1400 journalists hunted down and killed since 1992 just for doing their job unearthing corruption and speaking truth to power. Support them here (https://cpj.org/about/donate/)

=============

Shine a light 

Who wants to know, who really wants to learn
Who pulls the levers, makes the wheels all turn?
Follow the money to where the bodies lie
There is no place there for you or I...

Who's that knocking, knocking at my door?
Early morning, quarter of four
Who heeds the calls of all the disappeared?
Who speaks for those of us still waiting here?

We got to shine a light
You know they're trying to shine a light
We're trying to shine a light

Who makes the laws, who passes all the rules?
That say she stays at home don't go to school
All she wanted was a chance to learn
And all they gave her were these acid burns

You know we got to shine a light
We're trying to shine a light
We're trying to shine a light
Trying to shine a light
Yeah they're dying to shine a light

Shine a light

Life eh? Highs and lows. Lows and highs. Quiet bits....And LOUD BITS!

==============

Broken

Wondering why I hurt those around me?
So preoccupied with the darkness surrounding me
What's it all for?
You see I am flawed
Because I'm broken
Broken
Because I'm broken
Broken

Lock me away 
If you think that you ought to
I'd roar like a lion
More like a lamb to the slaughter
What's it all mean?
Should you intervene?
Because I'm broken
Broken
Because I'm broken
Broken

Broken

Lock me away 
If you think that you ought to
Like mother like son
Blood is thicker than water
Broken
Because I'm broken
Broken

Broken

From an early age, I have always been awed/puzzled by folks who seem to know what they want to do with their lives.  I wish I had that clarity of purpose. I have spent a good many wasted years I can tell you!

But sometimes someone or something comes along to give you that meaning.  Or it was already there...you just needed to see it 

=================

Driftwood

I was hungrier than famished
Throat so dry felt like a stone
And the hope within me vanished
Every step I took from home

I was floating free like driftwood
Cast across the sea
I was skimming cross the surface
Nothing deep to anchor me

Lead me through the darkness
Guide me to the light
Wake me from my slumber
Hear, hear me tonight

Cos I was floating free like driftwood
Cast across the sea
I was searching for the answer 
When it was right in front of me 

Because it's here
When I'm around you
Because it's here
It will astound you
Thank god I finally found you
I finally found you
I finally found you

I see my life before my eyes
Its passing right in front of me
Friends to the left and to the right
I want to say the things unsaid
Try to put things right
Before they all pass out of sight
Take a look around you
Around you

Because it's here
It's here
It's here
It's here

I see my life before my eyes
Its passing right in front of me
Friends to the left and to the right
I want to say the things unsaid
Try to put things right
Before they all pass out of sight
Take a look around you
Around you
Because it's here

It's here
It's here
It's here

Driftwood

Mrs OBE mentioned this is very apt for present times! Didn't quite come out the way I intended but that is the songwriter's curse! Picture by YiorgosGR


Roll with it

These are troubled times
They're weighing on our minds
The harder that we try
Our plans go all awry

Don't give up that's the spirit
You gotta roll with it
You gotta roll with it
You gotta roll with it
Roll, roll with it. roll, roll
You gotta roll with it

You, you took the knocks
Left you stranded on the ropes
You fought them till you dropped
If you want to make it stop

Don't give up that's the spirit
You gotta roll with it
You gotta roll with it
You gotta roll with it
Roll, roll with it. roll, roll
You gotta roll with it

Yeah you gotta roll with it!

Roll with it

The quote below is taken from Middlemarch by George Elliot:
 
"The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life and rest in unvisited tombs."
 
It was also featured at the end of "A Hidden Life", a movie by Terence Malick. The film is probably not everybody's cup of tea, but I found it incredibly moving. Something about the beautiful setting...and the gentleness of the main characters. It tells the  heart-wrenching story (based on fact) of Austrian farmer and devout Catholic Franz Jägerstätter, who chose to stand up alone against the Nazis and their poisonous ideology. Everybody in his village turned against him, even the priest. He was jailed and eventually put to death. And his family was persecuted. The movie made me pick up the guitar...amazing how emotion can be linked to a piece of art or a film and then to  music to literature, each inspiring the other and sparked by real life events (not that I'm comparing my stupid song to that amazing film or the incredible heroism of Jägerstätter and his family).
 
Anyway, blah blah blah. All that long preamble is to explain this is my ode to all those gentle souls so important to us who we sometimes forget and who are invisible to most other people. I am very thankful to have them in my life.
 
 
==================
 
Hidden lives
 
In the background 
Seldom seen
Few ever notice 
The worlds between

Unlooked for kindness
Comforting words
The ones who listened
And you were heard
 
So we remember
Those hidden lives
The near and the dear ones 
Who pass us by
Yes we remember
Those hidden lives
Those hidden lives
Those hidden lives
 
Not much to speak of
Just specks of dust
Yet they still mean
The world to us
The world to us
They mean the world to us

Hidden lives

Mr and Mrs OBE can get all gloomy listening to the news. Some days its like the sky is fuggin falling in! But then I think of what my parents ...and what their parents... had to go through and life really isn't all that bad, is it? Here's to those indomitable spirits without which we wouldn't be here!

And thanks to the neighbors' dog for yapping inbetween verses :)

--------------------------

Colors

These colors never run
Won't stop for anyone
No they won't back down
Always stand their ground

Fought for the family
For god and country
Devoted all their lives
Made that sacrifice

And now the years have passed
The colors fading fast
It seems they're on your mind
The dreams that you left behind

Well father died, he left this place
The hours were all you had to face
Long evenings on the porch
Wondering was it all for naught?

Grandkids playing on the grass
They brought you peace at last
These colors never run
They won't stop for anyone

Colors

Goodbye

Good morning how are you today?
You’re looking better than yesterday
It’s been so long now, it’s time for talking straight
No holding back now, please don’t hesitate

Who bought the flowers standing by the bed?
Should bring me hope but nearly kills me instead
Your eyes are heavy and your body is weak
God help my child back on her feet

Good morning how are you today?
You’re looking better than yesterday
I tug your hair, brush a tear from your cheek
No secrets left for us to keep

Who brought the flowers standing by the bed?
Should bring me hope but nearly kills me instead
Your eyes are heavy but there’s nothing to say
My one, my only, I watch as you slowly, slowly slip away

Goodnight my only

More than we can know

Someone made a statement
They showed who's in control
The blood stains on the pavement
Broken bodies, broken skulls
All the dear departed
Who found so many ways to leave
But we all enter in the same way
The same air that we all breathe

The beggars on the beaches
Who look up to the skies
To the houses of the richest
Where they store their trophy wives

There must be more that we can know
More than we can know

We're silting up the rivers
We're ripping up the trees
We're poisoning the waters
We're doing what we please
Cos we gotta keep on moving
Or we'll all be left behind
We gotta keep consuming
Pushing boundaries, crossing lines

The beggars on the beaches
Who look up to the skies
To the houses of the richest
While the slums metastasize

There must be more that we can know
More than we can know

Gotta keep on drinking
Every Friday night
Why don't you entertain us?
Cos we're looking for a fight
We're looking out for someone
Someone we can despise
Who's looking for a beating
Within an inch of their lives

There must be more that we can know
More than we can know

All the bloodshed, the battles
The brutal saber rattlers
The fences, the borders
The conquerors, marauders
The mayhem, the slaughter
Our sons and our daughters
The dead who came before us
The ones that now haunt us
What have we learned
What has it brought us?

There must be more that we can know
More than we can know

More than we can know

This song is dedicated to my uncle on his 90th Birthday. Many congrats Uncle John! His interest and enthusiasm for the banjo and guitar has inspired me to keep honing my acoustic skills! 

"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"


America

First came the ones in all the old songs of the West
They lived off the land, made their home in the wide wilderness
Felt the rain, heard the thunder, watched the buffalo wander 'cross the plains
Till they passed into memory, they were never seen again
And all the people cried up to the spirit in the sky

Then came a ship from the East, and then there were more
For god and country, adventurer, conquistador
They sought fame and fortune and traded in blood for gold
To lay at the feet of their kings in the empires of old
And all the people there, there was no one would be spared
When they came to America

Then came the settler, the pilgrim, the pioneer
Searching for gold and for silver, they built the frontier
The gunman, the preacher, the slaver, the overseer
Men sold like cattle; their freedom it cost them dear
And all the people there, well they just stood and they stared
When they came to America
They came to America
They came to America

Then came the railroads, the trainloads heading West
Searching for something more, never settling for less
The builder, the trader, the thinker, they all came here
On a wing and a prayer, and a dream, a big idea
And all the people there, they had a dream that we all share
When we come to America
America, America
We come to America
We come to America
We look to America

America

So it goes

Yesterday is but a memory
There is no going back
To where we once were at
How we used to be

Those truths, words that fell like blows
No taking back what's said
No bringing back the dead
For you and me

Cos everybody knows
That nothing ever lasts
All things must come to pass into memory
Thats how its meant to be
And so it goes

What once was, what was will always be
The secrets that we shared, 
The dreams, the hopes, the prayers
Love unconditionally

But everybody knows
That nothing ever lasts
All things must come to pass eventually
And all that we can ask is love and joy and pain and jealousy
That's how its always been
And so it goes

So it goes

August already! Anyway its been a while since I posted so I thought I'd dash this one down on the Yamaha...really should have put new strings on, but lazy and NY is hot and muggy at the moment, always messes with me tuning! 


Undone

Wait, I thought we understood
We were onto something good
Then we let it slip away 

Too late to turn the tide back this time
The gap too wide, 
And I don't know why we cannot say goodbye

So breathe the morning air 
One last time with you 
I swear we were fine
Then we unraveled, we were undone
We were undone

If I could start again 
I would try to make amends
For all of our mistakes
I would find a way
I would overcome 
But we are undone
We are undone
And I thought you were the one

Undone

I've been neglecting everyone on SC, much to my shame. Where does the time go? 

This song is about leaving home. Not easy going out in the world. But I've been trying to imagine what it must be like to leave a life behind because  someone or something forces you?    

Oh and before I forget this is for MOP, without whose helpful advice this post might not be here. Happy belated bday KID!


The migrant

Dead of night; the coast is clear
We make our way far from here
No turning back, the bridges burned
We're past the point of no return
We are homeless, we are rootless
We are running for our lives
Learn the new ways
Leave the old ways
Of a life we left behind

All the children sing
They are our everything
We hold them close
When the storm is gathering


Now I'm a stranger in a stranger land
Trying to flee who I was
Trying to find who I am
I am haunted, I am hunted
I am searching for a life
Learn the new ways
Leave the old ways
Of the life we left behind

All the children sing
For our kith and kin
Hold them close
Always remembering
We are remembering

Migrant

Wanting to belong

Mama never let me go
Let me feel your loving glow
When you’re shining down on me
No place I’d rather be
It's where I belong

When you left me at the gate
Turned away, you did not wait
All the kids staring at me
I could not let them see
My heart begin to break

So darling, darling please
Tell me that I’m wrong
I’m not the only one
Who's wanting to belong
Wanting to belong
What are we running from?
Its the same for everyone 
We’re all wanting to belong

Schoolyard feuds and classroom cliques
Pick on someone who doesn’t fit
Who is out and who is in?
But friendships they all end
And the loneliness begins

Oh darling, darling please
Tell me that I’m wrong
I'm not the only one
Just wanting to belong
Wanting to belong
Wanting to belong
We’re all wanting to belong

Finding out who I can be
Stand my ground, rise to my feet
The world makes much more sense
As I feel the confidence growing there in me
But wanting to belong 
Wanting to belong

Darlin’ never let me go
Let me feel your loving glow
When you’re shining down on me
No place I’d rather be
I feel like I belong

Wanting to belong

Some time since I wrote a throwaway summer ditty! Oh all the magical mistakes we make... Mrs OBE: I always knew you were an 'ol faker!

===============
Fake it

In a heart beat, you really bowled me over
Made my heart leap, you turned my whole world over
Its a long, long time
Since you blew my mind
And I don't know if I can take it
I don't know if I can make it
I don't know if we can fake it anymore
Anymore

Felt the sea breeze blowing on our faces
And your sunbeams warmed up my hidden places
Its a long, long road
With its highs and lows
And I don't know if we can make it
I don't know if we can take it
I don't know if we can fake it anymore
Anymore

Fake it

I like to think I’m an optimist. I try listen rather than open my big gob all the time but I don’t listen like i should. 

i want this song to be true. But I don't see a lot of other people listening these days either.. Songs, truths, facts, fine words and sentiments don't seem to make much of an impact anymore.

Happy New Year everyone..

=========

Bridge the divide

Hold on tight to the loves in your life
All the feuds and the fights
Who was wrong and who was right
We’ll leave it all behind

All I know is when we’re standing side by side 
We can bridge the divide

One nation, two tribes 
So far apart, yet so alike
If we’d open up our hearts
If we’d open up our minds
And put all these differences aside

All I know is when we’re standing side by side
All this pain, we can leave it all behind
All this time, it seemed our worlds collide
But we can heal, start again, be reconciled
We can bridge the divide

(Reprise)
Nothing ever lasts forever
Find a way to come together
Father, mother, sister, brother
Holding onto one another

Bridge the divide

All there is

Holding out for something more than this
More than I've known
Cos all the doubts and fears
Found me out 
Left me all alone

Too afraid to push the open door
What the hell am I searching for
If that's all there is?
If that's all there is?

Give me second sight
Teach me to see the light
The error of my ways
Cos all my life 
It seems I've lived a lie
To make it through my days

Too afraid to push the open door
What the hell are we searching  for?
If that's all there is
If that's all there is...

All the anger, all the rage,
All the hate, the wars we wage
All the pain, all the hunger
All the suffering, makes me wonder if I'm...

Holding out for something more than this
More than I've known
Cos all my life it seems I've lived a lie
Left here on my  own
Then you came around
Showed me there's more to life
What its all about
There's no regrets, no I won't forget
What it is we found
That's not all there is
That's not all there is

All the anger, all the rage,
All the hate, the wars we wage
All the pain, all the hunger
All the suffering, makes me wonder
All naming all the shaming
All the people found to blame
All the liars all the takers
All the haters 
That's not all there is...

All there is

Years trying to get clean water to drink in Flint
------------

A hard life, a tough existence
Just  getting by, try to go the distance
A dead-end job; youre paid a pittance
You scrimp and save, it doesn't make a difference

Oh, you keep keeping on
Oh, but we all know
We know what's going on
What's going on

Cash in a bag, poison in the water
They pipe it in to our sons and daughters
Who calls the tune, pays the piper
Toxic fumes, a river choked by diapers

Oh, they say nothing's wrong
Oh, but we all know
We know what's going on
We know right from wrong

The cancer came, ate out your insides
Bills to pay, collectors by the bedside
It'll take you years, maybe a lifetime
To pay them down, leave you on the breadline


Oh, you're not the only one 
Oh, cos we all know
We know what's going on
What's going on
We all know what's going on 
They all know what's right from wrong
But still they carry on

We know what's going on

Welcome to my dusty and flyblown corner of SoundCloud! What a wonderful thing it is that SC provides a home for my roughs...These are originals on a battered ol Yamaha guitar...and a ZOOM H4N recorder! Be warned...only very rough! 

I record songs stripped down to the bones...in the vague hope that a really good song will still come across that way. Thank you everyone who comes to my channel and listens...even just for a little while.

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