Benny Manaligod

Icarus Arts 1 draft.

(I write to make sense of what I feel, and partly to defend the way I wrote the song.)

A friend relayed to me that my song, Icarus, was studied in a UP Diliman Arts 1 class today. I was also told that two people from the class did not like The Ridleys' iteration of Icarus. I find no problem with this. It's good that you know what you like and don't like. I imagine that these two people didn't like the song because it wasn't "faithful" to the original story. If I had known that this song would be evaluated based on its faithfulness to t...

Writing prompt

"I've died inside so many times that I don't know who I am anymore"

Otherwise (full band draft)

She wakes and stretches, checks her phone,

"My god it's 6am"

Wakes her man, carries her boy, then heads straight to the van

Greets a couple in the back, saying, "Sorry we're late"

Now right beside her sits her son asking 'bout this and that

Going on about meeting and feeding elephants

His dad beside him says, "Quiet, my love, learn to wait"

Oooh, the child looks out the window and smiles

Oooh, with nothing much to do I join him for a while

Then in my mind, I heard my spirit say,

"Bl...

RECORDING STARTS NEXT WEEK AAAAAA

FINALY FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE'LL START WITH DEMOS, BUT STILL.

I HAVE A FEELING THAT THIS RECORDING WILL GO VERY SMOOTHLY. IDK. I FEEL GOOD ABOUT THIS ALBUM. FINALLY, WE HAVE THE BUDGET TO CREATE AN ALBUM THE WAY I IMAGINE IT.

I WANT TO RECORD A SONICALLY EXCELLENT ALBUM, PAIRED WITH VISUALS THAT WOULD HELP CONVEY THE MESSAGE.

NO THOUGHTS JUST EXCITEMENT

The Ridleys - In the Most Unlikely Places

1. Twenty-Seven

2. Life Goes On

3. Death by Design

4. Baptize

5. Waves

6. Lightness

7. Piranesi

8. Don't Buy Green Bananas

9. I Never Wanna Lose You

10. Otherwise

All of the notes I've written for the past albums were addressed to my dear listeners, when they were still so few. It's a different story now. So many voices surround me, claiming to know me because of my tracks. I don't dislike them for it. Wanting to em...

Otherwise (alternative tempo)

+alternative lyrics:

-Now right beside her sits her son asking 'bout this and that

-See and hear and touch and taste and smell

-They're laughing, making smoke rings again

-Everything will meet its sorry end

Otherwise (final draft)

She wakes and stretches, checks her phone,

"My God, it's 6am"

Wakes her man, carries her boy, then heads straight to the van

Greets a couple in the back, saying, "Sorry we're late"

Now right beside her is her son askin' 'bout this and that

Going on about meeting and feeding elephants

His dad beside him says, "Quiet, my love, learn to wait,"

Ooh, the child looks out the window and smiles

Ooh, with nothing much to do I join him for while

Then in my mind

I heard my spirit say,

"B...

Story Behind Otherwise

Otherwise (draft)

She wakes and stretches, checks her phone

"My God, it's 6am"

Wakes her man, carries her boy, walkin' straight to the van

She greets a couple in the back, saying, "Sorry we're late"

Right beside her is her son askin' 'bout this and that

Going on about meeting and feeding elephants

His dad beside him says, "Quiet, my love, learn to wait,"

Ooh, the child looks out the window and smiles

With nothing much to do I join him for while

Then in my mind

I heard my spirit say,

"Blue sky,<...

Otherwise (melody idea, chorus idea)

Blue sky,

Why do we cry?

Is it sorrow or joy

That we see with our eyes?

Are the colors so bright

A trick of the light

The awe of the boy says otherwise

The awe of the boy says otherwise

On the topic of songs that didn't make the cut for album 4

-Someone Worth Desiring

-Creature

-Nowhere Chapel

-What Was I Supposed to Do?

-God in Outer Space

-So Long, See You Again

I still want to release these songs. I don't have the maturity to sing about them yet. There are motives that I need to deal with. I want to release these with love as my motive.

Since these didn't make the cut to album 4, they will have to be moved to album 7, which I have tentatively called 'God & Grief (+ Guilt).'

Album 5 is tentatively called 'Manila,' which will mos...

All that I Do/Iyong Iyo (collab song idea)

Chorus:

Everything/All that I do

I do it all for you

Heart so true

All of me for you

Chorus (Tagalog):

Lahat ng ito

Para lang sa'yo

Buong puso ko

At mga pangarap ko

Iyong iyo

Iyong iyo

Calm Kinda Love (idea)

Just like a breeze

Blowing gently through a forest of trees

Just like a stream

Flowing perfectly for rowboats in dreams

My baby's everything I want I need

Just like the books we watch and movies we read

She gives me a calm kinda love

I never thought I'd find such a thing

She gives me a calm kinda love

________

Updated update Album IV songlist

Recording might start soon. Haven't locked in a studio yet, but we have some solid options. Here's the tentative tracklist:

1. 27
2. Life Goes On
3. Death by Design
4. Baptize
5. Waves
6. Lightness
7. Piranesi
8. Don't Buy Green Bananas
9. I Never Wanna Lose You

Those 9 feel good. And then MAYBE 10. Finding You Feels Like I've Figured it Out.

We shall see.

For now I'll start making rough drafts for Album 5! HAHA

Updated album IV tracklist

After jamming with the guys again, we decided to stop the album at track 8. Now this is what the tracklist looks like:

1. 27

2. Life Goes On

3. Death by Design

4. Baptize

5. Waves

6. Lightness

7. Piranesi

8. Don’t Buy Green Bananas

This heavy album - the most production-heavy Ridleys album to date - communicates everything it needs to in these eight tracks. Every song, especially Lightness, feels like a punch in the gut. The album isn’t mainly about grief anymore (that topic might hav...

Updated Album IV list | a message to ace

“Ace thanks for having us over! I'll make a new GC for us 5 for album IV stuff. Here's the updated album tracklist we came up with.

Updated album list:

The Ridleys - Album IV

1. XXVII

2. Life Goes On

3. Death by Design

4. Baptize

5. Waves

6. Lightness

7. Piranesi

8. Don't Buy Green Bananas

9. Finding You Feels Like I've Figured It Out

10. I Never Wanna Lose You”

Land Beyond the Sun (unearthed 2020 draft)

Take this old man
To distant lands

I know that's what you promised to me
Take these old hands and I'll
Make no demands
To show me things that I've never seen

'Cause only you can see the land

beyond

the

sun

And you will see me through this journey you've begun You are my shield And my reward I know that's what you promised to me Just like a seed Under the soil That grows into a marvelous tree And all the world will see the w...

Benny Goes Electric

The electric guitar is so expressive and beautiful.

Will be on #behind-the-scenes songwriting channel later at 3pm!! I wanna workshop some of the new songs and new keys.

Might also trade Someone Worth Desiring for Baptize.

the ridleys - nowhere chapel

version 5.5

1. xxvii (E)

2. life goes on (G) !!!

3. death by design (B) !!

4. baptize (F#)

5. creature (D)

6. god in outer space (G)

7. waves (C)

8. lightness (F)

9. piranesi (Eb)

10. don't buy green bananas (C#) !!!!

11. nowhere chapel (A)

12. finding you feels like i've figured it out (E)

13. i never wanna lose you feat. martti franca (E...

Story of the Album (Attempt #2)

The previous post was more of a mindless word vomit than a careful articulation. For that I apologize. Let me try again.

---------------

After numerous revisions (usually done in my home office late at night, and sometimes in the van on the way to a gig), the songs for album IV have been written and set in place. There are a few tentative titles for it.

One is Nowhere Chapel, which attempts to encapsulate the idea of God being everywhere. The problem with this, however, is that this is already a song titl...

The Story of the Album (attempt #1)

The songs are in place. Before we arrange, rehearse, and finally record, I want to be able to articulate the message of the album to people who ask. To do that, I should first articulate the message of the album to myself. I'll start by giving an explanation of each song, then end with a thesis statement for the whole thirteen-track album.

1. XXVII

Back in late 2023, I met a producer named Ace Santos (Ocho the Bullet) at a Halloween party in Martti's house. We got along well and ended up becoming friends. On our ...

the ridleys album iv version 5.0

tracklist:

1. xxvii (Eb)
2. life goes on (G) !!!
3. death by design (B) !!
4. someone worth desiring (Em)
5. creature (E)
6. god in outer space (G)
7. waves (B)
8. lightness (E)
9. piranesi (Eb)
10. don't buy green bananas (C#)
11. nowhere chapel (A)
12. finding you feels like i've figured it out (F#)
13. i never wanna lose you feat. martti franca (Eb)

lyrics

1. xxvi

my mom was 32 when i was born
and i wonder how her mother felt
my dad was all the way in london
on a ...

Free

Maybe some of you were wondering why The Ridleys page was quiet for a whole week. That's because the social media manager (me) went to Taiwan for 5 days with Sofia. Let me tell you more about it.

The trip to Taiwan was a much-needed time of rest for me. For the months before that, I was stuck in an endless loop of gigs, band meetings, and writing sessions. More and more, music has felt like work, a mindset so opposite to the one I had when I first started - when music was just a passion project rather than full-time work. Some people s...

Chapter 2: Dylan’s Reality (draft 1)

Shame.

That was all Dylan felt on his way to work. Shame was all Dylan felt since graduating from university. He felt ashamed of the four years that he spent barely surviving his college life, having to rely on his groupmates to carry him through papers and readings. He was so ashamed that he intentionally missed his graduation day. ("I overslept," was his usual excuse for people who asked why he didn't show up.) He felt ashamed of his dead-end job that had nothing to do with his degree. He felt ashamed that even after years in the wor...

Chapter 2: Dylan’s Reality (raw, unedited text)

Shame.

That was all Dylan felt on his way to work. Shame was all Dylan felt since graduating from university. He felt ashamed of the four years that he spent barely surviving his college life, having to rely on his groupmates to carry him through papers and readings. He was so ashamed that he intentionally missed his graduation day. ("I overslept," was his usual excuse for people who asked why he didn't show up.) He felt ashamed of his dead-end job that had nothing to do with his degree. He felt ashamed that even after years in the wor...

Firefly in the Dark

Life has been good, and even the challenges can be considered "good problems." Slowly, I forget the pain of the past. Memories of those difficult situations, and the negative feelings that come with it, are starting to fade. This is a good thing.

But in forgetting the pain, I hope I never forget the moments that met me and moved me so powerfully in those moments. In the darkness, light shines the brightest.

One night, in the pandemic, I was having one of my crying sessions. I forgot what I cried about. Maybe it had to do with art...

Chapter 1: Dylan's Dream (Draft 1)

Editor's note:

In this version, I consolidate some details about Dylan's dream and try to meld it into one. I also added an important section about Sophie, and who she is to Dylan. I want to gradually reveal these characters' stories to the reader. This first chapter is foundational.

I love writing!!!

------------------

Through Dylan's eyes, the city was black and white. Snow covered busy buildings, dead trees, and a pile of giant-sized bodies that littered the city. Dylan checked his phone: 6:02AM, and yet the sky wa...

Chapter 1: Dylan's Dream (unedited, raw text)

Through Dylan's eyes, the city was black and white. The trees were all dead. Buildings were covered in snow. His phone said 6:02am, and yet the sky was pitch black. Minutes ago, the wolf, Fenrir, swallowed the sun and ushered in the start of Ragnarok, the final battle of the gods, and the end of the world.

Dylan found two odd things about this (although he should have considered a third thing): one, that Ragnarok was actually happening before his very eyes; and two,that everyone outside - people walking around the city - seemed not to ...

A Wave of Inspiration

I'm not gonna lie. The past few months have been a roller coaster for me. But for the first time since Lola's passing, I feel a wave of inspiration again.

Thought about the book I want to write, and maybe a biography isn't the way to go. I still have so much life to live.

What I can do, however, is write a story about two fictional characters that I can relate with. That's what I'll attempt to do for now. And if it doesn't fly, I'll try another concept. Today, I'm writing for the sake of writing. I'll post a first draft here whe...

Girl of my Dreams (Song for Sophie idea)

One night I dreamt the gods were dead and I was late to work

Mountains of bodies formed a bed and Thor laid in the dirt

And I said, “Oh what a shame, it’s not a holiday, too”

Right there in the dream I spoke to you

Still in the dream, you held me tight, I’d never let you fall

Snow out the window, what a sight,

The chaos of it all

And you said, “Maybe I’ll meet you near the station at 2”

Sophie, you were gone, next thing I knew

You are the girl of my dreams

So please ju...