A week late with a song for the SAW2021 "You Could Turn Back,
But Why Would You Want To" prompt, due to a week and a half on vacation. 
Tried getting started writing the lyrics on the plane to my destination, when the pilot announced that the navigation system was not working (this was before take off, luckily). So, from the word "navigation" came the initial idea to the song.
Many, many thanks to Erin Wolf for adding her beautiful voice to the chorus!


The shell brakes open, a beak poking out
A few more tries, and soon a chick stumbles about
Hungry and cold he starts to wail
Then his mamma brings him food every 5 minutes without fail

He eats and he grows, soon weeks have flown by
The nest is getting smaller, is it time to fly?
His wings not yet strong enough, and his legs not very steady
He sings about the day when he’ll be ready

Chorus:
I’m gonna fly - Across the sky
Navigate the air, as if no one else is there
Soar high - As a kite
On my maiden voyage flight

The day arrives when he spreads his wings and flies
Like in his song, he takes to the skies
This is surely freedom at its best
Why would he ever want to go back to the nest?

High above an eagle eye has locked in on its prey
And in a flash the end is here to the maiden voyage day
Trapped in talons, freedom gone, along with his last breath
His spirit leaves, singing, victorious over death

Chorus


Song and image Copyright © Claes Akerblom 2021

Maiden Voyage

SORROW ON THE ROCKS
Lyrics and Music By
JR Greely Copyright:2025


The screen door is hanging off the hinges,
The roof has been leaking when it rains,
This house is colder than it once was,
I can feel chilly wind thru the panes.

Our trinkets and treasures are memories,
Collecting cobwebs and dust on a shelf,
All the music I hear is haunting,
Oh how life has changed here by myself.

Chorus
The ice cubes in my drink are crackling,
From the 90 proof teardrops I’ve cried,
Down by the river where we married,
You’ll find my sorrow on the rocks.

The perfume you wore no longer lingers,
Our picture hangs crooked on the wall,
The paint is now cracked and blistered,
I long to hear your footsteps in the hall.

The memories made in these empty rooms,
Whispers of laughter now a distant sound,
Every shadow dances in the twilight,
And I’m lost in the silence that’s all around.

Chorus
The ice cubes in my drink are crackling,
From the 90 proof teardrops I’ve cried,
Down by the river where we married,
You’ll find my sorrow on the rocks.

Bridge
The snow is falling on our roses,
The tulips ain’t blooming red and blue,
The songbirds ain’t singing in the treetops,
It’s been sorrow on the rocks without you.

Chorus
The ice cubes in my drink are crackling,
From the 90 proof teardrops I’ve cried,
Down by the river where we married,
You’ll find my sorrow on the rocks.

TAG
Down by the river where your buried
I close my eyes, I can still see your smile
Down by the river where we married
you'll find my sorrow on the rocks.



Sorrow On The Rocks

Baby (Country Cover)- Justin Bieber

Happiness and Sobriety 

We’re all here to plainly see 
Para nuevo amanacer 
With a new sunrise comes a new day 
And with a new victor comes a new horse 
For us to travel on our way 
To see sights unseen 
Para un nuevo comienzo 
Que no sean vistos 
Unseen thing come with happiness
And with love and peace 

Problems are over when you’re sober 
Even if they seem harder to solve 
Problems will come and go 
Cuando se disuelven las cosas que resuelvan 
To end it we can all move on and on and on 

 





Happiness and Sobriety 10-21-25 D

"What Else You Got" (#438, 210218)

 * Co-written with Dan Rivers * 

Packed it all up in a rental van
Guitar a girl and a half assed plan
Heard that it's a 10 year town
Better start makin' the rounds

Fifty cold calls 'til they let me in
Tiny office and a guy named Slim
Thought my first song had a pretty good shot
Then he said, "what else ya' got"

I got mouths to feed I got bills to pay
A dog and a wife and an H.O.A.
I got high blood pressure one bad knee
And a Volvo leakin' antifreeze
To top it all off one verse and Slim said stop 
What else you got 

Hot take from my Uber driver
What I needed was a great co-writer
Said he was Tim McGraw's third cousin
Hell he'd written almost a dozen

We wrote a track just right for Garth
Got as far as the driveway guards
Sang it through the intercom
A voice came back, "what else you got"

I got outta' state plates and two flat tires
And a radio tuned with needle nose pliers
I got bootleg cable and uh, Obamacare
And holes in all my underwear
Dann Huff told me son you're really good, NOT
What else ya' got

I got to thinkin' how hard could it be
To start a publishin' company
Get the writers all lined up around the block
Just so I can tell 'em what else ya' got

I got smoker's cough I got whiskey shits
And a mother in law that just won't quit
I got plumber's crack I got athlete's foot
And I'm still a long way from Brentwood
There goes the mansion, the Rolex and the yacht
What else ya' got

Look out Music Row I'm comin' in hot
What else ya' got

Week 08a - What Else You Got (210218)

"(You Could Turn Back But) Why Would You Want To" (#442, 210226)

 * co-written with Rob Lannan * 

Morning air smells like your perfume
Layin' sleepless in my bedroom
Day is fadin' to a full moon
Feels like a perfect time to lose you

From Hawaii to the bayou
We ain't shinin' like the stars do
Spark is burnin' out between me and you
Gone as midnight in the afternoon

Won't forget these moments with you
But what's been done baby we can't undo
Open up the goodbye door and walk on through
You could turn back but why would you want to

Drew my smile on like a cartoon
We can't change who we turn into
Engine all but runnin' on fumes
Close as hand grenades and horseshoes

Won't forget these moments with you
But what's been done baby we can't undo
Open up the goodbye door and walk through
You could turn back but why would you want to

We gave up there's no shame
Can't light a candle in the pourin' rain
I'm just gonna' say it I think we always knew
Someone had to walk away it might as well be you

[ image credit: "freepik", which I assume is just a ... pik? That is free? See link below, or I mean, don't, w/e ]

www.freepik.com/free-photo/close-up-candle-rain_2231309.htm

Week 09 - (You Could Turn Back But) Why Would You Want To (210226)

Photo from https://www.piqsels.com/en/public-domain-photo-jbapq/download under CC0 https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/.

You Could Turn Back, But Why Would You Want To - Song a Week 2021, Week 9

Copyright Erin Wolf 2021
Instruments featured: Concert Ukelele, Guitar, Mandolin
Video (from "The Songs We Write" showcase): https://youtu.be/8fEsTn8kFik

Week 9 Prompt: You could turn back, but why would you want to?

meet me at the willow tree
where i'll give my love to thee
true to you i'll always be
together 'neath the willow tree

oh my dear
can you hear
our time is near
step out together - no fear

down by the crackling fire
i lay myself down on the wire
no matter what will transpire
here beside the crackling fire

oh my dear
can you hear
our time is near
step out together - no fear

you could turn back but why would you want to
when you know this love is true
side-by-side we'll see it through
you could turn back but why would you want to

oh my dear
can you hear
our time is near
step out together - no fear

meet me at the willow tree
where i'll give my love to thee
true to you i'll always be
together 'neath the willow tree

The Willow Tree

I wrote this when I was living in London England about my mood at the time. 
Recorded with producer Mark Keefner in LA years later.
The late Jimmy Griffin from the group Bread was a big fan of this song!

ROOM TO BREATHE

SOMEBODY'S BABY

"Fountains Foundations & Frontiers" (#443, 210305)

Concrete in the mixer spinning round and round
Two by fours in ditches dug into the ground
Sweat rolls down the faces squinting in the sun
At what they created in a cloud of dust

Sculpture in the center posing with a dove
Shaded by the shelter of cirrus clouds above 
Fishes in the water frozen as the sky
Waiting on the winter underneath the ice

Modern man must imitate the screen 
Even if we don't know what it means
On the edge we stare at the abyss
And wonder who made this

Somewhere in the desert where there they built no road
Is my buried treasure that's where I will go
Leave behind this palace let this place decay
Find myself a cabin dream the days away

Week 10b - Fountains Foundations & Frontiers (210305)

https://www.heligan.com/explore/estate/woodland

There is a living statue in Cornwall in the Lost Gardens of Heligan. She sleeps and changes with the seasons

Sleep, Sleep, Sleep

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 09 - (You Could Turn Back But) Why Would You Want To (210226)

JamesTristanRedding