BOB
FALKENSTEIN
BOB Falkenstein
-Purveyor of Fine Lyric and Melody-
Bob Falkenstein has played in the Puget Sound area for over 27 years in Rock, Blues, Bluegrass, Folk and Country Bands including many years of solo performances. He has toured through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and California, but prefers to stay close to his Arlington home and keep things local.
Bob is a prolific songwriter, poet and composer. His lyrical styling combines wit, wisdom and insight.
Some sample lyrics:
"Your blood runs in my veins, the spark of your lives' is within me
Faceless for so many years, but I catch glimpses in the mirror
I hear your voices in the winds, I hear your songs in the waters
I see your faces in the clouds
I only have to look and listen.
Wisdom of the Ancients painted on the stones
Forged within the fires and carved upon the bones
Wisdom of the Ancients hidden in deep waters
Flowing through the Web of Wyrd
Gekommen zu mir."
--From Widsom of the Ancients*
"The wind sings to me and I sing back
The moon smiles and I smile too.
If I listen close enough it takes me back,
And I ride the wings of ancestral visions.
Fetch and I
Shadow in shadow
No one sees and no one knows.
From the farthest star to the deepest root,
So the Great Conversation goes...
Authenticity is an art
A deconstructing of words and walls.
But commonality, such a basic part,
Can get hung like a painting in deserted halls.
Fetch and I we walk the hedge
Looking at both sides of the equation.
The world sleeps and dreamers dream
Quiet is the Great Conversation."
--From The Great Conversation*
"It's hard to stand up when everything hurts,
But stand up when you know it's the right thing to do.
Popularity can have the value of dirt,
So strive to be the diamond that lights up the room.
And Hold on.
New days are coming.
Like a dream these days will pass.
Hold on, though you stumble on your way.
Hold on, your going to be o.k."
--From Hold On*
"I've been to the center of the Earth
At the bottom of a cave up in the air.
Listening to the rythmes all around me,
There were stone angel wings and reflections everywhere...
I've seen a man made of stars
He wrote on the wall with his eyes.
He looked at me and he said
The rythmes that you feel should be no surprise...
You know the Heart Beat of the Earth is in us all....
I’ve seen the trees dance like lovers "There's a calm within the quiet Like time in windblown glass I surf the tides of inspiration Oceans of hours floating past And somewhere in the Taunus Mountains Dancing on molecules of water in light My thoughts glide like river ice Breaking free and flowing away...
Twisting to the rhythms that are whispered in the winds
I’ve felt the earth wrap like covers
Everything’s in motion flowing out and flowing in”
--From “The HeartBeat of the Earth (is in us all) *
Crowds they gather 'round and watching me
They're fenced in by their own logic.
Fingers point at their reality
Expecting me to be as tragic.
But somewhere in the Taunus Mountains
I ride the winds of possability.
And surf the tau to here and now
Dreaming dreams that are dreaming...me...
--From "Taunus Mountains"*
"Spin those silver strings my friend
It's been a long long while
It seems forever since I've heard them ring
Even longer since you smiled
Whatevers' changed has aged you so
Pick up those strings and play
Each note from your fingertips
Will make the years just melt away.
So don't just stand there dreaming
Step into the dream and make it real.
Don't just stand there dreaming
Step into the dream and make it real...."
--from Conscious Evolution*
"Come and dance with me and make up words to song and galdr charm
Feel the star glow in your eyes, feel the grass beneath your feet
Hear the morris bells a-ringing 'round the maypole dizzying
See the ribbons in the air, the Fae they are everywhere.
Fires of Beltane. Life surrounds us. The wheel of the year is turning
Come and jump the fire with me.
Fires of Beltane. Life surrounds us. Everything is green and growing
Come and jump the fire with me...
Walpurgisnacht on Brocken Mountain song rise in the air
Beltane fires over here, Beltane fires over there.
Everyones' connected 'neath the branches of the World Tree
Shake the dry leaves from your hair
And dance around the fire with me
Fires of Beltane....."
--From "Fires of Beltane" *
“Somewhere there’s a born winner
Picking up all the awards
Life is sweet when you can’t be beat
And you never have to try too hard
Somewhere there’s a born loser
Who would laugh if he heard the news
That the Nun who kicked the habit-
is still out on the loose"
--From “The Nun Who Kicked the Habit *
"Woke up this morning and rolled off the cot
Drank me cool water from an earthen pot
New day is rising from the ashes of the past
I may be skating on thin ice today
Yesterday I was crawling on broken glass..."
--From Peach Trees *
“Watch what you say, watch what you say
A word is a breath and it don’t weigh nothing
But it carries a lot of weight
So watch what you say..."
--From “Watch What You Say” **
“I learned just how powerful words can be when I had a side career as a Hypnotherapist.” He says. “It was a very powerful and illuminating experience.”
After doing studio work for others, Bob now finds it gratifying to spend time recording his own material at Global Guitar Studios.
“I enjoy the whole creative process..." Bob says. "...of being part of the process as a thought turns into a song, a poem or into an instrumental piece, as something literally shows up from nowhere and becomes a seed of a thought and then grows into whatever it will be. But where does the original thought come from, that creative seed? That is what is intruiging. Who knows all the connections in ones own web that influences you. Somedays I dip into the well of inspiration, other days it dips into me.”
Currently Bob is currently working on another CD and enjoys the occasional live performance. When pressed to describe his music he says "It's mostly acoustic folk music with a dollop of rock and blues tossed into the pot...not exactly gourmands for the Hoi Poloi, but it's passable fare....and like everything else, a song or piece of music has a spirit, a life of its own and every time you play it, at its every incarnation, it is a little bit different, never the same way twice. I enjoy letting the music unfold and see where it leads. Sometimes it can be a disaster...(laughing)...but thats what a life is. Joys and sorrows."
When I asked him if he only played original music he replied with a smile, " I play original music, some thats not original and some that was written by others."
Bob truly is a purveyor if Fine Lyric and Melody, and I am a big fan.
--Hugh Jim Bissell
*Copyright by Robert Falkenstein
