This is a slinky little blues built around the title hook ‘Burnt Matches, Old Flames’. A cautionary tale about rekindling old love leaving you more lonely than before. Acoustic guitars, brushed drums and a whispered chorus.

Lyrics can be licensed - let me know if you are interested. Full lyrics below:

Burnt matches and old flames 
Burnt matches and old flames
They’re two things I can’t explain
Burnt matches and old flames 
Burnt matches and old flames 

You play with matches  
You're gonna get burnt 
You fool with old flames  
You're gonna get hurt
But you know, they’re just the same  
They’re just burnt matches and old flames

Burnt matches and old flames 
Burnt matches and old flames
Burnt matches and old flames 
Burnt matches and old flames
 
Some people put their matches  
Back into the box  
Some chase their old flames  
Like they’re hunting a fox 
But to me, they’re just the same 
They’re just burnt matches and old flames

Don’t play with matches  
You’re sure to start a fire  
You’re bound to get burnt 
 Re-igniting past desires
But you know, they’re just the same  
They’re just burnt matches and old flames

Now I beg please hear me  
And heed this tale of woe 
It happened on a lonely night  
When my heart was hanging low

I know the path to trouble 
It’s a well worn track 
I knew right where it lead  
And I should’ve double back

But I followed my footsteps  
I followed my footsteps 
 I followed my footsteps 
I followed my footsteps
I followed my footsteps 
I followed my footsteps   
And guess right where they led?

I found my way to her front door 
I’ve never craved anything this much before 
It was warm in her arms 
It was hot through the night  
But I’ve never been more lonely in my life

Some fires burn slowly 
Some are hard to put out 
Some will consume you  
But do not have a doubt
Wo-oh-yeah

Some fires burn slowly 
Some are hard to put out 
Some will consume you  
But do not have a doubt 
Once it’s been struck 
There’s no use in laying blame 
They’re just burnt matches and old flames

Burnt matches and old flames 
Burnt matches and old flames
Burnt matches and old flames 
Burnt matches and old flames

Burnt Matches, Old Flames

Plates version acustica: Gustavo Daniel Laino.

Video at https://youtu.be/pOL6a-dC6FI?si=Bf3kHPIWbqdZM8e2
******************
This is a song about depression and survival. 

When I wrote it I still had another 25 years of surviving it ahead of me. But I'd made a decision years before, when I was 14, that no matter how bad it got it would always get better, sooner or later. And it always did, at least for a while. And knowing that somehow made it just a little bit easier to smile.


[This is a new mix. Drums by John Bennetts have been added and everything else has been changed, at least a little.]

Verse 1:
It’s more than a song
But less than a dream
I know what I say
Is not what I mean
Pretending my words
Aren’t meant to deceive
I’m playing with doubt
I want to believe

I know that it’s hard
To explain why I’m here
I complain though I know
There is nothing to fear
But the fear and the doubt
That wind through my mind
Are inventions of mine
That help pass the time

Chorus:
So here is my song
I wrote it for me
I need to recall
That it’s easy to be
The times that I’ve faced
My life as a trial
Have taught me to see
That it’s easy to smile

Verse 2:
I’m more than a child
But less than a man
I know where I’ve been
But not who I am
I'll say that I'm strong
I'll tell you I’m free
But none of that's true
I just want it to be

Once I entered a room
I pulled down the shade
I turned out the lights
I wanted to fade
But I noticed the wall
Right there looking at me
Pretending to be blind
I really wanted to see

Chorus:
So here is my song
I wrote it for me
I need to recall
That it’s easy to be
The times that I’ve faced
My life as a trial
Have taught me to see
That it’s easy to smile

Verse 3:
It all seemed to happen
A while ago
At a time I was lost
I just didn’t know
That doubting was simply
A game that I had
It gave me a reason
For feeling this bad

There are times there are changes
My memory moves
Preaching the patterns
I’ve worn into grooves
Repeating mistakes
I made in my youth
Learning the lines
And calling them truth
I can’t help but change
Can't help but survive
I might drown in doubt
But I'll still be alive

Chorus:
So here is my song
I wrote it for me
I need to recall
That it’s easy to be
The times that I’ve faced
My life as a trial
Have taught me to see
That it’s easy to smile

Easy to Smile

•See the Video•

Easy To Smile

Original composition…..Alejandro Gonzalez M.

Tergiverso

Rocks and Stones

Hole

Uptempo rock song by John Hardman
Written, arranged & produced by JH
JH - Vocals, guitars
(c)(p) 2025 Swamp Music UK & Swamp Records UK for all territories

At The Borderline - John Hardman

“What If” is a guitar-driven ballad about impossible truths, quiet hope, and the courage to speak what no one believes. Two guitars, soft drums, and one unanswered question: what if…?

What if

I see it now as clear as rain
Your feet on the dash with the sun in our way
We're listening to your white boy blues
Only good days from now on

We're hidden in sheets like stilted ghosts
As we hear the children laughing from across the room
All is calm before we strike
Only good days from now on

I hear the sound, the rumbling deep
As the rain hits the ground and goes back to the sea
You always love nights like these
Only good days from now on

Only good days
Only good days
Only good days from now on
It's good days, only good days
Only good days from now on

A kiss on the neck as we sway in place
The floorboards are creaking beneath our weight
The music hums in our bones
Only good days from now on

You're an ocean, babe, with love so deep
I cast my long shadows across your wake
With love that's so deserving
Only good days from now on

It's a here and now, not a now and then
The way I feel about you will last always
20 years and then 20 more
Only good days from now on
 
Only good days
Only good days
Only good days from now on
It's good days, only good days
Only good days from now on

Folded hands, quiet eyes
A final kiss and a final goodbye
I'm so grateful I, spent my life with you
Only good days from now on

Good Days

A powerful new track with a flint of humor and grace.

R U Still Alive demo

Tobias Wolf - Bass and Vocals
Andy Inman - Guitars
Clark Logan - Drums
Claude Raines - Keys

Song written, arranged and recorded by Tobias Wolf.

Good Days

Mafew Van de Maxville