These songs best demonstrate the concept of how and why we need each other in this game, as we explore songs I used to or might have called mine. I'm a late learner but I got there.  It may change over time. All are collaborative in every sense of the term, all the way through. Enjoy!

Music Is A Team Sport

After 65 years existing on a yellowed sheet of notebook paper for so long, written when I was 15, we gave it  edited lyrics, new life, a  modern, slow country melody, and it changed into a love song with a new name. It's a Southside Tracks / Three Amigos production with co-writers Mark Lyle and Brian Carter. Together we scored and formatted this tune to be what it grew up to be. It's a song that speaks to how relationships develop and grow over time. The vocal is me because initially the words came from me. Actually it's the second chapter to the song "I'll Meet You In The Lab'' posted a few weeks ago, written for that first crush girlfriend. They were at the time, written for her, but it applies to other loves I've been blessed to fall into in my life. If you are so moved, the dance floor is wherever you are!

Lyrics: The Colors Of Our Love
1957 / 2023:I Took A Scary Turn / The Colors Of Our Love (The Next Chapter)
1.	I took a nervous turn 
From hello to a fellow
With uncertainties ,
You might say
Red was the color of the first day.

2.	I took a nervous turn,
The day I went to get her
But soon I would have bet her
There’d be other days
And other ways. 

Chorus:	To color ups and downs
Or to find our way around
From a slow turn
To a slow burn. 
To get from reds to yellows
To go easy, To go slow
To the colors of the love, 
We’d come to know.


3.	I took a nervous turn
From hello on to mellow
Feeling surer 
I might say
Green was the color of the next day
Chorus:	To color ups and downs
Or to find our way around
From a slow turn
To a slow burn. 
To get from reds to yellows
To go easy, To go slow
To the colors of the love, 
We’ve come to know.

Bridge:	From a timid turn
To a time to learn
From a wonder
To a will
And the colors of our love
Could blend and never end
They’re there still!

The Colors Of Our Love

I wrote the seed words for this prototype country blues tune in 1958, at the age of 16. It was a scripted kind of episodic fictional daydream ( it's time to be gone song ), my teenage attempt to mimic my major blues influences of the late 40s and 50s. This year Mark Lyle, Bryan Carter and I got it cranked back up word wise and flew it forward to now with updated lyrics that kept the spirit of the original but reflected an matured set of skills and the help and input of each other in the process of charting and producing the music. We like to think we retained the feel of and old Willie Dixon song, one of my earliest influences and heroes. This is another time travel oriented Three Amigos production from Southside Tracks.

Lyrics: 
1958 / 2023: I’m Outta Here / I Ain’t Lying 
1.	I don’t need no bossy lady, Treat me like I’m second rate
I can’t take all this drama mama, You set up in your mind to set me straight
I can’t stay here one more hour, No need to say you’re sorry, time is up and it’s too late.
Chorus:	I’m outta here, and I ain’t lying
		Like a flash of heat lightning ‘cross the sky
I ain’t listening to no more fussing and crying
I done tried everything there is to try
If I told you once, I did a thousand times
That one day I’d be leaving like I’m flying
Like a flash of heat lightning, ‘cross a dark night sky
 		Woman, I’m outta here, and I ain’t lying!
2.	You just too opinionated, Always got to say what’s right for me
Woman, You just too opinionated. You’ve done decided who I need to be
I can’t stay here one more minute, Made up my mind, I got to get free!
Chorus:	(same as above)
3.	Don’t want to be here with nobody, Look to have herself a man to raise 
Don’t wanna be with some somebody, Got a sure fire plan to change my ways
I can’t stay here one more second, My clock say quitting time, and no more days.          
Chorus:	(same as above)

I Ain't Lyin'

These words came to me as a way of saying thanks to my adopted son, co-writer and fellow musician, Rob Ervin, because he became brother to my daughter in the Native ceremonial way, and shared with me his knowledge of the Lakota path that he walks. I was interested in learning more about his practiced take on teachings and passed down wisdom of the elders related to stewardship of the Earth and our responsibility to safeguard the beauty of Creation for “seven generations, and on and on”. The lyrics were his gift for that first “Covid” Christmas. Since we have joined forces, Rob and I with Bryan Carter and Mark Lyle at Southside Tracks, to compose, record, perform, and produce the song we are all sharing with you today. We do this also for our “childrens’ childrens’ little ones, to spread the word! I warned y’all I might preach! In the bridge of the song which says, “May the Sacred fires burn, May our little ones grow and learn, To help us turn the tide, Far and wide”, a Lakota prayer is superimposed which roughly translates as praying for continuing life on and of the planet which is left to our care! We are grateful to have been given this song to bring!
Lyrics: 
Seven Generations
Chorus:	For seven generations / For our children’s little ones
		Their right to a healthy Earth / And not a danger zone
		For seven generations to come / And on and on, And on and on.
1.	For seven generations / All Nations of the World
Responding to Creator’s plan / Let your Earth flags unfurl
Bring medicines to heal her wounds / Teachings to light our way
And wisdom of the elders / To take the time to pray.
Chorus:	(as above)
2.	For seven generations / The reason for this stand
A pure act of protection / For the water, air, and land
The call goes out to relatives / All colors and all creeds
To honor our ancestors / And fight the blinding greed.
Bridge:	Let the sacred fires burn / Let our little ones grow and learn
		Help us turn the tide / Far and wide.
Chorus:	(as above)
3.	For seven generations / Across the turning years
Our warriors come to lay down / Their long knives and their spears
And people join together / To know and sing what’s true
In honor of each other / To do what we must do.
Chorus:	(as above)
Tag:		And on and on…

Seven Generations

I had to get old to fully understand the lesson my grandmother started teaching me, by word and example, when I was about nine or ten. One helped me come to be comfortable when talking about my own mortality and the passing of time. The song we are sharing here speaks to her advice that time keeps on keeping on until it doesn't, and as she would say, "...use every day up doing good and being kind and don't be worrying about what is in other hands!" The older I get, the better her lesson sinks in. For me her lesson has been a guide and a gift! I'm not sure she would have picked the music, but that was in our hands. This is not a sad song. If there's wisdom, it is hers!
Lyrics:
(2023) In The Blink Of An Eye (Captain Spin)

My days run by lightning, Week to week like a bullet train
Months spin so fast it’s frightening, years blow by like a hurricane
What happened to my yesterday, 
It’s gone before I know
Seems like I’m racing rain, and coming up drenched 
But I don’t want to miss the show!
 
Chorus:
In the blink of an eye, like a tick of the clock
Sudden changes in the weather, whether we like it or not
In the blink on and eye, like a wink from Captain Spin
Time gets here when it gets here once again.

There’s times I feel a little lonely, a crowd of my friends have passed
My kid’s got half grown kids of her own, and man they’re growing fast
I’ll catch up in my mind tomorrow
And watch the young ones grow
Seems like I’m chasing time, and running behind 
But I don’t want to miss the show!

Repeat Chorus:
Solo:
Bridge:
Well I’m hanging in and hanging on, watching it come and go
I’ve made it through the intermission, and most of my highs and lows
I’m bound to make it to the final act, to the exit time for me
And find me a window on the other side, to see what I can see.

Chorus:
 In the blink of an eye, like a tick of the clock
Sudden changes in the weather, whether we like it or not
In the blink on and eye, like a wink from Captain Spin
Time gets here when it gets here once again.

Tag:
In the blink on and eye, like a wink from Captain Spin!

In The Blink Of An Eye

I’m posting something I started putting together during covid, early 2021. It’s called  That’s Not My Natural Style. It’s got a bit of a grown folks theme, but as many of you know I’m a bit old school when it comes to that. That’s a reputation I earned. Also been with my sweetie, Carol Boyd, for 51 years, so the line “I’d love to stay where you stay!” came true. I stayed where she stayed, and I’m still there! The tune went without finishing until we (Mark, Bryan and I) could get back in the studio and get it done. I’ll be putting a finished vocal on it Thursday and posting it now. It’s got a bit of a New Orleans flavor, and you might find a grin or two. Dancing is not mandatory but advised!
Lyrics:
That’s Not My Natural Style 
1.	All this Bip Bam, Bye Bye ma’am, That’s not my natural style
I’d sooner do some spoonin’, Everyday, mile after mile
Find all the right buttons and switches, I could fiddle with your dials
All this Bip Bam, thank you Ma’am, That’s not my natural style.
Chorus: Bip Bam, No Ma’am, A hit and run rider’s not who I am
	Bip Bam, Yes Ma’am, I give what I got, and I give a damn
2.	All this Bip Bam, thank you Ma’am, That’s not how I relate
I’d rather already be here, In time for our next date
After we finish our dinner desert, Put some some breakfast on our plates
All this Bip Bam, bye bye Ma’am, That’s not how I relate.
Chorus: Bip Bam, No Ma’am, That’s not what what I play
Bip Bam, If it please you Ma’am, I’d love to stay where you stay.
Bridge:	This way,  I get mine, you get yours, and we get ours too
		That way, I can spend my hours, spending them all with you!
3.	All this Bip Bam, thank you Ma’am, That’s not the way I do
Rollin in and rollin’ off, To find someone new
It’s not the way it feels right right to me, Wouldn’t be fair or true	
All this Bip Bam, bye bye Ma’am, That’s not the way I do.
Chorus: Bip Bam, No Ma’am, A hit and run rider’s not who I am
	Bip Bam, Yes Ma’am, I give what I got, and I give a damn
Tag: Bip Bam, bye bye Ma’am, That’s not the way I play	
Bip Bam, If it please you Ma’am, I’d love to stay where you stay!
Vamp: Yeah…I’m gonna stay where you stay…You know I need a drawer in your dresser…A place to hang my coat…Kick my shoes off…Sit down on your sofa.

Note: Self-revelatory, down at the shack, old time foolish R&B Blues is what this is. By now you should not be surprised.

In The Blink Of An Eye

Jim Boyd 1