Song #7 written for FAWM 2022

Lyrics:

V1
Hey, there’s something that I wanted to say to you
There’s something that I want you to hear
Hey, there’s something that I want to convey to you
At least, I’m trying to, I’m trying to

Half-chorus:
It’s purely hypothetical, just realize that
And some would say the place ain’t even on the map
I’m kinda sorta wond’ring if you’d try to see
If you’d kinda sorta like to spend some time with me

V2
Hey, I’m not sure how to explain this
It’s hard to know if I’m getting through
Every time we talk there’s a roller coaster inside my chest
I’m trying my best, I’m trying my best

Chorus:
It’s purely hypothetical, just realize that
And some would say the place ain’t even on the map
I’m kinda sorta wond’ring if you’d try to see
If you’d kinda sorta like to spend some time with me

It’s purely hypothetical, no it’s not real
Unless it happens to describe a little how you feel
In that case, it is absolutely bona fide
But if now, it is absolutely just a lie

V3
Hey, it’s hard to say these kinda things out loud
‘Cause I’m afraid how you’re gonna respond
Hey, I’m sick and tired of all this dancing around
I’ll spit it out, I’ll spit it out

(Chorus) – *Layered over chorus: (I love you)*

Purely Hypothetical

Song #10 written for February Album Writer's Month

Lyrics:

V1
I was born in dead of winter in the south
My brother and I tried to find a way of getting out
But we were tiny, helpless, wandering in the cold
Afraid that we would die ‘fore we got old

Our daily bread was shivering and tears
And I can only guess about why mama disappeared
We looked for friendly faces in the crowd
And that’s how we found our way out

Chorus:
They wrapped us up, took us home
Gave us love, kept us warm
From the streets of Carolina, coming home

V2
They took us in and cleaned up all our wounds
Gave us soft blankets and a warm and cozy room
Then they said goodbye, sorry their time was short
My brother, he and I were headed north

Then I heard a man and woman picked us out
They had a nice big fenced-in yard and a little cozy house
They came and scooped me up with teary eyes
And finally I knew things were going right

Chorus 2:
You wrapped me up, took me home
Gave me love, kept me warm
From the streets of Carolina, coming home

V3
SOmetimes the man wants to say what’s on his heart
He gets out his harmonica and strums on his guitar
I feel it, too, and I want to sing along
That Pennsylvania-Carolina song

(Chorus 2)

*AWOOOO*

Pinto's Song

Song #11 written for February Album Writing Month.

I was sad. I wrote this. I felt better.

Lyrics:
I’m standing out here in an ocean
Tossed and turning in my tears
In my dreams I keep on rowing
Feels like I been rowing here for years

Lifeboats tip and take on water
Crying crashing in the waves
And I still crave what I once had
It’s okay to be sad
It’s okay to be sad

Out here riding in the hot sand
Filled with what-ifs and mirage
Is it illusion or does this hurt?
Well, if it does, then it does

Sudden canyons in the desert
Open their maw, swallow me whole
And I hold the thoughts I have
It’s okay to be sad
It’s okay to be sad

Standing on the edge of everything
Higher than the lonely pine
Crying out the oldest song I sing
Back to the wild from my mind

Mountains crumble into rubble
Water pours out of the stone
I’m left alone with what I have
It’s okay to be sad
It’s okay to be sad

It’s okay to be sad
It’s okay to be sad

It's Okay to Be Sad

Song #12 written for February Album Writer's Month 2022.

Disclaimer:  I'm a white guy, and this is a song heavily influenced by the Black gospel tradition. Historically, wyt folks have gotten the money and the credit for music they learned from Black folks. I'm still learning about cultural appropriation in music, and this sort of disclaimer is what I think I can do to make people aware of this history and to recognize the musicians I am indebted to for my sound.

Lyrics:

V1
I was standing on a solid surface
Wondering if it was worth it to stick around here
‘Cause, though I was standing, I was tripping on self-doubt
I poured myself out until I didn’t care

Pre-Chorus:
Cut the cables, take the leap
Don’t hold too tightly to glory or grief

Chorus:
On the way down, on the way down
The wind and your sorrows are the only sound
On the way down, you pray you don’t hit the ground
I hope I find a way out when I’m on the way down

V2
I said my farewells, it’s been good to know ya
But I’d feel like a failure if I hung around
So I turned in my t-shirts, anything with a logo
I went to rescue my ego and go all the way down

(Pre-chorus/Chorus)

V3
I’ve been falling for what seems like forever
But I would never go back to the shit I was in
Though it feels like waiting, I’ve been working
To heal my hurting, step back into my skin

(Pre-chorus/Chorus)

On the Way Down

Song #13 written for February Album Writing Month.

Lyrics:

V1:
I expect nothing less than a mess coming out of my mouth tonight
Had a few, what’d you do? But the shoe doesn’t fit, so now I’m getting high
Losing hope, feeling broke, and this smoke burns my eyes and my mind’s on fire
And that part of my heart that started with you is truly tired

Chorus:
Can we find our way back?
I think we’re lost enough
I think we’ve got the knack
I think we’ve toughened up
Oh, I been living with you, but I wonder where you went
Can we find our way back, can we find our way back?

V2:
Now in bed, achin’ head, dreaming red and this pain makes it plain to see
If I can’t show my hand where I am, then I won’t let you close to me
It’s not a wall, but it’s tall and it’s all I can do to get through, my love
Hammers and picks, can we fix all of this? You and I need to reconstruct

(Chorus)

V3:
I’ve been nothing less than a mess for two long gruesome years
And I hope where we go, how we grow makes it worth all the hurt and tears
I’ll confess that success and this stress isn’t on, no it’s off of my list
It’s high time that my eyes open wide, facing you, working through this

Alt Chorus:
We can find our way back
I know we’re tough enough
I think we’ve got the knack
I think we’ve lost enough
Oh, I been living with you and I wanna pull you close
We can find our way back, we can find our way back

Find Our Way Back

Song #14 written for February Album Writing Month. Peace out, February.

I was standing on the corner
In the middle of the street
I was wondering how it looks when
Two journeys meet

I was building up the walls, yeah
With the mortar and the bricks, oh
And I was wondering if a window 
Might be a way back home

Chorus:
In the desert, buzzards circling overhead
Do they know that I ain’t even close to dead?
When I’m gone what will become of what was me?
Just some friends and just some laughter, memories.

V2
I was watching all the trees grow
Shrugging off February snow
Waiting quietly, patiently
For the coming of a late spring

And I was thinking bout my own road
How it loops back and over
And how everything dies and grows
How everything is cyclical

(Chorus)

Bridge/outro thingy:
There’s still sunshine, there’s still storms
There’ll always be waves crashing on my shore

There's Still Sunshine

Song #1 for FAWM 2023.

Lyrics:

A man crawled through the desert
Out of water, out of time
The top of every dune he climbed had a hotel bar.

And along came a big old buzzard
Saying, “hey, can I lend a hand?”
The man said, “Hey, you don’t have any hands,”
The buzzard said, “I know, it’s a joke.”
And he sang:

CHORUS:
Carry on, carrion
You’ve reached your journey’s end
Bear your body back to the land, man
Carry on.

Carry on, carrion
Your friends will miss you when you’re gone, but
You’ll be a meal for someone’s young
Carry on, carrion

A deer laid by the roadside
Casualty of human speed
When he closed his eyes, he could see the forest and fields

In his ear, he heard a house fly
Asking, “Hey man, are you alright?”
The deer said “Sure, man, I’m doing fine”
Fly said, “That’s what I thought, carry on.”
And he said:

(Chorus)

Carry  On, Carrion

Song #2 for FAWM 2023

Lyrics:

Emily, I can’t make sense of the evidence
Is it circumstance, is it consequence?
I can’t believe that we are almost down to ten
There were billions, there were billions

Chorus:
When you’ve known how wild the world can be
That there’re wonders your eyes will never see
It’s not hard to feel a little less than free
‘Cause God’s creatures don’t do well in captivity

Emily, we’d point our guns almost anywhere
The birds would fall just because the birds were there
We’d ship them out to grace the tables of millionaires
We didn’t care, no we didn’t care

(Chorus)

Chorus 2:
When you’ve known how wild the world can be
That there’re wonders your eyes will never see
It’s not hard to feel a little less than free

We’re passengers just passing through
All we do is all we can do
Just trying to save a little blue and green
‘Cause God’s creatures don’t do well in captivity

Passenger Pigeons

Song #3 for FAWM 2023.

Lyrics:

She walks into a crowded room
Heady perfume, costume jewelry
‘Round her neck and ankles
Plastic bangles

She’s wearing the biggest sunglasses money can buy
Lip gloss so blue, it makes you cry
Sidles up to the bar, orders Coke and rum
Snaps her gum

Chorus:

She’s got a bright blue beetle
She’s got a part-time lover
She’s got leopard print floor mats
A fuzzy steering wheel cover.
She loves her life
She wouldn’t trade it for another
She’s got leopard print floor mats
A fuzzy steering wheel cover.

She adjusts her pink feather boa
Sidles up to you as if she knew ya
Asks you for a light, buys you a beer
You can’t smoke in here
She don’t care

(Chorus)

FUZZY STEERING WHEEL COVER

Song #4 for FAWM 2023

Lyrics:

Chorus:

Crystal clear communication
Realistic expectations
Is really all I’m asking now from you

‘Cause if I tell you what I need and
You can tell me what you need, too
We can learn to love each other true


Sometimes I don’t know what’s going on inside my head
The fact that I don’t know what’s going on in yours makes sense
I’ll put away my hurtin’ words and listen best I can
Listen with the goal to understand

(Chorus)

Sometimes I make up stories about the people in my life
‘Bout what it is they’re doing, about why
But if I tell you how I hurt, ‘stead of holding it inside
The love between us grows more deep and wide

(Chorus)

Crystal Clear

Song #12 written for February Album Writer's Month (FAWM).

Lyrics:



I just took a short vacation,
Flew up in an aeroplane,
Over seven tons of carbon,
At least that’s what the experts say.
 
Now I’m walking through my hometown,
Reacquainted with these streets,
It’s a different kind of breathless,
The air is kind of hard to breathe.

Soon there will be no more air left to breathe,
Soon there will be no more air left to breathe.

One day they started bottling water,
‘Cause wells were filled with chemicals,
Well, they’ll do the same to air soon,
And I think it’s all our fault.

Because the wind is getting dirty
Through our hope and by our greed,
By our constant need for progress,
Things we do and do not need.















Soon there will be no more air left to breathe,
Soon there will be no more air left to breathe. 

The dead of night I hear the chimes,
I’m just as restless as the wind,
Gets me thinking ‘bout the future
All the “what ifs,” all the “what thens.”

I’m afraid to have kids,
Because I know just what they’ll face,
Certain months, it's hard to breathe now,
But soon it’s gonna be every day.

No More Air Left To Breathe

Song #13 written for February Album Writer's Month (FAWM).

Lyrics:

The dove came back with a branch to show the sky was clear,
And the ark was parked on a rock, But I’m still floating here.
I tried to climb on board, but I didn’t quite make the cut,
When I knocked, they refused, said “only two by two,” and I was just one.

Chorus:

Oh look, it’s a rainbow,
Not another damn rainbow,
It just doesn’t fit, I’m kinda over it,
I’m tired of rainbows.
‘Cause if God gave me a sign,
I bet it’d be less pretty,
It’d be harder to see,
Wouldn’t feel half as free,
But it wouldn’t be a rainbow.

I thought God had said “no more floods,” I guess I missed some words,
The arc in the sky came with fine print that said, “at least, not the whole earth.”
Well, a promise, to me, feels plastic and cheap if it’s conditional,
Just ‘cause God won’t destroy the world with a flood doesn’t mean he won’t destroy it at all.

(Chorus)

Red, orange, yellow, green, baby blue,
Do you believe the stories they tell you?
Indigo, darkest of violet,
If so, how do you believe in a god who is so damn violent?

Alt. Chorus:

Oh look, it’s a rainbow,
Not another damn rainbow,
It just doesn’t fit, I’m kinda over it,
I’m weary of rainbows.
‘Cause if God gave me a sign,
I think it’d be more simple,
No more death and disease,
Just stop the rain, please, 
I don’t need a rainbow,

It’d be harder to see,
Wouldn’t feel half as free,
But it wouldn’t be a rainbow.

It Wouldn't Be A Rainbow

Andrew is a folk musician and songwriter trying to figure out how to bring people together in a world that feels like it's falling apart.

Andrew Pauls

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