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SEVEN SHADES DARKER

by Ola Onabulé

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    This 12 song audio CD comes in a clear Jewel case with an 8 page CD Booklet containing the Lyrics, full performance credits and photos by Steve Read. www.stevereadphoto.com

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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 10 Ola Onabulé releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Point Less, It's The Peace That Deafens, Love For Sale - An all-Vocal Track, SEVEN SHADES DARKER, THE DEVOURED MAN, IN EMERGENCY, BRAKE SILENCE, AMBITIONS FOR DEEPER BREADTH, PRECIOUS LIBATIONS FOR SILENT GODS, and 2 more. , and , .

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1.
Every Prey 05:23
EVERY PREY Ola Onabule © 2010 Damn! Did it again I know if things go on this way, I'm gonna falter I keep tryin' to hold it way down at my end But you won't seem to play your part ...it's started to matter I stretch my range extend my scope But give some people too much rope They're gonna hurt someone or tie loose ends together But soon my hour of reckoning and retributions beckoning If you ain't keeping up your guard, I think you ought ta Some joker's always trying to get away, with! Playing your mind all night and day, As if! You're like the poster boy for every prey If you're gonna make those tables, just Turn! You gotta shake that label, and learn! That you're the hunter born for every prey Only way you got a prayer Damn! Don't have a chance Guess I'm that way too easy guy, that makes a bad fighter I tell my self it's just my positive stance But I know deep down I'd do ice if you wanted fire I need to sweep those thoughts aside When confrontation won't run and hide Work some hutzpah up and brace for stormy weather And soon my hour of reckoning and retributions beckoning If you ain't keeping up your guard, I think you ought ta Some joker's always trying to get away, with... If you don't believe in this boy you're gonna suffer If you don't subscribe to this Dude, you're gone suffer
2.
Be A Man 05:18
BEAMAN Ola Onabule & Matt Johnson © 2010 Oh! What I'd like, and what I'll get Ain't ever quite the what you guessed The way I do, and aim to be might not impress, might not redeem But who's gonna take a stand On what I bear with pain I can't expect to breathe relief when it's back to back to back, Oh no! So I'm gonna think again About the players and the game You know the rules have just been changed Be the champ but not the same Be a man No backing down or skirting round or taking flight Oooh! Stand up and do it right I'm not a creature of the night I straighten up my back and fight Just like a man They think it's me, I know it's you It's in those eyes That ain't ever been blue The chance is love, not lived enough The loss is love, not felt enough But who's gonna take a stand... Be a man No backing down or skirting round or taking flight Oooh! Stand up and do it right I'm not a creature of the night I straighten up my back and fight Just like a man
3.
LET LOVE ALONE Ola Onabule © 2010 You, linger far too long on sad thought That I'll stray from the path back to you Because of a smile. Why, should some new charm fascinate More than all that we have yet to do . Just settle your mind. We're still ours, ike that strong heart you carry. If it’s shaken we can build you faith anew I would do this for you Just so you Fly those fears and see them falter on their own. Slip those doubts you trust in, Just let love alone. She may turn phrases I’ve heard you say And yet not make me feel what they mean When said in your way I feel a calm, the sort that keeps you honest When the sirens come to sing virtue away They can’t lead you astray, No way. Just go ahead you... Chorus Let love alone, To breathe on its own, Exhale and let go Then you'll find the thread of hope, that binds us... Back together, ...in a good place, ...making resolutions, ...to make us stronger, You know you know me, ...I strive to be good man, ...the kind you build a life on, ...But if it makes the slightest difference... You’ll discover ...I can go much further ...To get us even nearer ...to what ever will bring us even closer I’m totally all about this ...absolutely mean this, ...All you’ve got to do, is... Just let our love alone
4.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS (Sans Frontier) Ola Onabule © 2010 Nubian dawn, a trier is born. His home's war-torn, his trust outworn, He'll try to stay, survive the fray. It' ain't hard to love, what you're a part of, But that dread front line, draws closer each time. The decisions made, he must steal away Fortunes everywhere, but not yet here Laden with hope he'll sail. Across seven seas of sand Endless oceans, To find a new land An unknown destiny, Awaits under cloak of night For a heavy heart that's travelling light To alien destinations, Sans frontiers Wasted aspirations, Sans frontiers Of Great Expectations Elysian fields, the grass is sweet. Birdsong yields, when it's joys complete What he sees from here, but forbidden near, An ethereal scene, Of a spring morning. But this camp gets cold, and his story's grown old He may yet return, before bridges burn It's a chilling choice, live without a voice or laden with hope sail back Chorus Bridge Now I know, There are no new lullabies here And the sleep is troubled The nightmares doubled And when I shut my eyes Great expectations lie still ...helpless on the floor
5.
THE NEED TO BE LOVED Ola Onabule © 2010 Quarter past dawn, still of the night, I'm feeling the need to be loved. You sound heavy sleeping, I'm hoping for light, o be heeding my need to be loved. Pin point staring, at sheep I can't count, Ain't shifting the need to be loved. I'm for subtle nudging, in a moderate amount, Till we're feeding the need to be loved. Who wouldn't want to be held close Who'd fight the need to be kissed , so... Who wouldn't want to have The one you need prove they need you too... Let some other guy play it cool, man, I'm getting loved You can bet I ain't got no qualms, I need to loved I know some people really get burned, And that can be rough but best you soon get back on that horse Feed the need to be loved Middle of the day, You just swung by, But that look says you need to be loved. I see right away, but I never ask why, Just attend to your need to be loved. And there's no denying it's a sensual thing, Someone cares how you need to be loved. And it sure feels good, what deep joy it brings That by me you still need to be loved Who wouldn't want to be held close... Chorus... What I need to have Is to be your most wanted need There's no one home, Just that feeling and I, We're starting to look at my watch. Till you're through that door the soonest minute past five, I'll be hanging with the need for your love.
6.
He's Gone 05:08
HE’S GONE Ola Onabule © 2010 You miss him, so much that, Sometimes you break. Downhearted, crestfallen, disconsolate. You never, once waver, Such devotion. No daughter's father could, ever have known love so strong. But he's not gone, If gone is that point of no return. I still see him in the eyes, Of that smile upon our child, And I believe, He's elsewhere But not gone. So much said, between you, So much unheard. Kind words that, rang hollow Meanings reversed But he's not gone, If gone is that point of no return. I still see him in the eyes, of that smile upon our child And I believe, he's elsewhere But not gone, Because gone... Gone is the worldly strife and pain You could touch it in his voice, The sense he never had a choice In what life became, Then you were gone... I love you, so deeply, trust that I'm here, To shoulder, your sorrow, Till it's undone, Now that he's gone
7.
THE DESPERATE ONES Ola Onabule © 2010 My desperate ones Oh so undone...! Here lie the desperate ones Dark and disillusioned gentlemen They answer now not to anyone Soldiers of misfortune Who dared what comes If you sense a heartbeat, a flicker way deep To where the rage keeps out the sun, You'll know where it all went wrong My desperadoes All run, the stuff in your head you can't outrun It's true there ain't no happiness in any gun Sooner than you know you're out gunned, They drop you in the very deepest of holes It drinks up your soul, When you're alone with nowhere to go You'll know you're the last of the desperate ones See how the desperate ones Rush to their destruction, each mother's son It don't take long, it has begun Scorn an education, defeat is won Penitentiary blue jeans, plans without means Of yielding promise is all there is Everybody knows this Chorus My desperate ones Oh so undone, By your own hand
8.
A Name 04:20
A NAME Ola Onabule © 2010 So what's in a name, That begs you heed it's call And binds you in it's thrall Tells of where you hail What flag your faith may sail. Tell me what’s in a name! So what's in a name, That beats a courage down, Or a people to the ground, etching pride away, and makes a difference pay. In a foreign land, some are deemed to stand Not by how they live, but the name they give Like an easy brand, a label close at hand A veil across a mask, to silence all they'll ask And it dares, to live long after I've gone, Amplify the things I've done. And sit in judgement of me, Exhale with all who fear me, Weep with those who knew me, by name, my true name. I heard of a boy, Who knew he'd left his name, behind, when history came, To take it all away, one dark African day. He went to find his name, So tell me what's in a name that etches pride away Or makes a difference pay. Can take it all away On dark African days. That begs you heed it's call And binds you in it's thrall.
9.
SWINGING WIDE Ola Onabule © 2010 I know some people would say anything, To make themselves sound good. Until you hear a lot but not enough, Of what you really should. But please don't tar me with the same brush, girl You know I mean you well. And what I mean is I care for you, I know that he can tell. It's why He says our love, will soon subside But that remarks clean missed the mark It's swinging wide I search myself, and I only find For you my hearts an open door that's swinging wide I don't resent the fact he wants you for himself, It just makes common sense. But it ain't right he whispers in your ear, Our love is a vain pretence. And if he doesn't mend his ways then, We'll have more than words 'Coz I ain't taking no more Junk like what I've already heard Chorus I don't believe you're hearing the power of what I'm saying No one can ever, ever not ever change my mind No swinging back and forth for us, that's what I'm praying We'll get lost in a world of love so broad and wide
10.
Sanctuary 05:48
SANCTUARY Ola Onabule © 2010 There, on the brink of new frontier Where we weather the storms of our time Where we clamour to take control As we dutifully drain our souls We push till life shoves Past all we're made of And leaves no space to exhale Ooh! Step into our sweet sanctuary, It's safe within, You don't have to justify to no one. Just dream out loud This is where your spirit can run free Step into our world Step back into our sweet sanctuary Sense, That's what none of this can make Sit back, and let fate play the guide At the mercy of come what may Knowing each day might lose next day We ebb as time flows We wane as love grows It's all too much to conceive Chorus Sanctuary, There's no place I'd rather be than right here with you Sanctuary, And no words can quite convey how it makes it all seem so easy, Sanctuary
11.
CHEAP COLOGNE Ola Onabule © 2010 Dear God it's eating up my soul, Tell me and if you want I'll go, I'm asking much, but this much you owe, The less I know the more the feeling grows, Suspicion doing overtime, Supposition catching up behind, Dead cert as far as I've contrived, But we all know intuition lies. What's been going on? Has it been going long? Don't try to string me along the way Throw me a reason. That I'd believe in Make it a bearable day! I wear the doubt out each night But its revived come morning light And it hangs around like cheap cologne Hearing the things you don't say Expressions you don't give away They sting my eyes like cheap cologne I've moved through possibilities Way down to probabilities Maybe it's just a flaw in me To see what I imagine vividly Doesn't help you act so patiently Smiling so reassuringly So forgiving where I could not be So tell me why this isn't helping me I'm gonna turn time, Into prime some time Get to righting my mind I need to reason, Till I believe in Pushing worry aside I wear the doubt out each night.. Oh why don't these thoughts just go where I want? Away!
12.
Behind 04:54
BEHIND Ola Onabule © 2010 Flash your phone and shoot some mail. Check the stats and close a sale. Grab a skinny on the move. Hit the gym and skim the news. You don't have to spare time, coz time's always on your side. Plan your week, schedule your year, Like rest's a jaded souvenir. Play the field, to field a catch. Career's your ever perfect match. You're living the dream, let someone else live a life Made a pretty picture real clear, Still there's something missing right here. Shooting off to Mars, Scrambling for the stars, Feel like something's been left behind. It's gone too far for me, I just need the simple needs, I’ll take love, leave the rest behind, Upgrade the car, update your spouse. Enhance your face, improve the house. Pose like in the magazine Invent a truth to sell the dream. They see you as you are, you've probably gone too far Made a pretty picture real clear Still there's something missing right here. Chorus Solo Choruses Out
13.
Hard Nut 04:04
HARD NUT Ola Onabule © 2010 That's Big J, kept alive by the power of anger. Never knowingly ran from a chance to get hurt, Or make hurt. But his girl says she don't even wanna know no more, She's got all his things together, placed them by the door Out in the field, He's free to get killed. Drew up his own will, when he was just seventeen. Some guys ain't afraid to try whatever Some guys ain't afraid to die whenever Somethings ain't a cinch like that however Love's a pretty hard nut to crack Big J's home from a stint at her majesties pleasure, With good intentions and ambitions to do good things, Spiritual things. But his girl didn't quite make it past judgement day, Got her things together, moved in with new fiance. Problem with J, is someone must pay, For this new pain, that won't fade away. ...Love's a pretty hard nut it's hard not to crack! He feels like nobody knows, all of the things he's done for that woman. Kept the clothes on her back, Nasty guys off her case, and made her like a beauty queen. So how's she gonna repay a brother, By taking up with another, Damn love hurts! Her love hurts yeah! Chorus So he calls in one more favour from shady friend. She may have one over on him but not in the end. You don't mess with J, That's what they say, You don't take his love then throw it away,
14.
Fast 05:22
FAST Ola Onabule © 2010 They work those artful voices hard, to scramble words They do not mean or mean not to be heard, And make a point of talking for, no point at all Save for to save the truth from a certain fall Into silence that makes me call. Chorus They can throw that stuff at someone else's wall, There's ...quite enough stuck on mine from ages ago And it's still holding fast So dude the second you know exactly you want, Please lets do lunch or brunch or something cool, 'Coz I'm a give-it-all-up-for- food fool. Chorus You can throw that stuff at someone else's wall, There's ...quite enough stuck on mine from ages ago And it's still holding fast And I'm all for hanging till the cows comes home, But ...where I'm gone I wouldn't make it with you, no I'd have to slow down fast. Bridge Your world is not like mine like oil and water can’t combine You can't go, Where I gotta flow... They'll say you waited too long And say you did it all wrong too busy pacing it slow Coz on the planet they know everything burns up fast

about

"Seven Shades Darker is also studio album No.7. I should know better by now but music still completes me..." Ola Onabule 2011

Watch the Video for 'Be A Man' here: youtu.be/uwmoxma_iLs

Watch the Video for 'He's Gone' here: youtu.be/KzV_ayvHWdg

credits

released December 1, 2011

Written, performed & produced By OLA ONABULE At casa del phunque studios, uk
Executive producer: MARIA AVGOULIS
Mixed by: TEO MILLER
Mastered by: ANDY 'HIPPIE' BALDWIN at Metropolis Studios,
Brass Arrangements by DENNIS MACKREL

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Ola Onabulé UK



Ola’s new album, POINT LESS has been critically received worldwide. The new album is on the DownBeat list of Best Albums of 2019. .

Onabulé is a rugged individualist, a deeply soulful musician. Possessing an emotional intensity and vocal virtuosity, a poignant storyteller and capacity to cross cultural and musical boundaries with an unflinching lyrical pursuit of truth and justice.
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