michel
Griffin
Singer | lyricist | composer
Tap/click on a track’s title to hear it.
Play all tracks on Spotify: 
"Stunning Lyrics" - iTunes
"Pure elegance ..." - Amazon
"Brilliantly arranged" - CD Baby
"Michel Griffin's singing can transport the listener to the best of old French cinema..." - Amazon
"Fabulous guitar playing and dramatic accompaniments... This is an album to listen to again and again." - iTunes
"Pure elegance ..." - Amazon
"Brilliantly arranged" - CD Baby
"Michel Griffin's singing can transport the listener to the best of old French cinema..." - Amazon
"Fabulous guitar playing and dramatic accompaniments... This is an album to listen to again and again." - iTunes
Time accelerates as you get older. So it is not surprising that the theme of Time
runs through the songs on this CD, intertwined, of course, with the eternal theme of Love.
I worked with a number of musicians in making this album, two of whom I have never met. The delightful Amy 'Sugarbee' Caldwell lives in a remote part of Canada. We 'met' and sung the title song together via the Net. And Alexis Van Eekhout lives in Belgium. We have never been in the same room. But I heard his silky inventive saxophone-playing online and asked him if he would be willing to play on the album. Happily he agreed - you can hear the result on One Way Conversations and The Slipstream of your Smile.
My thanks also go to my friend Albert Casas, who devoted an afternoon to improvising some lovely sax on Dreams Like Bubbles, and another hilarious afternoon to filming us performing the song. To Gérard Lamolère, whose elegant accordion playing adorns Tree Trunks & Rough Stone', and to Michel ’Coco’ Correch for his brilliant double-bass playing on The Slipstream Of Your Smile.
Enjoy !
I worked with a number of musicians in making this album, two of whom I have never met. The delightful Amy 'Sugarbee' Caldwell lives in a remote part of Canada. We 'met' and sung the title song together via the Net. And Alexis Van Eekhout lives in Belgium. We have never been in the same room. But I heard his silky inventive saxophone-playing online and asked him if he would be willing to play on the album. Happily he agreed - you can hear the result on One Way Conversations and The Slipstream of your Smile.
My thanks also go to my friend Albert Casas, who devoted an afternoon to improvising some lovely sax on Dreams Like Bubbles, and another hilarious afternoon to filming us performing the song. To Gérard Lamolère, whose elegant accordion playing adorns Tree Trunks & Rough Stone', and to Michel ’Coco’ Correch for his brilliant double-bass playing on The Slipstream Of Your Smile.
Enjoy !
Other albums you may enjoy:
Who Knows Where the Time Goes
Released: August 2008
Released: August 2008
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| One Way Conversations |  | |||||
 It was when she sent me back all my love-letters that I realised that our conversations had been strictly one-way! With the fabulous silky tenor-sax playing of Alexis Van Eeckhout. own  iTunes
spotify Remember those blossom days we'd haunt the open hills Hand in hand with silences we couldn't fill ? One-way conversations, we'd leave hanging in the breeze, To be scattered, like the blossom from the trees. In rooms constructed out of light, we'd play our awkward games Butterflies too hesitant to bathe in flame; One-way conversations, we'd leave hanging in the breeze, To be scattered, like the blossom from the trees. In yearning for that moment between your flesh and mine I'd sometimes wonder how the hunger lasted such a time Appetite must breed its own illusions ... Adrift upon a shallow stream, we sang our twilight songs: What matter, if we selected different keys? The time arrived to silence every string: Two one-way conversations drifted silently downstream. Words & Music © M.J.C. Griffin [ASCAP] Return  | ||||||
| Me and Bobby McGee | | |||||
 One of my all-time favourite country songs. The treatment here is nearer to Kris Kristofferson's original version than Janis Joplin's rocker ... own iTunes
spotifyBusted flat in Baton Rouge, headin' for the train, And feelin' nearly's faded as my jeans; Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained, Rode us all the way to New Orleans. I pulled out my harpoon from my dirty red bandanna; I was blowing sad while Bobby sang the blues. With those windshield wipers slappin' time, and Bobby clappin' hands, we finally Sang 'most every song that driver knew. Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose Nothin' ain't worth nothin' but it's free; Feeling good was easy Lord when Bobby sang the blues Feeling good was good enough for me - Good enough for me and Bobby McGee. From the coal mines of Kentucky to the California sun Bobby shared the secrets of my soul; Standing right beside me Lord through everything I've done, Every night she kept me from the cold. But somewhere near Salinas Lord, I let her slip away, She was looking for that home - well, I hope she finds it; But I'd trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday, To be holdin' Bobby's body next to mine. Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose Nothin' ain't worth nothin' but it's free; Feeling good was easy Lord when Bobby sang the blues Feeling good was good enough for me - Good enough for me and Bobby McGee. Copyright © Kris Kristofferson Return | ||||||
| You and I | | |||||
 A love-song for those who can still feel that Love is an eternal in an ever-changing world. own iTunes
spotifyYou and I both need a lot of love, You fill my life, you fill my soul with love, And I know we'll go on and on. And if the tears start to fill your eyes, You know I'm always here to bring you sunny skies, You and I : we'll go on and on ... You and I are still changing, You and I always will, You and I know change as a friend. And if you're restless, well get up and go; I don't hold any strings, I just know that you and I : we'll go on and on. You and I are still changing, perhaps we always will; Though my love is always growing, We'll go on and on ... Copyright © M.J.C. Griffin [ASCAP] Return | ||||||
| Dreams Like Bubbles | | |||||
 I was inspired to write this jazz piece by reading Don Marquis's comment : 'Publishing a volume of verse is like dropping a rose-petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo'. Dreams are like bubbles, blown over cobblestones. With Albert Casas's inventive tenor sax. own iTunes
spotifyI blow my dreams like bubbles over cobblestones, And watch them float and gently drift into the jaws of the unkown; And when they burst, and fall to dust, I calmly do as dreamers must: I reach into the distance and blow another dream. I reach into the distance and blow another dream; And when it bursts, and falls to dust I calmly do as dreamers must: I watch it float and gently drift into the jaws of the unkown; I blow my dreams like bubbles over cobblestones. A dream is like a bubble: you can look, but you can't touch; And yet, in times of trouble, I love so very much ... To blow my dreams like bubbles over cobblestones, And watch them float and gently drift into the jaws of the unknown; And when they burst, and fall to dust, I calmly do as dreamers must: I reach into the distance and blow another dream. Copyright © M.J.C. Griffin [ASCAP] Return | ||||||
| The Rose | | |||||
 Maybe it was because it was the day before Valentine's Day, but I heard Bette Midler's version of this on the radio as I was putting the album together, and was blown away by it. It seemed only natural to include it on an album which was themed on Love and the passage of Time. own iTunes
spotifySome say love, it is a river, that drowns the tender reed Some say love, it is a razor, that leaves your soul to bleed Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need I say love, it is a flower, and you, its only seed It's the heart afraid of breaking, that never learns to dance It's the dream afraid of waking, that never takes a chance It's the one who won't be taken, who cannot seem to give and the soul afraid of dyin', that never learns to live When the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong Just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snow Lies the seed, that with the sun's love in the spring becomes the rose. Copyright © Amanda McBroom Return | ||||||
| Perfumed Letter Blues | | |||||
 When I was a kid, I was hooked on John Mayall, Eric Clapton and the original Blues men like Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. This is my tribute. own iTunes
spotifyYou put your perfume on the letter The letter that you sent; Saying that we were finished, That your love for me was spent. I smelt the perfume on that letter; I swear it knocked me flying. If I didn't know any better, I'd say even the mailman was crying. Don't leave me now, don't leave me You know I won't survive Every single thing I see I see only through your eyes; Don't leave me now, don't leave me Don't leave me without a sign Whether all those things you said and did Were the fruit of chance or of design. Words & Music © M.J.C. Griffin [ASCAP] Return | ||||||
| The Slipstream of Your Smile | | |||||
 A song to capture the magic of those moments when your lover holds you captive with her eyes. With Alexis Van Eekhout's silky sax and Michel 'Coco' Correch's rhythmic double-bass. own iTunes
spotifyYou turn your head, I catch your eye, I can't be certain, but I think I read your mind We have so much to say, there seems so little time I 'm swimming in your smiling eyes, the words are hard to find - You leave me breathless, silenced: Spinning in the slipstream of your smile. There's half a moon, floating out to sea, There's a million stars, and there is you and there is me; I hold you close until I feel I 've conquered Time, I can feel your heart, it's beating next to mine - You leave me breathless, silenced: Spinning in the slipstream of your smile. Some say that love is an illusion, A wishful thought, of make-believe; I found that love is fragile fusion: Walk away, and it'll be tugging at you, tugging at your sleeve ... I love you, I love you, I love you so much. We have so much to say, there seems so little time And swimming in your smiling eyes, the words are hard to find - You leave me breathless, silenced: Spinning in the slipstream of your smile. Copyright © M.J.C. Griffin [ASCAP] Return | ||||||
| One Too Many Mornings | | |||||
 I often start my folk-club sets with this evocative, less well-known Dylan song. [Image courtesy of Richard M. Sintchak] own iTunes
spotifyDown the street the dogs are barking and the day is getting dark. As the night comes in a-fallin’, the dogs’ll lose their bark. An’ the silent night will shatter from the sounds inside my mind, For I’m one too many mornings and a thousand miles behind. From the crossroads of my doorstep, my eyes they start to fade, As I turn my head back to the room, where my love and I have laid. An’ I gaze back to the street, the sidewalk and the sign, And I’m one too many mornings and a thousand miles behind. It’s a restless hungry feeling that don’t mean no one no good, When ev’rything I’m a-sayin’ you can say it just as good. You’re right from your side, I’m right from mine. We’re both just one too many mornings and a thousand miles behind. Copyright © 1964, 1966 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1992, 1994 by Special Rider Music Return | ||||||
| Tree Trunks and Rough Stone | | |||||
 I love the simple honesty of old farm-houses, built of local rough-hewn stone and felled tree-trunks. I chose to live in one, and I imagined that I would die there. With the haunting accordion playing of Gérard Lamolère. own iTunes
spotifyHalf way up the valley, there's a house that I call home It has weathered many seasons - the men who built it are long gone; But sometimes I seem to see them, when the morning light is strong Fashioning a place to live, out of tree-trunks and rough stone. Sometimes I seem to see them, when the morning light is strong, Builders from a bygone age, singing an ancient song; The same sun stained their forearms brown, the same wind chilled their bones: The same earth gave them the wherewithall : the tree-trunks and rough stone. You can keep your golden palaces with their fine-wrought marble walls You can keep your high-rise luxury, it doesn't tempt me at all; You can keep on building houses, but a house don't make a home: Give me the simple honesty of tree-trunks and rough stone. Down there in the valley, there's a place that I'll call home: It 'll be my final resting place, when my last day's work is done; You can keep your ornate monuments, your ashes and your urn: Leave me the quiet dignity of tree-trunk and rough stone. Copyright © M.J.C. Griffin [ASCAP] Return | ||||||
| Bird on the Wire | | |||||
 One of my favourite Cohen songs, arranged for two guitars. I've been playing this for so long, and yet it always moves me. own iTunes
spotifyLike a bird on the wire, like a drunk in a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free. Like a worm on a hook, like a knight from some old fashioned book I have saved all my ribbons for thee. If I, if I have been unkind, I hope that you can just let it go by. If I, if I have been untrue I hope you know it was never to you. Like a baby, stillborn, like a beast with his horn I have torn everyone who reached out for me. But I swear by this song and by all that I have done wrong I will make it all up to thee. I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch, he said to me, 'You must not ask for so much.' And a pretty woman leaning in her darkened door, she cried to me, 'Hey, why not ask for more?' Comme l'oiseau sur la branche Comme l'ivrogne dans le choeur de la nuit J’ai cherché ma liberté Copyright © Leonard Cohen & Sony Music Return | ||||||
| You Crack That Smile | | |||||
 Isn't it amazing how a smile transforms a face ? Here's a little piece of jazz about that ... own iTunes
spotifyI got a lot of pictures, hanging on my wall But you, my love, are lovelier: you're lovelier than them all. Sweeter than the Mona Lisa's, your smile makes me walk tall I just stop, look and wait for a while, and you crack that smile. Your smile is like a ray of sunlight, peeping through a cloud, Makes my heart a flutter, makes me want to sing out loud; Whenever I'm feeling sad or blue, if ever I'm feeling down I just stop, look and wait for a while, and you crack that smile. Your smile is like a ray of sunlight, bursting through a cloud, I just stop, look and wait for a while, and you crack that smile. When you smile I start to hear the world in 4-part harmony Your smile from that heart of liquid gold, that pours its charm on me .... Sometimes it's the quietest people who have the most to say And behind your smile there's a packet of love, and it's all coming my way; But you just have to look at me, to brighten up my day - I just stop, look and wait for a while, and you crack that smile. Copyright © M.J.C. Griffin [ASCAP] Return | ||||||
| Who Knows Where the Time Goes ? | | |||||
 Sandy Denny's immortal classic is the final song on the album, and is sung as a duet with the delightful Amy 'Sugarbee' Caldwell, whom I've never met. (We collaborated on the song via the 'net). One of the finest songs ever written about the fragility of Love in the face of Time. own iTunes
spotifyAcross the evening sky, all the birds are leaving; Ah - how can they know it’s time for them to go ? Before the winter fire, we’ll still be dreaming: I do not count the time. Who knows where the time goes ? Who knows where the time goes ? Sad, deserted shore - your fickle friends are leaving; Ah but then you know, it’s time for them to go. But I will still be here - I have no thought of leaving: I do not count the time. Who knows where the time goes ? Who knows where the time goes ? And I'm not alone, while my love is near me; I know it will be so, until it's time to go: So come the storms of winter and then the birds in spring again - I do not count the time. Who knows where the time goes ? Who knows where the time goes ? Copyright © Sandy Denny Return | ||||||
Album reviews
"Stunning Lyrics" - iTunes
"Pure elegance ..." - Amazon
"Brilliantly arranged" - CD Baby
"Michel Griffin's singing can transport the listener to the best of old French cinema..." - Amazon
"Fabulous guitar playing and dramatic accompaniments... This is an album to listen to again and again." - iTunes
CDs / DOWNLOADS are available from :
Liner Notes
Time accelerates as you get older. So it is not surprising that the theme of Time
runs through the songs on this CD, intertwined, of course, with the eternal theme of Love.
I worked with a number of musicians in making this album, two of whom I have never met. The delightful Amy 'Sugarbee' Caldwell lives in a remote part of Canada. We 'met' and sung the title song together via the Net. And Alexis Van Eekhout lives in Belgium. We have never been in the same room. But I heard his silky inventive saxophone-playing online and asked him if he would be willing to play on the album. Happily he agreed - you can hear the result on One Way Conversations and The Slipstream of your Smile.
My thanks also go to my friend Albert Casas, who devoted an afternoon to improvising some lovely sax on Dreams Like Bubbles, and another hilarious afternoon to filming us performing the song. To Gérard Lamolère, whose elegant accordion playing adorns Tree Trunks & Rough Stone', and to Michel ’Coco’ Correch for his brilliant double-bass playing on The Slipstream Of Your Smile.
Enjoy !