the brief
the brief
The first 10 karosongs were a mixed bag subject-wise, although I did notice that there were some similarities between songs. There were two primarily funny songs, there were a couple of songs that drew from the self-awareness lessons of the meditation, another couple that came out of my first marriage, another couple that came out of the experience of channeling this music. But I didn't think much of what these similarities might imply at the time.
In the 3.1 period however, as more and more songs came, I began to see that those first karosong 'flavours' were reappearing in the new songs. And that continued into the 3.2 set. By then, I could identify at least 5 major karosong flavours plus a few minor ones.
The term 'flavours' was 'given' by the song energies, and I think it encapsulates the idea pretty well. These are not separate things but aspects of the underlying energies. You could use the term 'colours' just as well, and conceive it as a beam of light split into a spectrum by a prism.
Even though it's the same process, there are some differences in channeling the different flavours. Some are easier, some harder. Some flavours come quickly, other flavours are wickedly slow. Even the energies pushing them forward also feel a bit different, though I don't think I could define those differences in any verbally meaningful way.
Finally, many songs exhibit more than one flavour, though one is usually dominant. So there is some overlap between the flavours presented here.
funi-
funi-karo
Funi-karo is a card. A trickster, punster, swashbuckling rake. Irreverent and politically incorrect. Always willing to shock and take the mickey out of errant pomposity.
Funi-flavour songs play with words and sounds and concepts. Some verge on the wierd and experimental. They're usually but not always fast-paced, jam-packed lyrically and need extra time to master. Most of them have taken 1-3 months to channel forward.
Of all the flavours, funi-karo is the most common, with 9 complete songs (to the start of 2022). Eight of those have been with async tracks by Jesse Cook (the other was with Yanni). The songs with Jesse have become progessively more to the wierd side of the funi spectrum.
But funi-karo often turns up in otherwise not funi- songs, chucking out-of-the-blue, even outrageous lines into the middle or end of a song.
I think there's an aspect of the court fool in funi-karo, and the most dissonant interjections are reminders not to take it all too seriously. See Bluebirds and Ah humanity for examples.
Better run boy 1.0, an all-original karosong with Jeremy Sagar
A first phase favourite, one of the songs that I would play to our meditation students at the time. arc01 / recording made on the Easter weekend of 1994 with my good friend Jeremy Sagar. [9]
The nightmare run 1.0, an all-original karosong
The second funi-flavour song in the first phase, with a deep streak of sas-karo in the content.
There are no recordings of this song from the 1.0 period. This arc01 recording was made many years later in 2016, the period between the second and third phases. [7]
Neither of the two funi-flavour songs from the first phase got reversioned as a 2.0 song. The 3rd funi- song did not come until almost the end of the 3.1 set.
Nothing says 3.1 with Ocean Blue by Jesse Cook
A song answering the eternal question, if naked ladies sang about a bear that shat in the woods, would it be much ado about nothing? (a: of course). arc03 / recording made mid November 2021. [7+]
The first three songs in the 3.2 set were all funi-flavour songs, though each was tinged with other flavours.
Damn straight I'm a liar 3.2 with Hembra by Jesse Cook and Juan Medrano
A rollicking anthem for the professional lawyers liars who have come to dominate public and economic life. arc04 / recorded late October 2021. [7+]
Shake'n bake 3.2 with Shake by Jesse Cook
When just plain gossip ain’t enough, try a wee bit of shake’n bake. arc03 / recorded early October 2021. [7+]
Brick walls 3.2 with Nine (live) by Yanni
One of the most-wacked out and most challenging to sing karosongs, an exploration in multiple-voices of the “karo as cosmic rakes make a bet” theory. arc03 / recorded early July 2021. [8]
There were no funi-songs in the 3.3 set but there were three increasingly wierd or experimental songs in the 4.1 set. All three had async tracks by Jesse Cook.
& the chase was on 4.1 with Beneath your skin by Jesse Cook
An eclectic, darkly comic song about old Harley jokes and chasing motorcycle thieves across the south “where the mountains push at the sky”. arc01 / recorded xxx xxx 2023. [x]
Da loup de loup 4.1 with Double Dutch by Jesse Cook
Raw silliness distilled into a song about the world of competitive ballroom dance. arc01 / nearly mastered recording from the Vancouver sessions, late March 2023. [7]
Have you ever... 4.1 with Number 5 by Jesse Cook
A not for the faint of heart exploration of the things that happen in the space between the worlds, going into and out of sleep. arc03 / mastered in whole/full/on vox — late March 2023, Vancouver. [8-]
rom-
rom-karo
I've never considered myself particularly romantic and I don't read or listen to romance media. One of my karosong surprises was to find a true romantic sensibility channeling through me. That's rom-karo, a perpetual romantic, wannabe crooner, believer in the redemptive power of love.
The first four of what I now consider rom-flavour songs were autobiographical; they came out of my two marriages. They were in fact my "hi there" and "goodbye" songs for each now x-wife. Deeply personal, with numerous energy lock-ins, they were instrumental in my own growth.
None was entirely 'romantic' per se but each had its moments — phrases and lines that hinted at the romantic sensibility still to come forward.
But starting in the third phase, rom-flavour songs lost the autobiography and became just about the feelings, the emotions of romance. For any two lovers at any time in any place.
Six of these "pure" rom-flavour songs have channeled to the end of 2022. These songs are easy to learn and master, even enjoyable to channel. They often come within a few weeks, their singing lessons advance my vocal skills, and they're just a pleasure to sing.
autobiographical rom-flavour songs
Proposal 1.0, an all-original karosong
A folkish, verging on country and western song of regret, hope and deep emotional realization around the channel's first marriage. arc02 / not quite final version recorded in early May 1989. [7]
Bluebirds 2.0 featuring With an Orchid by Yanni
A ‘love you but goodbye’ to gordon’s first wife Leanne, the first in the karosongs ‘karma track.’ arc04 / recorded in Vancouver mid February 2023. [8-]
It was a gift 2.3 with Highland by Yanni
A song of love and joy at meeting Ellen, gordon's second wife. arc04 / recorded mid October 2021. [7+]
A few lyrics changed between the 1.0 and 2.3 versions, shifting the song from one about early love, to one about love in a long-term relationship.
The rain must fall 3.1, an eponymous collaboration with Yanni
A song on lessons learned, absorbed and released in the end of a 24-year relationship. arc04 / this not-yet fully re-mastered in the whole/full karo vox recording was made in mid October 2021. [7]
pure rom-flavour songs
For my new lover 3.1 with A Walk in the Rain by Yanni
The bookend song to The rain must fall, a promise to gordon that there will be a partner in his life. arc04 / recorded mid October 2021. [7+]
I remember it all 3.1 with Fields of Blue by Jesse Cook
A song of nostalgic rememberance for an early lover. Originally channeled live at a Jesse Cook concert. arc05 / this not fully mastered recording made late August 2021. [8-]
In the morning light 3.1, an eponymous collaboration with Yanni
The first karosong to share its title with the title of the async track, and touching affirmation of a joyous life together. arc05 / recorded early January 2023. [8]
While rom-flavour songs dominated the 3.1 set, there was just one in the 3.2 set, none in the 3.3 and then two in the 4.1 set. Interestingly, another two of those songs shared their title with their async tracks.
I remember that smile 3.2 with Jacaranda by Govi
A song of quiet but joyful reflection on a decades long relationship, and warm anticipation of the future. arc06 / recorded mid November 2021. [7]
Your lingering touch 4.1, an eponymous collaboration with Govi
A lament for a long-lost lover and plea for the time needed to fully heal before moving on. arc04 / fully mastered recording from the Vancouver sessions, late March 2023. [8]
To take to hold 4.1, an eponymous collaboration with Yanni
Marriage vows for secular realists, stripped of religious references and Hallmark sentimentality. A duet suitable for any gender configuration. arc02 / lyrically complete, but not yet mastered recording from mid July 2022. [7+].
eco/poli-
eco/poli-karo
The strongest of the flavours is eco/poli-karo, a trenchant critic of the economic and political systems that are destroying our societies with inequality and ripping eco-systems apart for short-term gain.
Although I come from a news and education background, with still residual notions of journalistic balance, I've learned that eco/poli-karo does not mince words, does not obfuscate the direness of the future that neoliberal capitalism is creating.
That directness makes these difficult songs to channel, which is compounded by the emotional distress of the subject itself. These songs generally do not come easily or quickly. They take months, even years, to master.
The first eco/poli song came in the first phase and was recorded professionally to be used in a television program on preserving wildlife habitat. This song changed the most of all in going to a 2.0 version, but maintained the opening and structure of the original.
Away is no longer there 1.0, an all-original karosong
The studio version produced for the program A Place for Wildlife, 1990. With Dawn Fraser and Sandy Middleton on vocals, Wilf Kozub on keyboards. [9]
Away is no longer there 2.3 with November Sky by Yanni
arc04 / recorded late October 2021. [7+]
Those were the only eco/poli-flavour songs in the first and second phases. The next to come was a protest song 'for large crowds'. A marching song that could be customized to any political issue. While it started during the early third phase, it did not finish.
City on the hill 1.3, an all-original karosong
A Billy Braggish protest song wondering whatever happened to that ephemeral ideal? Best for large crowds. Verses in no particular order & new ones always welcome. arc01 / incomplete recording from April 2016. [5]
By the 3.1 set, eco/poli was finding its message. Two came in that set and another in the 3.2. They became more and more unflinching in their diagnosis of the issues, as well as more challenging conceptually.
Got to get back 3.1 with To the One Who Knows by Yanni
A moody blues-ish meditation on the roots of the current planetary, political and societal crises in neoliberal capitalism. The chorus for this song came from a 1.0 stub channeled almost 30 years earlier. arc04 / recorded mid November 2021. [7]
Along the old Silk Road 3.1 with Silk Road by Kitaro
One of the most literary karosongs, a bitter condemnation of our current environmental folly from its future survivors. arc03 / recording from late August 2019. [7]
Ah humanity 3.2 with Azul by Jesse Cook
A letter from mother earth to humanity. Not a good letter. You might say maw's a tad ticked with us. arc06 / Vancouver sessions, early March 2023. [8-]
Except for City on the hill, all the eco/poli-songs to the end of the 3.2 set had combined ecological and political concerns. The 3.3 set included a second protest song aimed at the hypocritical right wing politicians actively undermining democratic countries.
Turtle McTurdle 3.3 with To the Horizon by Jesse Cook
Taking it to the streets in the Black Lives Matter era — an anthem of protest against hypocritical right wing politicians and a vow to change the future. arc02 / recorded mid November 2021. [7]
sas-
sas-karo
The energies behind the songs are closely related to the energies of the self-awareness meditation practice I first encountered in Australia, then later supervised in Canada. So it's not a surprise that what I fondly call self awareness shit comes up in many songs. These songs may deal with the cosmology behind the meditation or the self-awareness concepts it teaches (sometimes both).
In fact, there were three of these sas-flavour songs channeled in the first phase, the most of any flavour. And another six since. But sas is a process not an end-state, so its concepts often appear in the other flavours.
Straight sas-flavour songs generally hit around the middle of the karosong difficulty scale, and take from a few to several months to channel and master. They are often emotionally difficult because . . . well because they're sas and even after all these years, ego doesn't like being called up on the carpet, even in a song.
All three phases started with a sas-flavour song, Transformation in the first and second phases, Awakening in the third.
Transformation 2.0 with music from The Silent Path by RH Coxon
An epic hero's tale of awakening to universal truth, seen in the journey of the 'self' embodied in the physical world to the self 'embodied' in the larger universal presence. arc01 / recorded circa 2011. [8]
Awakening 3.0 with Towards the Light by RH Coxon
The first 3.0 type song, an asynchronous collaboration with original lyrics not based on an existing 1.0 song. It stands alone, but it is also a "call and response" overlay on Transformation 2.0. Check out that combined version in the song vault. arc04 / recorded early January 2023. [8]
The second sas-flavour in the first phase became a tale from the 1980s "men's movement" about coming to see the straitjacket of the male gender role in western cultures.
The price 2.0 with Midnight Hymn by Yanni
arc01 / recorded circa 2015. [8]
The third sas-flavour song in the first phase was also a funi-flavour.
The nightmare run 1.0, an all-original karosong
Just when you thought it was safe to jump back into the pool, sas rears its ugly head to remind us shit happens . . . over and over and over again.
There are no recordings of this song from the first phase. arc02 / mixed from tracks recorded in late 2016, between the second and third phases. [7]
In the early third phase, a new song channeled but it was in fact an old song from the first phase that had been forgotten.
For the record 2.3 with One Man's Dream by Yanni
The “lazurus” song — a sorrowful yet hopeful contemplation on friendship and the struggle for personal growth across many years. arc07 / recorded late December 2022. [8]
There was no sas-flavour song in the 3.1 set, but songs in the 3.2 and 3.3 sets picked up and expanded on the concept of karma introduced in Never-ending sunset. See the 'tracks' tour for more on this particular topic.
Never-ending sunset 3.2 with Into the Dark by Jesse Cook
A song on karma, karma partners and the deep nature of the universe and our role in it. The second song in the karma partners track. arc06 / recorded mid November 2021. [7]
No plan 'B's 3.3 with Tears of Joy by Govi
The third song in the karma partners track, exploring the importance of timing — meeting the right person at the right time — in the great karma dance. arc05 / recorded early January 2023, Vancouver. [7+]
The phoenix must burn 3.3 with Oasis by Kitaro
A conversation between the deeper beings of karma partners whose physical incarnations have just come together for a new experience as lovers, the 4th song in the karma partners track. arc02 / lyrically complete but not yet mastered recording from late March 2023, the tail end of the Vancouver sessions. [7+]
The next sas-flavour song actually started the 4.1 set, though at first I thought it was going to be a rom-flavour song.
If i could be 4.1 with Auspicious Omen by Kitaro
A song for the days "the grind's got you ground, and you're not sure you can take even just another step forward" ... calling on our younger selves to help us in the here and now. arc02 / whole/full/on vox — late March 2023, Vancouver. [8]
muso-
muso-karo
The first phase featured two songs about the music I was channeling, Finding the voice and Just could never feel. Both of these muso-flavour songs were celebrations of the songs starting and opening me up.
But then there no more of this flavour until Brick walls in the 3.2 set.
With such a small sample size, it's hard to quantify how long muso-flavour songs generally take. From a few months to a year-and-a-half for Brick walls. They've been difficult to learn, in part because of the strong energies and emotional lockins that come with them. Mostly positive, even joyful energies. But even these need processing.
Finding the voice 2.3 and The Flame Within by Yanni
The first muso-flavour song, a celebration of the songs starting in gordon's life and their impact on his psyche. arc02 / edited from recordings made in October/November 2021. [7]
Just could never feel 2.3 with In Your Eyes by Yanni
The second muso-flavour karosong, and an exploration of the relationship between gordon and the karo energies. arc06 / recorded mid October 2021. [8]
Brick walls 3.2 with Nine by Yanni
One of the most-wacked out and most challenging to sing karosongs, an exploration in multiple-voices of the “karo as cosmic rakes make a bet” theory. arc03 / recorded early July 2021. [8]
See gordon's blog ruminations for further thoughts on this and other topics.
The various recordings on this website are not for download or release. They are just low resolution demos of the songs gordon has channeled into this existence. They long for a real singer to release them from their idiot musant prison. Interested parties can contact gordon @ this website.
