"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)

just a beginning of a song this week-

Words through windows 

Now s the time
Now s the chance
We can rewrite history 

the sun 
Still can dance
We can save the world 

Here’s the point
there’s the line
We can take it seriously 
Keep in step
Keep the plan 
And let’s save the world

Words through windows 
Washed in water 
Wait for weather 
Wont renew her

save the world (demo)

"HWC" (#459, 210504)

(aka this-is-what-happens-when-James-loses-his-voice-but-is-still-bound-and-determined-to-write-a-damn-song-every-week)

How can you make a noise
When you don't have a voice
Can anybody hear my thoughts

How will my love be loud
When I can't make a sound
Can you speak for me if I cannot

How do I trust that I
Will fully heal in time
Can you promise this shall pass

However long it takes
We'll trust and we will wait
Can absolutely promise you that

Week 18 - HWC (210504)

I STILL FEEL THE FIRE

Copyright Erin Wolf 2021

Week 18 Prompt: You May Already Be a Winner

take me back 
to the place i was born
take me to
the waters i adore
let me stand in the shallows
and feel the pulse
let me hear crashing waves
and cries of the gulls

take me down
all these city streets
remind me again
of early memories
let me feel 
like a child again
let me reclaim
where life began

all i want is to let go and just breathe in
all i want is to let go and just breathe in

you may already be a winner
they said
but they don't know
i'm trying to forget
you and all the magic
you made me feel
it's why i return
to what is real

all i want is to let go and just breathe in
all i want is to let go and just breathe in
all i want is to let go and just breathe in
all i want is to let go and just breathe in

take me back 
to the place i was born
take me to 
the waters i adore

Take Me Back

I still consider myself new to recording/mixing/DAWing, but that excuse seems weaker as I get into year 2 of regular recording. So trying to deconstruct the process and get better. This week I set out to write a song that wanted layers, including double-tracked vocals which I've never done - and unless I'm doing a distant room mic, probably will incorporate in nearly every project in the future.

*****

When she was done with the souls in Savannah
Headed up the highway to find me
Hair like the gold in California
The devil came up from eastern Georgia

The cracks in the floorboards all led to 
A young man’s soul and a fiddle tune
You can play with the devil when your hands are hot
Johnny’s mighta been but mine were not

I mighta let the devil into my bed
Dark black eyes all dressed in red
Left like smoke from cigarettes
I mighta let the devil into my bed 

It’s not sinking in just yet
Keep on drinking to forget
Left like smoke from cigarettes
I mighta let the devil into my bed

So I’m pouring wine into a hollow
And fixing photos I turned over
Saying a prayer that she’ll forget my number
Hoping that no one answers it

Savannah - Song a Week 2021, Week 18

Copyright Duncan Macgregor & Erin Wolf 2021
Photo 72257285 © Colicaranica | Dreamstime.com

Guitar: Duncan Macgregor (https://soundcloud.com/macsongs_uk)
Mix: Duncan Macgregor
Lyrics & Vocals: Duncan Macgregor & Erin Wolf

Week 20 Prompt: Some People's Kids

why do other people's kids always stand up straight
eat the food off their plate
my kid's army crawling through the lawn 'cause he can't skate

why do other people's kids always walk without delay
keep it moving along the way
my kid only travels by cartwheels everywhere

they're all just kinder chameleons
never doing what they should
well they've come here to play
and there's no escape from 
the kinder chameleons

why are some people's kids so sweet and kind
yet some are less refined
my kid always seems to dance along the line

why are some people's kids quiet and calm
never seems to have a qualm
my kid broke the tension with a glitter bomb

they're all just kinder chameleons
never doing what they should
well they've come here to play
and there's no escape from 
the kinder chameleons

i still want to be your friend
but i don't want to play right now
i'd rather play with your toys

i still want to be your friend 
but i don't want to play right now *gosh*
i'd rather play with your toys

they're all just kinder chameleons
never doing what they should
well they've come here to play
and there's no escape from 
the kinder chameleons

why do other people's kids love to sing in tune
all kinds of great songs to croon
my kid's been singing baby shark in french all afternoon

why are other people's kids quiet and reserved
still, serene, unperturbed
my kid's got a personality the size of saturn

they're all just kinder chameleons
never doing what they should
well they've come here to play
and there's no escape from 
the kinder chameleons

Kinder Chameleons (with Duncan Macgregor)

The seventh tale of Snow and Cherry

Not in my blood

it's early morning
sun rays are coming through my window
my soul is yearning
thoughts in my head spin round in circles

Why'd I keep on falling down
and coming back for more?
it's made me stronger
while trying to kill me all along
but giving up is not in my blood

the still of morning
gives me the courage I've been missing
I'm fooling no one
playing a game I know I can't win

Why instead of losing hope 
I'm coming back for more?
why do I bother?
not even I would claim to know
but giving up is not in my blood

it's early morning
thoughts in my head spin round in circles
I finally noticed
sun rays are coming through my window

Why in spite of feeling down 
I'm coming back for more?
it's made me stronger
bringing some comfort to my soul
but giving up is not in my blood

Giving up is not in my blood

Tales of Snow and Cherry

Not In My Blood

Written with and featuring the mighty Julia Bloom ( https://juliabloom.org/ )

I’ve been dead and born again
More times that I can count 
From smallest to the largest I have grown
The corners turned, the lessons learned 
but only to forget
In the silence of the falling snow

Summers come and summers go
And winters never end
until the spring awakens us from sleep
But ON beyond the coming fall
I'll never rise again
These bones will be the final piece of me

But oh - feel the life rising and I'm new again
Oh - does it really matter how it goes away?

I been dancing skyward 
with the birds and all the bees
Spinning out the quivering strands of life
Weaving sound and colour til they're free to be released
Miracles on miracles in flight

Inside the gene you never see
but feel at every turn
I'm the one who steers you through the dark
I'm the love and longing
That can bring you through the hurt
That makes the meaning pulling at your heart

Oh - feel the life arising and I'm new again
Oh - does it really matter that it goes 

When there’s a love……
I feel a love that lifts me up and lays me down to my rest
I feel a love that lifts me up and lays me down to my rest

Feel the bees that tickle 
as they nibble at your flowers
Knowing how their kisses share your life
Though the birds may wound you 
as they're pecking at your boughs
Only they can spread the seed so wide

Lovers come and lovers go
and wonders never cease
So we travel wide and travel far
Though they fade and fall away
like autumn's changing leaves
love remains and makes us what we are

Oh - feel the life arising and I'm new again
Oh - does it really matter how it goes away?

New Again (with Julia Bloom)

Copyright Erin Wolf & Julia Tindall Bloom 2021
Image by Gentle07 from Pixabay 
Sound effects/loops from BandLab

Julia Tindall Bloom: https://soundcloud.com/julia-tindall-bloom & https://juliabloom.org
Cabin of Love: https://soundcloud.com/cabin-of-love

--

see the blood moon rising
on the horizon
shivers on your skin

the dust has settled now
we've no place to call home
living in

this empty house
we used to call our own
abandoned and forlorn

nowhere left to run
from you
or anyone

i bid you farewell
and pack my things
time to go

pictures wrapped in paper
fastened tight with
thickened twine

and i remember
that cold december
when you were mine

so long ago
or so it seems
another life

time for goodbye
time for goodbye
time for goodbye
time for...

my heart is breaking
with the sting
of your lies

i thought i knew you better
than i did
after all this time

these walls have seen my tears
and heard my cries
in the night

the cold and empty sheets
left behind
bare in the moonlight

time for goodbye
time for goodbye
time for goodbye
time for...

Thickened Twine (feat. Julia Tindall Bloom)

Time
Oh the passing of time
Carving memories soft and smooth 
Time like a River that winds
Gently see its journey through 

And I can see you waving back at me
Diving under foam and ocean spray
I can hear you calling out to me 
Oh time take me there today 

Time
Oh the passing of time
Sealing over hurt and pain 
Time planted seeds in my mind 
And I feed on those old days 

Time 
Oh the passing of time 
Never fades my love for you 
Time like a cord or a vine 
I am connected back to you

the passing of time SAW wk23

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 18 - HWC (210504)

JamesTristanRedding