You pull of the vocals and manage to make this sound full even with very minimalist guitar. Nice job, James

so so vulnerable and fragile and this is why its so so strong-gorgeous.

This song heart-wrenchingly beautiful. I hope I won't cry any more today than I already have, but this song had me on the verge of tears.

Marvellous, James. A beautiful broke-down song and rebirth at the turn of the year.

Beautiful song JTR. Love how the guitar pedals around that simple chord with different bass notes

Welcoming the tenderness in this one today :)

I appreciate this type of approach you can take (it's awesome how strong you are in a variety of approaches/styles so don't feel you have to do any specific style if you don't want to) but the way you successfully slow it down (without it feeling too slow) is really effective in drawing the listener in

"Everybody Farts" (#425, 201220)

 * co-written with Pete & Pat Luboff * 

You can do it in a church or an elevator
You can do it if you’re a cow or an alligator
You can try to hold it back but it will come out later
Everybody farts

You can be the Queen of England or a newborn babe
You can blame it on the dog and say, Me? No way!
But the truth is you’re gonna do it night and day
Everybody farts

Everybody farts everybody farts
Bless our smelly hearts everybody farts
All the way from Fresno to Sleepy Hollow
Farting is such sweet sorrow
Sing it with me now everybody farts

Who smelt it dealt it who thunk it stunk it
Who spoke it broke it who sniffed it biffed it
Whoever's poking fun is the smoking gun
Everybody farts

	Who declared it blared it who introduced it produced it
	Who spoke it broke it who observed it served it
	Whoever sang the song did the pong
	Everybody farts

Everybody farts everybody farts
Bless our smelly hearts everybody farts
Hold your breath and pull my finger
Wipe away a tear 'cause the best ones linger
The truth will set you free everybody farts

For some folks in South America it’s how they say hello
In China you can get a job as a fart smelling pro
You even do it for a while after you die that’s how it goes

Everybody farts everybody farts
Bless our smelly hearts everybody farts
Anybody hear that barking spider
I stepped on a duck and he was full of fiber
Quick someone get me a lighter everybody farts

Week 52b - Everybody Farts (201220)

"Look 0ut World" (#426, 201220)

L o o k out world I'm gonna' try
See this new determination in my eyes
I know my steps have wandered far
But here and now I've gotta' make a brand new start

L o o k out world I'm gonna' jump
And find out all the things I can become
No giving up now no turning back
Just these two soles that make their way along the tracks

L o o k out world I'm fallin' down
I did my best but I can't handle it right now
The lights are blinding there's all this noise
Nobody's listenin' to this little tiny voice

L o o k out world I'm standin' up
I got these boot straps that I'm pullin' from the mud
There's no more weakness or things to prove
And there ain't nothin' in this world that I can't do

Week 52c - Look 0ut World (201220)

A run down devil in the shine of a father’s eyes
Bright as high beam headlights on a highway night
And in the end, the effect is the same
You’d better move when something true is coming your way

Big dreams, a small plan and half a notion to
Hit the big time, put the small town in the rearview
A small pond, big fish looks for a bigger one
Big eyes, small appetite for a loaded gun

You can’t run on both sides of the track
Saying look out, world
It said look out back

The problem with the city is that it don’t care about your dreams
There’s always the next sucker who’ll chase them for free
So you try to go where good people just won’t go
Big eyes, small appetite for the bullet holes

You can’t run on both sides of the track
Saying look out, world
It said look out back

A run down devil, with the devil part being counterfeit
When you’re not as bad as you think, and bad at being it
Just a kid on just a street, in the headlight shine
Just a truckload of truth coming down the yellow line

Just a kid from just another small town
Said look out world
And got run down

You can’t run on both sides of the track
Saying look out, world
It said look out back

Look Out World - Song a Week 2020, Week 52

Right down to it

spoiler alert but the best part of your next relationship will be the start
though you’ll both try and you'll both be good people 
your characters pull us apart
and you can try again, but all the facts will still remain
and your biologies just overpower you
just like they always do

they'll do that thing where they suddenly hate you
you prob-ly won't take it that well
and you'll try to stifle your growing resentment
but they'll still be able to tell - and it'll fail
and it’s partly just because
oh well the sex ain't what it was
and what it was was junkies chasing a fix
just like it always is...

spoiler alert but these here times keep on changing
and this new world is breaking the mold
one day i'm gonna find out that it’s left far me behind now
and i’m blinking here alone in the cold

spoiler alert but life paints caravaggio:
all of the lights and the darks
if i win the game and sail into the sunset
that ending is only the start
and there's nothing i can win
to heal the weeping wound within
because the real battle's lost in the past
just like it always was

but spoiler alert this whole thing's gonna work out
much better than we could have planned
when i let go and i trust in the mystery
it’s then that i’m led by the hand
from struggling to cope
to much more blessed than i'd have hoped
but i’ll forget this once i’ve sung it to you
just like i always do

Spoiler Alert

Copyright Erin Wolf 2020
Piano recorded at All Saints Episcopal Church, Appleton, WI

*Cordolium (noun): Heartache; grief or sorrow*

sitting here in the dark
twinkle light's contrast is stark
quiet envelops me
holding on so tenderly

i heard the choirs singing Silent Night
so close yet so distant and i can't quite
find the words to say all i feel
this holy night beckons me to heal

Cordolium

"Protest Song" (#427, 201227)

You deserve better than what you been gettin'
Oh and it's long overdue
Respect and understanding patience and grace
Everyone who knows you knows it's true

She needs compassion and he needs the same
Both wonder where to find a friend
Maybe we'd feel different if we'd act like everybody
Is doin' the best they can

I have no right to protest my thoughts are uninformed
My voice has no authority to claim
But I cannot stand idly by when human hearts are hurting
So still I stand in protest just the same

We teach each other how to treat each other
And sometimes we get it wrong
There's no need to panic we're in this thing together
Just tryin' to walk each other home

Tonight we need no army to fight for what is right
Only what we carry in our hands
A candle to shine mercy on the ones who need it most
Might it help us understand

Week 53 - Protest Song (201227)

This is a song for when you have a friend stuck on a path of suffering but you can only do so much to help them.  I found writing the song helped me empathize with, or reconcile, the combination of what the outside world sees of this person's choices and what they can't see for themselves.  How many of you have been there with a loved one on a dangerous road with their blinders on?

I carry that rock
All over town
Someday I’ll bury it
Deep underground

I carry that rock
All over town
Someday I’m gonna bury it
Deep underground

The good book says
I’ll take my lumps
The story goes
Gotta turn another cheek

The good book says
In sickness and health
One day I will find out, just for myself

My friends all tell me
I’m losing my self
My dreams that were golden
Look mighty gray

When I’m awake, I make many dreams
But I just sleep, all damn day

I’m not who I was, but what was I anyway?
I’m not who I was, but who am I anyway?
The sun shall set, and my colors may fade.
The sun shall set, and my colors may fade.

Carry that Rock (The Good Book Says)

NIKKI DEAN

WHERE ARE YOU?

Will the Trees Remember Our Names
by Tamora Wilson and Laurie Easterling © 12/20/2020 New York, NY and Oak Ridge, TN

Photo by Tamora Wilson, Appalachian Trail near NYC

I’ve been a part of this forest
As long as I can remember
I know every brook and tree
Hiked through her valleys and hills
January through December
She feels like a mother to me

I’ve learned how to read wildfires
Fighting flames far from my home
Now I teach all I’ve seen
As I lead a group up the ridge
I see the smoke and grab my phone
Not too late to call in the team

Chorus:
Will the trees remember our names
We fight to save them from the flames
Hold us in their memories
As the years become centuries
Will the trees remember our names

We all don our gear and grab shovels
The fire grows like it’s alive
My students tremble at the sight
Branches start to burn overhead
As the rest of the team arrives
We will battle through the night

Chorus

Bridge:
Though scarred the forest will survive
She nurtures saplings through the winter
Whispering stories of history
Rebuilding the network together

Chorus

Tamora Wilson and Laurie Easterling - Will The Trees Remember Our Names - 1:1:21, 4.15 PM

They Sang Alleluia
by Erin Wolf (ft. the Meta Wolf Singers), Laurie & David Easterling © 12/31/2020 Little Chute, WI and Oak Ridge, TN

In true Easterling fashion, video: https://youtu.be/Ll_W3b1FgHc

Rose made her last trip to carry water from the river
The day before the well was installed
The people gathered round, waiting for the sound
Water gushed up and rained down on them all (They sang)

Alleluia
Allelu
Alleluia
Allelu

Mara tried not to be lonely and brought a meal to a friend
Gave a hug and went back out the door
Stopped by the cemetery on a cold day in February
And sat a while with those who’ve gone before (She sang)

Alleluia
Allelu
Alleluia
Allelu

They stood anxiously with toes on the painted borderline
And watched for a face they recognized
They heard a familiar song, rising above the throng
Reunited, tears of joy filled their eyes (They sang)

Alleluia
Allelu
Alleluia
Allelu

They Sang Alleluia

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 52c - Look 0ut World (201220)

James Tristan Redding

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