A sloppy, silly, little late night cover I made a while back.  Unfinished, but fun.

Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher (Cover)

The first song off of my first solo record.  Featuring Michael McDonald, Laura Moss, and Nathan Pressley.

Mark of Woe

The latest song from "Vacation", the record I'm making.  Featuring the incomparable Michael MacDonald and Laura Moss.

Trip to the North

A song for my baby boy on his 2nd birthday.

handmedowns

My version of the Billy Preston/Joe Cocker/millions of other people song "You Are So Beautiful".  So sweet.

You Are So Beautiful

I don't usually post stuff until it's done.  But I really, really like this one so far.  So I posted it.  Hope y'all dig it!

All I Can Do (Demo Version)

This is my conversation with the fine fellows at Hump Day Radio from March 7, 2012.  These guys couldn't have been any more supportive of the cause; check 'em out on Facebook!!!

We Beelieve vs. Hump Day Radio, Charlotte, NC, 03/07/12

I wrote this song for my son pretty much the moment his mother told me about his impending arrival.  I then spent the next 7ish months trying to give it the full Brian Wilson treatment...there are probably 50+ tracks on the studio version I've been working on.  But I just couldn't get it right, so I decided to shelve it until I had a little more free time.  Well, as a lot of you know, he came to meet us Wednesday at 9:07 pm.  I had to run back to our place to grab some things before going back to the hospital Thursday around 4 am, and I decided to give a simple live take a try...this is the first-and-only result.  My vocals sound like somebody who's been up for 36 hours - flat as a pancake, and more than a little strained.  I miss more strings than I care to count, and I even mixed up a couple words.  All of that said, I don't think I've ever been as in love with anything I've ever made.  One day I'm gonna go back and finish the symphonic masterpiece I was conjuring, but until then, I hope y'all enjoy this little tribute to Young Henry.

LIGHT AS I CAN
by John Morgan, for his son, Henry; 2018

I remember when I heard the news
Your mama pulled me aside and said “boy, you better shake your blues
‘cause you’re about to be fretting for two”

And by the time I’d dried my eyes I’d come up (with a)
Bare minimum plan my little man could expect of me;
An entry-level list of demands:

You’ll skin your knees
You’ll chip your teeth
Your heart will break, but there’ll never be a day
I won’t be right behind you
Picking up the pieces and making life as light as I can.

Maybe you’re the type to keep things hid
You keep us guessing on the pleasures and the stresses of your
Heart and your head…
A real ‘strong and silent’, serious kid

Or maybe baby you’re an open book
Your heart on your sleeve, always grinning mischievously
Never mistook
For anything more or less than your father’s son

Perhaps you’ll take us up to Mars and back (while you’re)
Hanging in the Louvre and
Polishing your Pulitzer and
Publishing your proofs
Of the universe’s deep, hidden truths

Or maybe life has something else in mind
Ya end up polishing the floors and holding the doors for the
Jet-setting types
As long as you do it full-speed, and you’re kind, that’s fine.

You’ll skin your knees
You’ll chip your teeth 
Your heart will break, but there’ll never be a day
I won’t be right behind you
Picking up the pieces, and making life as light as I can.

Oh, my lovely boy
All I have is yours
And even when I’m gone,
You’ll have my songs.

You’ll skin your knees
You’ll chip your teeth
Your heart will break, but there’ll never be a day
I won’t be right behind you
Picking up the pieces, and dreaming up the kinds of
Lines that old folk recite
When the light of their life
Has been dimmed for a sec
And that introspection drives me
To reckon with the fact that I’ve done jack to deserve this
Moment in time
The chance to opine upon the 
Fate and the fortunes of Apollo’s own line
And that I’m wholly unworthy 
Of this day, and this gift
But I’ll be damned if I’m giving you back

But
Mama looks restless 
If I know what’s best for me, I’ll drop this troubadour act and
I’ll get this 
Show on the road
We gotta big introduction 
Breathe in
Breathe out

It’d be a hell of a lie
To say I’m not terrified 
Of birds and bees 
And rising seas
And a-r-one-fives
But boy,
Suffice it to say
On this glorious day, that
I’m oh, so glad to meet you.

John Morgan's Album

Light As I Can (Acoustic)

I thought of a little melody in my head, so I recorded it really quickly.  Then a bunch of beautiful children started clapping and pounding tables.  It was amazing.

Sweet Little Sketch-9/14/12 (feat. the Prospect Fifth Grade-Percussion Ensemble)

A rough first run of a sweet, sad little thing I just wrote.

She Comes Calling (Demo)

This is a different version of this song I made this morning.  Working on fully fleshing it out.  My students helped with the melody!  

Birder/Worley

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