scientific Method
By Daniel Kelly - 2022 C G C There are more types of matter than we thought, F G C Some new quark formations we have caught, F G These ones are quite ‘Exotic’, C F It’s a complicated topic, C G C But I’ll do my best to summarize for you The work of that Large Hadron Collider, Keeps making our knowledge of physics wider, By smashing stuff together The faster the better. They’ll make ignorance a matter of the past G F G So it’s time to, C Re-Analyze the Data, F We’ll go on Fox News Later, C G Construct Hypothesis a new, C And we’ll, test with experiments, F Check results for congruence, C G C And publish all our findings before you. Those quarks they come in many different flavours, Much like ice cream, but with little time to savor, Top, bottom and Up Down, Strange and Charm are found, In the soup of stuff, from which we’re all created. These quarks they get together in strange pairings, Much like people, but with quite a bit less staring, Pairs of two and three we knew, Now Four and Five discovered to, Who knows where all this mingling is ending.
Harriet Jacobs
By Daniel Kelly - 2022 Asus G Six years in the darkness, Am Em Six years in my cell, C G Six years without my children, Am Em Am Six years of living hell. C G I was born in slavery, Am Em Harriet’s my name G Am My father was a carpenter, C G Am My story is one of shame, Not the shame of motherhood, Or children born in sin, But the vile shame of slavery, The cruel world that I lived in My master was a doctor, He lusted for my youth, 40 years my senior, His wife she learned the truth, I was hidden in the garret, To escape the master’s hate, I watch my children through a hole, Growing up to share my fate I escaped and wrote my story, Published in 1861, The truth about white power, And the horrific things they’d done, I worked during the civil war, Starting the Jacob’s school, With knowledge and education, My people will no longer be your tool
Hatton’s Corner
by Daniel Kelly – 2022
C G Broken bottles strewn around, Am F Fast food wrappers on the ground, Am G Am You would think nobody cares for this town, If we told who left them there, The Careless vandals wouldn’t dare, To show their face in the street. C G Am Cleaning up the mess at Hatton’s Corner Cleaning up the mess at Hatton’s Corner C G Am F Tom and his son, before the day is done, Am G Am Are still cleaning up the mess at Hatton’s Corner With selfless pride in our little town, Tom soon gained deserved renown, But not everyone was happy with his action. Leave the mess to someone else, Who made you take this task yourself, To think you’re so much better than us others Keeping our town clean with pride, Is virtue that can’t be denied, But better still if others didn’t litter. For those who toss rubbish and food, So selfish, arrogant and rude, May learn a lesson from their public unmasking
Let Us Compare Mythologies
A response to Leonard Cohen’s poem, ‘To Wilf and his House’ by Daniel Kelly 2022
Dm C Let us compare mythologies, Dm Am Messiahs hung on leafless trees, Dm C Of longing tongues and skinless touch, Dm Esus Am And hearts that yearn too late or much, Let saints and soldiers marching past, Debate who should be first and last, The great and small, undressed in verse, All victims of the poet’s curse, We’ll ponder on the guilt of old, How ancient Christ was bought and sold, And nailed like bat, against the barn, With dripping thorns, and tattered yarn, I’ll cringe beneath my heathen shame, And contemplate the secret name, While trembling at the sacred ark, As oil burns to bitter spark, At raven’s crow in Autumn air, I’ll feed my soul, hollow and bare, And kiss the feet, twisted and stained, On velvet laid in naked shame. Let us compare mythologies, In crusades of ideologies, With tale of ant and fly and saint, A Calvary of love we’ll paint.
Bob and Alice
by Daniel Kelly
C G C
Bob’s got a message for Alice,
F C
But he’s more than a little concerned,
F G C F
For he did Cryptography 101 and
G C
Was worried by what he had learned,
For Eve is out there and she’s listening,
To all of the packets they send,
If Bob wants to keep his words secret,
He’ll need a system on which to depend,
F C
He’ll need Public Key Encryption,
G C
Yes, he needs Public Key Encryption,
F
When you can’t share a secret key,
C
In a way others cannot see,
G C
You need Public Key Encryption
Now Diffie and Hellman were searching,
Around nineteen seventy six,
For a way to exchange secrets safely,
Just like GCHQ with their tricks,
RSA expanded their research,
That’s Rivest, Shamir, Aldeman,
After a late night of coding and drinking,
The one-way hash revolution began,
They made Public Key Encryption,
Yes, Public Key Encryption,
When you can’t share a secret key,
In a way others cannot see,
You need Public Key Encryption
Now while Bob got his message to Alice,
Using the public key way,
They both went to jail for insurance fraud,
Because Eve worked for the NSA.
So every time you open your browser,
And look for the soothing padlock,
Remember the system was broken,
To boost Certificate Authority stock.
You use Public Key Encryption,
Yes, Public Key Encryption,
There’s no system we cannot break,
When shareholders are at stake,
Even Public Key Encryption