These are some of the songs I helped create for the FAWM 5090 in the Summer of 2022.The challenge is to write 50 songs in 90 days.
https://fiftyninety.fawm.org/

This is the long form of the February Album Writing Month - 14 songs in 28 days.
https://fawm.org

Summer 2022 - Songs Created for FAWM 5090

Songs I've written with other people. Most of them performed by my collaborators

Collaborations - Original Songs

Like the River Needs the Snow
Written by Nancy Cunningham and Robert Davis
Arranged and Performed by Shawna Hervé

February the snow pack’s here to stay
The river’s ruffled surface frozen still
Hemmed in by the snow
Nowhere left to go
I need you, like the river needs the snow

Late June the snow melt’s raging, so much swept away
The river rips and roars in endless flood
Deluged by the snow
Drowning what’s below
I need you, like the river needs the snow

I can’t stand to lose my temper
To cede control and explode
But you see me, you know me, you love me
All the changes, every season that I am

August cherry snow cones on a blinding summer’s day
The river’s lost in memories of power
Day dreaming of snow
Time's drifting slow
I need you, like the river needs the snow

Yeah, I need you like the river needs the snow
I need you like the river needs the snow

The River Needs The Snow (written with Robert Davis)

Am I Scared
Nancy Cunningham / JazzAnarchy

Oh, she musta been a mystic
I got her dissertation in my car
Used to tell me where you won't go
That's just who you are

It's been a couple years now
It's still hard to believe
I think of her at bed time
and when I'm raking leaves

I keep crawling through her phone book
Calling her old friends
The Jacksons and the Johnsons 
Then the Ks and Ls, the Ms and Ns

Am I scared, well I'm keeping it at bay
That's always been my way, that's what she would say
Tell me, am I scared?
That's what she would say
It's always been my way
Keeping it at bay
So am I scared?

It isn't like I'm done for
I shower and get dressed
It's not like I'm obsessed
It's not like I'm obsessed

Oh, she musta been a mystic
Her dissertation's in my car
Used to tell me where you won't go, that's just who you are

I keep crawling through her phone book
Calling her old friends
The Jacksons and the Johnsons 
Then the Ks and Ls, the Ms and Ns

Am I scared well I'm keeping it at bay
That's always been my way
That's what she would say
Tell me am I scared
That's what she would say
That's always been my way
Keeping it at bay

Am I scared
Well, I'm keeping it at bay
That's always been my way
That's what she would say

Tell me, am I scared?
That's what she would say
That's always been my way
Keeping it at bay
So am I scared?

Oh, oh, oh

Am I Scared? (performed by JazzAnarchy)

Sounding Out (No Dragons Allowed)

WORKING ALL THE TIME (Cunningham/Jones)
© All Rights Reserved 2022

Drilling offshore, digging in the mine
Handing out a ticket, paying down a fine
Harvesting the heartland, driving my rig
Singing at the Opry or any other gig

I’m working, working, working, working all the time
Working in the morning, working overnight
Pulling double shifts then working on the side
Ever’thing I do, it's all made with pride
I’m working all the time
to keep us working all the time

Rooting out the riffraff, a bouncer at the door
Putting it together on the factory floor
Breaking my back, Fixing what’s broke
I can kid around but work’s no joke

I’m working, working, working, working all the time
Working in the morning, working overnight
Pulling double shifts then working on the side
Ever’thing I do, it's all made with pride
Cause Hon, I’m working all the time
to keep us working all the time

You know the point of work is living,
the point of life is love
In work, in life, in love,
I give you all I’ve got

I’ll pitch nine innings, I'll sell my pint of blood
I’ll fill up a hole, I dug in the mud
I’ll predict the weather, I’ll bury the dead
I’ll box and I’ll build, I’ll deliver the bread
I’ll keep sweating and keep swearing, I’ll keep keeping us fed

I’m working, working, working, working all the time
Working in the morning, working overnight
Pulling double shifts then working on the side
Ever’thing I do, it's all made with pride
while I’m working all the time
Honey, I’m working all the time

And we're working all the time
Yes, we’re working all the time
© Nancy Cunningham 2022

Working All The Time

Workaholic Country Blues
Music - Jeff Walker
Lyrics - Nancy Cunningham and Nadine De Macedo 

I could tell the boss I'm leaving
Pay me out, we'll be even
Takin' fifty-two weeks vacation every year

I could turn in my time card
Might make my making rent hard
'less I bass fish (more) and hunt for deer

But the hard truth is
I wouldn't know just what to do
I got the Workaholic Country Blues
It's true
They' hard to lose
The Workaholic Country Blues
Got the Workaholic Country Blues

I could take this Job and Shove It
But in some way I must love it
I make just enough to cover bread and beer

I could crack my nest egg
Bingo might pay off big
But more likely I'll keep working right on here

'Cause the hard truth is
I wouldn't know just what to do
Without my Workaholic Country Blues
It's true
It's hard to lose
The Workaholic Country Blues
Got the Workaholic Country Blues

Grandma ploughs past sundown
Grandad drudges in town
That's the life they choose
My whole family's got the Country Workaholic Blues

And the hard truth is
We wouldn't know just what to do
Without our Workaholic Country Blues
It's true
It's hard to lose
The Workaholic Country Blues
Got the Workaholic Country Blues

Workaholic Country Blues

This was a lot of fun. Clever, witty lyrics from @nancy-cunningham-2 on an interesting and contemporary subject. What's not to like? In my head, I was leaning into a bit of McCartney's Three Legs, the Beatles' For You Blue and a dash of Simon and Garfunkel. Did I hit the mark? Probably not. 

Last but not least, the song needed a solo, so I reached out to Rich Joseph (@user-831068061) to add his awesome, double-stopping magic dust. Thanks man!

LYRICS © Nancy Cunningham

Feed the Algorithm
Give him what he wants
Put your best foot forward
Your profile
Your full fronts
Tell him all your secrets
What makes you grin and grunt
Feed the Algorithm
Give him what he wants

Feed the algorithm
Let him roll your dice
He knows your S.A.T. scores
Your dentist and your size
Your IQ and your credit score
He can name your price
Feed the algorithm
Let him roll your dice

Feed the algorithm
What you got to lose?
He knows what you pay in rent
How often you hit snooze
He can tell you how to live
Where to buy your shoes
Feed the algorithm
What you got to lose?

Feed the algorithm
Let him feed you back
He'll tell you if your rainbow
Needs repainting black
He'll serve you tasty morsels
Like your clicking crack
Feed the algorithm
Let him feed you back
Let him feed you back
Let him feed you back

Feed The Algorithm

PUT OUR MONEY ON PASSION (Cunningham/Jones)
© All Rights Reserved 2024

I've put enough nickels in your curse jar
'at should pay for a trip to Cancun
With what's left you can buy a new bikini
So let's pencil us in for June

Cause, caution's over-rated, Honey, and action's underpaid
So Baby, let's take some action
Put our money on passion
Put our money on passion every day

Some guys just hunker in the safe room
They pray for the storm to pass 'em by
But I'm up in your face, I love chasing your tornado
Sitting you out, that wouldn't fly

Cause, caution's over-rated, Honey, and action's underpaid
But we want in on the action
Put our money on passion
Put our money on passion every day

I know I'm still rough around the edges
Though you say I clean up pretty good
I'll always meet your fire with my fire, Babe
That's how we're built, that's understood

Cause, caution's over-rated. Honey, and action's underpaid
But we believe in action
Put our money on passion
Put our money on passion every day

Yes, caution's over-rated. Honey, and action's underpaid
So Babe, let’s take some action
Put our money on passion
Put our money on passion every day

We want in on the action
Put our money on passion
We believe in passion every day

Put Our Money on Passion

A collaboration of four randomly assigned people. 

Béphane Stroisseau: Music
Nancy Cunningham: Lyrics
Court Lee @courstellation: Vocals 
Robert Goldbach: Guitar/Mix

Cold

Down at the Fu Bar Buffet
Lyrics - Nancy Cunningham
Music - Jeff Walker & BIAB

A new Chinese place opened last week
Seemed a little shady, but I took a peek
Nothing looked good, but it sure came cheap
With my luck lately, it was the place for me
                      
Cause' they got all you can eat at the Fu Bar Buffet
They got all you can drink from the Fire Hose
They got all you can eat at the Fu Bar Buffet…
I get the early bird special 
I get it every day
Oh I keep my plate full
Down at the Fu Bar Buffet

I could take you out to dinner, 'stead of chowing down alone
I would ask you out Honey, if you would pick up your phone
Save you from having to be cooking at home
But it's lookin' like tonight I'm back on my own


I'd get you all you can eat at the Fu Bar Buffet
Then all you can drink from the Fire Hose
They got all you can eat at the Fu Bar Buffet
They got a early bird special 
I get it every day
Oh I keep my plate full
Down at the Fu Bar Buffet

Got laid off, got bills to pay?
Get more helpings…at the Fu Bar Buffet

They got all you can eat at the Fu Bar Buffet
They got all you can drink from the Fire Hose
They got all you can eat at the Fu Bar Buffet
They got a early bird special 
I get it every day
Oh, I keep my plate full  
 down at the Fu Bar Buffet

Yeah, it's all you can eat at the Fu Bar Buffet
I get the early bird special every day
Down at the Fu Bar Buffet

Down At The Fu Bar Buffet

50/90 2024, Track 15. Lyrics by the ever-brilliant @nancy-cunningham-2.

I Don't Want Your Life

This album is one-half of a music-text experience. The music is here; the text is at www.mikemonsoon.com. Collectively, they form a psychedelic, horror-tinged, time-traveling musical puzzle that tells the story of a man facing a reality-shattering question: If you could go back and change things, would you…or did you? The more you listen, the more you read, the more you discover. Come and explore the joy–and occasional horror–of creativity.
 
Reviews:
 
“In a cultural moment when attention spans are among the scarcest of natural resources, Mike Monsoon's Song Journal doesn't just demand your focus — it earns it … However it is that you're drawn into this storytelling matrix, the Song Journal keeps you hooked as you jump from chapter to song, year to year, clue to clue. It's an ingenious package of narrative elements ...” --Neil Janowitz, Editor, Vulture.com
 
“Captivates with sly winks and homages to classic rock operas. The songs vacillate between straight-ahead, 3-minute verse/chorus/bridge pop and more adventurous compositions that use imaginative arrangements in service of longer and more complex narratives … shades of Queen, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Who, Phish, and The Flaming Lips ... rife with intriguing layers … the fun is putting the pieces together." -- Lorne Berman, Rolling Stone
 
“An oasis of great songwriting and unique production work woven into a concept record that is truly unforgettable.” -- Mike White, founder, MPG Music Production School