Very affirmative. It is comforting to think that there are, amongst us, some people who always know what to do. Writing songs is one good thing we can do.

Fred! The greatest. I love your anthems to health and our better angels.

Song-a-week 2024 #34

Prompts: "Utopia" and "Set Your Sights"

I had all kinds of lofty ideas of what kind of Utopia I would write a song about. 

But everything seemed vague and up-in-the-clouds, so I came down to earth to get more specific. I started thinking I would do something from Michelle Obama's DNC speech. 

I landed on someone else,  who had some inspiring words for many little children growing up. 

It's sort of a kids song,  except it talks about some intense challenges that (most) kids don't have to deal with, hopefully. Some do, though. It's rough out there.







Just Be You (Look for the Helpers)

Intro:



Verse 1:

This morning I saw an old friend of mine

Lines on his face tell the story of time

Silver creeping in where the dark used to be

But the man in the mirror still feels like me



Chorus:

Mirror, mirror, don’t you lie

Is it me or some other guy

I may be older, a little more wise

But this old soul is still alive



Verse 2:

I remember the boy who laughed at the rain

The young man in love who never feared the pain

Now I’m seasoned, but the fire remains

The mirror just frames a man still the same



Chorus:

Mirror, mirror, don’t you lie

Is it me or some other guy

I may be older, a little more wise

But this old soul is still alive



Break:



Chorus: 

Mirror, mirror, don’t you lie

Is it me or some other guy

I may be older, a little more wise

But this old soul5r6r is still alive



Outro:

Mirror Mirror.wav

Fill for me a brimming bowl
And let me drown...
let me drown my soul:
But put therein some drug-designed
To banish you...
banish you from my mind

For I will never
I will never ever see your like again
never again
never

I don't want the stream inspired 
That heats the sense...
with every lewd desire
Give me as deep, as deep a draught
As e'er from Lethe's...
Lethe's waves was quaffed;

For I will never
I will never ever see your like again
never again
never

It's in vain! I cannot chase
The softness...
the softness of your face,
The beaminess of your bright eyes,
and your breast
– earth's only Paradise...

For I will never
I will never ever see your like again
never again
never

John Keats (excerpted & modified)

Fill For Me A Brimming Bowl

Just some things ive been thinking about.

Growing Up Happy - (Original Song)

Nobody
Nobody knows what you know
Nobody's seen what you've seen
Nobody knows like you know
And some day

Somehow, Some way, Life meets you
Life leads you, from where you are,
Til you've seen, what's yours to see
And nobody knows like you know

And some day - Some how some way
Somebody will see you for
The light inside - The dark you hide
Somebody - someone to hold

And one day,
you'll be beyond this body
No breath, just soul
No body, one heart, made whole,
No body, one love, one soul

And some day - Some how some way
Somebody will see you for
The light inside - The dark you hide
Somebody - someone to hold

Nobody
Nobody's going solo
We are one blood - one family
Nobody's got nobody

Nobody
Nobody knows what you know
Nobody sees how you see
Nobody knows like you know
Nobody


nobody

Copyright Erin Wolf 2025
Week 37 - Song A Week
Photo: Campfire in southeast Wisconsin, September 2024

lay down your head now
as we listen to nighttime sounds
cicadas calling 
calling us home
as we come into 
September

oh ooh
 
the rains they’ll come rushing in 
like a hurricane off the coast
they won’t tear down, won’t destroy
but they’ll still bring the floods and 
i hope my name ain’t raked through the mud

panic attacks come rushing in 
like a force to be reckoned with
but the danger’s passed
past these dead ends
no danger ahead

i don’t know 
where i’ll go from here
i don’t know 
where i’ll go from here
where i’ll go from here 

(interlude)

heart fades 
beats its last
breathing in 
breathing out

she seems proud to be yours
for you to be hers

so lay down
lay down

September

Copyright Erin Wolf 2025
Week 37 - Song A Week
"The Devil's Den"

Song note: A brief and intentionally vague  amalgamation of stories from survivors of narcissistic abuse. The song itself is incomplete, and I'm not sure if I'll work to "finish" it in a nice and tidy way or if I'll leave it as is...

Photo credit: East side of "Devil's Den" at Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania (circa 1890s) courtesy of www.nps.gov (Public Domain)

--

crawled out from a hole
dug by someone else
don’t even know what compelled me  
to take a dip on in
i danced with the devil
just to heal my sin
seems there’s no escaping
the likes of him

i thought that i had made 
my great escape
but he is patient and
he can wait
he planted a virus
to consume my mind
then he sat back on his throne and said,
“it’s a matter of time”

oh, here we go
here we go again
here we go down to 
the devil’s den
the devil’s den

now i had been to church as a child
where they taught me to pray
didn’t know that it would twist and turn
on me someday
they taught me to take attention
from a lovely man
little did i know he was working
for the Underhand

oh, here we go
here we go again
said here we go
here we go again

The Devil's Den

Copyright Erin Wolf 2025
Week 37 - Song A Week
"Your Time to Go"
Photo credit: The Eldest Youngling snuggling a kitten at a farm in northeast Wisconsin, August 2025

-an ode to the eldest Youngling as we begin to prepare for the first steps into adulthood. and yes, I hurt my own feelings writing and singing this one, yet I couldn't be prouder of J if I tried... please excuse the mess-

--

hard to believe it's been so long now
and it's almost time for you to
take your next step out in the world
as you're grown

over all these years
throughs the joys and the fears
we've come through barricades
standing on the edge of a next parade

and we'll go with you
yes, we'll go with you
no matter where lift leads you
we'll be right behind you,
my love
we'll stay
we'll stay

oh my child,
the time's almost here
when we'll scream, and we'll cry, and we'll cheer
'cuz we know you have given your all and your best

it's been the greatest honor of our lives
to watch you grow right in front of our eyes
and to call you my child and i'm your mother
oh, couldn't have asked for better

and we'll go with you
yes, we'll go with you
no matter what life leads you through
we'll be there with you

and know you'll go places we never dreamed of
and you'll see those you've never met yet
and you'll change things for the better
'cuz that's who you are

and the tears falling down
are of pride and 
all because you have been one of the greatest
gifts of all

and i'm proud of who you're becoming
and i know you've got more to go
oh, i love you, and i'll be with you
no matter where you go
so here you go

Your Time To Go

El Amor Que He Perdido

Verse 1:

Started out countin’ birthdays, just like a child at play

Ten felt like forever, twenty slipped away

Every decade left its story carved into my soul

Sixty’s just a number, but the numbers take their toll



Chorus:

The end is getting nearer, the finish line is clear

The hustle and the bustle don’t mean much from here

Life is made of numbers, but the heart it don’t keep score

It’s the love and all the memories that matter even more



Verse 2:

I’ve watched the hands keep turning on that old clock face

Moments gone forever, ones I can’t replace

But I’m the same spirit, wiser but I’m free

The years may write their numbers, but they don’t number me



Bridge:

We all pretend forever, but forever never stays

We’re travelers through the numbers, counting down the days



Break: 



Chorus:

The end is getting nearer, the finish line is clear

The hustle and the bustle don’t mean much from here

Life is made of numbers, but the heart it don’t keep score

It’s the love and all the memories that matter even more

60's Just A Number.wav

I cry your mercy—pity—love!—aye, love!
Merciful love that tantalizes not,
One-thoughted, never-wandering, guileless love,
Unmasked, and being seen—without a blot!
O! let me have thee whole,—all—all—be mine!
That shape, that fairness, that sweet minor zest
Of love, your kiss,—those hands, those eyes divine,
That warm, white, lucent, million-pleasured breast,
Yourself—your soul—in pity give me all,
Withhold no atom’s atom or I die
Or living on perhaps, your wretched thrall,
Forget, in the mist of idle misery,
Life’s purposes,—the palate of my mind
Losing its gust, and my ambition blind!

John Keats

Just Be You (Look for the Helpers)

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