These are my most played songs over the last three months.

DW - Most Played Songs

This is a song about life.  It can be difficult and drab but now and then something happens and something special happens.  It's not predictable but it does happen.

The singer in this version is me, but I'm hoping one day that a real singer discovers this song and makes it their own.

Once in a While

Verse 1:
Most of my days
Lot like the day before
I’ve taught my self
Not to expect anything more
Can’t complain
All of my days are full 
But they’re not particularly
Memorable

Chorus:
But then once in a while
Comes a day  
Quite unexpectedly - In my life
A surprise, once in a while
Before my eyes
Magic finds its way back to me 

Verse 2:
There’ve been days
Living in shades of grey
Hard to know
What it was painted them that way
I’d Like to think
That every single day 
I deserve to live in joy 
But life keeps getting in my way

Chorus:
But then once in a while
Comes a day  
Quite unexpectedly - In my life
A surprise, once in a while
Before my eyes
Magic finds its way back to me 

Bridge 1:
I know it can only be once in a while
Can’t expect anything more
But the magic of that once in a while
Make it all worth waiting for

Verse 3:
I’ve heard it said
That there might be ways
To learn to live in those moments
For more of my days
But I never tried
I say it’s not my style  
But it could be I’m addicted to the magic
of once in a while

Chorus:
Once in a while
Comes a day  
Quite unexpectedly - In my life
A surprise, once in a while
Before my eyes
Magic finds its way 
Magic finds its way 
Magic finds its way back to me

Once In A While

This is a song about asking for help.

Verse 1:
One day they finally told me it'd be good for me
To come here and talk to you
I didn’t take offence at all, i thought it was a joke
Cus that’s the sort of thing my friends might do
They said there was no guarantee
But it might somehow be good for me
I didn’t understand and still don’t see
The point of this and what the hell am I supposed to do

Chorus:
Cuz I, I don't talk about it much
I’m not sure that I should
I’ve managed all these years
I’ve done the best I could
I don’t talk about it much
I don’t remember talking ever doing me a whole lot of good

Verse 2:
You should know - there are things I won’t discuss
Things that I just don’t want to show
There are things I keep inside
Some things that make sense to hide
I survived them all and never cried
So there are probably things I’ll never let you know

Chorus:
Cuz I, I don't talk about it much
I’m not sure that i should
I’ve managed all these years
I’ve done the best I could
I don’t talk about it much
I don’t remember talking ever doing me a whole lot of good

Bridge:
This is scarier than I’ll admit - I’d never let that show
I was always hanging by a thread - but no one needed to know
Lately things have gotten worse - maybe more than I can take
But even so I worry that this could be a big mistake

Verse 3:
Somehow I’ve managed to get myself here
But now I guess I crossed some sort of line
But I’m terrified I’ll get it wrong
Cuz I pretty sure that I don’t belong
I’m just pretending that I’m strong
And I really hope I won’t be wasting both our time

Chorus 2:
I, I don't talk about it much
At least not ‘til today
But now I’m going to take a chance
And see if I can find something to say
I, I don't talk about it much
At least not ‘til today
But now I’m going to take a chance
And see if I can't find something to say

I Don't Talk About It Much

A friend from university remembers me leaning out of a car window singing "I wanta get me some hongos". I remember no such thing.  In honour of his recollection I created that song, but from the perspective of a 75 year old. I still wanta get me some hongos, but ...

Verse 1:
I'm sitting here patiently trying to compose
A song about my distant past, all those highs and lows
I don't want to presume that everybody knows
That back in my early days I liked a taste of

Chorus:
Hongos, Hongos
That's the way the song goes
Hongos, Hongos
Wanta get me some Hongos

Verse 2:
Time goes on and on I guess everybody knows
Some things are moving faster but mostly it all slows
There were years oh so many when my consumption froze
And I nearly forgot about the magic of

Chorus:
Hongos, Hongos
That's the way the song goes
Hongos, Hongos
Wanta get me some Hongos

Verse 3:
Way back when if I had a choice I remember what I chose
I was immortal like all my friends, I guess that's how it goes
Now here I am over 70, still trying to compose
A song about my life that still featuring

Chorus:
Hongos, Hongos
That's the way the song goes
Hongos, Hongos
Wanta get me some Hongos

Bridge:
My time is running short
Before I watch my life abort
I might as well resort
To some

Chorus:
Hongos, Hongos
That's the way the song goes
Hongos, Hongos
Wanta get me some Hongos

Hongos

Missing people I didn't know at all
They didn't touch me in a meaningful way
But just the fact that I existed for them
Brought some light to my day

===========================

The mix on this track was reworked by John Bennetts in June 2023. John also played the drums in this version.

===========================

Verse 1:
Streets wind their way through places I called home
I didn't give them a second thought as I walked those streets alone
I'd register what and who I saw everywhere I'd go
If anyone ever noticed me I'd swear I didn't know

Verse 2:
For the longest time I couldn't tell what it was that seemed so strange
Something seemed to be missing but I didn't know what had changed
As years go by I'm becoming more invisible day by day
Losing a bit of who I was while I slowly fade away

Chorus:
Missing people I didn’t know at all
They didn't touch me in a meaningful way
But just the fact that I existed for them
Brought some light to my day

Verse 3:
It's like someone has left that I didn't even know was there
Maybe I pretended not to notice now I pretend not to care
The city streets are smaller now Something made them contract
Life's a little bit emptier since they stopped looking back

Chorus:
Missing people I didn’t know at all
They didn't touch me in a meaningful way
But just the fact that I existed for them
Brought some light to my day

Missing People

This is a song about forgiveness. 

Years ago a friend's father had died. He was deeply upset because he couldn't bring himself to respect his father saying that he'd failed as a father. It was clear that he did not believe that his father had done his best. I said 'maybe not, but he probably did the best he knew how". That phrase made a difference to my friend and, perhaps, allowed him to look at his father in a different way. It stuck with me ever since.

This is also my story and possibly every parent's story. We all fail to some extent. We all could have done better and wish we had. But we all did what we knew to do. We can only hope that it was enough.

Verse 1:
We started talking about nothing at all
we shared a bit of something and I started to fall
A little bit in love I guess I answered a call
Made her more than a friend

So we got married in a rush of youth
Feeling so free, playing fast and loose
I always meant well you know that's the truth
But I stuffed it up in the end

Chorus:
Wish I could say that I did my best
But it's simply not true
I could have done a whole lot better
If I'd known what to do
I did as much as who I was at the time would allow
I'd like to think that whatever I did I did the best that I knew how

Verse 2:
We brought you home your mum and me
You entered our house turned two into three
So I went to work thought my job was to be
Bringing home big buckets of security

Who knew back then what a father should be
Who knew what a little boy or girl might need
I learned too late what I needed to see
More than anything you needed more of me.

Chorus:
Wish I could say that I did my best
But it's simply not true
I could have done a whole lot better
If I'd known what to do
I did as much as who I was at the time would allow
I'd like to think that whatever I did I did the best that I knew how

Bridge (omitted from this version):
That's not to say that I didn't try
That's all I ever did and that's no lie
If I didn't live up to the standards I had
I never thought that I was doing all that bad
The only life I've known has been in my own skin
I've never been the man I wish I'd been

Chorus:
Wish I could say that I did my best
But it's simply not true
I could have done a whole lot better
If I'd known what to do
I did as much as who I was at the time would allow
I'd like to think that whatever I did I did the best that I knew how
credits

The Best

Annette is a semi-finalist in the humour category of the 2023 International Songwriting Competition.  The finalists will be named in a few weeks.  They sent me the badge I'm using (temporarily) as the artwork for Annette.

=============================== 

Annette was awarded a shared 10th place in the Australian Songwriting Competition 2022 for the Humour/Novelty category.
================================

Annette was re-mixed and re-mastered June 2023.

================================

Verse 1
Annette Funnicello taught me 'bout boobs
I was just a little fella, and back then boobs were news
I remember seeing Annette on black and white TV
A mousekateer from the Mickey Mouse Club entering puberty

Verse 2:
That was a lot of years ago I was only nine or ten
Pretty soon my own hormones decided to kick in
Boobs loomed large in those years, but I guess that’s no surprise
Testosterone had direct control over both my eyes.

Bridge 1:
Curiosity's normal
But it's kinda hard to hide
If you're caught there is no way
It can ever be denied
So I pretend that I don't notice
I don't pay 'em any mind
I simply wear dark glasses
And act as if I'm blind

Verse 3:
As an adolescent boy I’m sure I had no choice at all
I remember Farah Fawcet in a swimsuit on my wall
She added a couple details that brightened up the joint
Everything was new to me but i still got the point

Verse 4:
But even while my hormones were distorting what was true
I learned that there were rules about what I could say or do
It seemed that staring at a woman’s breasts always annoys
And I should never talk about boobs except with other boys

Bridge 2:
I know they're just a body part
Let me say in my defense
I recognise this obsession
Don't make any kind ofsense
When I go to the beach, watch a movie
Or see anything on the tube
I get to see that it's not just me
The whole wide world loves boobs

Verse 5:
These days I'm much older my reactions more sedate
I've seen so many breasts over so many years that their power is not so great
Still if I met young Annette simply out there on a stroll
My eyes might take a short detour - it's not in my control

Outro
Trust me, it’s not intentional it’s simply out of my control
credits

Annette

I keep writing songs but mostly no one hears them. This one struck a chord with John Vallins, a friend who happened to have a studio and, as chance would have it, was even a musician. He liked this one, we recorded it, and the rest is history. If there actually is a history when the seas rise and fires burn.

Verse 1:
They tell me that the seas will rise
And maybe they are right
And maybe not, I don't really care
Nothing's going to happen over night
And by the time it does
I'll have moved into sweet repose
Someone else will have to clean up the mess
That’s just the way it goes

Chorus:
I'll be dead before it happens
It's no concern of mine
It's someone else's problem
In somebody else's time


Verse 2:
If the whole wide world
Becomes an ugly place to be
Someone will have to be living there
But that someone won't be me
So while I'm still alive
I proudly do not care
I'm not particularly interested
Because I won't be there

Chorus:
I'll be dead before it happens
It's no concern of mine
It's someone else's problem
In somebody else's time


Verse 3:
There are strange men on the TV
They claim that it's all a hoax
While they might not making perfect sense
They seem to be clever folk
It suits me to believe
That they just might be right
But let me tell you none of it
Is keeping me up at night.

Chorus:
I'll be dead before it happens
It's no concern of mine
It's someone else's problem
In somebody else's time


Verse 4:
One day in the Future
My grandkids will be grown
Maybe they'll judge me harshly
But I'll be dead so i wont know
I guess I've dodged a bullet
It’s pretty great to be me
I’ve finally found a benefit
Of being over 70

Chorus:
I'll be dead before it happens
It's no concern of mine
It's someone else's problem
In somebody else's time

I'll Be Dead Before it Happens

Relationships go through changes.  Sometimes they mirror the way a child grows and develops year by year.

======================================

In 2012 I took a songwriting course led by John Vallins in Bellingen, NSW. During the course we were assigned the task of writing a song around a prompt supplied by John. The prompt that generated this song was "Love Lies Bleeding".

After the course finished John took some initial recordings done at the time and turned them into this song.

Contrary to popular belief, this isn't a song about a child or a lover. This is a song about the the stages a relationship goes through over time.

Verse 1:
New love like a new born child
Do anything just to make her smile
She keeps me on my feet
And makes my life complete
But she's just a little baby for a while
‌
Verse 2:
A couple of years she's a two year old
Practicing the art of saying no
There's a touch of power play
And watching what you say
And working out where love is meant to go

Chorus:
Watching my love grow every day
She takes a few wrong steps along the way
If my love lies bleeding I'll always say
I will kiss it better in every way
‌
Verse 3:
At 7 love's a thing to behold
No longer young but hardly old
She wants to get around
And she's harder to hold down
At 7 love won't do what she's told
‌
Verse 4:
A teenage love is hard to explain
At times a teenage love forgets its name
By the time that you're fifteen
You'd think you'd know what love should mean
But love will keep you guessing just the same

Chorus:
Watching my love grow every day
She takes a few wrong steps along the way
If my love lies bleeding I'll always say
I will kiss it better in every way

Kiss It Better

Exploring the magic of nothing to do.

It started out as a chord progression.  Walking down a street in Alice Springs I found the first line. Little by little it became this song.

Verse 1:
I’ve got a little bit of time on my hands
Quite unexpected not a part of my plans
But just the same I’ve got nothing to do today

It’s the kind of nothing that can fill all the space
That’s always been here surrounding this place
So full of busy that is constantly in my way

Chorus 1:
I could have started on a project or two
There were a million things that I could do
Instead I stumbled into something new... appreciation

Verse 2:
Look at the sky and there sits the moon
And wonder how it found its way back so soon
It's like its hardly even been away

I always knew there were stars in the sky
Tiny holes in the curtain- they're hard to deny
I didn't notice - there was always something in the way

Chorus 2:
How could I have missed it, it was everywhere
I didn't see didn't let myself care
But something stopped me - i discovered something rare ... appreciation

Bridge:
In these quiet moments i wonder what's true
Exploring the magic of nothing to do
It seems to me when I let myself be
I might dicover something new .. appreciation

Verse 3:
I can't explain how my life got this way
Why do i fill every moment every day
Life so very full there’s not enough room for me
When i finally saw the value of slow
The value of finally having nowhere to go
I got a glimpse of parts of life i could never see

Chorus 3:
Dont get me wrong i like the life that i've got
But it wouldn't hurt in fact it might help a lot
If Once in a while i opened my eye to see .. appreciation

Outro:
I’ve got a little bit of time on my hands
Quite unexpected not a part of my plans
But just the same I’ve got nothing to do
Oh... I got nothing to do

Appreciation

Odd melody.  Unusual chords. Strange lyrics. I tried to turn this into a song but it didn't want to go. Until it did.

Verse 1:
I’ll be there when you need me
I’ll be there at the source
Of strength and hope in the face
Of sorrow and remorse
I’ll be there in those moments
When all you feel is pain
And even if I’ve been before
I’ll return again.

Verse 2:
When the day is getting darker
And all there is is night
When ground starts to shaking
And the others all take flight
The storm all engulfing
Saps your strength with it’s might
If you think you know who’s with you
You just might be right

Verse 3:
You’re a part of everyone
And we’re all a part of you
No one is ever quite alone
I think you know that's true
You have no need of magic
Or supernatural beings
You and I we are alone here
You and I can share the dream

Verse 4:
When you and I learn things
How the world is full of pain
How injustice and violence
Are enacted in our name
We can draw upon each others strength
And let our voice ring clear
With our brothers and our sisters
We can’t be stopped by fear

Verse 5:
And if you ever wonder
If you can do great things
Just remember what I told you
In the early days of spring
Together we are who we are
And together we’ll be there.
And if you ever doubt it just remember
I’ll be there

I'll Be There

This is a song about depression and survival. 

When I wrote it I still had another 25 years of surviving it ahead of me. But I'd made a decision years before, when I was 14, that no matter how bad it got it would always get better, sooner or later. And it always did, at least for a while. And knowing that somehow made it just a little bit easier to smile.


[This is a new mix. Drums by John Bennetts have been added and everything else has been changed, at least a little.]

Verse 1:
It’s more than a song
But less than a dream
I know what I say
Is not what I mean
Pretending my words
Aren’t meant to deceive
I’m playing with doubt
I want to believe

I know that it’s hard
To explain why I’m here
I complain though I know
There is nothing to fear
But the fear and the doubt
That wind through my mind
Are inventions of mine
That help pass the time

Chorus:
So here is my song
I wrote it for me
I need to recall
That it’s easy to be
The times that I’ve faced
My life as a trial
Have taught me to see
That it’s easy to smile

Verse 2:
I’m more than a child
But less than a man
I know where I’ve been
But not who I am
I'll say that I'm strong
I'll tell you I’m free
But none of that's true
I just want it to be

Once I entered a room
I pulled down the shade
I turned out the lights
I wanted to fade
But I noticed the wall
Right there looking at me
Pretending to be blind
I really wanted to see

Chorus:
So here is my song
I wrote it for me
I need to recall
That it’s easy to be
The times that I’ve faced
My life as a trial
Have taught me to see
That it’s easy to smile

Verse 3:
It all seemed to happen
A while ago
At a time I was lost
I just didn’t know
That doubting was simply
A game that I had
It gave me a reason
For feeling this bad

There are times there are changes
My memory moves
Preaching the patterns
I’ve worn into grooves
Repeating mistakes
I made in my youth
Learning the lines
And calling them truth
I can’t help but change
Can't help but survive
I might drown in doubt
But I'll still be alive

Chorus:
So here is my song
I wrote it for me
I need to recall
That it’s easy to be
The times that I’ve faced
My life as a trial
Have taught me to see
That it’s easy to smile

Easy to Smile

Easy To Smile

This track pretty much speaks for itself.  Only a few of my songs are really autobiographical.  This is one.

I still find myself inside the system, the medical mechanical machinery

Little Big C was re-mixed and re-mastered June 2023.

============================

Verse 1:
Walking along, minding my business
Pretty much an ordinary day to me
When I encountered a remarkably small
A diminutive little big C

Verse 2:
It hit me as an almighty interruption
In the middle of my day to day
It didn't seem to make any kind of sense
How could I be sick when I was feeling Ok

Chorus:
Now I find myself inside the system
The medical mechanical machinery
All i want is to get out alive
Minus that little bitty ol' C

Verse 3:
I'm not one to bemoan my fate
Or say "how could this have happened to me"
Maybe it’s genetic maybe it’s just bad luck
Doesn’t seem to matter to the Little Big C

Verse 4:
People tell me if I change the way the way I think
Or the things that I eat and this will all go away
Nice to think it all could be that simple
But I'm pretty sure C doesn't roll that way


Chorus:
I still find myself inside the system
The medical mechanical machinery
All i want is to get out alive
Minus that little bitty ol' C


Bridge:
The doc read out some numbers
Such and such percent
At the time i couldn't puzzle out
What it was he meant
Cuz I don't think I heard another word
After I heard big C
But pretty soon all those numbers
Became important to me


Verse 5:
I'm not the first that ever got this message
And I know that I won't be the last
Everything is moving so impossibly slowly
But somehow it’s feeling too damn fast

Verse 6:
So far I’ve been lucky - dodged a bullet
Haven’t needed chemo or surgery
But I’ve still got another five years
Till they let me out of the machinery

Chorus:
And I still find myself inside the system
The medical mechanical machinery
All i want is to get out alive
Minus that little bitty ol' C

Little Big C

I'm not a performer, a singer, a musician, an arranger, a producer.  I'm just not.  I do what I can but I dream about what it might be like to work with someone who could do all the things I can't do, which is most of it.  Wouldn't it be great to have a collaborator?

================================

Collaborator was re-mixed and re-mastered May 2023.

================================

Verse 1:
Last night I had a dream
I dreamt about a beautiful song
The words were deeply moving
And the melody was strong
I got up right away
I picked up my guitar
I tried to compose my dream
But I didn't get very far

Verse 2:
The notes I played were nothing like
The melody in my dream
And the words came out as doggerel
If you know what I mean
This sort of thing happens all the time
When I get a song in my head
I tried to write that song for a while
Then I got back into bed

Chorus:
I need a collaborator
To help me do what I want to do
Someone to help fill in the puzzle
Make one and one equal more than two
I need a collaborator if I'm ever going to be great
And once I find a collaborator we can collaborate

Verse 3:
I'm not too proud to tell you I'm
Not the world's most talented guy
I guess that's just the way it is
No point in asking why
But maybe with the right kind of help
I could do more with the talent I've got
The right sort of partnership
Could take me straight to the top

Chorus:
I need a collaborator
To help me do what I want to do
Someone to help fill in the puzzle
Make one and one equal more than two
I need a collaborator if I'm ever going to be great
And once I find a collaborator we can collaborate

Bridge:
I can do a lot of things
But I can't do it all
If I found me a number
I just might make a call
Maybe there's somebody out there
Who could fill in the missing bit
and if they're looking for someone
We just might be a perfect fit

Verse 4:
My whole life my tendency has been
to do everything on my own
That's meant there's a whole lot of things
that somehow never get done
No one really makes it alone
They get a little help on the way
Maybe if I find a collaborator
Everything will work out Ok

Chorus:
I need a collaborator
To help me do what I want to do
Someone to help fill in the puzzle
Make one and one equal more than two
I need a collaborator if I'm ever going to be great
And once I find a collaborator we can collaborate

Collaborator

This is the song referenced in "Blue Book", the story song that's also available on this site.  I found the lyrics in a fifty year old travel journal.  I tried to find Patrick Dietsch, the composer of the original song, but I was too late.  He died in May 2021.

When I found the lyrics my memory of the tune sort of came back. I was pretty sure about how the first line went and the first two or three chords, but I was unable to remember the rest of the song.  So I decided to write a melody and chord progression that reflected the original song as best as I could recall.  I really don't know how much of the song was written by Patrick Dietsch and how much was written by me.  The lyrics are all mine.

This became my song because I spent 15 minutes of scribbling on December 31, 1972.  I'd love for it to exist for a few more years with just a smidgen less obscurity.  

You can look up Patrick Dietsch on Google France.  He wasn't a superstar but he was a successful and respected musician with a long career.

====================

Verse 1:
Sunlight shining softly in the summertime
Feeling all the feelings flowing through my mind

Verse 2:
Have you heard the words that make you feel so free.
And have you got the time to spend some time with me.


Chorus:
Freely flowing
Sing a song of the river moving on
Freely flowing
Wait a while and watch the river rushing right along
The river seems to know - you’re right where you belong

Verse 3:
You know now baby pretty soon your gunna see
The same river flowing through you is flowing through me

Verse 4:
I want to know you cuz you see we have to care
We gotta lotta love and we can learn to share.

Chorus:
Freely flowing
Sing a song of the river moving on
Freely flowing
Wait a while and watch the river rushing right along
The river seems to know - you’re right where you belong

Verse 5:
Sing your songs now baby sing your soul to me
Let’s sit beside the river cuz it flows so free
credits

Freely Flowing

I'm an American but I've lived in Australia for nearly 50 years.  That didn't save me from being shocked and upset by what happened in the 2016 election.  And now it might be about to happen again.  

================================

November was re-mixed and re-mastered May 2023.

================================


Verse
So far away and a long time ago
I was sure I'd left you behind
Life had moved on in that way that you know
Life is moving on on all the time
I wasn't prepared for the changes that struck
On that sunny November day
I'd known you were hurting and down on your luck
But I still thought you'd be ok.

Chorus
I think I've lost you again
As you drift ever further away
I'm shocked by the depth of the pain
I felt on that November day 

Verse
I thought I'd finally moved on
The past was simply the past
The life I had then was all gone
But today life is moving so fast
I felt certain that I was quite free
You were hardly a part of my life
But the news was so shocking to me
It cut with the heat of a knife

Chorus
I guess I've lost you again
As you drift ever further away
I'm shocked by the depth of the pain
I felt on that November day. 

Bridge
That early November no one could foresee it
I watched as you stumbled and couldn't believe it
You gave all you had for something much stranger
You must have known something but ignored the danger

Verse
I always knew you had madness inside
But somehow you kept it in check
So it pains me to say that I cried and I cried
As I watched you lose all self respect
I fear for the people who live with you still
How can they know what to do
If it's this hard for me I just can't conceive
What they must be going through

Chorus
Now that I've lost you again
And you drift ever further away
I'm shocked by the depth of the pain
I felt on that November day

November Day

Too Many Words was included in the top 30 list for the CONTEMPORARY POP DANCE Category of the 2022 Australian Songwriting Contest. 

I was thinking one day about how my songs are wordy.  I had the thought that I could write one that was mostly the words "too many words" and would have far fewer words than most.  Naturally irony prevailed and "Too Many Words" probably has too many words.

=========================

Chorus 1:
Too many words
Get in the way
Of all the clever things
I was planning to say
Too many words
Over the top
I know what I'm doing
But I can't seem to stop

Verse 1:
I've been nervous thinking
About what I'd say tonight
I rehearsed a whole lot cuz
I wanted to get it right
I was looking here and there
Through all the words I knew
To find the words to tell you
How I feel about you

Chorus 2:
Too many words
Got in the way
Of whatever it was I thought
That I wanted say
The most important things
Are hard to convey
That's when too many words
Get in the way

Bridge:
Long as I remember it's always been this way
No matter what I talk about I've got too much to say
All my songs are far too long
All my stories are long too
I rarely choose a single word when 5 or 10 will do.

Verse 2:
I stumbled over adjectives
Adverbs, nouns and verbs
All I heard myself say
was a jumbled mess of words
Felt i should Apologise
For what I'd put you through
Before I could you smiled and said
You already knew

Chorus 3:
I wasn't sure
What it was I heard
I was still caught up in my
Avalanche of words
I felt so alive like I could
Laugh and dance and sing
But I couldn't manage
to say a single thing

Chorus 4:
You taught me a lot
‘bout talking since that day
I’ve learned that what you hear
Matters more than what I say
I still got a ways to go
Before I master brevity
But I’m getting better at telling you
what you mean to me
I took some time and thought about
All the words I could do without
One by one I cut them out
'Til the only words left numbered three

Too Many Words

Best That I Knew How was included in the shortlist for the ROCK/INDIE category of the 2022 Australian Songwriting Contest. 

================================

Best That I Knew How was re-mixed and re-mastered June 2023.

===============================

Verse 1:
We started talking about nothing at all
We shared a bit of something and I started to fall
A little bit in love I guess I answered a call
Made her more than a friend

So we got married in a rush of youth
Feeling so free, playing fast and loose
I always meant well you know that's the truth
But I stuffed it up in the end

Chorus:
Wish I could say that I did my best
But it's simply not true
I could have done a whole lot better
If I'd known what to do
I did as much as who I was at the time would allow
I'd like to think that whatever I did, I did the best that I knew how

Verse 2:
We brought you home your mum and me
You entered our house turned two into three
So I went to work thought my job was to be
Bringing home big buckets of security

Who knew back then what a father should be
Who knew what a little boy or girl might need
I learned too late what I needed to see
More than anything you needed more of me.

Chorus:
Wish I could say that I did my best
But it's simply not true
I could have done a whole lot better
If I'd known what to do
I did as much as who I was at the time would allow
I'd like to think that whatever I did, I did the best that I knew how

Bridge:
That's not to say that I didn't try
That's all I ever did and that's no lie
If I didn't live up to the standards I had
I never thought that I was doing all that bad
The only life I've known has been in my own skin
I've never been the man I wish I'd been

Chorus:
Wish I could say that I did my best
But it's simply not true
I could have done a whole lot better
If I'd known what to do
I did as much as who I was at the time would allow
I'd like to think that whatever I did, I did the best that I knew how

================================

This is another take on the song previously released as The Best. The Best was reworked as a ballad and worked well.  This version is my attempt to reproduce the sort of song that I was thinking of when I wrote it.

Best That I Knew How

Mistakes, I've made a few.  Some on my own, and others involved so many people that it's hard to work out what my part might have been.

Verse 1:
Looked mighty fine, couldn't help but see
How bout that? she's looking back at me
Ignorant and lonely, I was all of that stuff
She smiled at me, that was enough
We gave it time, we had some fun
Decided she should be my only one
Screwed up my nerve, decided to ask her
Knew that we'd be happy forever after

Chorus:
I couldn't have been more mistaken
I was travelling on a road I never should have taken
It's my own damn fault that my heart is breaking
I'm never going to do it again

Verse 2:
Fake it 'till you make it, they said to me
Never pass up an opportunity
The point of the process is how much you can make
It's a zero sum game a little give a lot of take
Get a lot of money then make a little more
After all it's only a way of keepin' score
Gonna find my happiness in wealth and fame
Going figure out the rules of the game

Chorus:
I couldn't have been more mistaken
I was travelling on a road I never should have taken
I see what I did and my confidence is shaken
I'm never going to do it again

Bridge:
Mistakes are made
Life's like that
But mostly we recover
We find our way back
But you never know
If one day or another
We'll screw up so badly
We'll never recover

Verse 4:
Uncovered this stuff, burned real good
Used it to power anything we could
It looked to be something that could satisfy
A hunger for power that would never run dry
All we had to do was drill and dig
Power would be cheap, profits would be big
We'd never have to worry about expenses
Cuz there'd never be any consequences

Chorus:
We couldn't have been more mistaken
We're travelling down a road we never should have taken
It's our own damn fault that our world is breaking
We're Never going to do it again

Mistaken

This song is simply a story, all of it true.

It's about a another song called "Freely Flowing". The original music for "Freely Flowing" was written by Patrick Dietsch, a French guitarist I met at the end of 1972 somewhere in Mexico. He was travelling with another guitarist and they would pick up some travelling money by playing at whatever venues they could find. I only knew him for a week or two. The last time I saw him he was performing at a bar on December 31, 1972. I presented him with some lyrics I'd written that day for an instrumental he'd composed. And that was that. I played that song for a few years until my guitar playing stopped being a big part of my life and forgot about it.

When I uncovered the song buried in my Blue Book it had his name and address on the same page as the lyrics. In the Google era tracking people down isn't what it used to be. I quickly discovered that he had been been a bit of a rock and roll star in France and that his career lasted until the early 2000s. I sent him a message but didn't get a reply. The next time I looked I found his obituary. He died of Alzheimer's in May last year.

I was still left with the song. I could remember how it began and the first two or three chords but that was it. With Patrick gone there'd be no one who could tell me how it went. So I had to make it up. The recomposed "Freely Flowing" is available on SoundCloud, Bandcamp and various other platforms.

Verse 1:
Patrick played guitar in a Mexican bar back in 1972
We hung around together, made some music for a week or two
That Frenchman wrote a song
I wrote some lyrics then went traveling on
Wrote it down it in my Blue Book like I’d sometimes do

I added "Freely Flowing" to the list of songs in my repetoire
Back in those days I was playing quite a lot
But time plays games I guess
Over time I was playing less and less
Until I couldn’t even recall what it was that I'd forgot

Chorus:
A blue book from my younger years
Full of hope and dreams and all my personal fears
There's no music but the words still last
Becoming part of today from the deep past

Verse 2:
Going through old stuff I happened on my blue book
Full with memories of at least some of those days
There was that song
And than a little bit later on
His name and address were sitting right there on the page

Thought these days it might be possible to find Patrick
Can’t know what you can do unless you take a chance
But I'll admit surprise
When the story that hit my eyes
Was about a rock and roll star in France

Chorus:
A blue book from my younger years
Full of hope and dreams and all my personal fears
There's no music but the words still last
Becomming part of today from the deep past

Verse 3:
He was a faded star cuz just like me he was old now
I figured i'd send him a message and wait and see
I'd found my words
But I had lost his tune
Who knows, maybe he might remember me

Sad to say there really isn’t a happy ending
By the time I finally looked he had drifted so very far
Why your memory goes
I guess that nobody know
In May of 21 he finally put down his last guitar

Chorus:
A blue book from my younger years
Full of hope and dreams and all my personal fears
There's no music but the words still last
Becomming part of today from the deep past

Blue Book

The picture attached to this track is from my 1972 passport. I was heading towards South America via Mexico and other parts of Central America. I knew that certain hairstyles were frowned upon at various borders. Rather than doing anything drastic, like cutting my hair, I purchase a $15 dollar short hair wig and wore it for my passport photo. That's me in my wig hat.

That wig hat served me well across a number of borders.

I actually wrote the song before I ever crossed one of those borders. At least I think so. I know I wrote it while I was travelling on my own somewhere between the US border and Silvia, Columbia. I had plenty of time in cheap hotel rooms along the way.

I like to think that this song says something about the experience of being a traveller on the road to who knows where. I'm not sure what that might be, but it feels very familiar. It takes me back.

Verse 1:
Looking for hat that comes from south of the border
He needs very big one so it must be made to order
All we really know is that he's from a northern nation
Where he took off his sombrero and he left it in the station

Chorus:
But it’s all right
It doesn’t matter
Been a long night
For the mad hatter

Verse 2:
Morning takes his head and hides it in the corner
But that can’t conceal the fact that he’s been heading for the border
So he takes a couple pills just to prove he’s not a purist
Puts a wig hat on his head so he looks just like a tourist

Chorus:
But it’s all right
It doesn’t matter
Been a long night
For the mad hatter

Verse 3:
Paradise is just a place he touches on the run
The loving and the living give him strength for moving on
The world’s out there waiting but it always strikes him funny
When he ends up in some hell hole and he’s just run out of money

Chorus:
But it’s all right
It doesn’t matter
Been a long night
For the mad hatter


Verse 4:
Can’t tell you bout his future, can’t tell you bout his past
Sometimes he says he’s happy and hopes that it’ll last
More often in the night in his hotel all alone
He wonders what he’s doing why he hasn’t got a home

Chorus:
But it’s all right
It doesn’t matter
Been a long night
For the mad hatter

Mad Hatter

Eve and I were travelling in the Northern Territory a while back when the line "I'm not a love song kind of guy" came to me. I thought it was such an obvious title for a country song that there must be a few songs like it around. As best I could I searched for and failed to find those songs. I figured that the song needed to exist so I thought I'd better write it. This is what I came up with.

Verse 1
I started writing songs some time ago
Don't know why I guess that I just decided to give it a go
I would write about this or that anything i could
I didn't know and hardly cared if it was any good
But I never touched the theme of love, I really don't know why
It occurred to me I might not be a love song kind of guy

Verse 2
At first that didn't bother me, I had a lot to say
Just me and this old guitar, I was still learning to play
But as I learned to weave my words between and around a tune
I'd try my hand at a song of love but it always seemed too soon
Over time it became a missing piece - something I could not deny
By and by I decided I'm not a love song kind of guy


Bridge
I'm inclined to write a line to make you think or smile
Or find something in my words that'll make my song worthwhile
But when it comes to you and me all my words run dry
I guess I'm not a love song kind of guy

Verse 3
It all changed a while ago when everything turned real
Now it's important to me to express the way I feel
But I don't know how to say that your smile lights up my day
Or how much love I feel for you but don't have the words to say
I can't make the words work no matter how I try
I have to face that it's not my place to be a love song kind of guy

Love Song Kind of Guy

Love Song Kind Of Guy

I never really knew Leone but I met her around 40 years ago.  This is her song.

She shared her name with her car
Funny what memories do
Except for the end of her tale
Her name and her car were all that I knew

I really didn’t know her at all
But even now I remember her name
The thing thing that made her easy to recall
Her name and her car’s were exactly the same

Leone was a friend of my first wife
After we split up I didn’t see her any more
A Subaru Leone - was the car that she drove
They stopped making those cars in 1994

Not going to tell you the story
It’s really not my story to tell
It was all over the news 
If you’re old enough you’ll remember it well

She was lost like so many
Alone in the world all on her own
Of all the people there on that day
Leone was the only one that I’d ever known

Tragedies happen all of the time
Somewhere in the world every day
We've all felt the ripples in time
No matter how far away.

Big stories and small
All those beginnings and ends
Leone's story is a sad story
Mostly remembered by her family and friends

She shared her name with her car
Funny what memories do
Except for the end of her tale
Her name and her car were all that I knew

Leone

This song began as an anniversary present to my wife, Eve. I started it on the day of our 22nd anniversary and finished it by our next anniversary. 

This song, for some reason, is Eve's favourite of all of my songs.

Verse 1:
It was 22 years ago you became my wife
For 22 years our partnership has has been central to my life
Our private journeys down the road of life we've been walking side by side
Step by step into who knows what it's been a magic and a thrilling ride

Verse 2:
22 is just a number it's not even prime
But 22 years is a big part of my whole lifetime
Our love has grown deeper that I thought it could ever be
I'm not surprised but I'm astonished we reached our 22nd anniversary

Bridge:
Arbitrary numbers we use to measure our lives
Counting up then counting down until the final day arrives
22 is just a number and I think I'll let it be
At least until the number finally reaches 23

Verse 3:
Now after 22 years I want to celebrate this day with you
Let's re- read our vows and see which ones we're living up to
I tell you how deep is my love and admiration for you
You'll say as much and the magic is that I'll believe it's true

Outro
So let's raise a glass to 22
A number, just a number, but it will have to do.
Somehow it says a whole lot, about me and you
And I'll end this song with my favourite words "I love you"

Twenty-Two

Immortality isn't really about defeating death, it's a way of living with no regard for the reality of death. Just like youth is wasted on the young it seems to me that only the young really get to experience immortality. For a while.

Verse 1:
I used to be immortal
I remember it very well
I had no fear of dying
Not as far as i could tell
I had no doubt I would live forever
Knew the day I'd die 'cuz that would be never
I had endless time for any endeavour
I knew everything cus i was so clever

Verse 2:
Way back in the day
I thought I knew an awful lot
I guess I got away with it
At least i didn't get caught
I was lucky, hanging by a thread
I lived to tell the tale, I didn’t end up dead
I suppose I became a man, you see
By surviving, my immortality

Chorus:
I lived through the never dying
Not for the lack of trying
But I got older and the time got short
Life got a hold on me
Years went by when I wasn’t looking
They got away from me
Then one day like it or not I lost
... My immortality

Verse 3:
It’s not what you remember
About me when I’m gone
It’s not about living
On and on and on and on
It’s the way I found myself living
It seemed there wasn't any other way to be
If life was only going to be temporary
Why should I give up... my immortality

Chorus:
I lived through the never dying
Not for the lack of trying
But I got older and time got short
Life got a hold on me
Years went by when I wasn’t looking
They got away from me
And one day like it or not I lost
... My immortaliy

Verse 4:
Every year there are new immortals
Following in my wake
I watch take some silly risks
And make the same mistake
That I made back when the whole world
Seemed a risk free place to be
I really hope that they survive
... Their immortality

Immortality

This isn't actually a blues song, but the title seems to fit anyway.

Here are the lyrics:

I don't like it, don't like it hanging out in front
I gotta say it's givin' me the shits, pardon me for being so blunt
It wasn't there a while ago, don't know from where it came
But I don't like it so very bad I can hardly say its name

Don't want it don't want it and it's clear I'm not alone
I see some folks who've had it since before they were even grown
They seem to get on with their lives and I guess they seem ok
But I don't like and don't want it - that's all I've got to say

I never look down 'cuz
It's hard to miss
I can't believe
That it's come to this
It came on slow
So I didn't know
It was happening to me
Until one day in a mirror I saw what everybody else could see

I've been alive a lot more years that I've got years left to live
I've been doing pretty good with learning to forgive
Myself for things I did or didn't do and places I've never been
But I'm finding it hard to forget that I was once young, fit and thin

For me it's front and centre, for some its back and low
And others carry it anywhere, everywhere they go
But they tell me that this belly fat is no good for my heart
Since I want to live a few more years I guess I'd better start
Some sort of exercise and diet - It seems a cruel plot
But as card carrying human being I suppose that that's my lot

I never look down 'cuz
It's hard to miss
I can't believe
That it's come to this
It came on slow
So I didn't know
That I was not immune
Maybe now that's just who I am and hence this tragic tune

Bellyfat Blues

Verse 1:

I can’t tell time
It won’t do what I say
I try to take control of time
But time always gets its own way

Time waits for no one 
So goes the old cliche
But if you wait until the time’s just right
You can watch time slip away

Chorus 1:

I’ve heard it said by people who know that
Only time will tell
But time don't say a single thing
I suppose that’s just as well

Verse 2:

I can't trust time
It seems to come and go
And where it went when it's gone
I swear that I don't know

More and more and On and On
I watch time dissapear
Into itself or something else
It leaves me waiting here

Chorus 2:

The universe is particular
About the time it will allow
The only time it does approve
Is the moment happening now

Verse 3:

I can't save time
It doesn't want to last
It's here for such a little while
And then becomes the past

The past can't be saved
It not really here at all
No more than the future is
As best as I recall

Chorus 3:

Seems to be a law of nature
That's universally true that
Three O'clock is too early or late for
Anything you want to do.

Verse 4:

Time fills all the spaces 
If you give it enough room
But it's still a mystery
How it got so late so soon

Time gives me everything
And then takes it all away
Things still seem to happen
In a weird but timely way

Bridge:

If time's a game
It's hard to play
It's got complex rules
And it takes all day
It's not much fun
You just can't win
But it's a beautiful game
When played by children

Verse 5:

Time is my enemy
Time’s my only friend
It's something that i never earned
But I still get to spend

We're all given so much time
You can’t get an extra bit
You can sqeeze or stretch it any way you like
But you’ll never make it fit

Chorus 4:

I can't save time, keep time or take time
Would if I knew how
Thought I had a tale about time to tell
But I'm out of time right now

Telling Time

This song was written in 1971.  It was forgotten for almost 50 years.

Verse 1:
I got this ol’ guitar
A song or two
And this old world 
To sing em to
I’m in this big old town but ya know
I’m moving on down the line
This time alone

Verse 2:
I got some long brown hair
My eyes are blue
I guess I look O.K.
I feel that way too
I’m looking everywhere but ya know
That I don’t really care
Which way I go

Chorus:
Singin bout me. 
I ain’t so important  
That I can’t waste my time  
and so ya see
I ain’t humble and I ain’t blue
And I guess I got time to 
Sit here brother and sing this song to you

Verse 3:
Well I don’t know
What it all means
I’m sure it ain’t quite
What it seems
But when darkness scares me in the night
I know that in the morning
Everything’s are going to be alright

Verse 4:
I’m one of you
You’re one of me
One and one make two
Two and on makes three
It all seems simple to me today
Tomorrow I just might feel
Some other way

Chorus:
Singin bout me. 
I ain’t so important  
That I can’t waste my time  
and so ya see
I ain’t humble and I ain’t blue
And I guess I got time to 
Sit here sister and sing this song to you

Verse 5:
I’m feeling good 
I want to share
This song with you
Cuz I really care
And maybe tomorrow when we start to doubt
We can sing it together and remember
What it’s all about

Chorus:
Singin bout me. 
I ain’t so important  
That I can’t waste my time  
and so ya see
I ain’t humble and I ain’t blue
And I guess I got time to 
Sit here people and sing this song to you

Singing 'Bout Me

Another selection from the past.  Probably written in 1970 or so.

Verse 1:

In the sunlight, in the silence I’ve been here before
I remember, crystal moments and always room for more
Waking sleeping, laughing crying a rhythm for the rain
And the feeling of believing the river sings the same

Chorus 1:

Sleeping on a winters night
Listening for the rain
Waiting for someone to come
And take me there again
I remember stars at night that  never seem to show
And I believe in a universe that I may never know 

Verse 1:

Little Big Sur in the valley I hear your waters pray
Words and whispers of the wonder and always more to say
Sitting softly by your water I think I can believe
Simply sitting softly silent and open to receive

Chorus 2:

All the living all the loving
I’ll learn to sing your song
Litanies and harmonies of 
how you roll along
And I remember stars at night that never seem to show
I’m so far away but maybe closer than I know 

Verse 3:

Perhaps the future holds key but nothing’s been foretold
Perhaps permission or persuation will warm me in this cold
Perhaps believing perhaps persisting will lead me to the sun
Perhaps tomorrow the sun will rise on hope for everyone

Chorus 1:

Sleeping on a winters night
Listening for the rain
Waiting for someone to come
And take me there again
I remember stars at night that  never seem to show
And I believe in a universe that I may never know

Little Big Sur

I wrote the following song about the  1969 draft lottery.  The number that were selected ranged form 1 to 366 and were associated with your birthday.  If you were male and the right age you had a number picked.  a low number meant your chances of being drafted were very high.  
I got the number 366.  The best you could get.

Here are the lyrics:

Verse 1:
Why did they make us play that game
No winners you could only lose
They signed us up on the day we were born
It wasn’t something you got to choose
Nobody I knew ever wanted to play
But we could only wait for that call
All of us were living out on the edge
Waiting for a hammer to fall

Verse 2:
Didn’t seem to be a way out of the game
Though I kept trying year after year
No matter what I did everything was looking
A whole lot worse than I feared
The rules kept changing - you never knew
How they’d choose the players they’d get to own
Those were the ones they put in a grinder
The rest of us, they just might leave alone

Chorus 1:
They put numbers in a barrel  Gave it a mix
Everybody got a number. I got 366
The final number. The best it could be
I won my life, in a lottery

Verse 3:
I didn’t want to watch ‘em playing with numbers
Didn’t like what they were doing it for
But after a while someone whispered to me
They’d given me the very highest score
I should have been happy about 366
But I kept wondering what I could say
To whoever it was who had to play in my place
What kind of price did they have to pay

Chorus 2:
They put numbers in a barrel  gave it a mix
Everybody got a number. I got 366
The very final number. best I could get
I’m just not ready to get over it yet

Outro:
It really happened I swear it really happened
Hard to believe that it happened back then
If we’re not careful, if we don’t pay attention
They’re going to find a way to play it again

I started writing and the song just kept getting happier.  I figured that had to be a good thing, so I kept on going.  

Here are the lyrics:

You walked into the room
Joined an aimless conversation
I liked what you had to say
And found myself glancing your way
Then suddenly out of nowhere
It caught me unaware
Didnt know where it came from
I couldn’t say a word it kinda struck me dumb

It was a feeling
Came bubbling up
Just bubbling up
From the inside
A feeling
Quite a surprise
To discover
That I had tears in my eyes

We walked a path together for a while
I was happy to have you by my side
And every now and then I’d see you anew
And get overwhelmed by the sight of you
I never really quite expected
It would sneak up on me, I never suspected
It always left me feeling kinda shy
But I never hid the tear in my eye

I used to the kind of man who proudly never cried
Whatever feelings I might have had I kept them the deep inside
I hardly knew I had an inner life until you handed me a key
Now it feels like I've been introduced to missing parts of me


It ended quite a while ago
I’m Ok with that and I hope you know
That every memory that I have of you
Is a happy one and yes it’s still true
That sometimes when I recall your face
Or remember some special time and place
A feeling comes from out of nowhere
Feelings bout the life that we once shared

It was a feeling
Came bubbling up
Still bubbling up
 From the inside
A feeling
Quite a surprise
When I discover
That I have tears in my eyes

Bubbling Up

I write songs.  I'm not a performer any more than I need to be to have my songs heard once in a while. I hope that better musicians than I encounter my songs and decide to play them.  I just write songs to have them exist in the world. If the world likes them then the world can do with them what it will.  All these recordings are demos.  I've tried to make them as musically interesting as I can but they are all awaiting the skilled hand of someone who knows how to make songs shine.

Daniel Weinstein

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks