I wrote this joke song a couple years ago and I know it’s pretty lame but I still enjoy dragging it out this time each year, like a dancing Santa….  so… here’s a newer version. Plot remains the same – a young delinquent still naïve enough to believe in Santa - but also already embarking on a life of petty crimes and misdemeanors - begs a sibling not to rat him out to the guy in the red suit. I know we’ve all been THERE, right? Any resemblance to persons living or dead is none of your damn business… 
Don’t Tell Santa  © 2018 Don Nelson
I never do the good things that I should
I know I could be better – I really know I could
But now I’m sweating bullets – I’m shaking in fear
Because Christmas time is almost here

I’ll never be an angel – I’ll never be a saint
I guess I could be nicer but I just ain’t 
I never say my prayers - I think praying’s kind of weird
But don’t Narc me out - To that geezer with the beard
So don’t tell Santa – no, no, no don’t tell Santa

I got a criminal record – my jacket could be cleaner
But most of my crimes are just misdemeanors
But the Juvie Court Judge has made it pretty clear
It can all get expunged within a couple of years 
So don’t tell Santa – no, no, no don’t tell Santa

He’s already got so many issues on his mind
In a world full of violence, pestilence and crime
You don’t need to bother him – everything is fine
Just leave me on the good list one more time! 

I don’t give a shit about the Elf up on the Shelf
I already tipped him off to somebody else
How daddy is unfaithful on a regular basis 
Momma is a drunk and granny is a racist 
So don’t tell Santa – no, no, no don’t tell Santa

Don't Tell Santa - 2022 version - Don Nelson

I've covered this before - but I like how this version turned out! Hope you enjoy!

Your Great Journey
By The Handsome Family

Like four million tons of hydrogen
Exploding on the sun
Like the whisper of the termites
Building castles in the dust
You're no longer leaving footprints
You left your wallet on the bus
Your great journey has begun
Your great journey has begun

When automatic sinks in airports
No longer see your hands
And elevator doors close on you
When buses drive right past
When the only voice that answers
Is the whir of a ceiling fan
Your great journey has begun

Staring out hotel windows
At planes taking off
Walking 'round the parking lot
You will never find your car
You've begun to dance the ghost dance
Stray dogs gather in your yard
Your great journey has begun
Your great journey has begun

Cover of Your Great Journey by The Handsome Family

I’ve covered this before – but just celebrating MLK’s birthday made me think of this again so… not a great version here but different strokes I guess…

Cover Of Everyday People By Sly And The Family Stone

Yes, another odd one but I had fun creating it. I wrote and recorded this in one quick sitting just last night.
NOTE: this is NOT some kind of cry for help! I am just fine. For sure if you feel inspired for some reason to send me bundles of cash, of course please do so – but in reality I am fine.
I was just thinking about odd titles for songs (I’ve got a couple others in the wings that I will have to do something with) and it seemed like kind of an appropriately silly song title – so I had to reverse-engineer the rest of song to justify the title. 

Love Songs for Shut-In’s - Copyright © 2023 Don Nelson
Sing to me love songs for shut-ins
Reminding me that I still have a heart
Bring to me love songs for shut-ins
Before this universe just falls apart

Out here past the tree line
That tundra in your mind
The tourists and the Sherpa guides 
Are all leaving you behind
There’s nothing left bribe them with
But you don’t really mind
At least you’ll have some peace and quiet 
For a short time 

Sing to me love songs for shut-ins
Reminding me that I still have a heart
Bring to me love songs for shut-ins
Before this universe just falls apart

Out here on your island
The Ships don’t stop any more
And the only news you get 
Are from bits of flotsam washed ashore
No one else can even remember now 
What you were even banished for
But I guess it’s safe to say
It doesn’t matter anymore

Sing to me love songs for shut-ins
Reminding me that I still have a heart
Bring to me love songs for shut-ins
Before this universe just falls apart

Love Songs For Shut Ins (c) 2023 Don Nelson

I’m trying to wrap up a bunch of partly finished recordings in GarageBand – I think I have a couple dozen of them - so here’s another one I just finished. I’ve recorded an earlier version of this before – but I like how this latest iteration came out – hope you do too. 

Bright Angel    Copyright © 2021 Don Nelson
Out on the highway without a plan 
Drifting through the western lands 
A chance encounter at a coffee shop 
She looked right through you and the whole world stopped 
Oh Bright Angel – Oh Bright Angel 
Oh Bright Angel – Oh Bright Angel 

Without hesitation, explanation or a clue 
She climbed right into the car with you 
One thing for certain that you understood 
You’d hold on to her for as long as you could 
Oh Bright Angel – Oh Bright Angel 
Oh Bright Angel – Oh Bright Angel 

A clap of thunder and the rains rolled in 
Branch lightning on the western rim 
But by the morning the sky had cleared
She kissed you goodbye and then she disappeared 
Oh Bright Angel – Oh Bright Angel 
Oh Bright Angel – Oh Bright Angel

Bright Angel - (c) 2023 - Don Nelson

Still trying to clear out more unfished projects in GarageBand – but I keep getting side-tracked by silly things like this – a song I first wrote and recorded several years ago - but I wanted to mess around with some synths so this proved to be a fun template for me to use to that end. 
It’s a silly tune about a people doing silly things – but I had a lot of fun creating it (making the graphic was fun too) and I hope you enjoy it! 
She Built a Time Machine          © 2016 by Don Nelson
It was a shooting star blazing through the air
Strapped to the back of a rocket chair 
Funded by anonymous billionaires - She built a time machine!
A ray of light from a cyclotron
Stirring up them bosons and fermions
In that secret lab up in Oregon - She built a time machine!

She got her ideas wherever she could find them
Freeman Dyson! Richard Feynman!
Benoit Mandelbrot & Stephen Hawking 
(She liked how his computer got to do all the talking) 
She had a few conundrums – she had some doubts
But then one day she finally figured it out
Once she had all her ducks lined up right
She was ready to go and build a prototype

It was a hot knife cutting through the butter of time
Leaving space and this place behind
She wasn’t really sure just what she’d find but - She built a time machine!
Everybody said that it couldn’t be done 
Nobody had a clue what was going on
When she threw that switch she was good and gone - She built a time machine!

She showed her designs to some cats she knew
They had a lot of spare cash from all the grass they grew
Showed them her blueprints – laid out all her plans 
And even though they didn’t quite understand… 
Once some of the dealers got hip to her compendium
She got a shipping container stuffed with Benjamin’s 
She bought some gold foil for the reactor’s interior
And 3 or 4 pounds of fissionable material…
It was a shooting star blazing through the air…

It took a little time to get everything right
But finally one night she got the green “go” light 
She jumped right aboard – threw the reactor in gear 
And that’s when everything started to disappear…
She thought she had set it for the Cretaceous Zone
But the handle got stuck and something went wrong
She wound up heading back before any time at all
“Absolute Elsewhere” - I think that’s what it’s called
It was a hot knife cutting through the butter of time…

She saw space and time fold back on itself
There was nothing else there – nobody else
It wasn’t very pretty – it wasn’t much fun
When the stars started going out one by one
She wanted to scream - she wanted to shout! 
Everything was turning inside out!
But then the engine seized up - the reactor shut down
She wound up back in her lab in good old Beaverton
It was a shooting star blazing through the air…

She Built A Time Machine (c) 2023 Don Nelson

So I had this tune running through my head when March arrived as International Women’s month – although this song is not all that different from some white guy singing about how he loves black people - still more than a bit patronizing to say the least – but hey, this is about as compassionate as Lou ever got so take it where you find it. And I think he was sincere. I love the simple melody. And I love Lou. And I love women.

Cover Of Women By Lou Reed

Here’s one I wrote just a couple days ago – mainly as an excuse to try out some synths and practice song arrangements. Still – I like how it turned out and hope you do too! 
Bridge   copyright © 2023 Don Nelson 
There’s a man out on the bridge
He’s calling down the wind 
Calling to the angels 
To come and rescue him 
But the clouds are all embarrassed 
So the sky begins to rain
The winds begin to sigh
And then they never speak again
There’s a man out on the bridge
Calling to the wind 

There’s a stranger in the alley
Huddled in the cold
Bereft of friend and family
He’s lost all his control
But the crumbling bricks ignore him
And the doors all turn away
As he shivers in the darkness
Waiting for the day
There’s a stranger in the alley
Huddled in the cold

You know just enough to be dangerous
You know just enough to know
That you don’t know 
What you don’t know
You know just enough to be dangerous
You know just enough to know
That you don’t know 
What you don’t know

There’s a wounded wobbling junkie
Stumbling across the street
He cannot keep his thoughts straight
He can’t stay on his feet 
The cops all keep their distance
But they’ll keep him in their view
As they watch in silent witness
There’s really nothing they can do
There’s a wounded wobbling junkie
Stumbling across the street

You know just enough to be dangerous
You know just enough to know
That you don’t know 
What you don’t know

Bridge (c) 2023 Don Nelson

Just another mild-mannered little tune about the end of the world.. sort of...
Hope you enjoy! 
Rome
Copyright © 2023 Don Nelson
There’s no way you make it to the river
You’re in the tall grass now
No way you’ll ever get away forever
You’re in the tall grass now
While Rome fucking burns…

You can’t tell the saints from the sinners
You’re in the tall grass now
You can’t tell the losers from the winners
You’re in the tall grass now
While Rome fucking burns

You can’t see what direction you should be going in
You’re in the tall grass now
Your location is unknown
You’re in the tall grass now
While Rome fucking burns

There just no way you ever make it home
You’re in the tall grass now
You don’t know all the things you should have known 
You’re in the tall grass now
While Rome fucking burns

Rome (c) 2023 Don Nelson

Kind of an ad-hoc version of a favorite Adrianne Lenker song – sorry it’s so messy - I had been telling someone about this tune and then it got stuck in my head for the next 24 hours until I was finally able to record a quick version of it last night. 
Adrianne Lenker is one of my favorite singer/songwriters. When I hear “kids” like this making this kind of music (emphasis on the world “kind”) I feel some hope for the future. Seriously.

Cover Of Cattails By Adrianne Lenker

More finishing up and clearing out of some of my recorded stuff...  
Just another odd rough sketch but I liked how it turned out – it’s got potential maybe… maybe… 

The Last Supper in Ohio   ~ Copyright © 2023 Don Nelson
Baby why you treat me so unkind
To throw me out at suppertime
If it was a little later I wouldn’t mind
After I have had a glass of wine

Baby, baby can’t it wait
At least until this storm abates
The night is dark and the hour is late
Baby, baby can’t it wait

Honey what’s come over you
To do these things the way you do
There’s coyotes out by the railroad tracks  
And wolves hanging out in the cul-de-sac

Baby, baby can’t it wait
At least until this storm abates
The night is dark and the hour is late
Baby, baby can’t it wait

Baby why you gotta be so cold
Hurts me right down to my soul
I never thought I’d ever see you try and
To throw me out at suppertime

Baby, baby can’t it wait
At least until this storm abates
The night is dark and the hour is late
Baby, baby can’t it wait

The Last Supper In Ohio (c) 2023 Don Nelson

More recording backlog clear-outs 
I’ve posted earlier versions of this but I like how this one turned out – hope you do as well!

Wander Around      © 2023 Don Nelson
If I ever get out of this perilous state
I will wander around 
If I don’t make it to them pearly gates
I will wander around

If I ever told a secret I should not have told 
I will wander around
If I ever traded love for silver and gold 
I will wander around

If I ever turned my back on a stranger in need
I will wander around
If I ever refused to intercede
I will wander around

If you lay me down into that cold, cold ground 
I will wander around
I will not be contained - I will not be bound
I will wander around

If I ever broke a vow – if I ever took a wife
I will wander around
If I ever broke the law – if I ever took a life
I will wander around

If I ever broke in two because I would not bend
I will wander around
If I ever denied you were my friend
I will wander around

If I ever get out of this perilous state
I will wander around 
If I don’t make it to them pearly gates
I will wander around

Wander Around Blues (c) 2023 Don Nelson

I have always been a big fan of the Brit Jazz/Folk/Trad/Pop band Pentangle. I had this tune running through my head the other day so I recorded a slow strolling version of it (theirs was in a jauntier 5/4 time – bloody musicians!)  That’s about it!

Cover Of I Got A Feeling By Pentangle

Here’s a re-do of a silly song I wrote a couple years back. 
I was reminded of it again by something someone posted about some royals…
Mainly I just have fun playing this song and hope you enjoy it too! 

Absinthe    © 2023 Don Nelson
Well you wanted to live like royalty
And royalty is what you got
Now you’re stuck in the Tower of London
Waiting for the chopping block
You should have been a little more specific 
When you had that fantasy
It’s always such a risk when you fall asleep
Underneath a wishing tree
You thought you’d be sipping absinthe
And eating quail eggs and apricots
Instead you’re stuck in the Tower of London
Waiting for the chopping block

You wanted to be just like an empress
I think you should have checked your facts 
But most of them royals didn’t live too long
And a lot of them got the axe
Remember to tip your executioner
Toss him a couple of bob
So when he brings that axe down on your neck
At least he does a decent job
You thought you’d be sipping absinthe
And eating quail eggs and apricots
Instead you’re stuck in the Tower of London
Waiting for the chopping block

Well you wanted to live like royalty
That’s just fine with me
But sometimes there’s a difference between 
Dreams and reality 
You thought you’d be sipping absinthe
And eating quail eggs and apricots
Instead you’re stuck in the Tower of London
Waiting for the chopping block

Absinthe (c) 2023 Don Nelson

A newer version of a song I wrote and I recorded a couple years ago – title is from a book by Chogyam Trugpa Rinpoche I read 50 years ago. I suspect that I still haven’t learned its lessons…   

Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
copyright © 2023 Don Nelson
Out on the highway
Away from it all
Learn how to fly
Learn how to fall
Cutting through Spiritual Materialism
Cutting through Spiritual Materialism

The deepest of oceans 
The brightest of stars
The crown of creation
Do you know who you are? 
Cutting through Spiritual Materialism
Cutting through Spiritual Materialism

Over the earth
Under the sky 
Learn how to fall
Learn how to fly
Cutting through Spiritual Materialism
Cutting through Spiritual Materialism

Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (c) 2023 Don Nelson

Here’s a cover of a simple but lovely tune by Clem Snide. 
To me it’s sort of a musical cousin to Bruce Cockburn’s song: “Love Loves You Too”   
“Dig for treasure in parking lots” Yep! 
Hope you enjoy.

Cover Of Find Love By Clem Snide

Sorry - I was having a lousy day when I wrote this! 
Missionary Street     © 2023 Don Nelson
So tired – so tired – Sometimes he feels so tired
So tired – so tired – Sometimes he feels so tired

He used to have a family – a loving wife and kids
He tried to be a good man in everything he did
But all those mounting obligations that he just could never meet
So one awful day he just ran away to Missionary Street
So tired – so tired – Sometimes he feels so tired

Somebody found him wandering in an alley all alone
He didn’t have no money – no longer had a home 
But they had had their own priorities
All those appointments they should keep
So they left him on the sidewalk on Missionary Street
So tired – so tired – Sometimes he feels so tired
So tired – so tired – Sometimes he feels so tired

There was nowhere he could go – he didn’t have a map
So he hid behind a building just to take a little nap
But then somebody called the cops somebody called the heat
Saying please take that scary reprobate away from Missionary Street
So tired – so tired – Sometimes he feels so tired

They didn’t try to wake him – there wasn’t any point 
There was no place they could take him – no room in any joint 
They shouted “Stop resisting!” as they beat him in his sleep
And left him lying bleeding out on Missionary Street 
So tired – so tired – Sometimes I feel so tired
So tired – so tired – Sometimes I feel so tired

All the prophets and messiah’s from every point of view
They wring their hands and cry out but there’s nothing they could do  
All the goddesses and archangels all began to weep
As he bled out on the pavement on Missionary Street
So tired – so tired – Sometimes I feel so tired
So tired – so tired – Sometimes I feel so tired

Missionary Street (c) 2023 Don Nelson

Another odd little tune I wrote the other day… I had fun creating this!

The Point  © 2023 Don Nelson
I am innocent
I am guilty
Will you set me free?
Will you kill me? 
I want to breathe a little fresh air
I want to see a little sky
I want to kiss a lovely woman on the lips
Before I say goodbye 

You can still win the game
That’s what the gangsters said
As long as you remain
Within the point spread 
You’re just data on a chart
Of someone else’s play 
You better save your heart
You better get away

I am innocent
I am guilty
Will you set me free?
Will you kill me? 
I want to breathe a little fresh air
I want to see a little sky
I want to kiss a lovely woman on the lips
Before I say goodbye 

Stuck in the intersection
Another traffic stop 
Another day another dollar 
But it’s the same damn cop
Says I can’t go any further 
Must be a real slow night
Hey, try not to murder me
Just out of spite, OK?   

I am innocent
I am guilty
Will you set me free?
Will you kill me? 
I want to breathe a little fresh air
I want to see a little sky
I want to kiss a lovely woman on the lips
Before I say goodbye

The Point (c) 2023 Don Nelson

I'm no longer posting new recordings to SoundCloud. Please visit my FB music page for more tunes! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100056363267051

Don Nelson 1

Popular tracks