• audio - event - gig

    Visit us in Rotterdam

    Thank you Creative Mornings Rotterdam for giving us a platform to share our latest Two Doors Down song. It wasn’t on the theme of the month (REVERIE), but the city Rotterdam featured prominently in the talk and in Community Minutes.
     
     

    Visit us in Rotterdam

     
    Rotterdam, O Rotterdam …. Ooo …

    Chorus 1
    Visit us in Rotterdam
    Discover its many charms
    Feel the beat of this ‘can-do’ city,
    the beat of a working heart
    the beat of a working heart

    Verse 1
    The river Maas, Erasmus Bridge
    The tall buildings and the cruise ships
    The old church, the Markthal,
    the cube houses and the seagulls
    Delfshaven, Museumpark
    Hotel New York and the Euromast

    Chorus 2
    Visit us in Rotterdam,
    a city of flesh and bone
    Visit me and the other locals
    in this city that I call home
    The city that I call home

    Verse 2
    We’ll walk around my neighbourhood,
    have breakfast at Zus en Kees
    On Sunday we can go to church
    and picnic at the lake
    So much to take in, so much to do
    Rotterdam and I, we welcome you

    Chorus 3
    Visit us in Rotterdam,
    a city of flesh and bone
    Visit us and the other locals
    in this city that we call home
    The city that we call home

    Rotterdam, O Rotterdam …. Ooo …

  • creativity

    Creative is other ways

    Margriet and I haven’t been making much music together lately. Instead we’ve been creative in other ways.


    From Irene’s pocket collage ‘sketchbook’

     

    Deck of Cards


    Margriet’s Queen of Hearts

    Margriet’s Queen of hearts collage is part of a year-long collage project on Instagram: #deckofcardscollagechallenge2022. Each week a different card gets drawn and everyone uploads their design. The variety of styles is amazing.
     

    Collage Workshops

    I was hoping to organize a collage workshop at my church on World Collage Day (14 May 2022), but our church hall was booked, so I held the event on 7 May instead. Then the Ukraine House in Rotterdam came on my radar and a week later – on World Collage Day – I led a collage workshop on their premises, with a group of Ukrainian women and children. More sessions at the Ukraine House are planned for the weeks to come.
     

    Links

    Irene’s Instagram account: @irene.bom
    Margriet’s Instagram account: @margriet.van.overbeeke
     

  • news

    News update

    Irene writes,

    “We have built up quite a repertoire of songs over the years, but losing my voice at the end of 2019, and then Covid-19 restrictions and extra responsibilities in my church, has meant that we haven’t been out and about much.

    Thankfully my voice is improving (with the help of a speech therapist), and hopefully there will be time and space in our busy programmes to put our Two Doors Down hat on again soon.

    Meanwhile, do reach out and let us know what you think of our songs/our act and if there are any gig opportunities where you are.”

  • gig - songwriting

    LOST song gets trumped by LOST voice

    Irene writes,

    I had a song in the bag for the Creative Mornings Rotterdam session on Friday, 15 November – inspired by the theme, LOST. But, unfortunately, I LOST my voice due to a bout of flu with added complications and we had to cancel.

    We hope to be able to share a Two Doors Down version of the song with you soon. Meanwhile, here is some of the backstory.
     

    DID YOU KNOW?
    “As of the 2000s, a total of roughly 7,000 natively spoken languages existed worldwide. Most of these are minor languages in danger of extinction; one estimate published in 2004 expected that some 90% of the currently spoken languages will have become extinct by 2050.” (wikipedia)

    I do believe we can all play a part in rescuing languages from extinction by giving our mother tongue (first language) our full support. Other languages may serve us well, but our mother tongue serves to keep us fully human and connected to our roots and ourselves. That’s what our LOST song, “Mother tongue”, is all about.

    Here are the lyrics:
     

    MOTHER TONGUE

    Verse 1
    Mother tongue – faded and flickering
    Mother tongue – what’s to become of me?
    I sold you out to the highest bidder
    Mother tongue – I feel so dumb

    Verse 2
    Mother tongue – I am ashamed to say
    I lost respect for you along the way
    My heart went cold and I kept my distance
    Mother tongue – I did you wrong

    Bridge
    You taught me to say ‘thank you’ and ‘please’
    and helped me to stand on my own two feet.
    You taught me to speak up for what’s right and true
    and not to be afraid to say ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘I’m here for you’

    Verse 3
    Mother tongue – let’s plan a grand reunion
    Mother tongue – I want to recommit
    I want to taste all life has to offer
    Mother tongue – you hold the key

    Coda
    Join me at the table as much as you are able
    Mother tongue
    I mean to keep you close so you keep me on my toes
    Mother, mother tongue

     


    RECOMMENDED READING/LISTENING

    onbeing.org
    David Treuer – Language Carries More Than Words

    brainpickings.org
    The Lost Words: An Illustrated Dictionary of Poetic Spells Reclaiming the Language of Nature

  • busking

    BTW … we did go busking on 24 August


     
    We set up here (in the shade of the tree, next to this huge artwork) and played for about an hour, entertaining the passersby on their way to and from the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, with our “straatartiestenvergunnen” (busking licence) at the ready.

    The highlight was meeting a father with his very sick little boy who were taking the air in the park next to the children’s hospital where they made regular and lengthy visits for treatment of a serious but repairable birth defect. A plucky dad and a plucky boy.

     
    And here’s Margriet surrounded by all our gear, post-busking.
     

     

  • busking - open mic

    Plans to go busking and updated list of open mics


    Open mic in York, U.K. – in support of a charity  (Photo: Irene Bom)

     
    Margriet and I hope to take advantage of the good weather in Rotterdam this Saturday and go busking. We have a busking license, but haven’t had time or energy to make use of it till now. (Get in touch if you’d like to know where we’ll be.)

    I’ve also updated the open mic page, realizing that some of the locations listed are no longer active. Some are still going strong, though, like Hostel ROOM in Rotterdam and the Amsterdam Songwriter’s Guild.

  • audio - gig

    Live recording: Good Night’s Sleep

    A live recording of Two Doors Down performing “Good Night’s Sleep” at Creative Mornings Rotterdam on 2 August 2019.

    The song is inspired by Creative Mornings July’s theme, “End”, and captures something of Irene’s daily struggle to call it quits and enjoy the benefits of a good night’s sleep. Irene is on the guitar as usual and singing lead vocal, while Margriet adds percussion (bell and shakers), sings harmony and plays the melodica. Notice the audience reaction when Margriet starts playing “Somewhere over the rainbow” at the end.

     

    Good Night’s Sleep

    bell signalling midnight

    Verse 1
    There’s something about the midnight hour
    that brings out the worst in me
    Not that I’m a party girl
    On the contrary
    But I struggle to call it quits
    And miss out on all the benefits
    of a good night’s sleep

    Verse 2
    My second wind kicks in and them
    I’m chasing after something again
    I love the flow but as some of you know
    It can be an addiction
    I wish I could train my brain
    to entertain the counterclaim
    of a good night’s sleep.

    Verse 3
    At the end of the day I need to learn to say
    Lady, enough is enough
    It’s time for bed, you sleepy head
    Stop sweating the small stuff
    On the far side of my dreams
    There’s a better version of me – I’m dying
    for a good night’s sleep.

    Coda
    Gotta try me some of
    sleeping beauty’s beauty sleep

    strains of “Somewhere over the rainbow”

  • audio - gig

    Live recording: Symmetry

     
    A live recording of us performing “Symmetry” (this month’s theme) at Creative Mornings in Rotterdam on 22 February 2019.

     

    Symmetry

     
    Verse 1
    We were in motion when we met
    How we connected I’ll never forget
    In this world of tangled dreams
    there are no guarantees
    I’m one of the lucky ones
    who know that love is real.

    Chorus
    Symmetry, by degrees,
    is shape-shifting me
    The unexpected symmetry
    of me and you loves you and me.

    Verse 2
    I’d had enough of playing games
    Round and round in circles, what a waste
    Love helped me to begin
    my return to innocence
    Love is like alchemy
    it changes everything.

    (Repeat Chorus)

    Verse 3
    Looking forward, looking back
    Everyone says I’m much more relaxed
    The future sure looks bright
    with love in my life
    It’s not a bed of roses
    but it’s deep and wide

    (Repeat Chorus)

  • news

    CreativeMornings RTD keen to have us back


     

    Irene writes,

    As mentioned in our previous post, we’ve built up a relationship with Creative Mornings Rotterdam, performing at three of their monthly gatherings in 2018.

    Last Friday I attended the January event on the theme of ‘Surreal’, and a number of regulars recognized me as part of Two Doors Down. Also, the organisers – including the new host, Lodovico – are keen to have us back sometime soon. So watch this space.

  • audio - gig

    Live recording: Honest friends

    Irene writes,

    I’m a regular at Creative Mornings Rotterdam. It got me thinking. Could I write a decent song on the theme of the month and would Creative Mornings Rotterdam let Two Doors Down debut the song live at that month’s breakfast lecture?

    The Rotterdam Creative Mornings team were willing to indulge me. To date I’ve written 4 songs inspired by Creative Morning themes, and we got to performed 3 of them live. (“I trust my hands” I performed a capella to a gallery owner in Manchester where I was stranded because I’d missed my flight. It happens.)

     
    The 4 songs in our “Creative Mornings Collection” are:

    Who will throw me a life line (Theme: anxiety)
    Curiosity (Theme: curiosity)
    I trust my hands (Theme: craft)
    Honest friends (Theme: honesty)

     
    Here is the latest song, “Honest friends”, recorded live at Creative Mornings Rotterdam on 26 October 2018.

     

    Honest friends

     
    Verse 1
    Will you tell me the truth
    tell me the truth in love? Please share.
    I appreciate it when you speak from the heart
    It tells me how much you care.

    Chorus
    I need honest friends to keep me grounded
    Who bring out the best in me
    Up close and personal
    I need your honest-to-goodness honesty

    Verse 2
    Will you back me up
    back me up when I’m under fire
    It’s so good to know I have support
    from those who know me and how I’m wired.

    (Repeat Chorus)

    Bridge
    Like the pitch and roll of a ship at sea
    My life is in constant flux
    I need an anchor, a harbour and a lighthouse
    People I can trust

    (Repeat Chorus)