Piano improvisation on Dec. 10, 2013 honoring the passing of my friend, Diane Gershuny.

Requiem for Diane Gershuny (Live Solo Piano Improv)

My homage to classic rock, longing for what, in retrospect, now seem were the carefree days of youth. Mixed with golden-ears bro Tim Jessup at Chicago's private studio in Sedona, AZ.

Written and produced by Jeff Burger (ASCAP). Copyright © 2022 Jeff Burger

LYRICS
----------

Found our names carved in a tree
Down by  the old mill stream
Where we’d scheme and dream
Killin' it on a dare
Hangin’ out way back then
Not lookin' around the bend
I still remember when
We never had a care
Maybe it was just a phase
Chasin’ down the latest craze
But take me back to the good old days
The good old days

Kickin’ round our old ‘hood                                     
Sometimes up to no good
Pulled pranks just ‘cause we could 
You and me side by side                                 
‘Member how we used to meet 
Past lights on that dead-end street
Always tryin’ to cheat
A little more from those nights 
Cruisin' every night and day
Singin’ what the radio played
Oh, take me back to the good old days 
The good old days

If only we could have just stayed
In simple times with simple ways
Wish that we could  fly away
All the way to yesterday
And the good old days

In the yard of our old school
Worked  hard at playin’ it cool
Drew cards, kings, queens and fools
Learnin' the game of life

Cut class on history
Made our own out runnin’ free
Rollin' to a beat
Out on those long joyrides
Cruisin' every night and day
Singin’ what the radio played
Oh, take me back to the good old days
The good old days

The Good Old Days

I was inspired to create this piece for a sync licensing brief for TV, film and ads calling for a piece similar to Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre and other early pioneers of synth-based electronic music circa '70s and '80s. I wound up adding a bit of a modern edge to it. Written, performed and produced by Jeff Burger (ASCAP).

Breaking Orbit

Remake of a song I wrote and demoed back in 1988 with Madonna in mind. I was inspired to recreate it in 2023 based on a movie sync licensing call for '80s female pop in the style of... Madonna!  (To be fair, it also cited Whitney Houston and Paula Abdul.)

The only recording that survived from back in the day was a burnt-out cassette that wasn't anywhere near today's broadcast quality. The original vocalist was also retired. So...

I recreated the tracks using synths and processing from the era and found the perfect vocalist, Ellie Beth, thousands of miles away in Norway. I was even able to use digital voodoo to extract enough of the original vocals from that burnt-out cassette to have the original vocalist join in the new harmonies from across the decades. Fun magic!

LYRICS
-------

You look at me and say you want my body tonight
You’re lookin’ fine to me
That’s not enough to make me want to spend the night
I need some certainty
So come on, baby, take it slow
And we’ll see if our love will grow

I’m waitin’ for the right love to come into my life
I’m waitin’ for the right love, don’t want no other kind

I’ve had enough of one liners and one night stands
That’s not enough for me
It’s time to look for love, true romance
One that captures me
So come on, baby, don’t go so fast
And we’ll see if our love will last

I’m waitin’ for the right love to come into my life
I’m waitin’ for the right love, don’t want no other kind

You could please me in a physical way
But only real love could make me want to stay
I want someone to share my dreams at night
Someone to love me and hold me tight

I’m waitin’ for the right love to come into my life
I’m waitin’ for the right love, don’t want no other kind
I’m waitin’ for the right love to come into my life
I’m waitin’ for the right love, don’t want no other kind

Copyright © 1988 Jeff Burger

Waitin' for the Right Love

Waitin' for the Right Love  (ft. Ellie Beth)

Original memorial celebration song for my dear friend Sonny Izon. Singer-songwriter version for now, production coming!

————LYRICS————

You spent a lifetime tellin' stories
Of those who would or could not speak
Praised and raised them in their glory
You made us think and laugh and weep
Now it's your turn
And although these words
Can't hold a candle
To those of a man who
Had a heart so true
I'd shout at the pearly gates

But Heaven knows... Heaven knows all you are
Heaven knows it shines with another star
Another diamond in the sky tonight
Another angel taking flight
'Cause Heaven knows

You played the songs that pulled our heartstrings
A troubadour of times gone by
The love and truth and hope of young dreams
That formed the soundtrack of our lives
We still sing along
'Cause you're not gone
Always near us
We sing it loud just
So they can hear us
Up at the pearly gates

But Heaven knows... Heaven knows all you are
Heaven knows it shines with another star
Another diamond in the sky tonight
Another angel taking flight
'Cause Heaven knows

Friend to all you met
Your love has always been
Sunshine in our days
Husband, father and son
Brother to everyone
Missed in so many ways
Only Heaven knows...

Heaven knows all you are
Heaven knows it shines with another star
Another diamond in the sky tonight
Another angel taking flight
'Cause heaven knows...

Copyright ©2024 Jeff Burger

Heaven Knows - Singer/Songwriter Demo

One-stop. Stems. Rock, guitar rock, classic rock, male vocals, danger, gold digger, black widow, dark, temptation, medium tempo, 123 bpm.

Black Widow's Web

Minimalist male singer songwriter pop. Inspired by TV/film scenarios like Grey's Anatomy where a loved one is waiting to know if a patient is going to survive. Doubles as a love song where the guy is watching his loved one sleep, wondering what they are dreaming, and possibly the fate of their relationship. Either way, the sentiment is "Just Breathe".

Just Breathe

Flashback to World Trust circa 1978 performing my song "Free" in a live basement recording (thought lost but recently salvaged from a cassette that somehow survived the years). Matthew Schnedl (guitar/vox), Dave Wine (drums), Roy Morris (bass/vox), Joe Sanford (guitar/vox), Stanley the Man (percussion/vox), Jeff Burger (songwriter/keyboards/vox).

Free (1978 salvaged cassette)

I wrote this song around 2002 but was never happy with the recording I made at the time. I was inspired to rerecord it in honor of the birthday of Mohanji (mohanji.org) who has recently become a strong spiritual guide in my life and whom I have been blessed to spend time with personally. This new version features my beloved rebuilt 1917 Steinway B as well as... the songbirds of rural Virginia! Thank You and Happy Birthday, Mojanji!

Solo Piano

Dawn's Embrace (Mohanji Birthday Version)

Christmastime is crooner time! I was inspired to write and record a song my dad might have sung to my mom as newlyweds back in the day. Frank Sinatra was singing it in my head... RIP. After an international search, I recruited crooner Michael Civisca, first brought into the spotlight on Michael Jackson’s MJJ label—and who once actually portrayed Sinatra in Las Vegas. 

The song was selected for the November 2020 Top Ten list on Taxi — the industry's leading independent A&R company — and is under consideration for film and TV projects. More info and resources: http://jeffburgerstudios.com/christmas

- - - - LYRICS - - - -

​Snow falls outside our window
Friends are all waiting, we really should go
It’s that time of year to spread good cheer
But the best rendezvous is only with you

​Why don’t we skip the parties
Let’s linger here, just you and me
There’s no better way to celebrate
We can conspire on one desire
Together at home, alone by the fire

​Christmas time
With candles and wine
Making mem'ries just for two
At Christmas time
One thing on my mind
I want to spend Christmas with you

​Stay with me through the twilight
'Cause these shorter days make longer nights
In the afterglow of the mistletoe
Spend this Noel under love's spell

​Gifts wait by the Yule tree
But, darlin’, you are all that I need
Because you define the best of times
So let's steal away this holiday
Nestled up close in our own hideaway

​Christmas time
With candles and wine
Making mem'ries just for two
At Christmas time
One thing on my mind
I want to spend Christmas with you

​Firelight shimmering
Tree lights glimmering
But the best part of these nights
Are all the candles on the mantle
Sparkling in your eyes

​(At) Christmas time
With candles and wine
Making mem'ries just for two
At Christmas time
One thing on my mind
I want to spend Christmas with you
I want to spend Christmas with you
I want to spend my Christmas with you

© 2017 Jeffrey Paul Burger

I Want to Spend Christmas with You

Recommended: Check out the full music video > https://youtu.be/a7MWriNIARQ

This is my protest music video responding to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA on August 12, 2017 where 34 were injured and three died. The video also addresses ongoing issues dividing the nation including white nationalism, gun control, Confederate monuments, and divisive politics. 

After the event, Burger was inspired by the Charlottesville community's overwhelming response of finding a thousand ways to say love. This video is released under the Beliefs Project non-profit I co-founded, dedicated to transforming beliefs that divide and destroy into those that heal and unify.

More at https://BeliefsProject.com
Media kit: https://beliefsproject.com/press/

FULL LYRICS:

This is the place Heather died
Gave it all to stem the tides
Of anger and hate racing ‘cross the land
As men arrived with guns in hand
Yeah, here’s where they came with rage in their hearts
Here’s where they came to tear us apart
Dressed for war, spoiled for fights
Waving flags righter than right
In the streets of Charlottesville

Statues stood and glorified
Whips and chains of Dixie pride
All more troubling now becuz
They mixed it up with swastikas
After millions paid the ultimate cost
We won’t bring back the holocaust
A classic case of us versus them
Can’t we just live as women and men
In the streets of Charlottesville

Stay home and pray or call hate out?
Join the fray, shout down the shouts?
A stand for peace could still transpire
In pouring gas onto a fire
When leaders lack accountability
Or even common civility
There’s always someone else to blame
And the bully pulpit fanned the flames
In the streets of Charlottesville

Opening wounds we hoped to ignore
Our oldest issues came to fore
Festering here, simmering there
Time to come clean, clear the air
Here’s our chance to realize
We all hold our secret lies
Judge brothers for this, sisters for that
Time to take ourselves to the mat
In the streets of Charlottesville

Over and over again we make our battlefields
Have we had enough pain to drop the swords and shields?
Can’t fight hate with hate or fear with fear
Love’s the only way our children will see all their years

Time's upon us we knew would come
When free speech marches with a gun
Amendments beg us what to do
To reconcile numbers one and two
The man on the screen plays to our fears
Says you’ll lose what you hold dear
Are you left or are you right?
You must see life as black or white
In the streets of Charlottesville

Draw lines here, draw lines there
'Til what’s left are maps of despair
Time we get all blood is red
Time we say enough's been shed
Together we can turn the page
On hate, on anger, on rage
Now we choose our destiny
Unity through diversity
In the streets of Charlottesville...

Words and Music Copyright © 2017 Jeff Burger

In the Streets of Charlottesville

In The Streets Of Charlottesville

I was inspired to write this song by a industry call for a road song for placement in a movie. My production is somewhere between singer-songwriter and dust-on-the-boots country-folk. Other artists are welcome to do their own interpretations. 

LYRICS

Hit the road again
With a suitcase of dreams
On my own again 
Horizons unseen 

Don’t know where I’ll sleep tonight
Where I’ll be come mornin' light
Know I’ll be alright roamin’ free       
With only a suitcase of dreams, a suitcase of dreams

Big skies are callin’ me
I’m moving’ on
Like a bird up on the breeze
As the sun kisses dawn

Leave it all behind
See where my stars align
And I just might find what holds the key
With only a suitcase of dreams, a suitcase of dreams

While I’m ramblin’
Might find that road within
Start unravelin' what it all means
With only a suitcase of dreams, a suitcase of dreams

Copyright © 2018 Jeff Burger. Published by Namaste Ranch Publishing. ASCAP member.

Suitcase Of Dreams

My original compositions range from solo piano to electronic productions to pop songs. Much of my work explores thoughts along the way in my ever-unfolding spiritual journey. On many of my compositions, I perform and produce all the tracks in my studio. 

Thanks for listening! Your comments are appreciated!

Jeff Burger

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