These are just demos for a 2024 (and 2023) weekly songwriting group. Enjoy, and don't judge too harshly as none are finished songs or recordings. Thanks! Rick --  HogBranch.com RickWatsonATX.com

Rick Watson - New Song Demos for  2024 Songwriting Group

Halfway Home (Music and Lyrics by Rick Watson)

Demo only. Week ending 08/07 of 2023 Songwriting Group. (Prompt: halfway home)

(All sounds made with baritone guitar, voice, looper, effects pedals, shaker.)


Lyrics

If your baby’s been a-drinking and always on the carouse
She may end up in a rehab & then a halfway house.
Yes, ma’am, a halfway house. That’s right, a halfway house.
Midway between a lady and a hell-raising drunken louse.
If you don’t stop a-cheating and letting your hands roam,
you may end up on the streets and then in a halfway home.
Yes sir, a halfway home. That’s right, a halfway home.
Midway between a family and a lunatic you wish you’d never known.
(chorus)
Halfway home, yes, halfway home.
You’d rather live alone but can’t afford the rent,
Your alimony’s due but your check’s all spent,
Your ex is looking good from the money you’ve sent,
You don’t even mind she’s still getting bent.
Yes, you’re halfway home, um hmm, your halfway home.

Your youngin’s come to visit and they only pout & moan.
The puppy’s always pissing, and now the A/C is blown.
Oh no, the A/C is blown! Hey kids, who took my phone?!
Midway between a father & a lunatic they wish they’d never known.
Momma comes to get them & she’s got a new dress on.
Her breath still smells like vodka but boy it turns you on!
Oh boy, you’re halfway home. “Momma, can Daddy come home?”
Midway between the doghouse & the best sex you’ve ever known.
        (Hey, who taught her that?)
(chorus)
Halfway home, yes, halfway home.
You’d rather live alone but can’t afford the rent,
Your alimony’s due but your check’s all spent,
Your ex is looking good with the money you’ve sent,
You don’t even mind she’s still getting bent.
Because you’re halfway home, you’re halfway home.

Halfway Home - Rick Watson

What’s Going On (Inside My Brain)

Words & Music by Rick Watson			
© Hog Branch Publishing, March 1, 2024
DEMO ONLY.
2024 Austin Songwriter Group. Weekly Prompt: Goin' On

Lyrics

(Verse)
I didn’t mind
not knowing what’s going on
In your mind
Till you'd packed up to run
And now	I find
You’ve moved on far past the line
It’s one more sign
I never know what’s going on inside

(Chorus)
What’s going on inside my brain
I’m out of touch with everything

(Verse)
I can’t find
A train of thought to ride 
I'm in decline
I am crawling back inside 
My head it’s drained
I’ve strayed too close to the grave
It’s strange I find
I can’t recall my own damn name

(Chorus)
What’s going on inside my brain
I’m losing touch with everything

What's Going On (Inside my Brain)

What's Going On (Inside My Brain)

And Now I'm Grateful -- DEMO ONLY
Music & lyrics by Rick Watson
(c) 2024 Hog Branch Publishing 

Austin 2024 Songwriting Group. Prompt: Grateful

And Now I’m Grateful
Words & music by Rick Watson
© 2024 Hog Branch Publishing

Lyrics

I don’t know what was wrong with me
So full of hate & self-pity
Searched all around but all I’d see
Couldn’t fill the void inside of me

Now I’m grateful
Grateful I’m grateful

I wonder was I born that way
Or’d something happen to make me stray
Searched high & low & even prayed
Drank it all in but the pain still stayed

Now I’m grateful
Grateful I’m grateful

Strangers in a basement hall
Said come on back or even call
Day one now & one for all
Got on my knees & began to crawl

And now I’m grateful
Grateful I’m grateful

And Now I'm Grateful

Words & music by Rick Watson, Hog Branch Publishing, March 2024. DEMO ONLY. (A revised take on a January 2024 songwriting group prompt -- new tempo and key.)

Lyrics

Lights out tonight
My heart’s pumping double
Full moon picks a fight
Each shadow spells trouble
The wind’s howling Run, boy
Though I only stumble
My love dreams beside me
I’ll soon burst that bubble
Lights out

Black clouds roll in
Horned owl is screeching
My face in the window
The highway beseeching
Screen door recoils
Ignition, I’m leaving
God’s voice in the static
But hate’s all he preaching
Lights out

Rest would come with just one swerve
Lights out for good on dead man’s curve
That peace costs more than you deserve
Or maybe baby I just lost my nerve
Lights out

Blue highway glows
It’s nothing I’m chasing
Despair is exhausting
Fatigue I’m embracing
The causeway – last exit
The rearview I’m gazing
The horizon’s a rose
The night it’s erasing
Lights out
I’m coming home
Lights out
I’m coming home
Lights out

Lights Out (I'm Coming Home)

A surf-inspired tune for this week's Austin Songwriter Group. DEMO ONLY. 

Kissing the Menace
Words & music by Rick Watson. (c)2024 Hog Branch Publishing.

Lyrics

Loving you is like living a death sentence --
captivating, nights of terror & heartache
yet thrilling & always intense.
Kissing you is like kissing the Menace.

Loving you is like trusting a witness --
emotional, uncertain, thrilling
but potentially filled with risk.
Kissing you is like kissing the Menace.

Kissing the Menace

First and Third
Music & lyrics by Rick Watson, (c)2024 Hog Branch Publishing. DEMO ONLY. Austin Songwriter Group prompt: The Window
Thanks for drums to Michael Bahan

lyrics

I’m searching down First Avenue
Can't help but wonder Is that you?
Picking gum off of her boot
	Glaring at some tourist too
You duck into the Pak Punjab
Toting your red laundry bag
	Sunset paints this canyon blue
	You walk on past, it wasn’t you

Sitting on our Third Street stoop
Wish you’d keep me in the loop
Past the church, that looks like you
Checkered scarf & slant bangs too
Wait, I see you waving now
I lift my hand, begin to smile
	The streetlamp coughs up his gray suit
	He takes your hand, it isn’t you

A siren wakes me just past 2
A shadow lies where I wait for you
	The bridge that took you frames the moon
	The East River will swallow soon
Get up,  unlatch the window grate
Stretch out onto the fire escape
	Glance down the block & scan for you
	So many windows reflecting gloom
        Come home, Pretty, and pretty soon
        Come fill up this empty room

First and Third

Hog Branch is home-base for Austin country soul songwriter, music, actor Rick Watson.  #GulfCoastSoulandBlues #FunkfromtheFarm #CountrySoulNoLimits