Music by Brian Vaughn
Photo by Matt Hoffman (unsplash.com/@__matthoffman__)

The Day After Yesterday

Lyrics and music by me
Photo by Tony Phan (unsplash.com/@phanchutoan)

Kisses on the cheek are the fastest way inside
My heart lifts off like a thousand fireflies
Fills the empty spaces with a temporary light
So cut the chat and give me a FaceTime
I like to see you're really there
I like your eyes
You might think that I'm old fashioned
And I'm not going to fight it

Come off it now
What are you doing here?
Either you know
Or no amount of small talk is going to fix this hole

So come off it now
What are we doing here?
Let's move this conversation out into the sunlight
I know that nobody likes it here
You know that nobody likes it here

We hate this place based on our profiles
And I don't think there would be any other reason
For us to tell each other such a pointless lie

Get off it now
What are we doing here?
Are you too emotionally unavailable to want to talk?

And is your goal to keep it online?
Because I would rather be outside
I know that nobody likes it here
You know that nobody likes it here

Fireflies

Music and lyrics by Brian Vaughn
Photo by Mourad Saadi (unsplash.com/@mougrapher)

Sun beams on the open road.
Straight ahead, no destination.
I just saw the first firefly of the summer

The skin between your shoulder blades is pale like moonlight on the water.
Hints at possibility.
Had me blushing.

But don't wait.
Time moves like a hurricane, and we'll be swept away.
Don't wait.
Waiting leads to running away,
And I think we've got something here.

Let's not waste the afternoon.
Let walk down to Brooklyn bridge?
Just one thought is on my mind.
Can you guess what it is?

I think I know the perfect place.
I was walking there the other day.
And i'd like to share with you, if you wanna?

So don't wait.
Time moves like a hurricane, and we'll be swept away.
Don't wait.
Waiting leads to running away,
And I think we've got something here.

So if you agree, then why are we waiting?
I've probably done enough hesitating for the both of us.
I think it'd be a nice change of pace just to tell you right to your face that I care about you,
And I'd like to see where it goes from here.

Summer

Music and lyrics by Brian Vaughn
Photo by Cedric Letsch (unsplash.com/@cedricletsch)

About the time I'm getting home from work in California,
You're laying down my nephew in a bed back in Virginia.
Distance is a funny thing.
I feel the miles a little more today.

The cold sets in back home around this time of year.
Bath tubs offer comfort for our bones.
And winter decorations, from the boxes to the table,
Tell a story of the years that come and go.

Oh...
Home in California, here I go.

Cool without being cold.
A room that never really feels like home.
I guess it's only obvious and hindsight shows it best,
The price you pay for striking out alone.

Oh...
off to California.

Sing it out. Sing it loud.
These thin walls and that empty couch- things that I'm finding out.
Sing it out. Feel the sound.
The rooftops of apartments downtown are all too close together but so far away.

Seaside and the 101,
Redwoods and the California sun-
Beautiful reminders to let it go,
To stop and smile once and a while.
All in all there's nothing wrong.
I just have a tendency to over analyze.
It's natural to question and to second guess,
And it's hard not to romanticize, here in California.

Sing it out. Sing it loud.
No matter where you go you leave parts of yourself is something that I'm finding out.
Sing it out. Feel the sound.
The thin walls in apartments downtown don't bring anyone together.

Oh, I'll tell.
Out here in the El Dorado state
There's a tremor I just felt
From within myself,
An echo from far away.

Home in California (revisited)

Lyrics and music written and performed by Brian Vaughn.
Photo by Jesse Orrico (@jessedo81)

"The Cannon's Mouth"
I'm not trying to make a play.
I'm a dim reflection of the light you hold inside.
If you're gone, I'll seek to find you north and south.
I'll look beneath the water.
I'll sleep inside the cannon's mouth.

From your shining morning face to the furnace's sigh
I played my part, then to oblivion.
Skip past the wisdom and the world too wide.
I'm listening to the whistle sounding.

You are the piece that I am missing.
You showed me the love in the lie.

Into the fire and onward, through.
Had earth no charm to keep me from you.

The Cannon's Mouth

Lyrics by Luna Ruan
Music and vocals by Brian Vaughn
Photo by Daniele Colucci

"Fire"

We walked down a one way street,
Kicking pebbles at our feet.
The city burned like the sun.
Smell of ashes in the air.
Boarded windows and empty stairs.
Dozed for a while and we're gone

In the hazy afterglow the distant car horns cry.

In my sleep we were ablaze.
Your hand burned my face as I tore us apart.
You screamed at me to confess.
Was it love or loneliness that made us reach for the stars?

You pretend nothing's wrong,
But we both know I'm to blame.
We are the ash and I was the flame.

We wake,
And can’t remember if it was June or December,
In a year with no end.
California laid to waste,
And between us only space of a life that we’d planned.

You pretend nothing's wrong,
But we both know I'm to blame.
We are the ash and I was the flame.

Fire

Music and lyrics by Brian Vaughn. Photo by Ingmar (unsplash.com/ingmarr).

Lunar orbits.
Trace the moon.
I think it's not so far from me to you.

It's predictable I suppose, but here I am.
Another kind of gravity.
"Like an open book", you say.
Share your words with me.

        (And there's that thought again.)

Words can paint a picture, but in the end you'll see what you want to see.
I don't even know if intentions count for anything.

I don't mean to intrude in a song about you.
I guess I made it about me too.

        (What if it comes back again?)

Oh, now I know.
You're such a moving target.
A painted pillow with people on it.
I think I drank too much and floated to the moon.
I'll be sure to keep an eye for you.
I tried to let my guard down but there's only so much I can do.
So for now, I am silent.

Tell me a secret.
I don't really do that well with sleep.
I don't have a handle on you.
You've got an advantage over me.

Though you'd probably argue.

Oh, now I know that you're a moving target.
A painted pillow with pictures on it.
Yeah, now I know a poem or two, but I'm still on the surface of you.
I tried to let my guard down but there's only so much I can do.
So for now, I am silent.

Lunar Song

Music and lyrics by Brian Vaughn
Photo by Monica Gozalo

At the moment i'm an airplane
Like the kid I used to be
And this feeling like an old friend slips his hand into my hand
And then we're flying

I thought it was a memory
The warm sun on my face
And I wish you were here, so maybe you are
And maybe I can be the shape
The shape your light illuminates as it shines on me

Sometimes in my mind, I still pray
But I don't know why
I just say, "God"
And then the words don't come
They don't come at all

Like an old friend who lives too far away
I think a lot about you and I wonder

Airplane

Guitar, lyrics, and vocals by Brian Vaughn
Percussion by Aaron Sharpes
Bass guitar by Karl Ridgeway
Photo of San Francisco by Casey Horner

"Fear"

Out of fear, she was holding on
And I saw it for what it was only because I'd been there

What if the best is behind us and by hoping for better we ruin what we have?
Sometimes I feel too old
I spend most of the time in the past
And it adds up

The last time that I felt alive, I was with you
Now I just kind of get by
The city streets after dark
And a warmth that came from you that lit my heart
I've played it over time after time

Feed me lies and I'll be fine
Stream of conscious
Tell me what's been on your mind
And I'll read in between the lines

I can remember a time when I knew
The song I should sing is about you
Staying up late at night to read the words that I hoped you would write
but you never do

Fear

Music and lyrics by Brian Vaughn
Photo by Paweł Czerwiński

When do you say it
And how do you know
And where does the time go
Tonight, while I sit inside
You're on the opposite coast

Do you think that in some alternate line we never got this close

Would that make this all worth while
Do you think we could be alright

You ask the questions and I try not to hide
Because I promised I would try

Would that make this all worth while
Do you think we could be alright
Given all our insecurities
If there's a path ahead
I'll try

Alternate Line

I’m a software engineer, musician, and runner.

The Day After Yesterday

brianvaughn