A work in progress from a song-game prompt "Watching the ceiling fan turn".

It Came On Slow

One Day

Bells of Rhymney

Words & Music by Nina Jo Smith
(c) 2014 Redwood River Music

New song. Ready to play out.

One Day (new guitar arr.)

Le Fou
By Zachary Richard
Arranged and performed by Nina Jo Smith

A disaster ballad written from the perspective of the first bird, a Northern Gannet (Fou de Bassan), captured and cleaned after the Deepwater Horizon spill. 

Posted with hopes of healing the California Coast. (Pardon my Acadian French, I did my best)

Lyrics and translation
Le Fou
Words and Music by Zachary Richard

On m’apelle Fou de Bassan,
Mais je suis pas si fou que ça.
Les vieux m’appellent margot,
Tel le faisait Jacques Cartier.

De l’île Bonaventure,
Jusqu'au Golfe du Mexico.
Je suis celui qui plonge,
Le plus fou des oiseaux.

Tous ensemble, ensemble tous.

C'était le 20 avril,
Dans la tranchée de Macondo.
J’ai entendu crier,
Et j’ai vu l’explosion.

La tour s’est effondrée,
À la perte de beaucoup de vies.
Et depuis la marée noire
N’arrête pa de s’étirer.

Tous ensemble, ensemble tous.

Dans le Golf du Saint-Laurent,
Sur le rocher des oiseaux.
Aussi loin de Mexico,
Je suis enfin au repos.

La mer n’est agitée
Que par le vent du nord.
Il n’y a pas de tour petrole,
Pour troubler mon espoir.

Tous ensemble, ensemble tous.

Le premier oiseau a se faire attraper et nettoyer pendent la catrastrophe Deepwater Horizon et sa maree noire est un fou de Bassan dont la territoire de nidificacion se trouve au Quebec et a Terre Neuve. Pendant cinq mois, du 20 avril au 19 septembre, 2010, le puit de forage hors controle a verse pres de 5 millions de barils de petrol dans le Golfe du Mexique. De quoi devenir fou.
 

Le Fou
The first bird captured and cleaned during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 was a northern gannet, the name of which in French is “fou de Bassan”.  “Fou” can best be translated as “crazy”, and the bird is so named because of its devil-may-care fishing style, plunging into the water from great height at 100 kilometers an hour.  In the case of this song the folly referred to is the folly of disregarding the balance of nature for immediate gain and the folly of not understanding the consequences of the destruction of the natural environment.

They call me Crazy from Bassan (the isle of Bass off the coast of Scotland)
But I am not as crazy as that.
The old fishermen call me “margot”
Just like Jacques Cartier.
From l’Ile Bonaventure,
To the Gulf of  Mexico
I am the diving one,
The craziest of all the birds.
All together, together all.
It was April 20,
In the Macondo trench.
I heard the screaming,
I saw the explosion.
The tower (rig) collapsed
With the loss of many lives.
And since then the black tide
Cannot be stopped.
Tous ensemble, ensemble tous.
In the Gulf of the Saint Laurence
On Bird Rock (le rocher des oiseaux),
So far from Macondo,
I am finally able to rest.
The sea is stirred up
Only by the north wind.
There is no petrol tower
To destroy my hope. 
Paroles et musique Zachary Richard / Les Éditions du Marais Bouleur




Le Fou

People, Places and Sings

Hey Songwriter

A love song inspired by a Hawaiian wedding

Lee Side Of Love

Buddha At The Backdoor

Snake In The Rafters (Alabama Calling)

My answer song to Roy Orbison's "O, Pretty Woman"

Take This Heart

Classic song for peace. A perennial favorite.


Make Love Not War

Make Love Not War (album Version)

Winner of Global Music Awards for Songwriting and Folk music
Released October 1, 2015

Album artist, Penny Nichols
Track credits:
Vocals (Duet and harmonies) Penny Nichols, Nina Jo Smith
Drums, Dan Hickey
Bass, Mark Dann
Guitar, Nina Jo Smith

L.A. Man
Words and Music by Nina Jo Smith (BMI)
© 2015 Redwood River Music (BMI)		

Janis Joplin,
Hollywood Bowl,
Did it really happen
Did I really go?

Driving the canyon,
Beverly Glen
Blue skies and oak trees
Remembering

Essays and poetry,
Records and no tv,
Firesign Theater on the radio.

CHORUS
L.A. Boy, 
L.A. Man,
Walk in the sunshine,
Sing in the band.
PCH to Monterrey
Roadtrip to San Fran
-cisco Bay
Swear on my life, I love L.A.
And I remember when.

L.A. Free Press
Century City
Police Attack Protesters
Vietnam War

Earthquake and mudslide,
Twelve-string and Tim Buckley, 
Soldiers and train rides
Do you remember when?

It was a bad, bad time,
We had a good time too,
	Age of Aquarius,
	Me and you.

REPEAT CHORUS


Riding the bikeway,
Wind in my hair,
Talking to someone
Who’s no longer there.

REPEAT CHORUS

L.A. Boy, L.A. Man (repeat…and out)
 


Golden State

LA Man

words & music by Nina Jo Smith
(c) 2012 Redwood River Music

No Vacancy in Heaven (Ghost Road)

This is a song inspired by Joey and Takako's wedding in Hawaii; in memory of Lee Mallory. It's going on my new album, People, Places and Sings. I posted it today in honor of the 8th annual Lee Mallory Day which celebrates Lee and all singer-songwriters everywhere.
Produced by Martin Young, Music City Demos, Ojai, CA; Martin Young on guitar; Nina Jo Smith on ukelele and vocals.

Cosmic Lady was a real person who was very active in San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Shasta, California. Back in the 70s we thought she was kinda crazy; now we'd call her an environmental performance artist. Around the time George W. Bush was elected I thought, "There goes the planet. Where is Cosmic Lady when we need her?" This song popped out. Thanks, Cosmic Lady (happy Earth Day!)

Cosmic Lady

Nina Jo is an award-winning singer/songwriter based in San Francisco, California. 

Nine Things To Know About Nina Jo

1) I’m named after my mom’s mom, Nina and my dad’s sister, Jo. Nina rhymes with China. 

2) My grandfather was the first artist I knew. We used to paint side-by-side in his garage-studio. 

3) My brother was murdered on the last day of 1979, the eve of a new decade. I couldn’t even listen to music for a year. In fact, name any song from the 80s; I probably don’t know it. I stopped playing music for about twenty years and instead earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, a master’s in Physical Education, founded The SAFE Place at San Francisco State and taught self-defense to more than a thousand people.

4)  I stole my mom's guitar when I was about nine years of age and taught myself to play by listening to her Joan Baez records.

5) I still have the mud-caked dictionary with pressed flowers in it that flew out the back window of my VW bug when I rolled it driving home from Fairbanks on the AlCan in the Yukon Territory 90 miles from the nearest town.

6) When I was a small child and we could see the Channel Islands, I’d say, “The islands are up!” because I thought they sank out of sight when they weren’t visible. 

7) I rehabilitated myself from a concussion I got on Cinco de Mayo 1995. I couldn’t get medical treatment for it, so I invented my own path, drawing, painting, learning traditional and movement-based storytelling. I started breaking into song during my improvs, so one day my teacher said, “You’re a singer. Sing!” Thanks, Corey Fischer, for helping me find my way back to music.

8) I started playing open mics in San Francisco in the early 2000s. At the time I thought, “Who’s gonna want to listen to a guitar-based singer songwriter these days?” Surprise! 

9) I think Belly Laughs make the world go ‘round.


Nina Jo Smith

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