Get all 39 Jan Dylan Hunter releases available on Bandcamp and save 60%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Music Of My Dreams, Janarchy, Its Only Sound, I Wish I Knew, Palm Passages, Bomba J, Down This River, Answer, and 31 more.
1. |
I See Your Eyes
03:35
|
|||
|
You. Can. Make. It.
You can make it.
You could make it. You could make it. You could make it. You could make it.
You could make it. You could make it. You could make it. You could make it.
You could make it nice
you can make it foolish
you could make it cool
you could make the rules
you could make it fresh
you could make it flash
You can make it crest
you can make it shaka shaka shaka!
You could make. It You could make it. You can make it. You can make it.
Jump jump! Hey! Jump jump! Hey!
But I see your eyes as they shine in the darkness yeah
Oh shelter your heart as you pass through these changes yeah
I see your eyes again like you were blessed by burning sagebrush yeah
Oh Blossom your mind again and you’ll make it through these changes yeah
Le’ we go Le’ we go Le’ we go Le’ we go
Shaka!
I see your eyes
I see your eyes
I see your eyes
(NOT USED:)
You can make it shake
From what you make
Create a state
Initiate
I see your mind as you shine through the darkness yeah
I behold your proclivity for intricate sensitivity
And I, I, I predict you’ll find your harmony
A verity of destiny in aesthetic alchemy
|
||||
2. |
Of Distant Shores
05:47
|
|||
3. |
Salt N Peppa
03:03
|
|||
|
You could bring it now with your Salt and Peppa’
Mix it in a big pot slow an Simma’
Makin’ it so tasty it givin’ me a shiva’
Cultural vibes let we bless up de night
Everyone feel welcome round de drum fiya’
We cookin’ up beats an we takin’ it higha’
I learned from de roots man and woman from young
Leh we feast together as one
You could bring it now with your Salt and Peppa’
Mix it in a big pot slow an Simma’
Make it so tasty it givin’ me a shiva’
Everybody bring your cultcha’
We takin’ it higher
Create culture
Take it higher
Cultcha’ fiya’
What’s good for the belly yeah’s good for the beat
Bust in de dancehall and jam it in de street
We mashin ‘up de riddim till we break de concrete
Sweet smoky flava’ is my best recipe
Some people like mix up dey salt an peppah
Everybody taste is different from another
Some people flip up dey top lip like cow
But they ain’t never taste what we cookin’ up now
Higher
Create culture
Take it higher
Cultcha’ fiya’
Oh what we cookin’ up now?
Jah yes
Cookin’ up the culture yah
Cookin’ up the culture sure
Gonna take it take it, Jah
Gonna take it take it higher
Ridm for de soul-chants
Healthy food for the soul dance
Yeah, bust it, take it...
Higher higher yeah Higher
Culture fiya’!
Peppa good for the belly, good for the beat.
|
||||
4. |
Serenity Explosion
03:11
|
|||
5. |
Gone Are The Days
04:07
|
|||
|
Gone Are The Days March 2016 Santa Rosa, CA
My distillate of poetry is 90 percent pure
Its potent, yet so volatile that I crystallized this tale with words
Like a frozen waterfall that splintered from my mind
Icy shards that tumbled from the of tapestry of time
Over the old city about this singin’ guitar kid
Strumming on the sidewalk for some quid
Gaslamp-shadowed alley where he entertains the mob
Those leering pumpkin-headed peppercorns, cynics and snobs
With wicked, lucid rhythm-rhymes for peanuts on the dime
Not yet silenced by their scoffs he sings it one last time
The mob so fails to comprehend henceforth leaves him alone
To gaze down at the maze of cobblestones
This drunken, tragic jester knows his act will get forgot
So bored with the drudgery of all-too-common plots
Gone are the days when amusement was enough
The muses pinch their pennies and the audience is too tough
Thus resistance sparks a fire in the fierce-eyed busker-boy
Verbose calculations in the meter he employs
(See he was) Born too soon and raised too young,
he played with fire and got burned by the sun
Gone are the days when the seasons made the work
To harvest hidden harmonies wherever they did lurk
One such harmony he plucked resounded then in kind
A cornucopia to his young mind. It said:
“Dream fantastic visions if you even dream at all
& answer passion when you hear its call!”
Our hero grabbed that passion with a vengeance in his game
Quit his day job right away and night gigs just the same
Gone were the nights in the taverns and the beer halls
No muppets raising foamy pints and cursing that last call
He deserved a respite from his life of strife and toil
Like centuries of peasants around the world
So he followed iridescent fireflies through jungle ferns
Saddled a Honda snail and rode to the ivory minarets to learn
Gone are the days when his body hauled the weight
Working with his mind’s machine, the subject’s sideways-eight
Infinite tomorrow shines the light on hidden views
A splendid transformation for the distant-roaming youth
We’ve imbibed now his history and its a lot to chew
Such impressionistic reflections of memories imbued
Oh Gone are the days when the bards sang out the lore
Edifying denizens with wisdom that they bore
They knew how to dream fantastic visions for us all
May you hear your passion when it calls
Gone gone gone...
Bonus, some discarded phrases:
Gaslamp-shadowed alley where he entertains the mob
Leering pumpkin-headed peppercorns and salad-snobs
to witless, toothless mummies jeering for his rhythm-rhymes
He sings-out for their promises of peanuts on the dime
Until notes snag up in his dry throat and he trails off
The lucid points he wished to convey silenced by their scoffs
The mob so fails to empathize henceforth leaves him alone
To shoe-gaze into mazes built of brick and cobblestone
(You see he was) Born too soon and raised too young,
he played with fire and got toasted by the sun
Gone are the days when the seasons made the work
To harvest hidden harmonies wherever they did lurk
He gathered up full bushels to cart home and brew a stew
& put these words to music for the female of the two
“Dream fantastic visions if you even dream at all
& answer passion when you hear its call!”
My animal steed’s in need of feed, directs me to the end
Dismounting and recounting what’s real from what’s pretend
Gone are the days when the bards carried the lore
Edifying armies with the wisdom that they bore
Stare with me through never-ending starry space to find
You can always travel in your mind
More Bonus: some leftover Verses with an added female character:
Now in recollection well it all seems just a blur
So I’ll try to petrify this epic tale with words
Words that tumble gently from the tapestry of time
like a waterfall that sprung from streams within my mind
I dreamt fantastic visions mixed with memories of bliss
About a boy a girl and how he freed her from her chrysalis
Amidst his breaking point returns a farm-days memory
when a kindred spirit gave him shelter in the hay
Bellowing through astral space it reached her as she slept
She heard his call just as hope seemed a far and dim concept
She deserved an escape from her life of strife and toil (just as)
Centuries of peasants shared her fate around the world
Gone then were the nights in the taverns and the bars
muppets raising foamy pints & cursing the last call
Her passion flashed so dangerously, treacherously kind
to quit hypnotic social webs that trapped her back in time
Born too soon and raised too young,
She played with fire and got burned by the choir
Jealous little bimbos got their way and made her pay
Until she met this busker boy that whisked her far away
Love like theirs you know transcends the boundaries of time
Love like that deserves true meaning put to rhythm-rhyme
Living ever after were the two embracing bliss
Grooving under full moons and the daylight that reflects
Full were the days of these two romantic beings
Help me recognize their constellation as I sing
Infinite tomorrows shine the light on hidden views
Outbound transportation for the distant-roaming few
|
||||
6. |
Way More Mr. Nice Guy!
03:12
|
|||
7. |
What You're Not & Are
06:10
|
|||
|
We’re gonna get funky
Hey you, what you are is important and we’ll get to that
But first I got to tell you what I think what you’re not
What you’re not- all your money, all your stuff- it won’t define you
Not even what you been through, it ain’t all of you
What you’re not, not kidding, not good enough, heck no
You’re not your education, not your car or superbike.
You’re not what you thought so give it a shot
(Its a hustle-pay on the way from the getaway)
- Not even what you been through, that ain’t you, no
Where you sought to protect what you got who you fought
what ya taught when you’re teaching
No, you’re not what you thought what you bought what you caught who you shot
& not just skin and bones
You’re not- not your hair, not your clothes, not your sport
What you lost ain’t what it cost
A hipster techie veggie punk slam-dunk sheep-munk
Not all the styles of the miles that brought you nearer to hear of the things that I sing
(You’re) Not all the pains or the stains of living too proud can say enough
Not even what you been through, that ain’t all of you
I try to tell you this because I think you oughta know
I try to show you this, with time flyin’ by much quicker than slow
I chopped and juiced this with the music I play
but I can’t squeeze blood from a stone anyway
(Oh wow man) wait a minute (wow)
Shake the sugar shack, hit it
You’re not yer politics, nor your wars, not your house or phone
You’re not up on that ledge or water under that bridge
No random-tandem doublethink hoodwink slinky fink with a drippin’ sink
Not bought nor sold, better than gold, not a peel-off silhouette soul
Not even what you been through, no that ain’t you no
(Fast forward!)
[I] can’t squeeze LOVE from a stone anyway
Its what your knot
What yer not
Its what - you - are - not (I think you get it)
Its what you’re not
What you are:
What you are is a vertical beam of pure light
Let it shine like the sun does in its center
And the way that you carry yourself with the darkness all around
Don’t you worry your head what you’re not, cause you are what you are-
is a shining star.
|
||||
8. |
Gainiac
01:35
|
|||
|
Instrumental.
|
||||
9. |
We Are Not Your Animals
03:06
|
|||
|
I’m talking straight to you Big Pharma
I am not an animal
I’ll not buy your psycho pills
Je ne suis pas un animal
Nor your social engineering
Yo no soy un animal
And we’ll not pass your lobbied bills
Ich bin Kein Tier- Na!
We are not your guinea piglets
I am not an animal
We are not your rhesis monks
Je ne suis pas un animal
I am not your failed experiment
No soy un animal
And I won’t buy your psycho junk
Ich bin Kein Tier- Na!
Look at recent tragedies
I am not an animal
Suicidal celebrities
Je ne suis pas un animal
Opioids and damaged kids
No soy un animal
we don’t need those kinds of “meds”
Ich bin Kein Tier- “meds?”
We are not your animals
We are not your test subjects
We are not.
Get this:
We are not your animals!
|
||||
10. |
Make The Babies Dance
03:54
|
|||
|
Instrumental.
|
||||
11. |
Doodley Dude
03:35
|
|||
|
Instrumental
|
||||
12. |
When In Zen
02:56
|
|||
Jan Dylan Hunter Santa Rosa, California
I play all the instruments on all my recordings unless otherwise noted, my main tools being guitar, keyboard and
percussion.
I grew up in the Virgin Islands where I learned steel pan, percussion and clarinet.
Since then living in other states like California exposed me to more culture. Recent trips throughout Europe and the US have also really widened my musicabulary.
-Still taking it all in.
... more
Jan Dylan Hunter recommends:
Very complex, imaginative and flowing.
go to album
Shpongle Static - Live at Ozora 2019
by Shpongle Static
Also very complex, very imaginative and yes, flowing.
go to albumIf you like Jan Dylan Hunter, you may also like:
Echo Dancing
by Alejandro Escovedo
The legendary Alejandro Escovedo returns with another country-rock scorcher.
go to album
Downey to Lubbock
by Dave Alvin
Soulful guitar interplay form the heart of this lovely Americana collaboration from Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore.
go to album
Our Love In The Light
by Paul & The Tall Trees
featured on Bandcamp Radio Jun 27, 2017
go to album
24th Street Blues
by Tom Heyman
Tom Heyman documents life in San Francisco circa 2023, refusing to succumb to easy characterization & instead capturing the city’s nuance.
go to album
