Notes: I began recording this song just before my Mom died. I let it lay for several years and only went back to it in early 2014. I finished and posted it on Mother's Day. Only after posting, I listened to it again and realized what it was really about. I miss you Mom.

Stay Awhile

Lyrics and music by Doug Faigel

Complicated chord progressions
Make me make a brief confession
About the things that make me smile
Submitted here for your inspection
Alternate to the A selection
I hope and I pray that you will stay
With me awhile

I was born in the Naugatuck River Valley
That's in Connecticut according to Rand McNalley
That's where I was born and where I grew up
That's where I'm certain to die
In a small New England town under
Southern New England skies

So won't you stay with me awhile
And listen to me play all night long?
Why don't you stay
And listen to me play my songs?
I promise I won't leave you so why don't you
Stay awhile.

I saw an old man in a drug store
Selecting Valentine's cards with a smile on his face
And that's how I knew the little things that you do
Mean more than just a little to me
It's all those quiet gestures 
That show your love tenderly

So why don't you stay with me awhile
And listen to me play all night long?
Why don't you stay
And listen to me play my songs?
I promise I won't leave you so why don't you
Stay awhile.

But I know none of this could possibly be real
I realize this must be a dream
But when I see you there I have to say how I feel
Though reality is seldom what it seems
In all of my dreams…

Have you ever seen the moon on the water?
Or the sun rise like red fire from the sea?
Or the smile in your eyes that tells of paradise
That lies in the warmth of your arms
A refuge from danger 
Protection from all harms

That's why I'm asking you to stay with me awhile
And listen to me play for you all night long
Why don't you stay
And listen to me play my songs?
I promise I won't leave you so why don't you
Stay awhile.

I promise I won't leave so why don't you
Stay awhile.

Complicated chord progressions
Make me pause in brief reflection
Over the things that make me smile
Submitted here for your dilection
The flip side to the A selection
I hope and I pray
That you will stay while I play for you
Just a very short while

Stay Awhile

Narcissism

Lyrics and Music by Doug Faigel
2016


I don’t need no cynicism
I don’t want to create a schism
I’m sick and tired of your pessimism
I’ve had enough of your narcissism
Oh yeah

I don’t need no cynicism
I don’t want to create a schism
I’m sick and tired of your pessimism
I’ve had enough of your narcissism

I don’t need your skepticism
Don’t roll your eyes at my optimism
I don’t want your cynicism
I’m sick and tired of your narcissism
Oh yeah

I’m sick and tired of your narcissism
Oh yeah

I don’t need your favoritism
Your thinly veiled form of racism
You’re where you are from nepotism
You can keep your cronyism

I don’t need your skepticism
Don’t roll your eyes at my optimism
I don’t want your cynicism
I’m sick and tired of your narcissism
Oh yeah

I’m sick and tired of your narcissism
Oh yeah
I wanna be on my own. I’m better off alone.

I don’t need no cynicism
I don’t want to create a schism
I’m sick and tired of your pessimism
I’ve had enough of your narcissism

I don’t need no Communism
I don’t respond to populism
I won’t abide anti-Semitism
It’s an affront to my Judaism

I don’t need your skepticism
Don’t roll your eyes at my optimism
I don’t want your cynicism
I’m sick and tired of your narcissism
Oh yeah

I’m sick and tired of your narcissism
Oh yeah
I wanna be on my own. I’m better off alone.


Narcissism

Unwrapping Presidents

Lyrics and Music by Doug Faigel

Here comes the president!
Here comes the president!

Riding in a brand new car
Unwrapping Presidents
Sipping something in a bar
Unwrapping Presidents
Thinking that I could far
Unwrapping Presidents
Soon I’m gonna be a star
Unwrapping Presidents

Here comes the president!
Everyday we wake up we’re unwrapping presidents
Here comes the president!
Everyday we shake up we’re unwrapping presidents

Underneath the Christmas tree
Unwrapping Presidents
Birthdays anniversaries
Unwrapping Presidents
Candidates talk endlessly
Unwrapping Presidents
They all say you should vote for me
Unwrapping Presidents

Here comes the president!

Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison
Monroe, Quincy Adams, Jackson Van Buren, Harrison
Tyler. Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln
Johnson, US Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland
Harrison and Cleveland, McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt
Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FD Roosevelt (Truman)
Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford
Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, George W Bush
Obama Obama we got Barak Obama

If you won’t no drama we got Barak Obama
If you won’t no drama we got Barak Obama
We got hope and change and change and change
Hope and change and change and change
Hope and change and change and change to a key change
We’re going to a key change

Here comes the president!
Everyday we wake up we’re unwrapping presidents
Here comes the president!
Everyday we shake up we’re unwrapping presidents

Adams Adams Roosevelt Roosevelt Bush Bush
Adams Adams Roosevelt Roosevelt Bush Bush
Adams Adams Roosevelt Roosevelt Bush Bush
Adams Adams Roosevelt Roosevelt Bush Bush


Here comes the president!


Underneath the Christmas tree
Unwrapping Presidents
Birthdays anniversaries
Unwrapping Presidents
The candidates talk endlessly
Unwrapping Presidents
They all say you should vote for me
Unwrapping Presidents
Everyday we wake up we’re 
Unwrapping Presidents
Everyday we shake up we’re 
Unwrapping Presidents
Leaves we’re gonna rake up we’re
Unwrapping Presidents
Lovers gonna make up we’re
Unwrapping Presidents

Here comes the president!




Unwrapping Presidents

My simple arrangement and acoustic guitar jazz/blues interpretation of the George and Ira Gershwin classic. I did this in one take. 

It Aint Necessarily So(Single Take Demo)

Tribute to ASGE on the 75th Anniversary and to the Presidents

Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGH89WlHTAw&feature=youtu.be



Unwrapping Presidents ASGE 75th Anniversary

The idea I had in my mind when I wrote this song was of a small child waking in the middle night and realizing he was alone. 

Through the Night

Lyrics and Music by Doug Faigel

Have you ever wakened in the middle of the night
And wondered was there anyone out there?
To the shadows on the shelf 
Do you mutter to yourself:
“Well I would be alright if I could make it
Through the night?”

Well I’m not ashamed to admit that it happens most everyday
When the world’s asleep and darkness deprives me of sight
But if you’d hold me all night long
And maybe ask is anything wrong?
I’d say I would be alright if I could make it
Through the night

Chorus:
And though this feeling goes away by the break of dawn
I know that it’s only a moment til day
But dark gives way to light
When you hold me in your arms so tight
And I would be alright if I could make it
Through the night

And so I’m telling you this as a way to apologize
For calling up you up on the phone late last night
When you asked was anything wrong I said
I’d like to sing you one last love song
And you said it would be alright if it would help me
Through the night

Chorus

But when the morning comes I don’t find you by my side
It’s enough to make me want to break down and cry
Won’t you come back home to me?
Cause I miss my sweet baby.
And I’m not all right though I’ve made it
Through the night

Chorus


Through the Night

Hatikvah

Another Day

Words and Music Doug Faigel

Chorus:

G – G/B – C –Am – C/G – D7/F#

G – G/B – C –Am – C/G – D7/F#

I can’t wait another day
Until I hear you say
That you’ll love me for all time.
And if you ever go away
If you promise that you’ll stay
I can love you for all time, the best of times

G – G/B 

Verse:

C – D – Em – C
Em7 – D –Em – C –C/B –Am-C/G – D7/F#

The best of times are spent quietly alone
Just the two of us together, I’ll disconnect the phone
The best of times is so easy to achieve
If you’ll just have faith in me than in you I’ll believe

Chorus

Verse:

The best of times I can touch you in the night
Though the velvet dark envelops I have no need for sight
The best of times cannot be so very far
Every nadir has a zenith and I’m drawn by your star
The best of times

Bridge

G – G/B – C – D – D7

Em – C – Em – C – Em7 – D 
Em - C –C/B –Am-C/G – D7/F#

We made it past the tide we made it through the storm
Some said our love would die but here it’s safe and warm
The rocky slope was not so difficult to climb
From the bottom of the canyon to the top you’ll find…

Chorus
Ending

Another Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ll4oiUFzE

Greater Truth
Music and Lyrics – Doug Faigel
June 2019

G – Cm – G – D7
                        I know that

G		Em	     Am		     D7
Seeing’s not believing in matters of the heart
G		         Em	     		C		    D
And knowing is not feeling your way to higher art
    Bm				Em	           Am			D
I’ve seen the highest summit and I have feared the fall
      G     	      	    C		      G	
To a greater truth inside of us all      
D7
 There’s so
G		Em			Am	     	    D7
Much I want to tell you if I only had the words
G			Em				C		     D
Something that was said to me half-forgotten and half heard
Bm					    Em		         		Am			D
When you reach your highest summit, when you answer to your call
  G				C	          G
There’s a greater truth inside of us all

  Bm				    		C
And when the moon is shining across the widest sea
  Bm					C
Its light illuminating and inspiring you and me
  Am			           	D
To reach out and know that we:
                                                                      D7
					We know that
G			Em	      Am		     D7
Seeing’s not believing in matters of the heart
    G		     	Em		         C		       D
And knowing is a feeling you don’t get until you start
    Bm			   		Em	         Am		D
Up that mountain to the summit, heeding to your call
G		      	   C                  G
Of a greater truth inside of us all


Bm – C – Bm – C
    Am				D
Just reach out and know that we:
						D7
                                                            We know that
G			Em	     Am		     D7
Seeing’s not believing in matters of the heart
   G		         		Em         		       C			D
And knowing is not feeling when you’re grasping for your art
   Bm		         		Em     		Am		     D
A mountain’s just a summit that you climb and try not fall
        G      	       	    C    	     G
To the greater truth inside of us all

        G			  Cm                G
There’s a greater truth inside of us all

Greater Truth

Original Song by Doug Faigel
Only by losing everything do you discover what is truly important.
This song was inspired by the aftermath of the recent Hurricane.
 
When the wind came howling
The roof blew away
The rain fell down in sheets
And they fled in the night
A frightful sight
The water rose up to the eaves
Now I think of my life
Of my daughters and wife
It’s amazing how little I need

All that winter we spent
On our neighbor’s farm
In the few rooms the old man had free
But we each had a bed
And were never unfed
We always had clothing and heat
And though we were crowded
Sometimes we shouted
It’s amazing how little I need

I know it’s not much
But when you shrink from my touch
And our bed grows as wide as the sea
But what cannot be cured
Must be endured
It’s amazing how little I need

Now a year has passed
And we’re back in our home
But nothing’s the same you’ll agree
What we cannot rebuild
Will be left unfulfilled
Long after the waters recede
Though I’m ebbing and flowing
I know where I’m going
It’s amazing how little I need

It’s a truth I can’t hide
Though sometimes I’ve tried
It’s amazing how little I need

Now I think of my life
Of my daughters and wife
It’s amazing how little I need

How Little I Need

Original Song by Doug Faigel
An affirmation

This the first song I wrote after my mom died. It advises that we rid ourselves of sorrows and worries and not let them weigh us down.

Weigh Down...

I'm gonna go down to the river.
Gonna gather up a whol bunch of rocks
Gonna take up all of my troubles
Gonna walk em out to the dock
And then I'm gonna 

Weigh down...all my troubles

I'm gonna get me some new information
Gonna climb up on a hill
Gonna get rid of my aggravations
Gonna throw up into the air
And then I'm gonna

Weigh down...all my worries

You gotta go down to the water in the night
Tie up your sorrows to a rock and make it tight
And then you're gonna

Weigh down...all your sorrows

We're gonna go down to the water in the night
Tie up our troubles to that rock and make it tight
And then we're gonna 

Weigh down...all our troubles

Weigh down...

Weigh Down

This was one of my Mom's favorite songs. She had emphysema and knew she didn't have a lot of time left. She bought me the sheet music and told me I should learn it and play it at her funeral. I knew that there would be no way I could perform a song at her funeral. Instead, Kristin and I recorded it and gave it to her as a birthday present. When she did die, we played this recording at her funeral.
I miss her.

And I'll Be There cover with Kristin

Carry You Home (a lullaby)
Lyrics and Music by Doug Faigel

In the valley of far away dreams
Filled with monsters and marvelous things
Hand in hand we walk down the road
And then when you’re weary, I will carry you home

The nights may seem endless but the days fly so fast
And things that were future are now in the past
But now please don’t hurry let’s take time to roam
And then when you’re weary, I will carry you home

Chorus:
Sleep baby slumber vanish in your dreams
Stars rise above you dancing on moonbeams
Sleep baby slumber while visions fill your head
Daddy is with you, lying in your bed here at home

By the fireside we bask in the glow
And out in the backyard’s a new fallen snow
Thumb through the pages this old yellowed tome
Close your eyes now, I will carry you home

As we wander through fields and cross streams
Contrapuntal this lullaby theme
Climb a mountain or ride the sea’s foam
And then when you’re weary, I will carry you home

Chorus

The world may seem endless its science its art
And soon you will enter to take up your part
But if in your travels, in Paris or Rome
You tire or be weary just call and I’ll carry you home

Chorus


Carry You Home (a lullaby)

Held Captive
Lyrics & Music by Doug Faigel

Inspired by the novel Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Bel Canto tells the story of a hostage crisis in a South American embassy. During the siege, two of the captives, an American opera star and a Japanese businessman, fall in love.


Chorus:
	Held captive. I can’t escape.
	I know that loving you cannot be some mistake
	I won’t take freedom, if loving you is wrong
	I’m caught in the middle, held captive by your song

Verse 1:
It started simply, an evening of song and wine
Didn’t know how the tale would end or that our lives would intertwine
Then all at once, heaven opened and the gates of hell gave way
And I knew that I just had to stay

Chorus

Verse 2:
And as the days went past my desire for your grew
Bel Canto in the air every song I sang for you
After many nights when you finally came to me
I knew that I would always be

Chorus

Bridge:
In the darkness is where I feel alive
But will our love survive to see the day?
When I feel the sunlight shining from your eyes
It makes me realize you’ll stay

Chorus

Held captive, held captive, held captive, held captive by your song
Held captive, held captive, held captive, held captive…


Held Captive

A Song for the End of the World
Doug Faigel 2020

I was shopping at Walmart
My marriage broke up
And my eye went blind
Just when I woke up
I thought I had made it
Became the made man
But I was flipped by pandemic to the fire from the pan

And that song from that band that I think we all know
It’s the end of the world and so we must go
And Bono was singing his truths he unfurled
But I kept talking bout the end of the world

Hard things are harder
The easy things, too
Like squeezing toothpaste
To the brush fro m the tube
And I speed in my car
Down the old 101
With my one good eye staring straight at the sun

And that song by that band, are they called REO?
It’s the end of the world don’t you know it? We know
And U2 they spoke and their truth rocks they hurled
But I kept talking bout the end of the world

And new things I’m learning like cooking with wine
I speed down the freeway I can’t read the signs
The whole world is burning but I really don’t mind
It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

And new things I’m learning like justice ain’t blind
I speed down the freeway I can’t read the signs
The whole world is burning, I really don’t mind
Cause it’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine

Yes yes
It’s the end of the world as we know it
And I feel fine.

A Song For The End Of The World

A fun sing-a-long in the spirit of Puff The Magic Dragon.

Verse 1:
Raymond the Cayman was an alligator. He lived in the Everglades.
He liked to swim in the sunshine and sleep in the shade
Raymond was an alligator and he lived a gator’s life
But he never hurt nobody, or caused them pain or strife

He’d just sing:
I’m feeling all right
I’m feeling okay
The music is hot so I ain’t gonna stop
So come on let’s play!

Verse 2:
Raymond lived in the swamp lands singing his happy tunes
In the day he’d sing to the sunshine, at night he’d sing to the moon
Along came a bullfrog and much to Ray’s surprise
He picked up a walking bass line, ‘tween verses munched on some flies

Singing:
We’re feeling all right
We’re feeling okay
The music is hot so we ain’t gonna stop
So come on let’s play!

Verse 3.
They sang a few more choruses but as the light began to subside
The nighttime members of the Everglades began to rise
A possum took soprano, the bears they sang real nice
But Raymond the Cayman and his alligator buddies they sang with spice

CHORUS

Verse 4:
They sang throughout those swamp lands yes they sang all night long
They partied and they sang by the light of the moon singing Raymond’s song
Ray kept the melody going, the frog kept the bass line strong
Bears and possums took the harmony, bees they hummed along

CHORUS

Verse 5
Well that’s the end of my story, cause that’s the end of my song
But don’t you despair none cause Raymond isn’t gone
Now you may never meet a Cayman or think that a gator’s sweet
But we could learn a lesson from Raymond and his friends if we could just live in peace

CHORUS


Raymond the Cayman

Edge of All I See

Lyrics and Music by Doug Faigel
2020

Chasing me down this highway
It’s hard trying not to weep
Everything’s just gone sidewise
I fear I’m in trouble deep
Gliding beneath the flyway
Chasing the autumn geese
Running along this byway
Trying to find some peace

Like a knife sticking in the ground
Its edge glints in the sun
I’m riding onto the precipice
My engine wants to run

[First time:]

In the shadows looking down
Is the place I want to be
Running on the edge of all I see
Riding on the edge of all I see.

[repeat}

[2nd time:]

In the shadows looking down
Is the place I want to be
Running on the edge of all I see
Riding on the edge
Riding on the edge

Chasing me down this highway
It’s hard trying not to weep
It wasn’t yours it’s my way
Love wasn’t ours to keep

In the shadows looking own
Is the place I want to be
Running on the edge of all I see

In the shadows looking down
Is the place I want to be
Running on the edge of all I see
Running on the edge of all I see
I’m riding on the edge
Riding on the edge
I’m riding on the edge of all I see

The Edge Of All I See

The World is Flat
Words and Music by Doug Faigel

B9

F#m
The world is flat
E
Stereoscopy’s a lie
F#m
You see the map
E
There are no shades of black and white
F#m
You smell a rat
E
Those moon men were just a lie
F#m
Report it stat
E
JFK is still alive

Chorus:
A                                  C#m
You don’t believe the things you read
B                              C#m   B
You don’t respect society
A                                        C#m                   B
You think the things that you believe are true
A                      C#m
I don’t trust a thing you say
B                                   C#m   B
But still you say them anyway*
A                          C#m                    B        
Repeating a big lie don’t  make it true

*Last chorus: Someday soon they’ll make you pay

You’re anti-vax
No one will be needling you
Alternate facts
That’s what you get watching Fox News
I’ll take the cue
Anonymously I’ll text you
You want to sue
Everyone who crosses you

Chorus

Conspiracy 
It infects my Facebook feed
Don’t hash tag me
With your fake news that no one needs
Society
Subjugated to be freed
But can’t you see?
Conspiracy is killing me

Chorus

The world is flat!

The World Is Flat

Verse 1:
In a deep cool forest of azure green
By the cool clear waters of a mountain stream
I see you standing there in harsh reprise
Of old familiar dreams

By a mountain stream in a forest of azure green
I see you standing there before me

CHORUS:

And I won’t sing this song again
I will let this feeling end
But I just can’t seem 
To shake off that familiar dream

Verse 2:
Though I’ve often tried to forget your face
At night it comes to haunt with arboreal grace
But do you ever see through eyes of azure green
An old familiar dream?

The one with you standing there in white beneath the trees
I see you standing there reaching for me

CHORUS


Familiar Dream

I am a singer songwriter from Scottsdale, AZ. 

My primary instrument is voice, but I play guitar and a little keyboard. I play a Martin 000C-16RTGE acoustic, a Fender Stratocaster and an Ibanez Gio bass. My keyboard is a Yamaha PSR3000. I record through an M-Audio interface onto a Mac using Logic Pro.

My approach to songwriting is fairly straightforward. I begin with the chord progression and the hook. My songs usually have a strong chorus. Lyrically I prefer songs that communicate emotion or tell a story.

Please feel free to download my songs!

The FauxToes!

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