Mountain Top

Written for R/Songaweek 2025

-Duped-

Listen - and I say this as a friend...
well you've never met a dollar that you couldn't spend
for a salesman slinging threadbare dreams
that come apart at the seams
and every part of me screams

Why can't you see you're being taken in?

Listen - I'm gonna say this once again...
you've never met a tithe you couldn't send
to an online priest
hocking holy tap water for twenty bucks apiece
just save yourself the trouble
a little common sense comes cheap

My God - don't you see you're being taken in?

Duped - short version

Verse 1:
The curtains are drawn but the dust lets sunlight in
There’s a mark on the wall where my height was pencilled in.
Locks turn too easy, the door hinges fall loose,
Like the house is forgetting, just like you're forgetting too.
Pre-chorus:
And I, I, I can hear you speaking
Then you’re gone again
You’re lost again
Again
Chorus:
When the great thaw comes, will you melt away?
Will I find you still, in this hollow space?
The past is frail, as we are now
I daren't ask if you know me now
You know me now
Verse 2:
The drawer sticks shut with papers you chose to save
Now I have to decide what matters when memories fade
I gather letters, but some feel too worn to read
Like secrets you kept that weren’t meant for me.
Bridge:
Your eyes clear for a second, you whisper my name,
Then the frost creeps back, and the moment is erased.


The Great Thaw

Written for R/Songaweek2025

-It's fine-

It's fine,
who cares?

Pull up the ladder, get fatter, it doesn't matter what you're after
we'll find a way to build the stairs

Or ride it out like a roach in a basement alone
with pillows stacked at the door of our fort 
as we report from our parents' homes

I shared a post and the day kept going
I got the water but the fire kept burning
I put my plastic in a plastic bin
I woke up but the guards were sleeping

It's fine, it's fine
when in a bind, repeat the line, repeat the line
and by design, it will take over and erase your mind.

A fish in water is dumb to the stuff
it gets fed, its protected, it forgets that the bowl is not enough

I shared a post and the day kept going
I got the water but the fire kept burning
I put my plastic in a plastic bin
I woke up but the guards were sleeping

It's fine

Verse 1:
I walk the Downs I thought I knew
With chalk dust soft beneath my boots,
That crumbles loose, the path undone, no steps to see it through.
The lane still bends where we once ran,
These paths we knew, now overgrown—
This fleeting ground can’t take me home—this land is now unknown.
Chorus:
Oh fleeting ground, you fade away
Oh fleeting ground, the years won’t wait
I’ll walk these hills while time remains
This fleeting ground shall know my name.
Verse 2:
The church lay wrapped in dust and sleep
Its altar bare, its roof grown weak
And the name I sought lay waiting on a headstone at my feet.
I never came to mourn her loss
I left her here and paid no cost
And fleeting ground won’t grieve for me, as if it ever could.
Verse 3:
I came back home, but home's not here
For no one sings the old songs here,
Just wind that hums forgotten tunes and carries them nowhere.
I cast my tune into the wind
My fingers dance across these strings
But fleeting ground betrays me now, alone - no voice joins in.

Fleeting Ground

Written for r/songaweek 2025

-Sketch in A Phrygian-

Sketch in A phrygian

Words by Christina Rossetti

Verse 1
When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom-filled room.
Why cry for a soul set free?

Chorus (The original verse 2)
Miss me a little – but not too long
And not with your head bowed low.
Remember the love that we once shared,
Miss me – but let me go.

Verse 2
For this is a journey that we all must take
And each must go alone.
It's all a part of the Master's plan,
A step on the road to home.

Verse 3
When you are lonely and sick of heart
Go to the friends we know
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds.
Miss me – but let me go.


Miss Me, But Let Me Go

Verse 1:
Thunder cracks. Your eyes search mine for lies I hide
Each word I speak becomes evidence for your case tonight
Look at me—I wear your anger like a scar
You cut me down, just to pull me back into your arms
Chorus: 
Every time you hurt me it burns like love
Opposites attack
Every time I need you, I push you off
Opposites attack
Verse 2: 
Turn it up. I need you to hear my voice tonight
If you think I said “I love you”, you didn’t read the small print right
Face the truth. Your whispers scream louder than your shouts
We're burning up in our own ice-cold bath of doubts
Bridge and outro:
‘Bout time we were coming up for air
But I fear there's nothing left of us up there
Verse 3:
I breathe you in, though I know it can only choke
Your tender touch leaves bruises underneath my clothes


Opposites Attack

Verse 1:
Like a word half-remembered from some childhood story
Still fading, still fading from all I once knew
Like a face in the mirror that no longer knows me
I am winding, I am winding my way back to you

Verse 2:
Like a tale that was handed down, worn at the edges
Still speaking, still speaking the words they gave me to
Like a plot I was cast in, with no room for questions
I am winding, I am winding my way back to you

Chorus:
I gave away my better self to keep the peace I knew
I borrowed every part of me, afraid of the truth
Like a stream that has forgotten the course it once ran through
I am winding, I am winding my way back to you

Verse 3:
Like a note that still returns when the silence has lifted
Still playing, still playing the tune I once knew
Like a melody that finds it way into my fingers
I am winding, I am winding my way back to you


Like A Stream

Verse 1:
Thought that I was just kissing you,
To pass the time while I was passing through  
Your town – we knew the rules  
Clock strikes twelve, should’ve gone to our own rooms
Chorus:
(And) I’m Feeling so foolish that I would
But I didn’t plan on it being this good 
Loving you, loving you
Feeling so foolish that I would
But I didn’t realise that it could feel so good
Now I’m shifting dreams  - No plan in mind  
‘Cos I forgot the rules
Verse 2: 
Thought that I was just kissing you  
Behind closed doors like we wanted to  
Have no strings attached – no trace of each other  
When I slipped away, and now I wonder… (Why)
Verse 3:
Thought that I was just kissing you  
But now and then I still catch you  
Across a room, or on a screen   
And the way you look, it's clear to me…
Final Chorus:
That you’re feeling so foolish that you would  
And you didn’t plan on it being this good 
Loving me, loving you
Feeling so foolish that we would  
But we didn’t realise that it could feel so good  
Now we’re shifting dreams  - No plan in mind  
‘Cos we forgot the rules


I Forgot The Rules

Verse 1:
You fold your shirts like you’re afraid to break them
Your voice gets caught beneath the hallway light
And I, I, I, I don’t wanna fall asleep with doubt on my mind
So won’t you stay tonight?

Verse 2:
You check your watch like time might not obey you
The windows cloud up, masking your next goodbye 
And I, I, I, I don’t wanna fall asleep with doubt on my mind
So won’t you stay tonight?

Bridge:
You zip the bag that’s always half-unpacked beside the stairs
Too full to take the books you say you’ll read next time you're here
But I don’t wanna wait
And you can’t stay
But this might be the part you don’t forget someday
Stay tonight

Verse 3:
You hang your coat like you might stay forever
The things we fake to make it feel just right
And I, I, I, I don’t wanna fall asleep with doubt on my mind
So won’t you stay tonight
And I, I, I, I just wanna lay beside you, for a while
Stay tonight


Mountain Top

jonathan dunlap

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