Great work, John! Very creative lyrics and poignant performance.

magical tune, we creators dissemble the surety of the average man

Wowsa' what a great song.  Love that melody and evocative guitar.  Also great message in the lyrics.

sensitive words for expressive guitar's, superbe

Noisy drop

Upbeat .wav

Sonatina no.4 (for pianoforte) - Argentine winter

https://veraariannastork.bandcamp.com

Watch animated score video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D9RTeR03dM
Download sheet/score: https://musescore.com/user/64724140/scores/11222761?share=copy_link

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Sonatina no.4 (for pianoforte) - Argentine winter

My asthma flared up when the Canadian forest fires of 2023 began to rage in earnest. This song began as selfish complaint with a slight rewrite rendering it less sarcastic and more hopeful. I recalled summers on a tree planting crew and reflected that tree planting is an inherently hopeful act. (Written Canada Day, July 1, 2023)
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When Canada Burns (Send the Brigade)

When Canada burns my lungs hurt
from flames a thousand miles away
A populace wheezes, yearns for breezes
praying for some falling rain today
They can see it on the way to work
Brown sickly haze over New York
when Canada burns

We laughed at the joke
when scientists spoke
from ivory towers in the sky  
Now animals choke on poisonous smoke
while wild forest flowers wilt and die
Time to pack their things and go
Leave behind everything they know
when Canada burns

Back to working summers memory flashes
sowing saplings row on row
in the rich furrows ploughed from ashes
Now I wonder what will grow
Gonna teach the kids my tree planting ways
Send them out with saddle bags and spades
Gonna send the brigade

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Credits

Words and music (c) John David Lawson, 1 July 2023
G-tuned guitar, bass, vocals and whistling - JDL
All sound sources originated in the acoustic realm; no VSTs harmed

Thanks to replant.ca for use of the classic tree planter image (replant.ca is a site "designed to provide information and education about Canada's tree planting & reforestation industries.")

Technical notes
Still learning how to track and chasing that elusive tone
Acoustic guitar - a Tony Snyder OM-1 based model tuned in G and tracked in stereo with DI and M-Audio Sputnik tube mic
Bass - Fender Precision bass played into a Golden Age Pre-73 Jr.

When Canada Burns

Sometimes I wonder am I a clone
A pale facsimile of a better one
But I don't ponder until the day's done
Sometimes I wonder if I am one
Sometimes I wonder am I just goo
Waiting for a robot to tell me what to do
My moves are jagged, my gait is choppy
Am I just a sloppy copy of you

Am I a clone
What if I got no Mamma to take me home

Sometimes I wonder am I a drone
Waiting for the next gig to glow on my phone
With instructions on where I gotta go
Sometimes I wonder am I a drone
But there's a boy inside who sings
Nobody is pulling his strings
Rides his bike over fields of green
Parks it on the bank of a crystal stream 

Is he a clone, he doesn't know
What if he got no Mamma to take him home

I'll forgive my dreams for betraying me
'Cause they live in places nobody can see
Am I a clone, am I a clone
What if I got no mamma to take me home
Am I a clone, am I a clone
What if I got no Mamma to take me home
What if I got no Mamma?

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"Am I A Clone" - words and music (c) July 2023, John David Lawson 
Vocals, acoustic guitar, flute, bass, production - John David Lawson
(no VST's or pitch correction used on this one!)

Am I a clone?

Ft. tap dancer and improviser Michael Love. Thanks to my friends River and Steve for sharing your beautiful voices and powerful thoughts.

EUPHORIA

In the lottery of significance
Old dreams don't make sense
Is it talent or coincidence
That lets a nobody outwit chance
You can use the royalties
To buy a coffee for a homeless man
'cause he might be me
So put money in the can

Family and friends they say
They gonna love you to their dying day
But when it comes to what you create
They shuffle nervously and back away
Maybe one song I make
Will help someone to celebrate
Help somebody break away

So when my passionate lofty plans
In the end don't add up to squat
Throw my ashes in a coffee can
Stow the tapes in a banker's box
And you all can auction it off
In the doughnut shop that time forgot
And bury it all 
in an unmarked plot

The Doughnut Shop That Time Forgot

With a little attitude this song throws out a couple of suggestions for how things might be improved in this world.

My Perfect World

Red zone.mp3

Hey, Banjo
Words and music by John David Lawson

Hey banjo
Can you give me a happy tune
Isn't that what you do
If I could learn to play you
Would you tell truth?

I could whistle
Toot on a pennyflute
Strum two chords on a uke
Maybe those things would sound cute
If they weren't so cruel

My piano 
Gathers dust in the studio
Harmonica just blows
Cello is far too mellow
Accordion bellows

Hey banjo 
Can you help me with my head
To write again, at least try
To forget what a friend had said
Hoping it was a lie

'Cause someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Someone's in the kitchen ohh
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
The rest you know

Hey banjo 
Guess I got played by you
Got taken in by your tune
And if I never hear five strings again
That would be too soon

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Credits:
Vocals, piano, guitar, banjo, harmonica, accordion - John David Lawson
Photo by Morgan Lane on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/wlY66otjq28

"Hey, Banjo", music and lyrics © 2023 John David Lawson. All rights reserved.

Hey, Banjo

An acoustic version of the 1997 track ‘Always You’ which we recorded as teenagers. You can find that track by looking at my other tracks. 

I can imagine this version on a film or tv show. 

Let me know if you prefer this version or the rockier one.

Always You (Acoustic)

I love to make new songs with smooth organic sounds and vocal harmonies that remind me of favourite bands from the 1970's. If you like Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, America, Neil Young, and Nilsson, you might enjoy this music too.

These songs are fictional vignettes and stories. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

I facilitated worship in congregations for many years, and some songs here were written for that purpose. If you find a one you'd like to use, I would be happy to provide a chart.

The Doughnut Shop That Time Forgot

John David Lawson

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