"The Silver Lining" (#444, 210306)

 * Co-written with Mark Anderson / @mark-anderson-474835928 * 

Half the prayer on earth lives in hospitals and prisons
Guess that's what it takes to get soul to listen
A simple conversation can break your heart in two
Funny how we learn to love what we're just about to lose

Doesn't matter who or why it hurts to say goodbye
But even then it's sometimes been a blessing in disguise
Every season I been seein' more and more examples
Life's for livin' and we ain't given more than we can handle

Like hot and cold like salt and pepper
Oh God sure knows how to weave it all together
I can make a plan but I gotta' trust His timing
And find the silver lining

You know that moment when you wake up from a dream
Ain't awake ain't still sleepin' you're somewhere in between
Damn near twenty years I walked around like that
Couldn't see the forest through the trees the good inside the bad

Like hot and cold like salt and pepper
Oh God sure knows how to weave it all together
I can make a plan but I gotta' trust His timing
And find the silver lining

Movin' on when someone's gone is something you can't measure
Holdin' hands or golden bands nothing lasts forever
Wasn't always pretty but it made me who I am
I think I understand

Week 10a - The Silver Lining (210306)

"Leavin'" (#445, 210309)

 * co-written with Jeffrey Joslin; complete demo performed, recorded, and produced by Jeffrey Joslin; essentially I made a pot of coffee and suggested we write a song, Jeffrey Joslin did everything else * 

Keep my leavin' in the soles of my shoes
In case I got a little leavin' to do, a little leavin’ to do
I leave my boots by the foot of the stairs
In case my leavin' wants to go somewhere, wants to go somewhere

North to south east and west
I keep on leavin' 'til there's nothin' left
Close behind no matter where I go
Seems the leavin' won't leave me alone

Well I got me a job twenty dollars a day
But my leavin' told me I gotta' walk away, gotta’ walk away
The boss man asked me said what's the rush
I was long gone in a cloud of dust, in a cloud of dust

North to south east and west
I keep on leavin' 'til there's nothin' left
Follows me around no matter where I go
Seems like this leavin' won't leave me alone

I try to stay long as I can
But the leavin' always seems to have other plans, have other plans
Ask me where I'm goin' well I don't know
Just a chasin' that leavin' on down the road, on down the road

North to south east and west
I keep on leavin' 'til there's nothin' left
Close behind no matter where I go
Seems like the leavin'
Seems like the leavin’
Seems like the leavin' won't leave me alone

Week 11 - Leavin' (#445, 210312)

Shoes Untied
by Erin Wolf, Laurie & David Easterling © 3/122020 Little Chute, WI and Oak Ridge, TN

Week 10 Prompt: Foundations
*Disclaimer: The following tune is a song about grief and may cause some strong emotional responses in listeners.*

The horizon’s blue
Not a cloud in the sky
I think I see heaven
You’re not by my side
Yesterday you were with me
For life’s wild ride
I stand here alone
Raindrop in my eye

The earth is shaking
My firm foundation
My heart is breaking
I need restoration   
The earth is shaking
My firm foundation
My heart is breaking
I need restoration   

The music plays 
I hear the sound
It doesn’t move me
Like when you were around 
I used to stand
On solid ground  
‘Til shifting sands
Knocked me down

Sitting here for hours with my shoes untied
They keep sayin’ it’ll be alright
But I can’t find any hope tonight 

The earth is shaking
My firm foundation
My heart is breaking
I need restoration   
The earth is shaking
My firm foundation
My heart is breaking
I need...

Shoes Untied

Stephanie told me that all those tattoos 
on her ex-husband's face and his neck were to try to 
protect from attack - there to keep people back
'Til all anyone saw was that armour he wore
It looked kind of fearsome but all that it said was...

Fragile - handle with care
All it said was fragile handle with
all the care that you can muster
Fragile - handle with care - Fragile

Taking a walk trying to clear out my head
When this dog in the park sets to vet me instead
and he's growling and barking and driving me back
Like a dangerous invader set foot on his land
I saw on his collar a sign there that read….

Fragile - handle with care
What it said was fragile handle with
all the care that you can muster
Fragile - handle with care - Fragile

So the next time you notice me snap or I snarl
I want you to know I don't mean to be cruel
It's a side that comes out when I'm 
weak and I'm low on reserves

Then there's the opposite site of this dance
My beautiful victims with sensitive hearts
Cause the people I growl at they tend to be closest
They’re the people I'm wanting to care for the most
Cause maybe the label on everyone's heart says

Fragile - handle with care
What it said was fragile handle with
all the care that you can muster
Fragile - handle with care - Fragile

Fragile

Still a week behind the Song-A-Week 2021 prompts, this is my contribution to the "Foundations" prompt.

Lyrics:
Every second of every day, TMI hits us in every which way
Our senses overloaded about to bust, who and what can we really trust?

It's a culture in motion, rocking the foundations of our notions
Down is up, up is down, change is so fast it's spinning you around
One thing is for sure,
more or less; less would be more

Multitasking at an increasing pace, no time for meeting face to face
Lashing out while hiding behind screen names, nobody is wrong when everyone else is to blame

It's a culture in motion, rocking the foundations of our notions
Nothing adds up, nothing makes sense, no time to meditate or experience
One thing is for sure;  
2 + 2 is no longer 4

It's time to slow down and listen up, shut off all devices and have a cup
in my experience, together with good friends 
is where love is found

This culture of our nation, could become a rock in our foundation
Prioritize your friends, and bring back common sense
Still, one thing is for sure;  
to love our neighbor is what we're here for

Song and image Copyright © Claes Akerblom 2021

Culture In Motion (demo)

WELL MADE WAR SAW 11
AM
IF ONLY We could all see it coming
F
from a long way off
G
Cover up our scars go running
AM
Before the seas get rough
AM
So now that the decks have all been cleared 
F
What are we waiting for
G
heres our chance for justice
AM
in A well made war

AM
a well made war
F
the one we are waiting for
G
the battle cry of armies
Am
offer mercy grace and more
In that well made war
The final call will come
Our sight will be restored
In that well made war

Everybody has a story
The undoing of their life
And seek a place to run and hide take shelter in the night
but none deserve to take revenge 
weve all been there before
we the guilty  now innocent
in this well made war

everybody comes with nothing
and leaves in the same way
battles on the field surrenedered
the medals in the ground decay
fly the white flag raise it hight
for now your hope is sure
you will have the final victory
in the well made war

WELL MADE WAR SAW11

"You Can Have Wichita" (#447, 210322)

 * co-written with David Easterling * 

Half a million people in this town
Why’s it feel so lonely when the lights go down
Hard as I’m tryin’ I’m no good at readin’ minds
But I can read between the lines

Just like every place before
Same old mistakes but this ain’t in Kansas anymore
A last decision in between these city limits
Just outside that door

You can have Wichita guess I’ll keep on lookin’
Gave it all I got to make it work until I couldn’t
Somehow the dirt here seems to hold your memory
You can have Wichita and it’s all Wichita to me

I won’t pretend to understand
The time I spent building castles in the sand
Everywhere it brought me everything it taught me
Well it made me who I am

You can have Wichita guess I’ll keep on lookin’
Gave it all I got to make it work until I couldn’t
Somehow the dirt here seems to hold your memory
You can have Wichita and it’s all Wichita to me

You can have the clovers that rise up when it rains
Tall grass in the back yard those long hot summer days
You can have the porch swing made for autumn evenings
Lonely as the willow tree season after season

Week 12 - You Can Have Wichita (210322)

It's My Time to Shine
                                                
I find the words , then the notes  and magic finds the strings
Catch it quick before it's gone,another one begins
It’s not too late, I’m not too old
I’m digging deep,I’m mining  gold
It’s my  time to shine

I see it in a headline, I read it in a book
I hear it in a movie  and I feel it in a look   
My feet can tap out rhythm, my head can burst with rhyme
And when a song is building , I’m lost inside that  time  

Some arrive in a flash, some take a while
Everyone’s a treasure and each is like my child
Some write for fame & money, some write to hear their voice
Some want to send a message, for me I  have no choice

It's My Time To Shine

The fifth tale of Snow and Cherry

No more Mr. Nice Guy

he's the type they bring home to family dinner
he's the kind they don't know they're looking for
because who wouldn't want to date a winner
just you wait for lines outside his door

dude is so good at bending over backwards
counts the days for his favors to return
he thinks he deserves everything for being nice
but everybody knows nice guys finish last
the only way out is through

no more Mr. Nice Guy
no more Mr. Nice Guy
no more Mr. Nice Guy
no more Mr. Nice Guy

he's so tired of pretending to be simple
there is only so much a man can hide
it's no wonder he can't tell why he's single
all he learned to give is an eye for an eye
the only way out is through

no more Mr. Nice Guy
no more Mr. Nice Guy
no more Mr. Nice Guy
no more Mr. Nice Guy

he thinks he deserves everything for being nice
but everybody knows nice guys finish last
the only way out is through

Tales of Snow and Cherry

No more Mr. Nice Guy

Copyright 2021 Owen Ryan, Milwaukee, WI & Erin Wolf, Little Chute, WI 

Guitar: Owen Ryan
Lyrics/Vocals: Erin Wolf

Week 12 Prompt: We Used to be Strangers

*Note about the song: This is a super special collaboration. Owen is one of my former youth group students from my earliest days in youth ministry and one hell of an incredible person today. He dropped this guitar instrumental on Facebook recently and was super cool in letting me write lyrics & sing along.*

Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh

we used to be strangers
ships passed in the night
searchlight going showing
all the depths in their might

carve a space here
feel this heartbeat of mine
no need to fear
all we have now is 
time

hear your name carry
over the sea
through waters dark and cloudy
calling from the deep

let my voice sing
you to sleep
let it ring
promise you can keep
home

Strangers (with Owen Ryan)

"There's Only One Of You" (#450, 210401)

 * co-written with Jeffrey Joslin & Steven Cade * 

I think of Thomas Edison when I turn out the lights
Compare my life to his even though I know that that ain't right
Ask myself what good I've done as I board a crosstown bus
Thinkin' 'bout miss Rosa Parks and all she did for us

Do you ever wonder at the end of the day
Why will they remember my name?

There's a song that only you can sing
And a dream that only you can dream
There's a story only you can write
With words you carry deep inside
There's seven billion people that's true
But there's only one of you

Aretha she's the queen yeah and Elvis was the king
But once upon a time someone taught 'em both to sing
And years before Neil Armstrong took his steps on the moon
He crawled before he walked across his parents' living room

You might not see yourself up there
But you gotta' start somewhere

When it's tough and you feel like giving up
And you're scared you'll never be enough
When everything beneath the sun
Already seems like it's been done
If you're looking everywhere for something new
Well there's only one of you

And what about the man who came from Galilee
Who made the lame to walk and he caused the blind to see
Marked his words in yellow two lines from John 14
Even you are gonna do greater things than me

There's a song that only you can sing
And a dream that only you can dream
There's a story only you can write
With words you carry deep inside
This world is full of souls
But it's you that makes it whole

When it's tough and you feel like giving up
And you're scared you'll never be enough
When everything beneath the sun
Already seems like it's been done
If you're looking everywhere for something new
Well there's only one of you

Week 14a - There’s Only One Of You (210401)

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 11 - Leavin' (#445, 210312)

JamesTristanRedding