I wrote this album of 12 songs over the period 2021-2023, although I mined a few of my older pieces for ideas. Yes three years! It's a long journey since I am in effect a one-man-band, writing the lyrics and instrumental parts and producing as well. My ambition is to make a high-quality album that can compare with the best albums in my CD collecton. I grew up in the 1980's, and my CDs are mostly older music, roughly running from Simon & Garfunkel in the 1960's through to Seal in the '90s. Bruce Hornsby remains a favorite of mine.

My arrangements are typically based on a 'band' with a standard drum kit, bass guitar, lead guitar and pads. So the sound of my band might resemble something from the 1980's. Where I use a sequence bass, kick drum and synth lead, the sound might be more 1990's or contemporary. In either case I'm just trying to create the sound that I think suits the song, and I suppose in the back of my mind I have the sound of those classic albums.

If possible listen to the album as a whole, via the youtube playlist.

what is the album title about?

The process of writing music can be a bit convoluted. The song 'Forbidden Love' originally had the line 'running down Mystery Lane' but I replaced that in the end with something a bit more meaningful - 'calling out your name'. However I became attached to the name Mystery Lane and designed some of the album art around it.

the artwork

Each song has a square image designed for it. I used the bing image creator, which takes a text prompt and gives you a 1024x1024 pixel jpeg. As someone who has spent a lot of time messing about with cameras and photoshop, I am amazed at how quickly I can get a concept into a useable image file. Sometimes the AI gives me something I would never have thought of. Take the image for 'Landing Time'. In this song a woman is pining for her boyfriend who is a pilot. The prompt is for a woman watching a plane take off. But the AI places the woman with her luggage on the runway! Initially I thought that was an error, but really it's much more interesting than a realistic view inside the terminal. For most of the pictures I specified the style 'digital art' and I also used 'pop art' for Get Even! and 'anime' for Imaginary Friends. There is also a smaller square photo on the left in most of the videos. There is a shot of a singer and guitar player, also from bing. And I use a posterized image of me for a few songs.

producing Mystery Lane

This music is produced entirely from software, principally FL Studio, and the synthetic voice Solaria. I have written separately about the technical side here.

Landing Time   (3:12)

Why do you fly so far, chasing the sun again?
Round and round you go, leaving me in a whirl
Storms are gathering high above us but still you find your way
You're flying blind, you're driving me out of my mind

I wanna be there with you travelling faster than sound
I wanna be there with you watching the world go round

Why do you seem so cold talking on the radio?
Mile after mile you go leaving trails in the sky
Night time falls and you're over the sea and far from friends
Your altitude is making me dizzy again
I wanna be there with you up in the deep purple sky
I wanna be there with you watching the world go by

I'm waiting around for a signal to come from a satellite
You're out there still just a point on the screen
Just a point on the screen tonight
I wanna be there with you up in the deep purple sky
I wanna be there with you watching the world

Soldier of Fortune   (3:54)

A soldier for a season
A battle for a desert
A rifle for a reason
For every dark occasion
I'll see you in the winter-time
A brother for me again
Keeping all your memories
Those memories inside

A fighting man for a season
A battle of wills on a dusty road
A weapon made for a reason
And for every place and dark occasion
A soldier when someone calls your name

So be a soldier
Go be a soldier now
When someone calls your name

Oh he lost himself on a mission
To find a man on a dusty road
A thousand miles from the reason that
The war was fought and won again and again

Imaginary Friends   (3:09)

Riding on the subway
Waiting for that lazy train
Let's start the party here
Now my friends are back again

I've a noisy neighbour
His banging drives me round the bend
But I'm never lonely here
I have this loyal group of friends

Running for a taxi
In the pouring rain
But I'm never lonely
Luckily my friends are still the same

Running for a taxi
In the pouring rain
But I'm never lonely
They're calling now, my friends are back again

My imaginary friends
oh so many friends

Working on the night shift
It's a quiet time in lost and found
But I'm never lonely here
I've so many friends around

Imagine imaginary friends
My imaginary friends, my friends

an early artwork idea - the names on the map are all references to the songs - can you spot them?

Killer on the Run   (4:06)

They say you're a killer on the run
Waiting half of the night for a moment of your own
In the shadows, a killer on the run
From the deep of the night to the rising of the sun
Running like the wind, falling like the rain
Sleeping anywhere you can
And falling, falling ... falling like the rain

They say you're a killer on the run
That's another day that you're apart from me

Apollo 8   (6:19)

The song 'Apollo 8' is a tribute to the NASA moon mission of 1968, the first to leave earth orbit, where the astronauts recited a passage from the bible. I have used some poetic licence there so the quote from Genesis is pulled around to fit; but it is close. In the final section (from 4:15) the astronauts see the whole earth and contrast the night and day sides.

We're gonna see the earth for the first time
For the first time

God created the heaven and the earth
God created the heaven with the earth
And the earth was without form
And the spirit of God moved upon the face, the face of the water
But God said, let there be light
And there was light, and God divided the light from the darkness
And the evening and the morning were the first day
The first, the first day

From here I see the day with the darkest night
The sunrise on the ocean
Then the oil fires burning bright
From here I see the storms with the clear blue sky

Come the nations
Come the heroes
Come the earth, the earthrise
The first to see the earthrise

Forbidden Love   (5:46)

Why is their love forbidden? We are told that the girl is young but not explicity that she is under-age. It could be a Romeo-and-Juliet scenario. Or possibly a dystopian world where there are some weird rules being applied.

She caught your eye in the crowd
She's a wild one, so young but self-assured
Take her now, and find a place in town
Where anyone's allowed
But this is forbidden love
Take your love into the night
Where the clear desert stars abound

You made your plans, but fate's so cruel
For your forbidden love
The time is right, the signal's clear
The signs are up above
Take her far from the city lights
Better leave in the dead of night

Rendezvous!
Way out in the park
She's waiting there and dressed to the nines
Just for you
A game of chance is all you have, you have to play
But freedom, passion, it's just an hour away

Forbidden love, calling out your name
Forbidden love, calling you back here again

You know her mind now, she's yours
But it's unfamiliar ground
She's already there, but wait for an hour
When noone's looking round
Take her far from the city lights
Better leave in the dead of night

A game of chance is all we have
Our freedom's just an hour away, just an hour

Forbidden love, calling out your name
Forbidden love, calling you back here again

She's calling your name
She's calling you
Oh forbidden love

old cars and the desert are themes of the album artwork

Get Even!   (3:27)

You've taken every dollar
You've taken every dime
In the night you stole it all away
Where you hiding, where you running to
Where could you be?
Not where I found you, half a world away
You were using, you were crying
You were wasting every day
You came running from that lonely town
So smoky and grey

Oh someone just get me on the road
After the rain the bird sings
And I can start again
Just help me make it home
Whatever the day brings
I'm gonna get even with you

I can't be sure, but I could find you again
One day, one might on a lonely street
On the ground your tracks are fading away
And I wonder what do they say?

Just get me on the road
After the rain the bird sings
And I can start again
Just help me make it home
Whatever the day brings
I've gotta get even with you

Who confesses all their sins?
Who opens doors and shuts them all tight?
Who hides their tracks wherever they've been?
And who can be watching all night?

Just get me on the road
After the rain the sun shines
And I can start again
I'll be fine
Whatever the day brings
And you can believe the day is mine

Flower in Winter   (3:43)

Was it only a moment's love, forever fading?
Passing by like thunder
Gone by the morning
Was she any more?
Could she be a flower for you in winter?

Could she be, could she be the one?

Rising early to see the light on frozen water
Running back to find you
Just for an answer
Could she be a flower
Could she be a flower for you in winter?

Could she be, could she be the one?

the HD video layout

Let the man go   (5:14)

He prayed for a night and a day
Alone, he prayed to God
For a night and a day
He wished to God he could live again
And do it all again
Do it all again

Alone, he prayed to God
For a night and a day
He tried to find another light inside
A light to show the way
Could he do it all again?
Just for a night and a day
If only, if only he could live again
And take the pain away

I told you, I told you the other day
Let the man go now
Let him drive down the road
He owes you, he owes you money
But he's not worth a dime, oh no

He told me, he told me the other day
You're only a stepping stone

So watch him run, watch him cry
Watch him pray to the Lord
And ask him what's it all for
Watch him run, watch him cry
Watch him run, and pray to the Lord
And wonder why
Let the man go now

Tell me the way   (3:18)

I walked a day for a snow-capped mountain
A cold spring shower and wind still howlin'
A rock or two, they won't stop me again
I went higher and higher through the mist
I never saw the summit, I never saw it then

I crossed a river, a fast spring river
To reach a quiet place where I could wander
The current was strong and it threw me around
Around and around, I struggled for a hour
And I never saw the other side of the water

Tell me the way to your temple of delight
Tell me the way to your hiding place
Your fortress of passion
Your store of little secrets for those lonely days

I found a forest of twisted trees
Where ivy grows and covered me
I waited a while then something came along
By a stream a deer took some water
But others, they're still keeping guard
And they saw me there

Tell me the way

Glastonbury Hill   (4:27)

Glastonbury Hill might be known now from the music festival but it is also associated with the legends of King Arthur.

Oh Guinevere, did you lose you heart on Glastonbury Hill?
What would you say, if the kingdom fell?
Who would you betray?

Oh Guinevere, did you lose your crown for a moment's thrill?
Oh Guinevere, what would you say if the knights would tell?
Who did you betray?

Oh Guinevere, my Guinevere
I dream of her in a medieval plot

I saw a lady there on Glastonbury Hill
She wore a golden satin dress
Once stood a lady fair on Glastonbury Hill
She called her lover Mordered

But Arthur found them caught in passionate embrace
And swore to kill his rival then
Oh their kingdom fell that day on Glastonbury Hill
Within a year both men were dead

Let the man go (2)   (4:04)

This continues the tale from the first part.

He drove a night and a day
To find a cousin in Texas
But the man had moved away
He drove back north again
On the highway to Nebraska
On the highway
For a girl he once knew
He was hoping to ask her
For a favor or two

He met a young farmer's wife
When the farmer wasn't looking
He sampled her cooking
He was trouble from the start
He's broken her heart
And the daughter's too

Let the man go
Oh let the man go
Just let the man go

He drove a night and a day
A night and a day