Oh my! How this captures special personal sentiments. The words “This is not the end but...” was ingoing message in your grandfather’s life.  Through many dark challenges, he just kept going; unassuming, resilient, steady, calm, to his strong finish!

That melody of the chords at the start is really good. i instantly want to play along :)

My goodness, I don't think I've ever experienced such an emotionally heavy hitter of collection of SAW songs. Between Kent's song, Dan's song, and now yours, Julia, I am just undone in a powerful way. Y'all have such incredibly powerful lyrics, vocals, and the instruments hit the sweet spot. Beautifully done.

Your voice is amazing. Wonderful songwriting.

This feels very timely, maybe more necessary than we could know. There was a handwritten sign on a kitchen cabinet in my childhood home with Julian's words (all shall be well). I rarely think of that.

Incredible work! I wish I had words to encompass all the innumerable, great things happening musically and poetry-wise!  I lost some people this past year and it reminds me of the reflections related to mourning.

Such depth of feeling... Sunshine and monsters yet not the end🎶❤️👏

Oooh, what a finish - giving me the chills ... those harmonies

There’s nothing like the dark to see the starlight-whah awesome

so moving and beautiful-wow-transcendent- this is a rare and precious gem-so glad I finally got to receive it today.xo

chorus
hit the lights

verse 1
Life is a stage 
Some of us fall off 
again and again and again
Act your age
Trying not to grow up
Again and again and again 

pre Ch
The Curtain goes up and I run a mile 
Far away far out of sight 
Forgetting my lines I freeze every time 
Until I hear them say
CH-Hit the lights 

V2
Life is a stage 
Some of us shine on 
again and again and again
At your age 
Take every moment 
Again and again and again 

The particles swoon inside the room
Caught in a brilliant white
Bathe in its bloom 
The shows not over 
Til you hear them say 
Hit the lights

the shows not over

hit the lights 27 SAW 20

I don't think we're gonna make it
Think the billionaires will take us 
off the precipice
We're sliding off the edge of it
And though I'd love to change it
How's an ant derail a train
I'm insignificant
Or is that what I'm meant to think?
So

No need for conflict now 
cause no-one’s gonna make it
No safer spaces now that 
no-one’s getting out this alive
Stare in your loved ones’ eyes cause  
every moment’s sacred
Squeeze every hand so tight and 
wait while the aPOCalypse arrives
Cause no-one’s getting out of this alive

I don't think we're gonna make it
I’ve been trying not to face it for the longest time
Always at the back of my mind
Bitter is taste
It’s all so pointless, such a waste
It’s so avoidable - 
if human life was just affordable
But

No need for conflict now 
cause no-one’s gonna make it
No safer spaces now that 
no-one’s getting out this alive
Tears in your loved ones’ eyes and 
every moment’s sacred
Squeeze all their hands so tight and 
wait until the after-life arrives
Cause no-one’s getting out of this alive

How could I lead you to this place
Only to leave without a trace 
of hope, without a call to arms?
Baby, I just need you to be strong 
and carry on
Or come despair with me and feel the eerie calm

I don’t think we’re gonna make it,
I think the billionaires will break it
Fuck the future up
For a little more of way too much
So WRONG it's almost funny
Cause the little extra money's insignificant,
to them, 
Still they SNUFF out every chance again

No need for conflict now 
cause no-one’s gonna make it
No safer spaces now that 
no-one’s getting out this alive
Stare in your loved ones’ eyes cause  
every moment’s sacred
Squeeze every hand so tight and 
wait while the apocalypse arrives
Cause no-one’s getting out of here alive

I Dont Think Were Gonna Make It

Copyright 2020
All Rights Reserved

Lyrics & Music: Erin Wolf
Guitar & Vocals: Erin Wolf
Photo credit: Jennifer Groth 
(Photo description: James, Erin, and Ryan back in the day, sometime between '06-'07, ready to rock out at some event we made the music at in Oconomowoc, WI)

james
i know you probably don't remember
how we met in the summer of '03
we met in the woods
in the middle of wisconsin
a far cry from your roots in boston

you didn't say much
lest music was involved
then you jumped right in 
and you evolved
strumming your guitar
or beating the drums
clearly this is what you loved

we were outside
a small town called wautoma
used to be known as webb
now it's called camp lakotah
singing by the campfire
swimming in the lake
that's the story
of how i met james

james
look how far we've come
after all the years and all you've done
you started song-a-week
you welcomed people in
i'm so proud of you
my friend

and to think
we were outside
a small town called wautoma
used to be known as webb
now it's called camp lakotah
singing by the campfire
swimming in the lake
that's the story
of how i met james

we were outside a small town
little place called wautoma
used to be known as webb
now it's called camp lakotah
singing by the campfire
swimming in the lake
that's the story
of how i met james

James

I wrote Departures [https://soundcloud.com/kent-aitken-386794022/departures-song-a-week-2020-week-4] when I was setting up to move; I'm book-ending it with this the day before I head home for the summer. Erin [https://soundcloud.com/erinwolf] was right; I think I have travel on my mind.

*****

When we are tired
And need to lay down
Count time to the tide
Come back to this place

When we are older
Bring me to the water
Set time all aside
Back where I was born

Bring me home, to tie it together
When memory is worn

At the end of the evening
At the end of the warm night
Bright with my brothers
And the families they made

Where our mother is buried
We water the flowers
Somehow they grow
When we're far away

I like to think they need our attention
Even when we only make it home rarely

Bring me home, to tie it together
When memory is worn

With a sigh
For the seasons and lives that pass by

When I am ready
Bring me to the water

The Water - Song a Week 2020, Week 29

Week 29 #songaweek2020. Image is my grandfather holding my daughter.
Some influences in my process of writing this one - 
"Over My Head" by King’s X - https://youtu.be/J2SYPzKzD94 ("music over my head")
"All shall be well" comes from "Showings" by medieval mystic Julian of Norwich
"I Don’t Think We’re Gonna Make It" by Rich Waring - https://soundcloud.com/rich-waring/i-dont-think-were-gonna-make-it
An actual dream I had. 
An actual fight I had.

I was interested in the concept of "the end." There's the cliche doomsayers waving "the end is near" signs; and then there's this sense of transcendence people sometimes experience, "thin places" where the beyond/unknown feels somehow close and comforting. Two of numerous ways we experience our consciousness of mortality.

Would have loved to fill this out a lot more instrumentally, just not time/bandwidth for it this week.

	E			G#m		A
There’s sunshine behind the gray sky
There’s monsters under your bed
there’s visions that blind the mind’s eye
There’s music over your head

A
This is not the end
	F#m			A		  E
But I feel like I can see it from here

I dreamed I saw my grandfather smiling
I felt he held my hand through the haze
I woke to find the blessed sun rising
I spread out my hopes for [in] a new day

This is not the end
But I feel like I can see it from here
This is not the end
But it feels like I just felt it draw near

There’s more between you and me than this fight
There’s love and life [fire and ice] and mystery
There’s nothing like the dark to see the starlight
There’s something about your arms wrapped around me

F#m		    A			      E
all shall be well and all shall be well
All shall be well, all shall be well

This is not the end
But I feel like I can see it from here
This is not the end
But it feels like I just felt it draw near
This is not the end 
But I feel like it keeps singing in my ear

The End

"Longest Road You'll Ever Walk" (#355-375, 200505-200717)

Co-written with Chris Wyatt.

Artwork by "beguima", two sisters and a brother from Barcelona: www.society6.com/guillemvillaro

She swore she would never leave you
But here you are all alone
Nothin' more than a memory
And no strength to carry on

You moved mountains to have her
Damn near 1500 miles
That all crumbled when she left you
In the middle of the night

After seven years together it finally fell apart
Coulda' seen it comin' you weren't listenin' at all
It's a lonely highway from your head to your heart
The longest road you'll ever walk

If you knew that it was over
Could have kissed her one last time
Begged for one more sunrise
Tried to change her mind

Here you are with all the pieces
Scattered all around the room
Trying hard to find a reason
God I hope you find it soon

Lookin' back now it's clear I couldn't tell
Ain't no sense to sit here talkin' to myself
Need to face it I'm losin' my best friend
And I'd do it all again

Week 29a - Longest Road You’ll Ever Walk (200717)

"Don't Threaten Me" (#378, 200719)

Seems like today everything's a competition
From money and careers to huntin' and fishin'
If you're comin' after me I got a warning for you
When my back's against the wall I know exactly what to do

So don't threaten me because I'll kill you with kindness
Tell dad jokes 'til you're laughin', hug you 'til you're cryin'
As soon as you think I'm about to let up
I'll say somethin' sweet and you'll feel like a million bucks

Everybody wants to be a big deal
Top dog big cheese king of the hill
Doesn't seem to last though when we step on each other
So check it out if you come at me you'll see my true colors

Oh don't threaten me man I'll kill you with kindness
Tell dad jokes 'til you're laughin', hug you 'til you're cryin'
As soon as you think I'm about to let up
I'll say somethin' sweet and you'll feel like a million bucks

Here's an idea what if we work together
And rise above the rest in any kinda' weather
Show 'em how it's done they might learn a thing or two
But if not I'm gonna' tell 'em the same thing I told you

Week 30b - Don’t Threaten Me (200719)

"Help Somebody" (#379, 200719)

 * Co-written with Pete & Pat Luboff * 

Ever get a feeling like everything is wrong
Everybody joined the club and you just don't belong
You're cold and lonely on the outside looking in
When it all feels like it's over where do you begin

Help somebody it'll turn your world around
Help somebody get your feet on solid ground
When you're down and out and upside down reach out to someone else
Help somebody and you help yourself
Help somebody and you help yourself

Got a God shaped hole and I can't fix it with food
Can't fill it up with money or drown it in booze
I dreamed someone could love me and make it all okay
Never knew there was a way out 'til I heard somebody say

Help somebody it'll turn your world around
Help somebody get your feet on solid ground
When you're down/out upside/down reach out to someone else
Help somebody and you help yourself
Help somebody and you help yourself

Maybe you think I've got it all together
Don't believe what you think you see
Because we could both get to feelin' better
If you'll help somebody like me

Week 30a - Help Somebody (200724)

Me, I never seem to see
Those creatures creeping up on me
Mostly in reality 
it's just my personality again
What if there are people peeping
That could give me trouble sleeping
And sluggish like a drunk
I’d be more vulnerable to monkeys on my back
But when I see them, I’m free….

Same old monkey, always worrying
Sometimes quietly, sometimes loud,
It's ok, monkey - I will handle it
You can put your burdens down now

If i leave it 
What will happen?
They might think I'm dot dot dot
Think I'd better make it better
Act in time to stop the rot
Unless it’s inside me?

Same old monkey, always worrying
Sometimes quietly, sometimes loud,
It's ok, monkey - I will handle it
You can put your burdens down now

Someday it'll all be over
Someday I won't be this monkey man
But I don't really think that 
someday it will be over - this is who I am 
I will end as I began
Same old same old

Same old monkey, always worrying
Sometimes quietly, sometimes loud,
It's ok, monkey - I will handle it
You can put your burdens down now

Ok Monkey

Seventy boats down from a Yankee gale
Dead like the dream of the age of sail
For a side wheel steamer in a suit of mail
Seven boats down from a Yankee gale

Left a broken fence around the coast
Of timber and beams and bones and hopes
Pick through the teeth and the hands of the host
Now the graveyard recruits its own

Seventy boats down from a Yankee gale
Sowing calm, and courage pales
In the cold night
Growing time, passing by
It's a life

It's living

But it's beginning
To feel like giving in
And the cold wind
Feels comforting
The winter blanket bed
The fire on again
And wait to be dead
Or go swimming


Image credit: http://vre2.upei.ca/cap/node/216

Yankee Gale - Song a Week 2020, Week 31

Words She Heard

Half of folk pop duo Cabin of Love. One-quarter of Americana band The Foragers.

The End

Julia Bloom

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