Just As Long . . .

. . . as I don't have to bloody my hands

I'll be your Blood Brother
By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My ha - ands

Barrooms sure have a funny way
Of bringing loyalty out in a man
Buy a drink and tell a joke
And buddy you've got you a friend
But keep a good eye upon that friend
Because he really doesn't give two hoots
And don't say anything about his Mom
His girlfriend or his army boots

I'll be your Blood Brother
By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My ha - ands

Walked into an auto-mo-showroom
I need some wheels but got no money to spend
When a guy with an ugly tie
Walks out and acts like he's my long-lost friend
I said hey Buddy I've a purpose here
And if you please I will accomplish my goal
So don't you slap me on the back again
Cause if you do I might just lose my control

I'll be your Blood Brother
By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My ha - ands

So please be careful when you meet someone
Who'll make a promise at the drop of a hat
And don't provide them with encouragement
You will regret the day you offered him that
Cause everybody needs some empathy
But just how willing
And how far will they go
To really help you when the chips are down
Can they be trusted half as far as you throw them

I'll be your Blood Brother
By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My hands

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 

My latest solo offering, No Frills, is now available at - No Frills

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

Get your copy of OHO's  Where Words Do Not Reach now!
The Ocean City Ditty Video is now on YouTube
Also, be sure to visit: www.rayjozwiak.com and www.ohomusic.com

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Blood . . .

. . . Brother . . . 

Blood Brother
OHO duo (Jay Graboski & Ray Jozwiak) live at Bourbon Street on the Beach, September 2015

I'll be your Blood Brother

By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My hands

Bar rooms sure have a funny way
Of bringing loyalty out in a man
Buy a drink and tell a joke
And buddy you've got you a friend
But keep a good eye upon that friend
Because he really doesn't give two hoots
And don't say anything about his Mom
His girlfriend or his army boots

I'll be your Blood Brother
By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My hands

Walked into an auto-mo-showroom
I need some wheels but got no money to spend
When a guy with an ugly tie
Walks out and acts like he's my long-lost friend
I said hey Buddy I've a purpose here
And if you please I will accomplish my goal
So don't you slap me on the back again
Cause if you do I might just lose my control

I'll be your Blood Brother
By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My hands

So please be careful when you meet someone
Who'll make a promise at the drop of a hat
And don't provide them with encouragement
You will regret the day you offered him that
Cause everybody needs some empathy
But just how willing
And how far will they go
To really help you when the chips are down
Can they be trusted half as far as you throw them

I'll be your Blood Brother
By your side through thick and thin
I'll be your Blood Brother
Just as long as I don't have to bloody
My hands


Blood Brother
OHO duo (Jay Graboski & Ray Jozwiak) live at Bourbon Street on the Beach, September 2015





What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 


OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak.  Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com 


My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Goddesses . . .

. . . I have known . . .

(from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/18/awesome-goddesses-mythology_n_6881434.html)
Anat (Ugaritic/Ancient Semitic Mythology)
This ancient Canaanite goddess of love and war . . . An ancient Ugaritic text describes Anat’s revenge against a man who slighted her in no uncertain terms: "Anat seized Mot, the divine son,/ With a sickle she cut him,/ with a winnow she winnows him,/ with fire she scorches him,/ with a mill she crushes him,/ she scatters his flesh in the field to be eaten by birds."

Hel (Norse mythology)
Hel, ruler of the eponymous underworld of Norse mythology. (“To go to Hel” meant to die in ancient Norse idiom—nowadays, it means more or less the same thing.) Hel’s role was to lead an army of the dead in a ship made of the fingernails of corpses.

Amaterasu (Shinto Faith)
Amaterasu or Amaterasu-ōmikami is one of the major deities in the animistic Shinto religion of Japan; her full name means “Great Divinity Illuminating Heaven.” One of the world’s few female solar deities, a principal myth featuring Amaterasu depicts her conflict with her brother, Susanoo, god of storms and the sea.

Tefnut (Ancient Egyptian Mythology)
Tefnut was the ancient Egyptian goddess of moisture, rain and dew. . . she was the mother of the gods of the sky and earth, and grandmother of Egypt’s principal gods, Horus, Isis, Osiris and Set.

Princess Liễu Hạnh (Vietnamese Folk Faith)
Princess Liễu Hạnh is a singular figure in Vietnamese myth. One of the Four Immortals, divine beings worshipped by the people of Vietnam’s Red River Delta region, Lieu Hanh was a daughter of the Jade Emperor, a central deity in Taoism and other East Asian theology. Liễu Hạnh was a figure of female emancipation who excelled at poetry and was an embodiment of female power.

Ixchel (Mayan Mythology)
Ixchel (or Ix Chel), the ancient Mayan goddess of childbirth and war. Often depicted with jaguar claws or ears, she wears a serpent as her headdress and is also associated with the moon and the traditional Mayan sweatbath. She was so sacred to Maya women that they founded an island sanctuary, still called the Isla de Mujeres, dedicated to worship of Ixchel off the coast of contemporary Cancun.

Louhi (Finnish Mythology)Image via Wikimedia Commons
Lovatar is a goddess who takes many forms and has many names, featured in the ancient Finnish epic The Kalevala. Blind daughter of the god of death, Lovatar gave birth to nine diseases (including plague, sterility and cancer).


Paleolithic Goddess Figurine
OHO rehearsal recording August 2015, OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak





What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 


OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak.  Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com 


My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Some Things. . .

. . . don't change . . .

An excellent politician and good president, in all his humanity, captured the spirit of much that is true even today . . .


(from http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lyndon_B._Johnson)
"I'll tell you what's at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."

Said in 1960 in response to racist signs held by Johnson's motorcade in Tennessee. Recounted by Bill Moyers, then a member of Johnson's staff, in Bill Moyers: "What a Real President Was Like; To Lyndon Johnson, the Great Society Meant Hope and Dignity," The Washington Post, Nov. 13, 1988.

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 


OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak.  Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com 


My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music will be released April 7, 2014  Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Thin . . .

. . . man


(from http://www.filmsite.org/thin.html)
The Thin Man (1934) is the first installment of a popular series of films casting a sophisticated, glamorous, pleasure-seeking, and urbane husband-wife detective team (William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles). Director W.S. Van Dyke had previously directed Manhattan Melodrama (1934), in which stars Powell and Loy had displayed their unique and charming chemistry in their first of 14 film pairings. The film's mystery story takes a back seat to the romantic screwball comedy, featuring the splendid, snappy and flirty banter between the rich, carefree married couple. They are known for sleuthing, solving murders, wisecracking one-liners, affectionate witticisms, delightful teasing and one-upmanship, alcoholic fun with plenty of martinis, a wire-haired terrier named Asta (actually named Skippy), and a loving relationship - often punctuated with quick kisses and slight hiccups. The story is taken from Dashiell Hammett's 1934 detective novel of the same name, with a married couple that was supposedly modeled on the author's relationship with longtime love and playwright Lillian Hellman. [This was Hammett's fifth and final novel, written following The Maltese Falcon and The Glass Key.] The 'thin man' is actually the murder victim in the novel and film, and only appeared in the initial film. This low-budget MGM film, that was shot in less than three weeks (14 days) and earned over $2 million, is the best of the bunch. It launched a series of five more lucrative Thin Man movies (from 1936 to 1947), some of which had their screenplays also written by Dashiell Hammett. Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich were responsible for co-writing the screenplays for the first three Thin Man films.

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 


OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak.  Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com 


My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Or Not . . .

When they first met
There was no magic
Yet there was something in the air
Drawn to each other
Like there was no tomorrow
Because of something yesterday

Now he wants to be what she wants him to be
He wants to be what she wants him to be
With no regard about the man she really sees
Like living in the past
Contracting some disease

One little girl
Without a care or worry
Who had the world at her command
Found without warning
Someone she lost one morning
Was so much more than just a man

Now he wants to be what she wants him to be
He wants to be what she wants him to be
With no regard about the man she really sees
Like living in the past
Contracting some disease

I never ceases to amaze
The things that motivate us
To some lofty height or to the deepest depth
But if the timing's right
You walk into the room just when
They need another volunteer to save the wreck

Are there regrets
Will there be second guessing
About the way this thing was handled
Are they content
And would they ever tell me
As if I really need to know

Now he wants to be what she wants him to be
He wants to be what she wants him to be
With no regard about the man she really sees
Like living in the past
Contracting some disease


To Be
©2006 Raymond M. Jozwiak (copyright demo recording)

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 


OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak.  Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com 


My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet  
 

Time To Jump . . .

. . . on the Joan Rivers bandwagon (I don't generally jump on them, you know), yes indeed!.  (Hey, isn't that what everyone in media is supposed to do now?)

 No disrespect intended, I assure you.  I can also assure you there will be NO Ray Jozwiak bandwagon to jump on at all when I go . . . but I digress.

Joan Rivers has been visible to me ever since I knew what a television was. I thought she was funny. She was, in fact, always funny.  Never lost it. I'm not sure what to say about all the plastic surgery. . . it's all already been said anyway.  But hey, she didn't hurt anyone.  What can I say about "E" and making your schtick criticizing how people dress.  I can say, I never watched her there.  In summary, a strain, talented woman who was successful in a very tough (and also a "Man's") business.  I respect that. I respect that in much the same way as I respect Madonna's (or GaGa's - is THAT how you spell it?) business savvy even though I don't buy their music.

On her preferences for a funeral service . . .
"I want craft services, I want paparazzi and I want publicists making a scene! I want it to be Hollywood all the way. I don’t want some rabbi rambling on; I want Meryl Streep crying, in five different accents. I don’t want a eulogy; I want Bobby Vinton to pick up my head and sing “Mr. Lonely.” I want to look gorgeous, better dead than I do alive. I want to be buried in a Valentino gown and I want Harry Winston to make me a toe tag. And I want a wind machine so that even in the casket my hair is blowing just like Beyoncé’s."
– Joan Rivers

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet

No Baggage . . .

. . . at least very little . . .

I have arrived at an eerie-yet-comfortable peace with myself and the world. Some people can see this just by looking at my face. I have no axe to grind with my fellow man, I am content with my life, I love (and like) my wife and children, I can tolerate my job (and even enjoy it frequently) as a means to allowing me to partake of the 'rest' of life.  I don't covet (there's that religious background again) physical things, whether or not they belong to other people or to the retailer.  I find joy in the richness of humanity and feel no need to impose any of my beliefs or perspectives on anyone else. I experience an unexplainable spiritualism in music that only gives more the longer I participate in it.

That's not to say I don't have my own problems and it's not to say that all is right with the world all of the time.  I don't wear blinders and I'm no Pollyanna.  There are many things that aggravate me and that I would, will and still constantly try to change for the better.  But I don't obsess over them.
All in it's own time. My days here are much too few to make myself sick over these things.

So as I sit in this mall and enjoy my coffee amidst retail space renovation, vacationing middle-schoolers, folks of various and sundry national and cultural backgrounds, mid-summer clouds gathering outside and anticipating  a quiet evening, wonderful meal, stimulating conversation and a good night's sleep later on, I also look forward to the prospect of more . . . music.


Baggage
©2006 Raymond M. Jozwiak



What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet

Limousine. . .

She comes out of the night she wrote every book you've read
Fingering her pearls every bead a lover dead
She wears that feathered hat ends up burning on the bed
Her freedom ring's not cheap the beast the till both must be fed

We twins sit on this leather seat this woman this man
One lives the level of her heart the other's gland's in hand
She serves that wicked brew opens minds opens eyes
Holds up the looking glass cracks to cut the shame that binds

What is is what is not is too
This emptiness inside includes
The mystery awaiting moving you
To be released and not removed

And she runs me down in my limousine
And she picks me up in my limousine
And we drive it home give our breath away
Though I'm left alone no way am I the same

The hand extends the fingers eyed they fondle urging every word
You only have what you give up fluxing in the flow
Holding on to what you want will only keep it out of reach
And lock you up inside yourself and block epiphany

Read the beat the rhythm takes and gives
The bodies dance in primal play
Forever steps alive into today
Here each word points but does not say

And she runs me down in my limousine
And she picks me up in my limousine
And we drive it home give our breath away
Though I'm left alone no way am I the same



Limousine
by John P. Graboski
(Oho [Jay Graboski, David Reeve, Ray Jozwiak]
recorded at Band Bash 2014 - “You’re With the Band!” -May 24, 2014)





What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html 

OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)

My latest solo release, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet