VIOLA, BY THE LAMPLIGHT - [demo]

A touch of influence from “The Weight” by The Band, which inspired the lyrics. This is about the weariness of the world and the longing to come home from it. 

The narrator in this song has seen ambition, conflict, pride, money, fear, and loneliness, but in Viola he finds warmth, music, safety, and the calmness of home. Viola can be read both as a beloved person and as an instrument, a source of tenderness, resonance, and song. 

I came down from the old road
With the evening in my eyes
Saw Viola by the window
Where the little lamplight lies

Then I heard her voice in the doorway
Soft and golden, sweet and low
She said, “Hide in from the evening,
You look tired to the bone”

I said, “I’ve been learning
All the world and all its ways”
And the world was gentle
In the place we called our own

Lie down, lie down
Leave your worries by the door
Hold on, hold on
Let the morning carry on

There was talk down in the city
There was thunder in the square
There were men who spoke of justice
With a hard and hungry stare

And the night was dark and stormy
But her voice was sweet and near
Singing, “Love is not for keeping
If it’s only kept by fear”

Lie down, lie down
Leave your worries by the door
Hold on, hold on
Let the morning carry on

I have seen the proud grow weary
I have seen the wise grow cold
I have seen a man lose heaven
Just to count the coins he holds

But the beautiful and beloved
Need no crown and need no throne
When she laid her hand upon me
I no longer was alone

Lie down, lie down
Leave your worries by the door
Hold on, hold on
Let the morning carry on

I have seen the proud grow weary
I have seen the wise grow cold
But I knew my heart had wandered
Just to find your hand to hold

And all the years behind me
All the names I used to be
Were only dust and distance
Till your song came back to me

So I left my lonely learning
By the turning of the lane
And I lay beside my Viola
By the lamplight, far from rain

And her hand was warm upon me
And her breathing soft and slow
In the hush beside my Viola
I found the home I used to know

© 2026 .BYRD 

Lyrics: Renata

All rights reserved. 12/06/2026

I will probably write more about this demo later, although I do not think the song needs much explanation. I wrote the lyrics wholeheartedly, and I believe they express something many women can relate to at some point in their lives.

Do you trust the
Kindness of strangers
Who judged her
Then came back to
Judge again

Every city needs
a martyr or a saint
Every city needs
a woman they can name

Do you trust the
Kindness of strangers
Who judged her
Then came back to
Judge again

Names don’t hurt you
When you know just
Who you are

What does a woman do
Let the whole town talk
Head up high and walk

Don't explain
Don't regret

What does a woman do
Let the whole town talk
Head up high and walk

Don't explain
Don't regret

I don’t need the whole world
To understand what I'm in
I just move how I move
In my Venetian red

Not trying to be blamed
Not trying to be saved
Know just when to leave
Know just when to stay

One road makes you saint
One road leads to blame
Walk there in the middle
Choose the woman within

Names don’t hurt you
When you know just
Who you are

What does a woman do
Let the whole town talk
Head up high and walk

Don't explain
Don't regret

What does a woman do
Let the whole town talk
Head up high and walk

Don't explain
Don't regret

Do you trust the
Kindness of strangers
Who judged her
Then came back to
Judge again

Moon hits the water
Whole world turns to vice
She’s walking through the town
With her head lifted high

Oh, Venice, don't you know her
What does a woman like her do
Oh, Venice, don’t you know her

What does a woman do
Let the whole town talk
Head up high and walk

Don't explain
Don't regret

I don’t need the whole world
To understand what I'm in
I just move how I move
In my Venetian red

© 2026 .BYRD 

Lyrics: Renata

All rights reserved. 26/06/2026

Inspiration: This demo began with an image of château gates, my lifelong love of surrealism, and Erving Goffman’s writing on society. The image stayed with me: those gates, and the feeling of stepping into an unknown world. As with all my songs, it became its own story. 

Cut through smoke and mirrors
We are walking side by side
Through the gates of wonders
In those silver linings
Of the night

Come walk with me to find
Many faces under masks
They never stay
They never leave
None of them is mine

Freedom is desire
And love is like a bite
Things I want from you
Are what you want 

From me too

Up the stairs
Forget your manners
To reveal is your art
To know you so deeply
Honey, it is more than love

To know you so deeply
It goes beyond love

Our bodies become fluent
In the language of the two
It’s the only way you know me
Our secret language of the soul

Freedom is desire
And love is like a bite
Things I want from you
Are what you want 
From me too

Up the stairs
Forget your manners
To reveal is your art

To know you so deeply
Honey, it is more than love
To know you so deeply
It goes beyond love

This world is full of wonder
And our love is just us two
It’s those fickle moments
And someone just like you

Was it written in the stars
That you never needed to possess
It was always something yours

Up the stairs
Forget your manners
To reveal is your art

To know you so deeply
It is more than love
To know you so deeply
It goes beyond love

© 2026 .BYRD 

Lyrics: Renata

All rights reserved. 06/06/2026

I was missing some lyrics when I first posted this, and then I realized the missing part was already in the description I had written about this demo. So I used it as the intro.

It begins in a spoken delivery, and as it continues, the phrasing becomes half-spoken, faster and less evenly paced. The way I hear it, the uneven pace creates a kind of tension and unease, and then the vocal opens into a melodic release as the song begins.  

I’m keeping it as it is. For demo version it is good.

INTRO: This song is not autobiographical, but it does carry some truth, for me and I’m sure for many people. It can be applied to many different situations, not just romantic ones, although the song mainly presents it through that lens.

To write something like this, I had to reach deep into the psychology of love, self-worth, and emotional places that are not easy to write about.

It is interesting how I often write some of my darkest themed songs when I am going through some of the best times. It is probably one of the reasons why I am not afraid to delve into these topics, because I can write about them more objectively, from a psychological point of view.

Perhaps happiness has always needed a certain awareness of darkness to counterbalance it.

Don't be foolish
Don’t make me confess
I loved you better
When I loved myself less

Dress the lies
Spit the love
Cross your heart
But don't you die

We were here before
I've heard it all
I'll hear it once more

I blamed it on the river
But the ocean said, more
I gave it all my fears
But the ocean said, more

Don't be foolish
Don’t make me confess
I loved you better
When I loved myself less

Dress the lies
Spit the love
Cross your heart
But don't you die

I blamed it on the river
But the ocean said, more
I gave it all my fears
But the ocean said, more

Dress the lies
Spit the love
Cross your heart
But don't you die

Don’t let me confess
I loved you better
When I loved myself less

We were here before
I've heard it all
I'll hear it once more

I never lost my
Appetite for shame
Did you love me better
When I loved myself less

© 2026 .BYRD 

Lyrics: Renata

All rights reserved. 02/07/2026

Inspired by The Thomas Crown Affair (1999). I’ve always loved its soundtrack, especially “Everything (... Is Never Quite Enough)” and “The Windmills of Your Mind,” while “Sinnerman” and Magritte’s The Son of Man became stronger influences on the lyrics and atmosphere.

I began writing with the line I had on my mind “all my virtues look like sins”, and then created a world of cat and mouse: pursuit, temptation, and someone always being one step ahead, much like in the film. It shaped the mood, but I wanted the lyrics to become their own thing.

This song is dedicated to my husband, for our tenth wedding anniversary. Ten years of marriage, through everything life has brought us, feels worth celebrating.

Oh, you are the perfect crime
Burned your fingerprints to hide
A stranger, a painting, an apple
What you did was a heist

All your virtues look like sins
And the way you know me
When you shouldn’t know a thing
You shouldn’t know a thing

Where you gonna run to
When I’m everywhere you’ve been
Where you gonna run to
When I’m the one who let you win

Turn the lights low, steal the room
Let them wonder what we do
I know what you came to prove
False names, stolen dance
White lies and alibis

All my virtues, they are sins
And the way you know me
When you shouldn’t know a thing
You shouldn’t know a thing

Where you gonna run to
When I’m everywhere you’ve been
Where you gonna run to
When I’m the one who let you win

And the way I know you
When I shouldn’t know a thing
I’m the one who let you win

© 2026 .BYRD 

Lyrics: Renata

All rights reserved. 29/05/2026

Inspiration: Part of the inspiration for the lyrics is the movie I watched years ago, Only Lovers Left Alive, part of it is spooky action, as in physics. The song came out much stronger and different than those references. I won't limit myself into publishing songs exclusively in woman's voice, as I focus on songwriting, not singing.

Apparently, my inner songwriting voice is a man sometimes. It doesn't surprise me, as I do almost exclusively listen to songs sang by men. And I do enjoy mostly modern soul and blues last few years. 

Where the old songs sleep
If the world has lost its soul
When forever bores you
Waste the night with mine

Come and play me something slow
On my Gretsch Falcon White
The one that makes me remember
All the years I let you go

Spooky action, in the corner
Touch my shadow, move my body
Cross the distance, bend my mind

For the tricks we played
For the friends we lost
For the centuries
Worth the cost

Come and play me something slow
On my Gretsch Falcon White
The one that makes me remember
All the years I let you go

Spooky action, in the corner
Touch my shadow, move my body
Cross the distance, bend my mind

For the tricks we played
For the friends we lost
For the centuries
Worth the cost

© 2026 .BYRD 

Lyrics: Renata

All rights reserved. 14/05/2026

I wrote this song inspired by my beautiful Monstera plant, writing it from her point of view. It’s lovely.

When I was young
I had a green heart
Holding every drop of rain
Safe from the sun
Closed and vain

My Monstera heart
Rain kissed and light
The weather we survive

What a thing
To be incomplete

Come in, light
Come in, breeze
Come in, life

I am not afraid
To be changed
I am not afraid
To be seen

My Monstera heart
Rain kissed and light
The weather we survive
What a thing
To be incomplete

Carved by love
Weathered by time
What looked like missing
Was the proof that I was fine

My Monstera heart
Rain kissed and light
The weather we survive

What a thing
To be incomplete

Come in, light
Come in, breeze
Come in, life

Now I open where I used to hide
I am not less than I was before
I am fuller than I was before
A leaf, this life, a work of art

My Monstera heart

Leaves don’t learn what life is
By hiding from the rain and sun
Heart shaped, rain touched
I’m growing whole

Isn’t it strange
The more we change
The more we let through

What a thing
To be incomplete

The heart is only perfect at the start
My Monstera heart

© 2026 .BYRD 

Lyrics: Renata

All rights reserved. 06/07/2026

 Inspiration: Getting lost in thoughts, movement and moments alone.

There’s this feeling I can’t name
Not the path that leads you there
Not the kind that lets you stay

If I tried to keep it mine
It would slip me every time

And my mind, has it's habits
Of deciding what things mean
It can turn a passing moment
Into something never seen

If I tried to keep it mine
It would slip me every time

So I let it come and go
I let it come and go
As it does and always will
I let it come and go
Wash all over me

Five horizons, wrapped around me
And the steps I take when no one looks
Every moment lived in truth
Shapes the air I'm moving through

What is timeless you can borrow
From this stage of life we play
Where empires fall with flow of sand
We're breaking this hourglass
Changing molecules our way

So I let it come and go
I let it come and go
As it does and always will
I let it come and go
Wash all over me

Five horizons, wrapped around me
Steps I take when no one looks
Every moment lived in truth
Shapes the air I'm moving through

If I tried to keep it mine
It would slip me every time

So I let it come and go
I let it come and go
As it does and always will
I let it come and go

© 2026 .BYRD 

Lyrics: Renata

All rights reserved. 19/03/2026

Sweet and sour as in the drink, but it could also be a metaphor. I probably should’ve written it more clearly, but it’s fine. I’ll keep it as it is: sweet and sour :) This song is part of the inspiration for something else I’m currently working on, something a bit different from songwriting.

Also, this sound was partly inspired by Olivia Dean, with a touch of Norah Jones, two artists whose songs are always near the top of my list. I love that smooth, relaxed sound both of them have in their own specific way.

To me, Olivia feels perfect for spring and summer, with that warm neo-soul sound, while Norah has that soft, jazzy feeling I’ve been always returning to in the fall. They are among the rare female singers I truly listen to, and these lyrics come from that same mellow place.

With a map full of maybes
And my pockets full of joy
Everybody’s got a reason
I should turn around
But something keeps calling

Doors that open to a place
Where the walls are blue
And the plants grow green
Where the speakers are louder
Than some thoughts

I’ll soundproof the walls
But I won’t heartproof my heart
In a small room at rush hour
We’ll be pouring glasses
Of some sweet and sour

For every dream that made it
For every heart still climbing
Where the red lights turn to green
I keep going, I keep going
Even when the roads get mean

With my friends beside me
With the music turned up high
I follow what I’m feeling
I keep reaching for the sky

I’m gonna make it, I know
For the nights I almost quit
Just a stubborn little voice
And no tears to cry
Come on, one more try

I’ll soundproof the walls
But I won’t heartproof my heart
In a small room at rush hour
We’ll be pouring glasses
Of some sweet and sour

Let the record turn
Let a little hope stay close
Falling is just something
That we do before we walk

Let this city rush run wild
There’s always room inside
For the dreamer that’s been hiding
For the fire kept alive

I’ll soundproof the walls
But I won’t heartproof my heart
In a small room at rush hour
We’ll be pouring glasses
Of some sweet and sour

No, this place isn’t magic
It just has some soul
So come as you are
Some nights may be heavy
But the sound stays steady

I’ll soundproof the walls
But I won’t heartproof my heart
In a small room at rush hour
We’ll be pouring glasses
Of some sweet and sour

© 2026 .BYRD 

Lyrics: Renata

All rights reserved. 19/06/2026

Inspired by The Viper Room, the Sunset Strip, and that eternal blues I can sometimes tap into; deep and existential rather than romantic, but always good for writing.

The Sunset Strip in the ’90s was the scene I had in mind when I started writing the lyrics, but the song itself could happen anywhere: in hazy summer days, unnamed towns, and memory.

I made some changes and added a live concert effect, so it feels more like a song being performed on stage.

One of those evenings
Sunset Strip was to blame
There was something in the silence
Humming tunes and touch of hand
Salty skin and hazy days
In the town that I won't name

Past the hills under bright lights
I wore black and you were blue
By the boulevard and the jazzers
Past The Viper I saw it say

What you tame
Is yours to stay

In this town that holds their secrets
If they knew the past from present
They would never act this way

As for River we ran empty
Fully clothed as if censored
In the sky you write his name

Past the hills under bright lights
I wore black and you were blue
By the boulevard and the jazzers
Past The Viper I saw it say

What you tame
Is yours to stay

© 2026 .BYRD 

Lyrics: Renata

All rights reserved. 31/05/2026