Song #46: Whatever the Dream

"Life is just a funny dream,

and someday I'll share this dream with you..."

[Trey Anastasio, Ether Sunday] 

This week I had the pleasure of cowriting with friend/manager/bandmate Tom Crenshaw, reworking one of his poems into a psychadelic, George Harrison-esque song of hope, cycles and new beginnings.

*Painting by Marc Chagall

PLAY:

LYRICS:

I've been trying to find you,

trying to find you

You've been trying to find me,

trying to find me

All that I'm searching for - is searching for me

trust and we'll see

There's a season to come

a season to come

Rain, it follows the sun

follows the sun

Sunshine follows the rain, night into day

trust in this way

And if I had dreamed this differently

would it be any easier to believe?

Let whatever may come

whatever may come

Dream whatever the dream

whatever the dream

Close and yet far away, near as the end

to where we begin...

And if I had dreamed this differently

would it be any easier to believe?

Song #45: Fireball

I knew that I had come face to face with someone whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself.

[Oscar Wilde]

PLAY:

LYRICS:

There are thousands of beautiful girls, thousands of shallow pools,

but with her it's different, with her - she's endlessly cool

I think about her all of the time, I recognize the worth in her eyes

And each time we connect we go deeper than we thought we could

She's a fireball, a tempest storm, but I won't quit, no

'Cause I am up for the challenge, gonna show her I can handle it

So let's go, let's go

I had started to lose faith in the world,

didn't think that it made this kind of girl

But then she came out of nowhere and changed up all of the rules

It is gonna take a strong kind of man,

To stand firm while she does her dance

And while others couldn't make it, I am gonna prove that I can

She's a fireball, a tempest storm, but I won't quit, no

'Cause I am up for the challenge, gonna show her I can handle it

So let's go, let's go

I'm longing

to know her heart, to love her flaws,

to touch her body, to shatter her walls

I am all the way in, I won't flinch,

she's worth the fight, she's worth my time,

when you're given a gift, you treat it right

She's a fireball, a tempest storm, but I won't quit, no

'Cause I am up for the challenge, gonna show her I can handle it

So let's go, what are we waiting for?

Song #44: What's Up Now?

"Living well is the best revenge." [George Herbert]

Earlier this year I traveled to Atlanta for an intensive three-day beat making session with musician Joe Aielli. While there we programmed several pop tracks and we've been sitting on this song ever since. This week I decided to write some fun revenge lyrics and finally produce the vocal tracks. Cheers--

LYRICS:

Thought that I wouldn't get on living?

Thought I might be down for the count?

Thought that I wouldn't find the strength to get back up on my feet?

How do you like me now?

Well it just goes to show that you didn't know

what I had inside to get on with my life,

I'm makin' them all say 'Wow!', so what's up now?

You left me behind but one day you'll find

it ain't much fun when I'm number one,

the talk all over town. So what's up now?

When push comes to shove I'm a fighter

I've been down but I got up

And I climbed to the top and I didn't stop,

all beat up, but still on top,

So, how do you like me now?

Well it just goes to show that you didn't know

What I had inside to get on with my life,

I'm makin' them all say 'Wow!', so what's up now?

You left me behind but one day you'll find

it ain't much fun when I'm number one,

the talk all over town. So what's up now?

A little bigger than life and look all the eyes are all on me now

And you thought I'd stay down but I'm back with a sound, so what's up now?

Now I hear you tell your friends that you're sad it's the end

I don't mean to offend, but honey now that you've come 'round,

that door's closed down

Well it just goes to show that you didn't know

What I had inside to get on with my life,

I'm makin' them all say 'Wow!', so what's up now?

You left me behind but one day you'll find

it ain't much fun when I'm number one,

the talk all over town. So what's up now?

Song #43: What We Want

I received an email this week from someone* talking about how "failed" relationships help us to know what it is we truly want moving forward.  But more than that, that what we think we want is often a fantasy, a phantom created by our minds. When we're open to new experiences and opportunities, reality has the opportunity to blow away our preconceived ideas.

* Chorus and additional lyrics co-written by Julie Rae Sandifer

PLAY:

LYRICS:

We have been building it up

We hope for something that isn't

We think we know what we want

That is until we get it

For it's an illusion that doesn't exist yet

What we want we will know once we experience it

We'll never get what we want

As long as we think we need it

The only way it will come

Is if instead we choose to give it (and give it, and give it)

For it's an illusion that doesn't exist yet

What we want we will know once we experience it

And all of these moments, all of these people, they're teaching us lessons

they tell us more who we are, what's truly important,

they help us measure in seconds… not minutes… or hours

For it's an illusion that doesn't exist yet

What we want we will know once we've experienced it

Song #42: Disappear

"A mighty pain to love it is,

And 'tis a pain that pain to miss;

But of all pains, the greatest pain

It is to love, but love in vain."

[Abraham Cowley]

LYRICS:

Look at me,

I've got my shit together

I am a winner, a picture of health

but what no one sees deep below the surface

is a cavern, the cold hard walls of a well

For a time I was better, well on my way

A little bit stronger, a little more life each day

But all the momentum I thought I had gained

slows to a halt when someone speaks your name

Sometimes I wish you'd disappear

So maybe I could find peace this year

But I know as sure as I sit here

That I don't mean it

When you both live in the same small town

You can't help but see each other around

I have that old crusty wound that almost heals

But then I catch your eyes and it all at once starts to peel

Sometimes I wish you'd disappear

So maybe I could find peace this year

But I know as sure as I sit here

That I don't mean it

As much as I would like to move on,

it ain't happening

But if I can pretend that you're gone,

there's a respite from all the battling in my mind

Sometimes I wish you'd disappear

So maybe, maybe I could find peace this year

But I know as sure as I sit here

That I don't mean it

...but most times I wish you'd just appear

And wreck all of my plans for this year

Cause when I said my love was sincere 

Well, I still mean it

Song #41: Like a Bee Sting

After a few weeks of reflective heart-churners, I wanted to turn the tables this week and let loose. Musically this is one of the most hard-rocking songs of this entire project. Lyrically I chose the darker themes of coercion and manipulation to match the tone of the music. Crank it up... just don't come complaining to me if your head explodes.

PLAY:

LYRICS:

Cry, try and brush her shoulder

Sigh, make sure that she sees

Lie, force her in the picture

Just try and get back anything

Put it in a box and make sure that it fits

You say you want the best

but you've got a funny way of showin' it

Die, if you want attention

Why, can't they all just see

Buy your way back in the picture

Force her into shock like a bee sting

Song #40: (Stay In Your) Embrace

"Millions and millions of years would still not give me half enough time to describe that tiny instant of all eternity when you put your arms around me and I put my arms around you."

[Jacques Prévert, poet/screenwriter]

As Mr. Prévert says, there is nothing quite like the closeness and intimacy found in lingering in timeless, affectionate embraces. Still, at some point you've gotta get up and get back to living. This song suggests the romantic notion that even though apart, you're still held in that person's embrace.

The lyrics this week were co-written by writer/actor/artist (and good friend) Benjamin Madrid, whose poem (Stay In Your Embrace) provided the inspiration - and many of the lines - for this song.

Musically this track is a throw-back to the 80's radio pop ballads that many of us grew up with (a la Genesis / Phil Collins / Peter Gabriel). It just might transport you back to 1986 if you're not careful...

PLAY:

LYRICS:

Sometimes in your embrace

I leave my body and walk outside,

Peer in the window, watch us lying face to face

Faded lines remain where the tears have dried

I could take that scene anywhere

The room could change all over

the outside of it too

Another house, another city, it doesn't matter, there's you

The distances between are only lies

Let's get to dancing

We can't always lay around

But now that I know what I have found

I'll walk the wire and not look down

As long as I can still

Stay in your embrace

We can let the aging take it's toll

Watch my hair turn grey, I'll watch your skin turn old

Another time, another setting, it doesn't matter I'm told

When you're hanging on so tight you can't let go

Song #39: Namaste

It seems to me that the people who have the most success in their relationships don't just have love for their intimate partners, but for everyone and all things. Love, for them, is central to their identity and actions; their way of relating to the world they live in.

As folks familiar with yoga and/or Indian culture may know, the term Namaste is a greeting from India that is roughly translated as "the light in me recognizes (or bows to) the light in you." With that in mind, here's a song for those who are open to the love/light that is all around us.

PLAY:

LYRICS:

she wonders:

"why let ancient myths and legends tell you who you are?"

when none of these things truly resonate

within her heart

Since day one she's always been told

she's never been - at her core -

never been good enough

everyone outside of her is telling her

that what's inside of her and every man

is darkness

but when she looks all around

all she sees is alright

she finds goodness and uncorrupted love

within all

Namaste

Namaste

Namaste

the light in me is the light in you

he wonders:

"why give people shit just because of the way they are?"

he hears stories of oppression

and they break his childlike heart

'Cause when he looks all around

all he sees is all one

he finds goodness and uncorrupted love

within all

Namaste

Namaste

Namaste

the light in me is the light in you

the light in me is the light in you

the love in me is the love in you

the heart in me is the heart in you

the light in me is the light in you