DW - Most Played Songs

Video at https://youtu.be/fajq4lalOyo?si=BOfRXHq3xvn49PUE.
•••••••••••••••••••
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!

•See the Video•

Video at https://youtu.be/pOL6a-dC6FI?si=Bf3kHPIWbqdZM8e2
******************
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

Remixed and remastered 4 January 2025
================================
The phrase "perfect is the enemy of good" is an aphorism commonly attributed to Voltaire in 1770, but even he was apparently quoting an Italian proverb that had been around for a while.  It seemed to me to be a good idea for a song.  

Verse 1:
There was that short descriptions on page 195
It wasn’t really what I had intended to describe
And after many hours of working on the text
I gave up and decided that it was hopeless to expect
That I’d ever have the talent to do better than ok
I tossed that novel in the bin, there’s nothing more to say
It will forever go unread, I did the best I could
Perfect is the enemy of good

Chorus:
Perfect is the enemy
Perfect is the enemy
Perfect is the enemy of good
If I could make it better don’t you think I would
If I say it’s not good enough, I hope it's understood
Perfect is the enemy of good

Verse 2:
Our partnership was based on love and trust and fun
But I was undecided, would she ever be the one
Was she what I wanted, was she a perfect fit
A goddess with golden hair and unrivalled wit
A libertine, a temptress, that lovely girl next door
I let her go, so I'd be free for whatever was in store
Learned a lot about loneliness, more than I really should
Perfect is the enemy of good

Bridge:
Nothing’s ever finished
Nothing’s ever done
Always trying, waiting
While the race is being run
Perfect is my enemy
It keeps me playing small
For all that I’ve attempted
There’s not much to show at all

Verse 3:
The novel I was writing spoke of sadness and regret
For a love I’d lost so long ago that I still can’t forget
With this song I’m hoping for some closure on my past
I’m trying hard - I hope I can redeem myself at last
You’ll probably never hear this song - it won’t pass the test
That just allows perfection - I give up on all the rest
But who knows maybe this time I’ll cut myself a break
And sing this song with all it’s flaws - it’s a chance that I should take
Not perfect but maybe the very best I could
Perfect is the enemy of good

Chorus:
Perfect is the enemy
Perfect is the enemy
Perfect is the enemy of good
If I could make it better don’t you think I would
If I say it’s not good enough, I hope it's understood
Perfect is the enemy of good
Perfect is the enemy of good

Perfect is the Enemy of Good

Perfect Is The Enemy

She's The One

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

Twenty-Two

It All Comes Natural

Remixed and remastered 6 January 2025
================================
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:

Verse1:
Why were they making us play that game
There were 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 kept looking
A whole lot worse than I even feared
The rules kept changing and you never knew
How they'd choose who'd they get to own
Those were the ones that they could put in the grinder
While 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
366
366
366
366

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
366
366
366
366

#OUTRO
It really happened I swear it really happened
It's hard to believe that it happened back then
If we're not careful, if we don't pay attention
Then they're going to find a way to play it again
366
366
366
366

A dreamy summers night
Sat to watch the sundown
Our reflections on the river
And your scent that filled the air

A shimmer of light that’s breaks
A perfect summers day
Dry Golden fields of hay

Here’s your moonless sky
And hovering dragonflies
They form deceptive lines

As common thieves they stole
Our reflections and our souls
As water now fills the air

In the field we both look up 
I think I once understood 
The way you move your frame

As the rain comes down
You glide to the centre and 
The field begins to flood

Do you remember
me calling out your name
When I saw you dancing in the summer rain

Do you remember
How bolero in your veins 
Made you sway and hypnotise the summer rain

A dreamless summers night
Back against the window
The gentle of the wind 
But echoes stir the dark

Low level drifting fog
And crickets ticking clocks
Deceive the barley stems

Your stretching out your arms
And moving into a calm
Emotional refrain 

Surrendering your frame
You move to centre stage
Embraced by the fields dark arts

Do you remember
Me calling out your name
When I saw you dancing in the summer rain

Do you remember
How fandango in your veins 
Made you sway and hypnotise the summer rain

A dreamless fairytale 
Tracks across the corn field 
Remising all lost chances 
To waltz with you once more

The banks begin to shake
Just before the river breaks
In slow motion it overflows 

A cracked blacked summer sky
Migrating dragonflies
Avoid the storm crashing down

You still created moves
To the rhythm while I sang to you
In the barley field that now floods

Do you remember
me calling out your name
When I saw you dancing in the summer rain

Do you remember
How calypso in your veins 
Made you sway and hypnotise the summer rain

And I still remember your scent as we move through September
the feeling of refrain, the feeling of surrender 
A cold frost on the window now
as I let go of the summer sun 
and remiss as the Barley Field floods

A Second Demo Collection

As The Barley Field Floods (Demo)

I Want you by  Shane Searls 2024

I feel the warmth
The touch of your hand on mine
This feeling of your kiss
This love is hard to find

Bridge
And I want you
And I need you
Your one of a kind
Cause I feel you
And I want to
Make you all mine

Chorus
Cause I want you
I want you
I need you
I want to say I do

I feel your heart
Its beating close to mine
That feeling of your hug
How we intertwine

Bridge
And I want you
And I need you
Your one of a kind
Cause I feel you
And I want to
Make you all mine

Chorus x2
Cause I want you
I want you
I need you
I want to say I do
Instrumental

Middle8
And I want you
And I need you
Your one of a kind
And I need you
And I want to
Make you all mine



Chorusx2
Cause I want you
I want you
I need you
I want to say I do

I WANT YOU

Boiling Hunger

Together was remixed and remastered on 11 January 2025
=========================================
[Lyrics follow}
A sweet, gentle pop song.  The original was written over 50 years ago and lost for more than 40.  It was found buried in a pile of old papers that might never have been uncovered if it wasn't for our Covid years.  This version is the first recording of the song, but it's grand entry into the world of song came when a four part harmony version (that I co-arranged with choir leader Susan Stott) was chosen by our local choir for performance.  It was a very special moment when I first heard 50 people singing a song that had only ever been sung by one person its long life.
==================================
Verse 1:
You’ve been a stream
You've been running clear
But you can’t always see the sky
You’ve been afraid of leaving home
Afraid of running dry
I’m feeling blue
And I’m missing you
I wonder where you are
I’d walk all the way
But I fear it’s much too far  

Chorus:
Together          
We’ll be together once again
Together           
Back together once again


Verse 2:
The city so strange
I’m lost in a maze but it's
All making sense somehow
It’s all a dream I’m so confused
And I’m alone for now
I’m feeling down
In this mountain town
I’m lost in something new
I think I’ll lay back
Relax and think of you   

Chorus:
Together          
We’ll be together once again
Together           
Back together once again  

Bridge:
You told me you’d be coming  home to me
But you didn’t say when   
But I’m sure it’s goin’ to all work out 
We’ll be together again

Verse 5:
If we take some time
And watch the signs
While we’re both on our own
We might pick up some dreams
And bring them all back home   

Chorus:
Together          
We’ll be together once again
Together           
Back together once again

Together

Caledonoia on My Mind. This weeks Number 10

Summer Jams 

LICK MY PLATE

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.

Easy To Smile

Daniel Weinstein

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