I wrote this song in the month of November one year during the mid-1990's.  It was inspired by a touching story a friend told me about how the seagulls he saw after being diagnosed with brain cancer (which later went into remission) made a deep impression on him regarding the preciousness of life.  I then connected the story to a reflection of my own life's course to that point, hence the reference to "the streets of London" and "the fields of Hixson," which a are meaningful places I had been in growing up.  The song is sung here as a duet with Unita Akins.


Seagulls of November
Music and Lyrics by James McNair Ramsey

Throughout your life of discontent you vainly searched for love
Not knowing that your innocence fit you like a glove
And you’ve lived your life so heedlessly like a man without a care
And now your love is on the rocks and you’re an angel in despair

Off the beaten track I hear you calling in the night
And the leaves of autumn they no longer share my plight
And I know the moment of my freedom is in sight
For I’ve seen the seagulls of November taking flight

I heard it in a movie once that love could not be found
They say you rose before the dawn then left without a sound
And then I turned to face myself and you were standing there
The road before me opens up and now I see you everywhere

Off the beaten track I hear you calling in the night
And the streets of London they no longer share my plight
And I know the moment of my freedom is in sight
For I’ve seen the seagulls of November taking flight

Don’t you know you taught me how not to worry about love
And now I find life’s not quite what I had thought it was
And were I to be your guardian with but one truth to impart
I’d remind you of the beauty that remains your highest art

You are all I ever want and you’re all I ever need
You’re the one girl that I know that I will never leave
I’d leave you if I thought I could but where am I to go
Tonight my being keeps me here but why I’ll never know

Off the beaten track I hear you calling in the night
And the fields of Hixson they no longer share my plight
And I know the moment of my freedom is in sight
For I’ve seen the seagulls of November taking flight

Copyright ℗ © 2012 Jim Ramsey


Lead Vocals – Jim Ramsey

Keyboards and Yamaha Wind Controller -- Joseph Akins

Backup vocals:  Unita Akins

Acoustic guitar:  Ed Holub


Produced and Arranged by Joseph Akins

Recording Engineer – Fred Schendel

Production Assistant – Steve Babb

Recorded and Mastered at Sound Resource, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Seagulls of November

"Concord to Paris" is the first track on my album, "On the Dying Breath of Wisdom," which was completed in 2000, but just released in March, 2012.  It features Ed Holub on electric guitar, and is the only track on the album other than "Seagulls of November" that uses another instrument other than keyboards or the Yamaha wind controller.  

The lyrics come from the perspective of a diplomat who is on his way to a hastily arranged Paris conference following the accidental launch of two American nuclear missiles which have destroyed the Soviet cities of Leningrad and Kiev.  The diplomat has been authorized by the President to offer the Soviet Union's leadership a chance to destroy two comparably-sized American cities as retribution for the destruction inflicted on the Soviet Union, in an attempt to avoid all-out nuclear war.  

The bridge ("And when your time has come, Terra....") is an allusion to the response of extraterrestrial beings from more advanced civilizations who have been watching the unfolding of the Earth's history for eons, and wondering if Earth will be capable of safely negotiating the nuclear threshold.  The song was written in mid-1980's, toward the end of the Cold War, but continues to serve as reminder to humankind of the fragility of life on our planet, and of the grave responsibility that each of us have to strive to live in harmony with others if humanity is to attain its highest destiny.


Concord to Paris
Music and Lyrics by James McNair Ramsey

My wife and friends and family are waiting in Detroit
To hear what news my trip will bring, and the turns that I’ll exploit
But a diplomat is limited by the powers far above
And the only thing that can save us now is a renaissance of love

I’m on the Concord to Paris
Yet I don’t know if or when I’ll be coming home
I have partaken of the chalice
As I run to meet the feast of the great unknown

Strikes were made this morning at eight-o-nine a.m.
Now Leningrad exists no more, and neither does Kiev
The unthinkable has happened as the seconds tick away
And Terra, don’t you ever stop to see the light of day

I’m on the Concord to Paris
Yet I don’t know if or when I’ll be coming home
I have partaken of the chalice
As I run to meet the feast of the great unknown

And when your time has come (Terra)
Will you know the meaning of your life?
Will you have a notion of your fame?
Will you be the Master of the Game?

I’m on the Concord to Paris
Yet I don’t know if or when I’ll be coming home
I have partaken of the chalice
As I run to meet the feast of the great unknown

Copyright ℗ © 2012 Jim Ramsey



Lead Vocals – Jim Ramsey

Keyboards -- Joseph Akins

Electric guitar -- Ed Holub


Recording Engineer – Fred Schendel

Production Assistant – Steve Babb

Recorded and Mastered at Sound Resource, Chattanooga, Tennessee


Concord to Paris (FREE DOWNLOAD)

"Perfect Stranger" is the third song on the album.  Composed around 1985, it is perhaps the earliest (and most pop-oriented) one of the collection.  The lyrics expresse my thoughts as I took a walk down the street in my neighborhood one evening, watching all the cars go by and wondering if any of them contained my true love; as well as how I felt it was fated that we will somehow meet her one day, no matter where she might be.



Perfect Stranger
Music and Lyrics by James McNair Ramsey

Walkin’ down this lonely street, the cars they pass me by
And somewhere deep inside of me I ask the reason why
For if it’s true that love is real then love should find a way
To penetrate this emptiness, end my rainy day

For I’ve been far too long without your love, without your harmony
Far too long without the things that mean so much to me
Were I to find the passageway I’d meet you over there
Come on, Baby, talk to me, show me that you care

Perfect stranger, come into my life
Show me where your heart lies so deep within the night
Perfect stranger, do not hesitate
Introduce yourself to me, please don’t make me wait

For I’ve been striving against my desperation, praying against the wind
Hoping against my only hope I’d find you in the end
The stage is set, the way is clear, the lines are being drawn
The cycle comes full circle; it goes on and on and on

Perfect stranger, come into my life
Show me where your heart lies so deep within the night
Perfect stranger, do not hesitate
Introduce yourself to me, please don’t make me wait

Copyright ℗ © 2012 Jim  Ramsey


Lead Vocals – Jim Ramsey

Keyboards -- Joseph Akins


Produced and Arranged by Joseph Akins

Recording Engineer – Fred Schendel

Production Assistant – Steve Babb

Recorded and Mastered at Sound Resource, Chattanooga, Tennessee


Perfect Stranger

"Catalonia" is the fourth track on the album.  Written in the mid-1980's--and one of the earlier songs of the set--It starts out as a very folksy-sounding (cow bell, fiddle, and all!) ballad, then transitioning to a harder rock sound on the bridge and coda.  Lyric-wise, it tells expresses my disappointment in earthly love versus the heavenly spirit of music, which I personalized as my true love.


Catalonia
Music and Lyrics by James McNair Ramsey

Say goodbye to Catalonia
She’s a star, a star upon the sea
First she’ll tell you that she’ll phone ya
Then she leaves you here to bleed

But I am here in Catalonia
Where I am far beyond the dream
All alone in Catalonia
But I am free, yes I am free

Harmony, Harmony
You’re more of a woman than a woman can be
Destiny, Destiny
The more you speak the more I see

I am going through the emotions
Of a man so deep in love
Who has conquered his emotions
And returned to find his love

And you’re the light; you’re the night upon my horizon
You’re the calm; you’re the psalm upon my sea
And we shall spearhead the invasion 
Into the heart of Germany

Harmony, Harmony
You’re more of a woman than a woman can be
Destiny, Destiny
The more you speak the more I see

Harmony, Harmony
You’re more of a woman than a woman can be
Destiny, Destiny
The more you speak the more I see

Destiny, Destiny, I love you
Destiny, Destiny, I love you
Destiny, I’m in love with you
But tell me what a man’s to do
When he finds his love’s but a residue 
That is taken by the tide.

Destiny, Destiny, I love you
Destiny, Destiny, I love you
Destiny, I’m in love with you
But tell me what a man’s to do
When he finds his love’s but a residue 
That is taken by the tide.
When he finds his love’s but a residue
That is taken by the tide

Copyright ℗ © 2012 Jim Ramsey


Lead Vocals – Jim Ramsey

Keyboards -- Joseph Akins


Produced and Arranged by Joseph Akins

Recording Engineer – Fred Schendel

Production Assistant – Steve Babb

Recorded and Mastered at Sound Resource, Chattanooga, Tennessee



Catalonia

Your Love Shall Light My Way
Music and Lyrics by James McNair Ramsey

You’re the end of my road
You’re the answer my heart’s been searching for
And you’ve lightened my load
I have knocked and you’ve opened every door
And you’ve brightened my day by the power of your mercy and grace
In the karma that you burn
You’re the light of my return

You’re the light of my life
You’re the spirit of love who’s captured me
Like an eagle in flight
I’m as free and content as a man can be
And I don’t even care what this night or the morning shall bring
Just as long as when it comes 
It’s your arms I’ll die within

Drive on ancient warrior
You’re a light on every shore
And I’ve finally come to a place where love no longer can ignore
You’re my light, my savior bright
You’re a vision to behold
And don’t you know that you’re love is just
The greatest gift I’ve ever known
Drive on ancient warrior
I shall not be afraid
And when the daylight turns to dusk
Your love shall light my way


And I’m out of the game
For the light of your truth has set me free
And neither fortune or fame
Can prevent me from seeing that I’ve seen
And I’ll love you tonight and delight in the rest of my days
Just to find that in your love
Reigns the freedom of a dove

Drive on ancient warrior
You’re a light on every shore
And I’ve finally come to a place where love no longer can ignore
You’re my light, my savior bright
You’re a vision to behold
And don’t you know that you’re love is just
The greatest gift I know
Drive on ancient warrior
I shall not be afraid
And when the daylight turns to dusk
Your love shall light my way

Copyright ℗ © 2012 Jim Ramsey


Lead Vocals – Jim Ramsey

Keyboards -- Joseph Akins


Produced and Arranged by Joseph Akins

Recording Engineer – Fred Schendel

Production Assistant – Steve Babb

Recorded and Mastered at Sound Resource, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Your Love Shall Light My Way

A Line to Loving You
Music and Lyrics by James McNair Ramsey

Just when everything within my life seemed so determined
You came into my life just like a dream
And don’t you know it’s true, my love, your heart speaks like a sermon
Of a priest whose found his God is everything

Tell me where love and life lead
And tell me what pain you’re going through
And what are the answers to those questions of our past?
What of the strength to see us through?

And deep within my soul there lay a yearning unrequited
An eternal light we deign to call the truth
It takes me to the promised land of a movement undivided
And returns me to the shadow of my youth

Tell me where love and life lead
And tell me what pain you’re going through
And what are the answers to those questions of our past?
What of the strength to see us through?

And don’t you know that I’d love to get to know you
But letting go’s the hardest thing to do
And it breaks my heart to know I’ll never find you again
Yet your heart remains a line to loving you

And now my life’s become a kind of reverential journey
Whence to die amidst the snowflakes of the past
Never to alight upon this beauty I’ve been learnin’
Has been lost within the shadows that I’ve cast

Tell me where love and life lead
And tell me what pain you’re going through
And what are the answers to those questions of our past?
What of the strength to see us through?
That strength is me and you

Copyright ℗ © 2012 Jim Ramsey



Lead Vocals – Jim Ramsey

Keyboards -- Joseph Akins


Produced and Arranged by Joseph Akins

Recording Engineer – Fred Schendel

Production Assistant – Steve Babb

Recorded and Mastered at Sound Resource, Chattanooga, Tennessee


A Line to Loving You

Captive of the Light
Music and Lyrics by Jim Ramsey

You made it through you final test though the night was hard and long
Your eyes are purist poetry and your lips as sweet as song
You fought across the raging sea to find your way back home
And now your life if the brightest light in the victory of love

So much you’ve had to struggle through, the pain you’ve had to face
The cards were stacked against the chance of your ever giving chase
But patiently you bore your trials and each bar you overcame
A lighthouse shone on the distant sea as you set sail in the rain

And I love you dear, yet I can’t deny my destiny
It’s far beyond my power to conceive
Yet it won’t be long till you’re standing right here next to me
Willingly a captive of the light

Your art stands as a testament to the freedom of your soul
No wind could ever turn you back and no torrent break your hull
Within the Tao of everything my respect for you has grown
And every song that I’ll ever sing shall be to let you know

That I love you dear, yet I can’t deny my destiny
It’s far beyond my power to conceive
Yet it won’t be long till you’re standing right here next to me
Willingly a captive of the light
Captive of the light
Captive of the light
Captive of the light
Captive of the light

Copyright ℗ © 2012 Jim Ramsey


Lead Vocals – Jim Ramsey

Keyboards -- Joseph Akins

Backup vocals:  Unita Akins


Produced and Arranged by Joseph Akins

Recording Engineer – Fred Schendel

Production Assistant – Steve Babb

Recorded and Mastered at Sound Resource, Chattanooga, Tennessee



Captive of the Light

Fatal Summer
Music and Lyrics by Jim Ramsey

You’ve become as the arbor vine, as a dance upon the sea
You’ve become as a light defined by day
And this love that you’ve issued forth is waiting there is waiting there for me
Taking us back to the place we longed to be

Because we love each other, life has taken on a salient explanation of the past
Because we love each other, love’s become my only lover
And this might prove to have been my fatal summer
My fatal summer

Looking down on the landing lights at the missile sights of Rome
Don’t you know that for some things never change?
Yet if we could hold the tide against the loss of hope
We could be there at the break of a brand new day

Because we love each other, life has taken on a salient explanation of the past
Because we love each other, love’s become my only lover
And this might prove to have been my fatal summer
My fatal summer

In a world of endless compromise that undermines the will
Thelema you’re my last resort as I move upon the hill
And I don’t know where I’m going to and I don’t know where I’ve been
But I know it’s not within myself to refuse this chance to sing

Because we love each other, life has taken on a salient explanation of the past
Because we love each other, love’s become my only lover
And this might prove to have been my fatal summer
My fatal summer

Copyright ℗ © 2012 Jim Ramsey


Lead Vocals – Jim Ramsey

Keyboards -- Joseph Akins


Produced and Arranged by Joseph Akins

Recording Engineer – Fred Schendel

Production Assistant – Steve Babb

Recorded and Mastered at Sound Resource, Chattanooga, Tennessee



Fatal Summer

Down the Road
Music and Lyrics by Jim Ramsey

Cast my ashes to quarry, Babe, at Greenway-Spangler Farm
In the waters filled with diamonds here, the place where I belong
For you’re the candle in my darkest night and you’re the river running strong
You’re the place my heart takes refuge in, I’ll be here forever more

Down the road we have traveled to the coming of the dawn
Though we proceed as thought we know just who we are
And in the fire of the moment can it be that we are lost?
Is it too late to ever to change the road we’re on?

The last words of the Buddha were, “Be a light unto yourself”
For he knew that true awakening would be our only wealth
And he knew that love would find a way to make our vision clear
Oh, Greenway-Spangler Farm tonight I shall be forever near

Down the road we have traveled to the coming of the dawn
Though we proceed as though we know just who we are
And in the fire of the moment can it be that we are lost?
Is it too late to ever to change the road we’re on?

Wherever love alights you’ll find your way
The truth is here to set us free
And though the world evolves in its own time
I’ll trust your light to carry me

Down the road we have traveled to the coming of the dawn
Though we proceed as thought we know just who we are
And in the fire of the moment can it be that we are lost?
Is it too late to ever to change the road we’re on?
Is it too late to ever to change the road we’re on?
Is it too late to ever to change the road we’re on?

Copyright ℗ © 2012 Jim Ramsey


Lead Vocals – Jim Ramsey

Keyboards -- Joseph Akins

Backup vocals:  Unita Akins


Produced and Arranged by Joseph Akins

Recording Engineer – Fred Schendel

Production Assistant – Steve Babb

Recorded and Mastered at Sound Resource, Chattanooga, Tennessee



Down the Road

In the Midst of Fall
Music and Lyrics by Jim Ramsey

And as a child I turned my face against the North Atlantic wind
And stood upon the Sussex coast and swore I’d find you in the end
And it was nineteen-sixty-nine; a war was raging in the East
And in a moment I’d be gone to find my way and make my peace

And in the midst of Fall you have cast your shadows everywhere
Till even now I can’t remember when there was a time that you would not be there
And you and I have just begun to fly away and meet the golden dawn
And we shall always be defined by the element of time

And as we move into the night, no longer bounded by the things we’ve done
The truth no longer gives us flight as through these ancient fields we run
And as a man I’ve come to know but one small thing about this life we live
When in the end all’s said and done, our love is all we have to give

And in the midst of Fall you have cast your shadows everywhere
Till even now I can’t remember when there was a time that you would not be there
And you and I have just begun to fly away and meet the golden dawn
And we shall always be defined by the element of time
No, we shan’t always be defined by the blood and by the wine.

Copyright ℗ © 2012 Jim Ramsey


Lead Vocals – Jim Ramsey

Keyboards -- Joseph Akins


Produced and Arranged by Joseph Akins

Recording Engineer – Fred Schendel

Production Assistant – Steve Babb

Recorded and Mastered at Sound Resource, Chattanooga, Tennessee

In the Midst of Fall

Krissy Ramsey is a Chattanooga. Tennessee-based singer/songwriter whose romantic, Celtic-tinged folk rock blends British progressive influences (Al Stewart, Strawbs, Sandy Denny, Renaissance, Alan Parsons Project) with a dash of Scenic City soul. As a native Chattanoogan, her songs chronicle life in the South, extending the Appalachian folk music tradition into the 21st century. Inspired by the beauty of the Tennessee Valley and infused with mystic imagery and social commentary, Krissy's art expresses the quintessence of her experience in the universal meeting place between spirit and the flesh. 
 
Krissy's visionary album, On the Dying Breath of Wisdom, was released in 2012. The music combines introspective lyrics, soulful melodies, and lush keyboards with a mix of folk, rock, and classical elements reminiscent of the British art rock of the 1970’s. Its ten songs comprise a musical portrait of Jim's spiritual evolution as reflected in his relationships and the historical events of the time, and offers the timeless message that humankind has the power to realize its highest destiny by transcending age-old divisions and embracing the unity of all life.

Krissy was born in New Jersey in 1961 to a career Air Force father and a British mother. She lived in Ohio, England, and Florida before his family settled in Chattanooga when she was 12. He developed an early love of music listening to Top 40 AM radio and her parents' record collection. Krissy received formal training in junior high school band, where Krissy played French horn, trumpet, and bass clarinet. It was during this time that she wrote his first songs, a passion that was further fueled by her discovery of British progressive rock and then playing electric piano in a garage band. 

After graduating from high school in 1979, Krissy enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he contributed to the reactivation of the 2nd Chemical Battalion at Fort Hood, Texas. Returning to Chattanooga following her discharge 1982, Krissy taught herself to play the guitar and spent the rest of the decade honing his songwriting skills and promoting his music. Her songwriting from its inception was intimately entwined with his spiritual search, which led her from Buddhism to Catholicism, culminating in a two-month stay in a Trappist monastery in 1987, where she almost made the decision to become a monk. Instead, however, Krissy had a daughter, started playing as a solo acoustic artist in small local venues, and returned to school in 1992, graduating with a Master’s degree in Counseling in 1996 from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

After beginning her counseling career, Krissy began working on her album, "On the Dying Breath of Wisdom," in 1997, which was completed in May, 2000. The increasing demands of his new career at that time, however, forced Krissy to put her music pursuits on hold until 2007 when she was forced out of her field with the worsening economy.

While Krissy continued to write new music, the onset of the Great Recession initiated a four-year crisis, during which time she found himself constantly on the verge of homelessness. Having survived that ordeal, Krissy returned to UTC in 2011 to pursue further graduate studies in school psychology, and she was finally able to release his album (in digital format) in 2012.

As an ordained minister, Krissy was called to start an interfaith ministry, Crossvine Church, in 2013, through which she continues to provide ceremony officiant and pastoral counseling services. While Krissy's songs are not overtly, because her songwriting emanates directly from her soul and has always been integral to his spirituality, she consider it "sacred music," and therefore includes it as part of her ministry.

Krissy is back and better than ever with 15 years' worth of new material to share. She is currently seeking regional solo acoustic gigs, preparing to record his second album, and is open to creative collaborations with like-minded artists.