Recent demos and rough-tapes from songwriter Anton Etch

Simple and Strange: One

Not Nothing
by Anton Etch 2021 
- a rough tape from the 'Simple & Strange' series -

You and her, you talked a while
in a younger time and space
traveling on different roads
remembering her face

(now) That’s Not Nothing Is It Now?
your memories you still keep
(and) That’s Not Nothing Is It Now?
but a stone that's buried deep

She went her own way
where she'd never tell
'Til a note came a calling you
Like the ringing of a bell

(and) That’s Not Nothing Is It Now?
but a wish expressed so clear
(and) That’s Not Nothing Is It Now?
so you travelled to be near

You hung your hat in an empty house
and you visited her asleep
in a churchyard under blowing leaves
where we all come to meet

(so) That’s Not Nothing Is It Now?
you came when she called
but stories only go so far
and you too are growing old

Can you make new memories now?
can you overcome the past?
the bride heard knocking from the grave
and her groom rose up at last

But this was just a story now
the ending of a film
(but) That’s Not Nothing Is It Now?
as she smiled and left the room

---
Anton Etch 2021 All Rights Reserved

Not Nothing

2023 video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNNTnsRioZs

This Town Has Changed
by Anton Etch 2021

I woke up 
in this here town
shed the scales from my eyes
and looked around

see how we live
we're all going to hell
fires are burning
there's a sulphorous smell 

There's no alley way where one used to be
This town has changed (but maybe it's me)

I can't get through
I can't get by
this town rattles on
leaves me behind

I still can't get through
I can't touch down
nothing feels real
in this goddam town

Sun shines, rain falls, 
this town pretends it has it all..

In this town
you don't have to be
you just have to 
appear to be

There's no alley way where one used to be
This town has changed (but maybe it's me)
Maybe it's not this town, maybe it's me
but maybe i'm right, this ain't the place to be

the crows are all leaving, 
what do they know?
it's all a ride
it's on with the show
 
Sun shines, rain falls, 
this town pretends it has it all..
There's no alley way where one used to be
This town has changed, 
this town has changed,
this town has changed//

----
Anton Etch 2021 All Rights Reserved

This Town Has Changed

Figure It Out
by Anton Etch 2021 
- a rough demo from the 'Simple & Strange' series -

In the beginning
there were snakes and there were devils
of the human kind
where'er you travell'd

if you're watching a movie
and someone says "I'll be back around seven"
you can be sure that
something else is bound to happen

if you ask for something straight up
that's most likely what you'll be given
you could spend the rest of your life
thinkin' about heaven
                  
if someone tells you
we don't talk like that in prison
best send a message
that nothing will be forgiven

if someone says they don't have the time
it's not about time
but what they'd rather be doing
with that same time

when you feel confusion 
when you feel doubt
ain't it about time?
about time you figured it out?

---
Anton Etch 2021 All Rights Reserved

Figure It Out

Truth…
by Anton Etch 2022
- a rough demo from the 'Simple & Strange' series -

Truth comes in flashes
snapshots and ashes
rises like a phoenix
floats to your ceiling
shimmers and hovers
at four in the morning
truth comes in flashes
from fragments forming

Truth appears
it's not excavated
it can't be figured
or cooked or created

Truth emerges
in surprising places
the howling vagrant
and unsafe spaces

Truth isn't born
fully formed
you have to glean it
from shards ‘n storms

Truth waits
It delivers no warning
reveals itself
to those in mourning

Truth doesn't care
who the hell you are
what you drive
pauper or czar

Truth is earned
it can't be bought
you have to want it
more than what you got

Truth comes in flashes
in rags and in patches
the daughter of time
slow as molasses 
or quick as quicksilver
in sparks and splashes
in fragments and facets
in mixes and mashes

Truth is the last
guest at the weddin'
sits at the back
foldin' a napkin

…less in words 
more in actions
never shouts 
ignores the factions

…tip of a hat
tap of a finger
there's truth in
the voice of the singer

Truth in 
the barkin' dog
the wasp sting
the walk in the dark

Truth lurks 
in the shadows
it stalks
your tomorrows

You can try 
forever to avoid it
deny, defy,
or blindfold it

The enemy 
of fantasy
the surrender 
of hope...

...truth is 
no story.
It doesn't need 
glory

Truth comes in flashes
snapshots and ashes
rises like a phoenix
floats to your ceiling
shimmers and hovers
at four in the morning
truth comes in flashes
from fragments forming

————
Anton Etch 2022 All Rights Reserved

Truth...

Then You Come To Me
by Anton Etch 2022

In this world alone
people that you meet
most will pass you by 
scuffin’ their feet
Others they will look
you in the eye
they live on in your mind
’til the day you die

I saw myself a slave
breaking barren ground
nothing in my heart
to spread around
Then you came on by
on me you smiled
you helped me see the path
is worth the while

Everything you are
comes from what you bring
we’re all in this alone
we all face suffering
If you hear me
and I hear you
oh that’ll go a ways
to get us through

Mournful as I look
sad as I may sound
I endure the pain
when it comes around
Then you come to me
and peace i find
the horrors of the world
I leave behind

----
Anton Etch 2022 All Rights Reserved

Then You Come To Me

Rain and Snow
by Anton Etch 2022
- a rough demo from the Simple & Strange series -

I had plans here in the past
I knew that nothin’ ever lasts
but I still feel a pang
when I realize that’s the truth

I thought I could leave it all behind
I hoped that time would heal and bind
but it just breaks open
the same old scars

at that moment
I’m back behind bars

Tell me where you wanna go
in the rain and in the snow
you know this ain’t the place..
to be
you’re still searching for that Holy Grail
in the wind and in the hail
you want it all but          
you need to get away….
you’ll kill someone 
if you have to stay

You made the break you take a walk
while all the others talk talk talk
a lonesome road
of your own design

Out the city ridin’ free
no more beggin’ on bended knee
hold yer head up
and breathe the sky

at that moment
I’ll probably sigh

Tell me where you wanna go
in the rain and in the snow
you know this ain’t the place..
to be
you’re still searching for that Holy Grail
in the wind and in the hail
you want it all but          
you need to get away….
you’ll kill someone 
if you have to stay


On the road we come across
no pound of flesh, no sacred cross
no need to make a bed 
amongst the thorns

Moss is growing and that’s fine
time ain’t pressin’… we don’t mind
let me know where we’re goin’
when we arrive

at that moment
I’ll probably cry

Tell me where you wanna go
in the rain and in the snow
you know this ain’t the place..
to be
you’re still searching for that Holy Grail
in the wind and in the hail
you want it all but          
you need to get away….
you’ll kill someone 
if you have to stay

-----

Anton Etch 2022 - All Rights Reserved

Rain And Snow

Rough-tapes/pre-demos from the 'Simple & Strange' series...
anton.etch(a)gmail.com