"Give My Best" (#393, 200906)

Some lovers find you like a penny
Others leave you with a scar
Make a mark before they shut the door
A tattoo on your heart

Some lovers hold you like a midnight
Close their eyes and drink you in
Others lift you up and watch you float away
Like a feather in the wind

Give my best to New York City
She's always on my mind
The way she kissed my winter cheeks
Her breathe in the summertime

Autumn rain doesn't look the same
Outside my new address
I'm moving on but never really gone
Give my best

Some lovers break you like a mirror
Little pieces everywhere
Until the next one tapes you back together
To show how much they care

Give my best to New York City
She's always on my mind
The way she kissed my winter cheeks
Her breathe in the summertime

Autumn rain doesn't the look the same
Outside my new address
I'm moving on but never really gone
Give my best

She misses me I know it she's just too sad to show it
If you see her take a moment and give my best

Week 37b - Give My Best (200906)

The words of the poet Robert Frost made into a song at the Shetland Songwriting Festival

The Aim Was Song

Before man came to blow it right
     The wind once blew itself untaught,
And did its loudest day and night
     In any rough place where it caught.
 
Man came to tell it what was wrong:
     It hadn’t found the place to blow;
It blew too hard—the aim was song.
     And listen—how it ought to go!
 
He took a little in his mouth,
     And held it long enough for north
To be converted into south,
     And then by measure blew it forth.
 
By measure. It was word and note,
     The wind the wind had meant to be—
A little through the lips and throat.
     The aim was song—the wind could see.

The Aim Was Song

"Nobody Ever Knew" (#397, 200920)

I was once right where I was supposed to be
One by one my doubts got the best of me

Eyes like a sunset lips like a copperhead
Wrapped around my chest
So sharp my heart bleeds so heavy I can't breathe
About as naked as it gets

Nobody ever nobody ever nobody ever knew
I I could never I I could never could never let you

See these dreams pure saline
Through the steam like nicotine
Not a clue I wanted you
Fooled me too nobody ever knew

Can't go back to the way you looked at me
If I could I would fall at your feet

You're like a diamond bright as a full moon risin'
Out beyond the mist
Wish I could go there I'd hand my heart right over
Empty as it is

Nobody ever nobody ever nobody ever knew
I I could never I I could never could never let you

See these dreams pure saline
Through the steam like nicotine
Not a clue I wanted you
Fooled me too nobody ever knew

Week 39a - Nobody Ever Knew (200920)

Week 39 #songaweek2020. I really did wake up with this poem ("What did it take . . . shine") in my head, and the other lyrics were stream-of-consciousness afterwards. 

I woke up
With a poem in my head
A deep contented sigh from my soul
Only music
Only thought
Only underlying everything 
Only ever while we sing

What did it take? 
What sun was it that breathed on your skin?
Shine.

Poem In My Head

"Don't Piss On My Leg And Tell Me It's Raining" (#398, 200924)

Damn near got matching tattoos
But you said they ran out of ink
My buddies all laugh at your name on my ass
And I ain't got a clue what to think

We almost became man and wife
But your oil change just couldn't wait
Told me you panicked and boinked the mechanic
It seems like you knew you'd be late

So don't hand me cowpies and tell me they're raisins
Don't roast my hot dog and tell me it's bacon
Somethin' ain't right accordin' to my calculations
Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's rainin'

Bought you that new diamond ring
You said it got lost in the street
So howcome I'm certain you went and returned it
For every cent on that receipt

Spent a weekend with my cousin
Family time was your story
Well it's all fun and games until someone gets laid
Now it's an episode of Maury

So don't hand me cowpies and tell me they're raisins
Don't roast my hot dog and tell me it's bacon
Somethin' ain't right accordin' to my calculations
Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's rainin'

So don't bring me Twinkies and tell me you made 'em
Don't make up games and expect me to play 'em
I may not know much but I'm pretty sure you're mistaken
Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's rainin'

Week 39b - Don't Piss On My Leg And Tell Me It's Raining (200924)

Did you know that all attraction is governed by the ancient brain?
When you feel it, it shuts down the newer parts
So when that person passes by you
and you feel like you're a clutz
It's not you, it's nearly every one of us

Cause we are animals
In the best possible way
We are animals & baby it's ok
If you wanna growl at your lover
Sniff one another
Sleep in a soft warm heap
Cause we are animals - right to this day

Did you know that it's cortisol that wakes you up each day?
It's the hormone that prepares for fight and flight 
If you wake up in the morning with anxiety again
Doesn't mean there's a danger in your life

It’s just we’re animals
In the best possible way
We are animals & baby it's ok
If you wanna growl at your lover
Sniff one another
Sleep in a soft warm heap
Cause we are animals - that's how we're made

[Interlude / your lyrics here ;) ]

Cause we are animals
In the best possible way
Yeah we are animals & baby it's ok
If you wanna growl at your lover
Sniff one another
Sleep in a soft warm heap
Cause we are animals - that's how we're made

Animals

key C

based on a poem by RUMI and a visit to Van Gogh Live September 24 2020

In this earth 
In this earth  
We shall not plant any seeds 
Sow compassion 
And Rows of love 
In this perfect precious field 
We shall not plant any seeds 
Sow compassion 
And Rows of love 

Love for all  
Is the art of life
Love will save us all
thru these tears we till
the soil we will reap in joy

in this earth

Week 40 #songaweek2020. Photo is church, pandemic-style (Facebook Live kitchen-table worship  with my pastor). Partially inspired by Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. 

The closer you come to the mirror
The further you feel from yourself
You’re facing the facts
But there’s more to the story 
You’re something like what they see
And nothing short of you

The harder you hold out for meaning
The smaller it shrinks from your grasp
when did it ever make sense
In the cold hard light of you?

Come
Weary one
I will give you rest

The longer you live with your secret
The louder it lies in the dark
And cries to be heard
And held to the light

The deeper you dig down for treasure
the stranger the strain on your soul
When will you ever have
Enough?

Come
Heavy-laden one
I will give you rest

Come
Every last least one
I will give you rest

Rest

Little Cracks

Julia's song for Week 41 #songaweek2020. I heard a reporter on the radio say "If you're looking for a metaphor. . ." and I loved that line so much I built this song around it. I don't even remember what he was talking about when he said it. Also I recycled the woodsmoke and lilacs line from this song - https://soundcloud.com/julia-tindall-bloom/2020-i-still-believe-in-love. 
Nathan played mandolin and slide guitar.

Feel me
Heat on your cheeks 
Breath on your skin

Breathe me
take me all in
Push me back out
Draw me in again
Over and over
Over and out
And in and out and in

If you’re looking for a metaphor
I’ll be the lilacs and the woodsmoke in the spring in your backyard 

Hold me
circle me round
apply
gentle pressure

If you’re looking for a metaphor I’ll be the deep earth 
With diamonds in the rough and a heart of gold 

See me
alive and in love
wander your gaze

If you’re looking for a metaphor I’ll be the black night and
When you wish I’ll be your twinkling stars

If you’re looking for a metaphor I’ll be your bread 
and when you’re weary I’ll be your featherbed

If You're Looking For A Metaphor

Do you know that feeling when you like someone so badly you find yourself praying to every existing God they like you back? well...
*you might remember an old song by me called Skeleton, which actually sounds quite similar to this one. I realized about that while I was writing it, so I decided to include this little reference. In this context, "don't let me be a skeleton again" would mean "please don't let me be the idiot I was before when I thought I was entitled to do something wrong in the name of love" which is the main theme behind the song Skeleton.

Artwork by me, featuring my beautiful plants ❤️

Lyrics:

The blurry vision just before the curve,
the beat of my heart I just can't ignore
makes me stand right here, fading outside your door.
Because I bought my soul back from the devil,
blindly thinking this time will be better
but it won't disappear until my skin feels you near.

But I know I'm trying to kick this out of the field.
You don't need to remind me you're completely out of my league.

And they say hope is the last thing to lose,
so I will force mine to stay with you.
I'm praying to big Gods I don't believe in
cause I don't know how to make you listen to me.

Your ocean eyes making 10 feet tall waves,
makes me wanna die drowned by the sound of your name,
just please don't let me be a skeleton* again.
It's this uncertainty what kills me more,
not knowing which way you think I should go
or if I should even go there at all.

And I know I'm trying to kick this out of the field.
You don't need to remind me you're completely out of my league.

But they say hope is the last thing to lose,
so I will force mine to stay with you.
I'm praying to big Gods I don't believe in
cause I don't know how to make you listen to me.

And they say hope is the last thing to lose
so I will force mine to stay with you.
Because I bought my soul back from the devil
blindly thinking this time will be better
and it won't disappear until my skin feels you near.

Big Gods

Nashville songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Godin Guitars Official Artist and Founder of www.songaweek.org.

His catalog of 500+ titles includes collaborations with hit writers Mark Narmore, Elliott Park, Steve Dean, and Pete & Pat Luboff, among others internationally from England to Australia.

Redding's music has landed cuts by numerous recording artists including Dan Whitehouse, Emma Gale, and David Easterling.

Week 39a - Nobody Ever Knew (200920)

James Tristan Redding