The Secret Garden

Copyright Erin Wolf 2023
DADGAD tuning

Photo (my own): Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park about 10 miles outside Townsend, TN - Dec. 30, 2023

*a feeble attempt at a Christmasy song that's not overtly Christmasy... not sure that I quite managed it at all, though still fun to write in DADGAD again!*

come down from the mountainside
come down from the heavens high
come down to the valley deep & wide
come down from the perch in the sky

come out from the hole you're in
come out from the waters, waves, and
come out from the burrow in the ground
come out from behind the shade & veil

let all creation cry out 
raise a resounding shout

rejoice! redemption's here
rejoice! have no fear
Your kingdom come
Your will be done

rejoice! high and low
rejoice! far & wide
rejoice! again we say, rejoice!

rejoice! rejoice! rejoice!
rejoice! high & low
rejoice! far & wide
rejoice! again we say, rejoice!

let creation cry out
raise our resounding shout

Come Down, Come Out (Rejoice!)

Copyright Erin Wolf 2023
DADGAD tuning

Photo (my own): Sunset on Mission Lake at Waypost Camp, Hatley, WI - June 11, 2023

*song note: I don't really do resolutions, and I'm not picking them up via this song. Rather, it's a way of processing a lot of things from 2023 while also taking both literal & metaphorical breaths before plunging face-first into 2024. Guessing I'm not alone in that sense.*

here we stand at the end of the line
once again
as the clock ticks forward
its time

to let go of the end
of the old time
and welcome 
the new one in

we are called to stay the course
to somehow hold in the balance
everything all at once
and nothing at all

it's all so confusing
yet still straightforward and simple, really
are we just overthinking
am i just overthinking tonight

tonight

do we sing auld lang syne or do we 
sing our laments, sing our painful cry
do we sing the two, together
interwoven, intertwined

because grief and love
grief and love 
joy and pain
co-exist at the same time

at the same time

as we look back and reflect
as i look back and reflect
on the roof
on the strength, courage, & wisdom 

it came at 
far too high a cost
but i still give thanks
for i still have

i still have breath left in my lungs
and i still have my voice
and i still can carry on 
for you and your boys

and i will keep going
ever reaching
ever getting closer still
to justice on the

just beyond the hill
yeah
just beyond 
that hill

Resolute

My, these days just go by fast
(Mark I Anderson)

For my next birthday / I’ll be sixty-five
As I reflect  / on time gone by
Retirement / will be closer still
But I don’t think / that I ever will
A younger man / might lift a glass
My, these days / just go by fast 

Looking back / on forty-two
A fire dancing / in the hue
Of lovers known / a smiling face
Now a memory / takes her place
A younger man / forgets his past
My, these days / just go by fast 

[Chorus]
A lifetime is /  a grain of sand
A broken heart / a shadow cast
Passing through / the masters hand
Your reach exceeds your grasp
My, these days / just go by fast

Looking back / on twenty-one
Among the things / I left undone
A young boy tryin / to find his way
Old regrets / where flowers lay
A younger man / relives the past
My, these days / just go by fast

[Chorus]
A lifetime is / a grain of sand
A broken heart / a shadow cast
Passing through / the masters hand
The reach exceeds your grasp
My, these days / just go by fast

My, these days just go by fast

I want a sunrise
(Mark I. Anderson)
 
Young at heart in golden years
Memories learn to disappear
A missing page when I look back
Gone today like a fade to black
 
[Pre-Chorus]
Time that’s free when you’re young
Slips away like a setting sun
 
[Chorus]
I want a sunrise to call my own
The love in her eyes when I’m all alone
I want a sunrise and a sky on fire
I wanna free dive into pure desire
A brilliant morning after making love all night
I want a sunrise…
 
Springtime love’s in the air
Seasons changed to solitaire
Where autumn finds a man alone
Searching for the love he’s known
 
[Pre-Chorus]
Time that’s free when you’re young
Slips away like a setting sun
 
[Chorus]
I want a sunrise to call my own
The love in her eyes when I’m alone
I want a sunrise and a sky on fire
I wanna free dive into pure desire
A special moment after making love all night
I want a sunrise…
 
[Bridge]
We learn to write the next chapter
By waiting for what comes after
 
[Chorus]
I find a sunrise / to call my own
The love in her eyes / when I’m all alone
I want a sunrise / and a sky on fire
I wanna free dive / into pure desire
A special moment after making love all night
I want a sunrise
I want a sunrise
I want a sunrise…

I want a sunrise

Better ending
(Mark I Anderson)

I’ve been talking all night long
But only in my mind
Waiting for the perfect moment
Trying to find the perfect rhyme 
Afraid we’ll turn away
Like a broken heart pretending 
This was never gonna last
We should write a better ending, you and I

You’ve been staring into space
Like you had somewhere to be
I don’t know what’s in the cards
Or if it includes me
But if you deal me in
I’ll play along like we’re intending
To make it through the night
Yeah, we should write a better ending

[Chorus]
When love is in the air
The storyline is true
In spoken words and rhythm 
That was me and you
The mystery of the ages
Gonna do what it will do
As it leaves a spark defending 
The need to write a better ending

We could talk about the years
And why the seasons turned
Talk about the lessons
And what it is we’ve learned
Of love that’s strong and wild
Like a mighty river bending
Just a little farther now
There’ll be a happy ending 

[Chorus]
When love is in the air
The storyline is true
In spoken words and rhythm 
That was me and you
The mystery of the ages
Gonna do what it will do
As it leaves a spark defending 
The need to write a better ending

[Bridge]
They’re only words after all
That’s what’s left when lovers fall
Let’s put the pieces back together

[Chorus]
When love is in the air
The storyline is true
In spoken words and rhythm 
That was me and you
The mystery of the ages
Gonna do what it will do
We need a better ending 

When love is in the air
The storyline is true
In spoken words and rhythm 
That was me and you
The mystery of the ages
Gonna do what it will do
As it leaves a spark defending 
The need to write a better ending…

Better ending

It’s just a sad song
(Mark I Anderson)

Sad songs sound sweeter  / On an old guitar
When weathered hands pick out of tune
And the words are like leather / To protect a young heart 
From fallin’ for someone untrue
Sad songs sound softer / The next time around
With a smile and a tincture of time
When love that you’re after / Can only be found
In the sad songs that we leave behind

[Chorus]
It’s just a sad song / A new one comes along everyday
Another old sad song / With nothing important to say
We love em and hate em / We all overrate em
Still we all sing along
The dues that we pay / to get through the day 
It’s just a sad song

Sad songs and whiskey / and Saturday night
Where weathered hands pick out a song
Dial up a number / turn down the lights
The whiskey will soon be all gone 
But sad songs remain / and sad songs remember
A place in the back of your mind
Where we all try in vain / to rekindle the ember
In the sad songs that we’ve left behind

[Chorus]
It’s just a sad song / A new one comes along everyday
Just an old sad song / With nothing important to say
We love em and hate em / We all overrate em
Still we all sing along
The dues that ya pay / to get through the day 
It’s just a sad song

[Chorus]
It’s just a sad song / A new one comes along everyday
Another old sad song / With nothing important to say
We love em and hate em / We all overrate em
Still we all sing along
The dues that we pay / to get through the day 
Here in a sad song

[Outro]
We love em and hate em / We all overrate em
Still we all sing along
The dues that we pay / to get through the day 
Here in a sad song…

It’s just a sad song

Love with you
(Mark I Anderson)

If you could see inside my heart
And measure time when we’re apart
Then you would see right from the start
That I’ve been in love with you
 
If I could find the words that ring
In prose and passion when we sing
Them I would have found everything
When I made love with you
 
[Chorus]
I put my faith in this magic
It’s there in your smile at night
I reach out my arms just to hold on
I’m falling for you again here tonight…

 If you could hear my still small voice
Then you’d know why there is no choice
I just surrender and rejoice
When I make love with you 
 
[Chorus]
 I put my faith in this feeling
And trust that the magic is right
I reach out my arms just to hold on
As I’m falling again for you here tonight…

[Bridge]
It’s more than emotion / It’s strong as a storm
A moment of healing / So safe and warm
No word of a lie / A pure guarantee
You can believe in me…
 
[Chorus]
I put my faith in this magic
That’s there in your smile at night
I reach out my arms just to hold on
As I’m falling for you again here tonight…

If you could see inside my heart
And measure time when we’re apart
Then you would see right from the start
I’ve been in love with you 
Then you would see right from the start
I’ve been in love with you …

Love with you

Slipping away
(Mark I Anderson)

All he could think about / was his retirement
He had it all planned out / but something inside of him
Was slipping, slipping away

Those years of nine to five / it’s hard to let it go
You could see it there in his eyes / the only thing he’d ever known
Was slipping, slipping away…

[Chorus]
Forty years out on the job    
It’s time to walk away
A little time alone with God
To help you find your way
Throughout the passing years / you watch em disappear  
Best we leave them as they lay, best we leave them as they lay
Slipping away…

Alone there in the dark / it’s creeping in on him
What happened to the spark / when did it begin
Slipping, slipping away…

[Chorus]
Forty years out on the job    
It’s time to walk away
A little time alone with God
To help you find your way
Through the passing years / you watch em disappear  
Best we leave them as they lay, best we leave them as they lay
Slipping away…

[Bridge]
That night he hit his knees and said a prayer
All we really need is always waiting there 
When doubts surround us, we start slipping, start slipping
Slipping…

Now when we reached the ending / it’s no mystery
No use in pretending / anyone could see it
Slipping, slipping away

[Chorus]
Forty years out on the job    
It’s time to walk away
A little time alone with God
To help you find your way
Through the passing years / you watch em disappear  
Best we leave them as they lay, best we leave them as they lay
Slipping away…

Slipping away

When faith finds proof
(Mark I Anderson)

It’s amazing
When another heart finds yours all alone
And It’s special
When a long, long journey ends 
Like a moment
From the hourglass 
That measures the great unknown
All the mysteries show their great truth
When faith finds proof…

There’s a magic
In the morning sky when you believe
Like a prophet 
Or a fool reaching for the stars
A new beginning
When you feel the stirring
And you can finally see
All the mysteries waiting for you
When faith finds proof…

[Chorus]
Some people turn away
Before they can see through
All the smoke and mirrors
And all the for-sale signs
In the time it takes to dream
The spirit could show you 
How faith finds the proof
A little farther down the line…

There’s a stillness 
In an old heart full of wonder
And a sadness 
In the soul of a heart alone
There’s a passion
When a young heart pounds out
Like thunder
And a heart will know the great truth
When faith finds proof…

[Chorus]
Some people turn away
Before they can see through
All the smoke and mirrors
And all the for-sale signs
In the time it takes to dream
The spirit could show you 
Where your faith finds the proof
A little further down the line…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There’s a passion
When a young heart pounds out
Like thunder
And a heart will know the great truth
When faith finds proof…

Yes, the heart will know the great truth
When faith finds proof…

When faith finds proof

Unknown Album (3/23/2009 2:02:21 PM)

The Boulevard

Hello, my name is Mark. Thank you for checking out my songs. I’m a songwriter living in Portland Maine.  I write mostly country songs because that’s the music I listened to growing up.  Though I’ve branched out a bit through the years at the core I’m still county.

I’m interested in networking and writing with others to improve my craft. Ultimately I’m looking for a publishing company to take these songs to new and established artists. 

Thanks again.
Mark

When faith finds proof

Mark Anderson

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