chorus
hit the lights

verse 1
Life is a stage 
Some of us fall off 
again and again and again
Act your age
Trying not to grow up
Again and again and again 

pre Ch
The Curtain goes up and I run a mile 
Far away far out of sight 
Forgetting my lines I freeze every time 
Until I hear them say
CH-Hit the lights 

V2
Life is a stage 
Some of us shine on 
again and again and again
At your age 
Take every moment 
Again and again and again 

The particles swoon inside the room
Caught in a brilliant white
Bathe in its bloom 
The shows not over 
Til you hear them say 
Hit the lights

the shows not over

hit the lights 27 SAW 20

I wrote Departures [https://soundcloud.com/kent-aitken-386794022/departures-song-a-week-2020-week-4] when I was setting up to move; I'm book-ending it with this the day before I head home for the summer. Erin [https://soundcloud.com/erinwolf] was right; I think I have travel on my mind.

*****

When we are tired
And need to lay down
Count time to the tide
Come back to this place

When we are older
Bring me to the water
Set time all aside
Back where I was born

Bring me home, to tie it together
When memory is worn

At the end of the evening
At the end of the warm night
Bright with my brothers
And the families they made

Where our mother is buried
We water the flowers
Somehow they grow
When we're far away

I like to think they need our attention
Even when we only make it home rarely

Bring me home, to tie it together
When memory is worn

With a sigh
For the seasons and lives that pass by

When I am ready
Bring me to the water

The Water - Song a Week 2020, Week 29

Week 29 #songaweek2020. Image is my grandfather holding my daughter.
Some influences in my process of writing this one - 
"Over My Head" by King’s X - https://youtu.be/J2SYPzKzD94 ("music over my head")
"All shall be well" comes from "Showings" by medieval mystic Julian of Norwich
"I Don’t Think We’re Gonna Make It" by Rich Waring - https://soundcloud.com/rich-waring/i-dont-think-were-gonna-make-it
An actual dream I had. 
An actual fight I had.

I was interested in the concept of "the end." There's the cliche doomsayers waving "the end is near" signs; and then there's this sense of transcendence people sometimes experience, "thin places" where the beyond/unknown feels somehow close and comforting. Two of numerous ways we experience our consciousness of mortality.

Would have loved to fill this out a lot more instrumentally, just not time/bandwidth for it this week.

	E			G#m		A
There’s sunshine behind the gray sky
There’s monsters under your bed
there’s visions that blind the mind’s eye
There’s music over your head

A
This is not the end
	F#m			A		  E
But I feel like I can see it from here

I dreamed I saw my grandfather smiling
I felt he held my hand through the haze
I woke to find the blessed sun rising
I spread out my hopes for [in] a new day

This is not the end
But I feel like I can see it from here
This is not the end
But it feels like I just felt it draw near

There’s more between you and me than this fight
There’s love and life [fire and ice] and mystery
There’s nothing like the dark to see the starlight
There’s something about your arms wrapped around me

F#m		    A			      E
all shall be well and all shall be well
All shall be well, all shall be well

This is not the end
But I feel like I can see it from here
This is not the end
But it feels like I just felt it draw near
This is not the end 
But I feel like it keeps singing in my ear

The End

"I Can't Believe It's Not" (#382, 200802)

Something about your smile
Darker than the rest
The anger in your eyes
Always hurt the best

Better hold on tight
To the pain I know
Never safe inside
Never could let go

I'd give you everything
To have you back again
One more night together
We could stay forever

Show me some kinda' sign
Before I'm out of time
And the door is finally locked
I can't believe it's not

Nothing could have stopped
What you meant to me
All those aftershocks
Brought me to my knees

I'd give you everything
To have you back again
One more night together
We could stay forever

Show me some kinda' sign
Before I'm out of time
And the door is finally locked
I can't believe it's not

Did I dream it did I fall in fantasy
Did I carve you from the earth
Did I leave behind my sense of sanity
Did I waste until it hurt

Week 32 - I Can’t Believe It’s Not (200802)

(to all of you who already know the story behind this song, thank you for your support ❤️ not the best recording- apologies in advance)

The most special of mentions to my amazing friend Ayelen Molina for making this INSANELY AMAZING artwork. I am OBSESSED with this ❤️

Lyrics:

I haven't done that much since the last time I saw your face.
I fell apart on the road, now there's two versions of myself.
One you'd feel at home with, one you wouldn't recognize
hiding the weight of the world behind my eyes.

And I'm sorry I brought you here out of nowhere
and I said I love you completely out of context.
I'm a crybaby by nature,
please don't act like a stranger.
An astrological mess passing as an entertainer.

And it should be as easy to breathe,
but I can't get no relief.
You haunt me even in the happiest of songs,
and I can't get no grief.
So I fall asleep in this miserable routine
where I say I love you, I cry and repeat...
(and repeat, and repeat)

I haven't done that much since the last time I saw your face.
I tried to work on my issues before I talked about it.
I stopped being pretentious cause I know it'll get me nowhere.
So here it is: I fucked up. I can't make it poetic.

So I'm sorry I brought you here for nothing.
My intentions were good, I hope that counts for something.
I'm a crybaby, by heart I remember your last call
when I heard you laugh, I knew I would give you all.

And it should be as easy to breathe,
but I can't get no relief.
You haunt me even in the happiest of songs,
and I can't get no grief.
So I fall asleep in this miserable routine
where I say I love you, I cry and repeat...
(and repeat, and repeat)

it should be as easy to breathe.


Crybaby

"All Hat And No Cattle" (#402, 201006)

All hat and no cattle all bark and no bite
If you'd a told me I'd a stayed home tonight
Tried to be patient but I ran outta' luck
I don't seem to be able to give one single fumbling care right now

All bread and no butter all spark and no flame
House keeps on winnin' I'm losin' again
Time marches forward and the later it gits
I just keepin thinkin' how I'm sick of this charade

All mouth and no trousers all balls and no strikes
Guess you done fooled me once more than twice
Here I am lonesome and drunk in a ditch
Can't find my lighter ain't that a big let down

All sizzle no ribeye all work and no play
No steak for my Stetson no A-1 today
Sometimes you're the pigeon and sometimes the truck
But somehow you always seem to get fudge on your hands

Week 41b - All Hat And No Cattle (201006)

Did someone say WE WANT MORE BV?

Lyrics:

My eyes can't seem to see other thing that isn't you.
It's the strangest tunnel vision, don't know what else I could do.
Because I'm running out of fuel to burn
and my heart standstill because it never learned how to let go.
So go buy yourself some tickets, front row for this horror show.

It will shine brighter than any other star
in the sky, it looks like it will never fall apart.
Every single spark will ignite your heart.
I just hope you survive, Supernova.

This void I've been living in doesn't seem such a scary place
if you look at it with a held up high face.
But when it comes to you, I don't know what to say.
I just forget my words when you say your name and I want to
play the spark in your eyes like it's an old VHS tape.

It will shine brighter than any other star
in the sky, it looks like it will never fall apart.
Every single smile will ignite my heart.
I just hope I survive, Supernova.

Please don't let me be stardust alone.
Please don't let this be in my head just for once.

We will shine brighter than any other star
in the sky, it looks like we will never fall apart.
Every single touch will ignite our hearts.
I just hope we survive, Supernova.

Don't let this be in my head just for once.

Supernova

Collaboration with David and Laurie Easterling.

I took a chord progression David came up with as we were starting to collaborate, then brainstormed the first draft of the lyrics. Then David edited the lyrics to fit his way of singing it and we chiseled down extra stanzas to fit to length (not necessarily in that order).  I'll probably record another version sometime soon to improve the mix between the video's audio and the audio into DAW, possibly adding drums, bass too.

Songbird- McDoniels-Easterling Co-write

Week 4 HELP YOURSELF  31/01/21
¾ G C D Em capo 2

G
HERE I GO
C                     D
DOWN THAT ROAD AGAIN
G                                     C                  D
I ALWAYS STAY IN THAT STATE SO LONG
EM
LET  ME GO
C                      D
PROVE ME  WRONG AGAIN
Em                                 C         D        G
BUT OVER AND OVER THE SAME OLD GROUND
2
LONG AGO
YOU WERE NEAR TO ME
YOU SHOWED THE COURAGE TO SEE ME THROUGH
ALL THE YEARS
EVERY TRAGEDY
OUR HEARTS SANK DEEP IN THE STONE COLD GROUND
3
WHERE’S THE TUNE
WHERE’S THE MELODY
FELL ON DEAF EARS AND KEPT ROLLING ON
ON AND ON IN MY MEMORY
OVER AND OVER THE SAME OLD SONG  
 
4
SHOULD WE CROSS PATHS AGAIN some day
ILL NEED TO KNOW THAT YOU FOUND THE WAY
FROM THE PAST THROUGH THE PAIN AGAIN
BR OKEN IN PIECES AND SHATTERED LIKE CLAY
OVER AND OVER MADE NEW TODAY

BRIDGE D  C  G 
D
WHO CAN I RUN TO
C                                        G
IM STUCK IN A MIRE SO HUNGRY AND TIRED
 D
WHERE IS MY RESCUE
C
THESE TEARS HAVE RUN DRY
G
RAINED DOWN IN SKIES

help yourself wk4

Days and days of grey and overcast
Waiting for this goddamn storm to pass
Trying, not to, fall into the mud
Bleak midwinter cold the trees are bare
Feeling like the sky is looking there
Heart is sinking into the flood
But I swore to myself that when the sun came out I'd sing and play

And there's blue in the sky today
---
Black clouds got the best of yesterday
Spring could be a hundred days away
Trudge that path to happy destiny
I can be a grumpy son-of-a-bitch
Grateful for the way you handle it
Trying to seek out the best in me
And I promised myself that when your love arrived I'd sing hooray

And there's blue in the sky today
---
And EVery time I think I went too far you walk me back
And every TIME that I get LOST you help to GET me back on track
And anyTHING I tried to MAKE it fell part ‘til I FOUND you
Then right on cue… the sun came shining through

And there's blue in the sky x4 today

Blue In The Sky

"Run Down" (#439, 210219)

 * Words by Jerry Frohlich, music by James Tristan Redding * 

Another town another show
Didn't seem that long ago
A one night stand and off I go

Run down I hit the road again

Haunted by the highway sound
I close my eyes the lights go down

Echos distant in my mind
The days are long and the nights are longer
As I stare out the darkened window

Run down I hit the road hit again

I feel the eyes of all the fans
They all watch me as I stand
On stage again

And as we drive away
I feel so empty
But left them wanting more

Run down I hit the road again
The band, my friends

Run down I hit the road again
Yeah rock the night away

Run down I hit the road again
Another town another show

Run down I hit the road again

Week 08b - Run Down (210219)

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.