A New Journey Ahead

By Mr Paul Murphy D&E

The collected lyrics to singer/songwriter Paul Murphy's acclmaied Internet album, 'A New Journey Ahead'.

Includes two epic works: the elegiac Western story, 'The Ballad Of Justice Road'; and 'Juliette', a harrowing tale of female exploitation.

Also present are the much-covered love songs, 'Beautiful Lady' and 'A Summer Day's Dream'; parable 'The Eighth Sin'; the reflective 'I'm Still Singing Songs For You' and 'If Love Is Not Enough For You' (a song written from the female side of the dying relationship); the brooding 'Secrets'; 'After The Ball Is Over', a story-song of moving free of manipulators; the apologetic 'Like A Bird On A Wire'; and the panegyrics 'A Jewelled Love', 'And Love Is You' and 'Innocent Beauty'.
Also included is 'For A...', a work written especially as an over-arch for the songs in this collection.

In addition to the lyrics, there is an essay by Paul, 'Notes.... & Melodies', detailing the backstory of the album; copies of the artworks for the songs; and photographs of many of the original handwritten lyrics.

Haunting, evocative, moving, heart-warming and heart-breaking, 'A New Journey Begins' is a masterpiece of storytelling from an artist at the peak of his powers.

Extract from the @paulmurphy4267 YouTube podcast on the album:

"So, the songs here. Th ey were] spark ed] by a young lady, who was an actress. If I told you her name, even if you knew who she was, you probably wouldn't admit it. Anyway, somebody sent me a picture of her one day -- she had long retired, or gone underground, whatever, by then -- because of her resemblance to someone I may have been involved with a ways down my avenues. 'Hey - is this _ _ _ _' .... It was not- I must say with some regret (Laughter). But to me, it didn't matter what she did - actress, pumped gas, taught Sunday school. The lady was just the most stunningly beautiful creation of nature. I mean, time-stopping. Like a Dante painting come to life. You couldn't not write songs for her. Well, I couldn't.

"And I was very grateful, because at that time - mid-2024 - all my songs that were coming the 'Malice Thru' The Looking Glass' anthology], were about my terminal illness. F-MND. F not necessarily standing for 'Functional'. How it was affecting me. The injustice and pain of having my babies taken away from me, and vice versa, purely because of disability... I'd forgotten what beauty was, the beauty all around us on the world, that we see but don't see, or do see but fail to fully appreciate. I'd forgotten what it looked like, felt like, smelt like, sounded like. And this lady reminded me. And suddenly, songs came to me from sunlight, not from darkness, once again.

"I think, well I know, the first song that came was 'Beautiful Lady'. I knew the words were good when they appeared - I mean, it wasn't my first day on the job (Laughter). But I needed a beautiful melody, to pay respect to both the lady and the words. Luckily, one turned up, as they are wont to do, and the rest, well, I guess it came from there. There was this amazing reaction to the song 'Beautiful Lady'], and from there they just... took me over (Laughter). ...

"Obviously, not all the songs are 'to' songs; some are 'about', some are 'from' - where I wrote on the female side of things, and some, like 'Ballad Of Justice Road', there I placed the lady, her visage, as the heroine of the story. You know, that song is like, 1870's Kansas, or the outback of Wyoming. I don't know anyone who has a song like that one] - possibly Bob Dylan, 'Lily Rosemary] And The Jack Of Hearts'. Maybe I was the visage of the hero, I don't know. Maybe it was Randolph Scott. If so, he owes

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0DLVHL228
• ISBN13: 9798344876634
• Release Date: October 2024
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"