Category: Songs
Song: “Reasons”
Song: “I Will Always Love You”
Song: “The Prize”
Behind the Song
When I began writing this song, I had a very different idea in mind. I started off with the line “Don’t go picking petty fights / with you people you call friends.” I was going to sing about how easy it is to get angry at the people we love and admire — particularly heroes — when they fail to live up to our lofty expectations.
I’ve felt that way about people I admire. I get all jazzed about a set of ideas they propound …. then I find something I don’t like so much … feel disillusioned … and finally, stew in my piquant juices of anger and judgment. So I thought I’d write a song to myself about it.
But I couldn’t get the song to gel. And as I filled my song journal with different versions, I scribbled down “release your grip / on your painted sword.” Interesting. That led to the image of “armor” — i.e. emotional armor — that we grow in order to protect us from getting hurt.
So I reworked the song top-to-bottom with that idea in mind.
Plus, now I have a song that mentions a sword, armor, and a castle. My ten-year-old self approves.
Lyrics
You forged a suit of armor when you were just a child. It kept you safe from the devils in the wild. But now you're at the castle, you've reached your journey's end. But with that visor down, you can't tell foe from friend. Release your sword let it clatter to the ground there's no enemies around you're safe and sound. Strip the armor from your chest you won't need it anymore if you wanna fit through that door that takes you to the prize. You say they're out to get you, that I am just naive, seeing fairies in my land of make-believe. But I'm not saying there's no monsters, I'm not saying there's no pain. I'm saying you can find companions in the rain. Release your sword let it clatter to the ground there's no enemies around you're safe and sound. Strip the armor from your chest you won't need it anymore if you wanna fit through that door that takes you to the prize. Let me drop the other shoe: your love will leave you blue; sometimes you'll hurt so bad you'll swear you'll drown. But don't you know that it will pass? The dark skies never last. And when dawn comes you'll be glad you stuck around. Your steed can smell the stables, it's stomping for a rest. So drop the reins, and you'll complete your quest. There's music in the courtyard, dancing in the hall. The gate is open, there's no need to storm the wall. Release your sword let it clatter to the ground there's no enemies around you're safe and sound. Strip the armor from your chest you won't need it anymore if you wanna fit through that door that takes you to the prize.
Song: “Happy Independence Day”
Behind the Song
We didn’t brave the crowds at our town’s 4th of July Parade this year. Maybe next year once the kids get the vaccine.
So we threw a parade in our backyard. I improvised this song as we marched, then added a few stanzas today.
It’s a light, celebratory, hopeful kind of 4th of July song.
Lyrics
Happy fourth of July, let your rocket fly. Hear the freedom ring as we say, Happy, happy Independence Day, Happy, happy Independence Day. Happy fourth of July, raise your flag up high. Watch the colors dance about and play. Happy, happy Independence Day, Happy, happy Independence Day. Happy fourth of July, hold your head up high. As we widen freedom's mighty way. Happy, happy Independence Day, Happy, happy Independence Day.
Song: “I Dreamt of Superman”
I have received a lot of Superman birthday cards over the years, probably close to two dozen. And that’s fine with me.
My friends and family know I was a passionate lover of superheroes in my boyhood, and Superman was “the key, the granddaddy of them all.”
Why?
He is powerful, yes.
He is good, yes.
And he is full of purpose.
Lyrics
I dreamt of Superman again last night,
he was flying through a pale blue morning sky.
The rising sun set fire to the 'S' upon his chest,
and struck a searching glint from his eye.
Where are you flying to, Man of Steel?
Who needs saving today?
The Last Son of Krypton bursts from the earth,
blazing the hero's golden way.
Now I'm not a hero, I can barely help myself;
I never mastered any martial art.
But when I think of his enduring toil, with no thought of earning spoil,
a flicker ignites my frozen heart.
Where are you flying to, Man of Steel?
Who needs saving today?
The Last Son of Krypton bursts from the earth,
blazing the hero's golden way.
Maybe we've got heroes hiding in our breast,
brave like the man with the high red boots.
Maybe we can fly with our feet upon the ground,
and inspire in our ordinary suits.
Where are you flying to, Man of Steel?
Who needs saving today?
The Last Son of Krypton bursts from the earth,
blazing the hero's golden way.
Song: “Yesterday’s Machine”
Behind the Song
In “Yesterday’s Machine,” I take a nostalgic view of old tech. I remember back when I was a kid and you pushed buttons on a machine, you felt it pushing back … something clicked or whirred … you could imagine (or pry open and see) the guts of the machine. Life seemed simpler then, and there are times I yearn for it.
But I’m no Luddite. I welcome and embrace a Star Trek future. Let me put myself on record for that, Mr. Spock.
But I admit: I fumble with technology. For example: I tried to overdub a separate audio recording and paste it into this video. I spent a good hour on it, but the video came out looking and sounding like those parodies of badly dubbed Kung Fu movies. (I thought it’d be funny to use that video nevertheless, to highlight the meaning of the song … but concluded the result would be too distracting.) I did have fun learning something new, but learning a new program or tool opens up a deep rabbit hole, and there are only so many I can dive down.
So do you have a favorite piece of nostalgia tech you long to resurrect?
If so, join me in mourning the passing of Yesterday’s Machine.
Lyrics
Do you remember the gentle tug of a rotary phone? Dialing digits you learned by heart to your grandma's home. Back then when you pulled a lever or pushed a button down you could hear the rumble of a gear, that sweet metallic sound. Nowadays a button's just a phantom on a screen, won't be long 'till we plug our brains into someone else's dream. So let's all mourn the passing of yesterday's machine. Let's polish up our memories of the wonders we have seen. They don't make 'em like they used to (and even if they never did), let's raise a toast to the passing host of yesterday's machine. The future may be brighter, but it's like staring at the sun. I feel I'm just starting a game some kid already won. Is the world really running faster, or am I just running slow? Do I spend my evenings repeating things I already know? Nowadays a button's just a phantom on a screen, won't be long 'till we plug our brains into someone else's dream. So let's all mourn the passing of yesterday's machine. Let's polish up our memories of the wonders we have seen. They don't make 'em like they used to (and even if they never did), let's raise a toast to the passing host of yesterday's machine. Let's make the most of the fading ghost of yesterday's machine. Let's raise a toast to the passing host of yesterday's machine.
Song: “Summer Sun”
Summer is upon us. Let us celebrate its return.
Camping in the woods …
Picnics at the beach …
Familiar faces around the bbq …
… and the beginning of a return to how-it-was-before.
Lyrics
It's June, school's over the lilacs have passed. The pollen's gone from our windshield spring blitzed by fast. The sprinkler sprouted cobwebs I'm clearing them away. I'm ready for the summer sun today. O, Summer Sun! C'mon, begin! Bleach my hair! Brown my skin! O, Summer Sun, winter was so gray -- I'm ready for your warm embrace today. Picnic at the ocean dig a pit into the sand. Roast a pack of hotdogs scrape the marshmallow from my hands. I'm sweating like a can of beer pulled from the cooler's ice. But don't you hide behind the clouds I'll gladly pay your price O, Summer Sun! C'mon, begin! Bleach my hair! Brown my skin! O, Summer Sun, winter was so gray -- I'm ready for your warm embrace today. Fall is cozy when leaves turn gold and wood-smoke perfumes the air. But I'm not done with your marathon days and the canopy of green full-leaf trees. O, Summer Sun! C'mon, begin! Bleach my hair! Brown my skin! O, Summer Sun, winter was so gray -- I'm ready for your warm embrace, come on down and kiss my face, brighten up this somber place, yeah I'm ready for your warm embrace today.
Song: “Star in Your Heart”
I wrote this a good ten years ago. This is an “advice to self” song. It’s got a fair message of “mindfulness” in it, though I didn’t have that concept in mind at the time.
Sometimes — probably not all the time — it’s good to slow it down, see what’s missing, and remember that you’ve got something really, really special to offer.
Lyrics
Slow it down look around See what you've been missing. Take the time to search your mind locate what you've been wishing. It's okay to take a day and swim the deepest ocean. 'Cause you might learn what it feels to burn on a single pure emotion. You've got a star in your heart brighter than any sun. It's time to take the cover off and shine on everyone. Your empty creed won't fill your need so it's time for a brand new notion. But you've got the key that will set you free from the chains of your stale devotion. You've got a star in your heart brighter than any sun. It's time to take the cover off and shine on everyone. The storm is sometimes raging along that fateful road, it's no easy load. But the scenery is amazing it's a much brighter home, than you've ever known. Climb a hill and take your fill of the day that's laid before you. Take a breath and one small step and you're on your way to someplace new. You've got a star in your heart brighter than any sun. It's time to take the cover off and shine on everyone.
Song: “Gravity”
“Gravity”
I was sitting in traffic on a Friday, driving to pick up groceries at QFC, when this line came into my head: “I am helpless when I fall into your eyes.”
My first instinct was to write a song about love-sick obsession, where the singer’s love is not requited. That’s something I haven’t felt in a long time, if ever. I don’t like the idea of that kind of dependency either — so why should I write a song about it?
So I worked on a version that made it about a person coming to grips with being in a relationship. I wrote it metaphorically, staging the song as a journey; first, falling from the sky; second, washing up on a shore; third, climbing a hill; fourth, descending into a valley. Different stages of a relationship.
I finished the song, but it felt “blah” to me.
So I went back to the original concept: obsession and dependency. It’s not really the song I wanted to write, but it’s the song that wanted to be written.
I know, I know … that sounds a bit pretentious and artsy-fartsy. But that’s the way it played out. I’m not sure whether to force a song according to a concept or go with my first instinct. Sometimes following my instinct has generated a song that sounds pretty trite. Sometimes pushing myself to think of something fresh has given birth to a better song. I don’t have a rulebook yet.
NOTE: I’ve included the lyrics for the alternate version of the song at the bottom of the page. If you’re interested in hearing a recording of this, let me know in the comments and I’ll record an audio version of it. If you prefer one version over the other, let me know also in the comments.
Lyrics
I am helpless when I fall into your eyes
I won’t get very far today.
I should go, ’cause we both know
what’ll happen if I stay.
You’ll be the end of me
I’m caught in your gravity
Gonna try to enjoy the ride
And hope that I can make it
out in one piece on the other side.
I am restless when I walk these streets alone
chewing my worries to the bone.
I am reckless to be standing at your door
asking you, begging you for more.
You’ll be the end of me
I’m caught in your gravity
Gonna try to enjoy the ride
And hope that I can make it
out in one piece on the other side.
Why won’t you ever let me stay here?
Why won’t you ever let me say “dear”?
You know I cannot keep on circling
over this barren land,
like a buzzard,
hoping for a helping hand,
like for something small to come crawling out and die.
You say you’ll miss me, when you kiss me,
then you make me watch you walk away.
I am drifting I am spinning in the void,
with no light to find my way.
You’ll be the end of me
I’m caught in your gravity
Gonna try to enjoy the ride
And hope that I can make it
out in one piece on the other side.
Lyrics for the Alternate Version of “Gravity”
I am helpless when I fall into your eyes
You've got me captive as a moon.
I am streaking through your dark untraveled skies
wrapped in a blazing hot cocoon.
I'm caught in your gravity
held fast to where I want to be.
Though some days I may try to break free,
but always I return to solid ground.
Your tides have swept me up a steep and rocky shore
a wild country I must tame.
So I'm sweating up this mountain in my mind
gotta reach the top to stake my claim.
I'm caught in your gravity
held fast to where I want to be.
Though some days I may try to break free,
but always I return to solid ground.
I am sliding down the slopes of my own way
to a meadow full of green and gold.
I think I'll stay, if that's okay
and watch our afternoon grow old.
I'm caught in your gravity
held fast to where I want to be.
Though some days I may try to break free,
but always I return to solid ground.
