YOU SAVED ME
Heroism is a virtue
Surrendering your self interest to save
Somebody from the tempting thought
To find an early grave

Everyone needs inspiration
But more, beyond the words that dangle there
Overused on the television
Where we sit and stare

To shake a weary friend
And open eyes to see
That the second passed was a moment’s blessing
And it’s gone without you noticing

Where would we be
Without the spirit moving you and me
To love a sister like a friend
And carry on until the end?

A very sad discovery
That so many ones despise
People they don’t even know
Just from looking in their eyes

You saved me from
Those who have no sympathy
You saved me from
Feeling out of place
You saved me from
Judging those who judge me
You saved me from
Taking on the human race

Everybody wants a savior
But no one will believe in one
They know there must be something more to life
And that something must be having fun

But they go on in the coldest way
Relieving every urge
And playing every game
But the emptiness remains

This morning I just had a dream
That I had walked over the ocean
And reached a place where there was peace
Cause we all knew we’d reached the land
That we all hoped would be there in the end

And everyone was thanking You
And everyone was shaking through
The tremors of another scene
And every heart was clean
And every heart was clean
And every heart was clean

I don’t complain
I don’t complain
I don’t complain
I don’t complain

You saved me from
Putting down what I don’t understand
You saved me from
The ice in my veins
You saved me from
The politics that make me cry
You saved me from
Aloof disdains

You saved me from
The laughter in the hallway
You saved me from
The fear that runs the earth
You saved me from
The blindness of the powerful
You saved me from
What I thought I was worth

RGM June 1992

Solo Ray

You Saved Me

Home recording in 1984 of a song I wrote that year. 

AWHILE 
Awhile ago 
While I was sleeping by my window pane
Awhile ago 
A birdie whispered to me, 
“With a little more luck
and a little more time,
you can sleep in peace
and rest your mind”

Awhile ago 
While you were crying by your window pane
Awhile ago
I came and stood by your side 
With a little more luck
and a little more time, 
you can dry your tears,
and you’ll be just fine 

So now we know
While troubles hang outside our window panes
So now we know
There lies a future of hope 
With a little more luck 
And a little more time 
We can live in peace
and we’ll be just fine

Music & lyrics by Raymond G. McLaughlin, copyright 1984

Awhile

Another home recording, this one from 1985.  Written while in college.  An observation about the search for spiritual meaning in the face of enduring college life at a highly intellectual, competitive & science-based university. 

THE FINDING
Two rat boys comb the basement 
Seek, explore the secret places
They’ll find whatever they find
A dime, call your mother 
She’ll cry whenever she cries
Because your face got broken 
Sticking it into His mind
You figure you have problems 
But it’s time whenever it’s time

But you still have to know what’s behind the closet
Boxes, caskets
Presents unwrapped when we
Find whatever we find 

Someone taught me nothing once
I tried to learn it, until it made sense
Other ones learn everything 
And once they know it all
They don’t know the why, the who,
The where, the how
And the time 
Yeah

Watch the rain damp the campus
Chapel empty, classrooms rampant
They’ll find whatever they find 
A bedroom, on the bed
Wasting what could have been love
On digging a crack in their heart
And tearing their lives apart 

Someone taught me nothing once
I tried to learn it, until it made sense
Other ones learn everything 
And once they know it all
They don’t know the why, the who,
The where, the how
And the time
Yeah
Yeah

You’re a stretch of the vine
You’re a part of it all
Hear the call?
You do 
Together we’ll find whatever we find

While we both know nothing here
Since we don’t have what we’re “supposed to”
Bow your head and pray for me
And I’ll return it
Finding the definitive, the absolute,
The meaning of our lives
Yeah
Of our lives
Yeah
Yeah
Music & Lyrics by Raymond G. McLaughlin, Copyright 1985

The Finding

the whole of your tattoo sleeve is made up of cats
but you don't own one
you never have

you say that everyone deserves love
but you don't take care
do you even love yourself?

you put a slice of lemon in your tap water
you don't squeeze out the juice
you said its too bitter

you said we do not need to talk
we'll just communicate through waves
with our inbuilt transmitters

 There's a clear disconnect between outward appearances 
and the individual's actual experiences 
when social media makes your posts superficial
suddenly your genuine emotions becomes sacrificial
And you're lost, you've lost yourself
who are you now? now the internet's down
self-perception goes amiss, no authenticity, 
the resulting impact of social media on one's identity

When we go out to eat
you make your food look appealing
for a photo, whilst my food gets cold
waiting to start eating

That dog that you bought
has learned how to smile
not as a representation of joy
but to match your perception of style

The clothes that you wear
plugged by social influence
roped into marketing campaigns
world wide confluence

someday you'll get old
and see you took thousands of selfies
no evidence of what you've experienced
or what you've seen

Persona

this tiny heart

original version of the school disco classic

Go To School (original version)

amygdala

Daniel Vincent Cline - I'm Going Away (New Mexico)

The oldest hero in written history, the story of the part mortal, part god Mesopotamian who achieved greatness and then tried for immortality.

Gilgamesh

This is song number 3 from my 2002 home cassette tape recorded album Fondly and With Feeling, called Connection.

CONNECTION
Your eyes are fixed 
with a solitary
gaze into nowhere 
Loneliness is scary 

Am I a ghost?
Does anybody see me?
What I want most — 
A stranger to believe me

Please stop rejecting 
No’s not the word to say
We’re just not connecting
but please don’t turn away

Here underground 
I roll in darkened blankets
Will I break down?
Or will the colors take me?

Please stop rejecting 
No’s not the word to say
We’re just not connecting
but please don’t turn away

Your little friends
They lead you down a black hole
Hand, take my hand, take my hand
and feel the trembling of a soul

And don’t you need protection?
And don’t you want connection?

Her eyes looked up
and caught a glimpse of mine
And so for a time
there was a point to life

Please stop rejecting 
No’s not the word to say
We’re just not connecting
but please don’t turn away

Your little friends
They lead you down a black hole
Hand, take my hand, take my hand
and feel the trembling of a soul

And don’t you need protection?
And don’t you want connection?

Words & Music by Raymond G. McLaughlin, © Copyright 2002

this tiny heart

ucis