Welcome to
The end of the world

This is the road to the end
This is the restaurant at the end
This is the end, this is the end, this is the end

If you came in thinking there’d be a movie with the scenes of your life
There’s no theatre, there’s no film, there’s no reel and, baby, there’s no time

And if you came in wondering exactly what you’d find here my friend
Not to spoil the surprise, but at the end there’s just a lot of end

And as long as you’ve been expecting
There’s no reason it should let you down, it’s always been the end it said it’d be

The commercials said the end
The posters said the end
The tickets said admit one to the end

So I don’t know what you figured you would see when you came steaming around the bend

Welcome to
The end of the world

This is the road to the end
This is the restaurant at the end
This is the end, this is the end, this is the end

The End

"Biggest Octopus Ever" (#481, 210710)

Well it's something I thought was pure fiction
Just a ploy to sell tabloids and such
Turns out they got it all perfectly right to the letter

It's been known by several descriptions
Like a monster or creature of dread
It's the biggest ... octopus ... ever

What the books couldn't teach I'm observing
That it's real and lives in the sea
But I don't have to live my life frozen in terror

See it's friendly and that much is certain
After all it's been kind to me
It's the biggest ... octopus ... ever

Well it's wide as the great state of kansas
It's tall as the sky and it's wet
And it lives longer than any human can measure

Yes we can't really quite understand it
All we know is we'll never forget
The biggest ... octopus ... ever

It has eyes the size of the ocean
And a heart that's salty and warm
It's every bit as mysterious as it is clever

I will say it once more in slow motion
So take heed as you have been warned
It's the biggest ... octopus ... ever

Week 28b - Biggest Octopus Ever (210710)

Be The Reason (#484, 210704)

 * Co-written with Chris Gantry * 

How many times I almost quit
Turned my back on life said to hell with it
But somewhere deep inside me
A voice spoke to remind me
How good it's about to get

I didn't wanna' hear that stuff
No I was shut down I couldn't feel no love
But slowly by degrees
A couple things got through to me
Like maybe it's enough

To be the reason someone smiles
Give 'em somethin' to believe in for a little while
Walk beside 'em step by step
God will guide 'em through the rest
He gives the gifts we're just here to help receive 'em
That's our job to be the reason

At first I couldn't put it into words
Like a highway with one too many curves
When you're racin' in the dark
You can blow right past your heart
Sometimes it takes a lotta' nerve

To be the reason someone smiles
Give 'em somethin' to believe in for a little while
Walk beside 'em step by step
God will guide 'em through the rest
He gives the gifts we're just here to help receive 'em
That's our job to be the reason

I walked that walk as if the blind could lead the blind
'Til something opened up my mind
The voice of reason in my ear
My better self right beside me in the mirror

Week 28a - Be The Reason (210704)

In the style of a rebound roll-in-the-hay, this is my first recording after my post-house-move slump. We're all a bit shame-faced about it, but it needed doing.

Based on a couple of quotes from Rumi (which may or may not have required some pumped-up beats), here are the lyrics:
This being human is a guest house
Each morning brings a new arrival

A joy, depression, or a meanness,
Or unexpectedly, a momentary awareness

Welcome every one them
Even crowds of sorrows,
who sweep your out house violently
And strip your things away,
Still, treat each guest honorably,
And entertain each visitor
They may be making space in you
for some new delight

The da-ark thought, the shame, the malice,
MEET them at the door laughing...
Invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
Each one’ s a guide sent from the beyond

Chorus

Today, 
like every other day, 
we wake up empty
and frightened
Don't grab your phone, no
Reach for your guitar

Let the beauty
we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways 
to kneel and kiss the ground.

Guesthouse

"Corner Of The World" (#487, 210723)

Standing at the corner of the world
Finally see how wrong I've been
It ain't round I'm trippin' on the edge
Losin' touch and fallin' in

Arguin' with the corner of world
Dead wrong but what difference does it make
Six sides to every story and I can't see 'em all
There's too much water in the way

Out here at the corner of the world
No one there to reel me in
Ride the waves until the current rose up good
Goin' overboard again

Reachin' for the corner of the world
Like a silent foxhole prayer
Sharp as a razor and colder than the night
Get me outta' there

Facin' down the corner of the world
Like it's my only friend
Speak the words make the moves do it all
If it'll keep me from the end

Week 30 - Corner Of The World (210723)

"What Is And What Could Be" (#488, 210729)

If you're fixed on takin' off that ring
Guess I'll take mine off too
Moving truck it took everything
Everything except the truth

Things are gonna' change for us
Kids will learn my new address
Every other weekend ain't enough
But I'll take what I can get

There's a lesson in the losin' and a grace in each goodbye
Bittersweet like all things human we can't know until we try
Sometimes I don't see it comin' other times it's outta' reach
Ain't we all in search of something between what is and what could be

After all the wishing
The waiting and the walking out
Somehow I quit the chasing
Grabbed hold of here and now

Week 31 - What Is And What Could Be (210729)

Anythings_possible(2).wav

Copyright 2021 Erin Wolf

Week 41 Prompt: Running with Scissors
Artwork: Jonah (age 6)

*Note: Inspired by creepy art & photos from the "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" books by author Alvin Schwarz and illustrator Stephen Gammell. Super short on time this week, so a draft version will hold for now. May or may not "finish" the song down the line. Shall see.*

see the monster crawling over
hill and dale and valley
in the moonlight tonight

feel the air is thickening now
as i hear its breathing growing
stronger somehow tonight

mama always said
don't run with scissors
but i don't know that she ever had
these monsters

mama said 
no running with scissors
but did she have the monsters

i had hoped it was a dream
but then i see those eyes and how they gleam
gazing back at me

like a scary moment frozen
in this time i'm frozen in my stead
oh cuz i know this ain't in my head

and mama said 
don't run with scissors
but did she have 
these monsters

oh mama said
don't be running with scissors
but did she have 
these monsters

oh coming down
i will come back around this time
pass on by and everything
will be just fine

i'll swear on any grave you ask me to
oh monster, demon, whatever the hell you are - 
pass on through

oh i'm standing here with nothing
but my shears to guard me
and i know i can feel its presence
closing in on me

and i know mama said
don't run with scissors
but it ain't in my head
no it ain't 

oh i don't know what i'll do
but if i don't run soon
i'll probably wind up dead

These Monsters (Draft)

Featuring vocals by Rosmy Jimmy

Perfect is the soundtrack of confronting one's own mortality.

(One more proof that vocals can totally make or break a song, check out my version and wonder with me why the heck am I still singing my own songs?) https://soundcloud.com/cristhopper2019/perfect)

*****

Perfect

I can't believe that
it took me all this time to realize
there's no going back
I'm fooling myself
expecting something different from the past
is it too late now?

If the next breath was my last
would I feel content with the way I am?

Life isn't always perfect
true lasting love's not for the faint of heart
how do we know it's worth the price?

Our existence
a miracle the mirror can't deny
and no one gets out alive
the reflection
is someone we can't always recognize
even if we try

If the next breath was my last
would I feel content with the way I am?

Life isn't always perfect
true lasting love's not for the faint of heart
how do we know it's worth the price?

If the next breath was your last
would you feel content? would it all make sense?

Life isn't always perfect
true lasting love's not for the faint of heart
how do we know it's worth the price?

Perfect (Ft. Rosmy Jimmy)

Copyright Erin Wolf 2021

Week 48 Prompt: Tell Me Everything

Secondary self-imposed challenge: Write a song in 1 minute or less (so I did and tried on a more pop-kind of sound, ope)

i remember years ago
the heavens opened up with snow
you were dancing by my side
we didn't have to hide

but now we're sitting all alone
it's cold and dark quite like stone
all the memories in my mind
some are cruel and some are kind

yet i still need to know
just why you had to go

tell me everything right now
all your fears and all your doubts
tell me why they hold you back
why we had to fade to black

did you lose your hopes and dreams
and all the joy love can bring
can you give me one last sign
or a moment of your time
to tell me everything

Tell Me Everything

Just a boy Angus and Julia stone cover

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 28b - Biggest Octopus Ever (210710)

JamesTristanRedding