Those who have seen the movie "Brokeback Mountain" might remember this song sung by Willie Nelson. I thought he had written it, but it was credited to Bob Dylan, who sure enough had recorded it on a bootleg recording from 1961, but actually, to my delight, it turned out to be a traditional. So how old and who wrote it I don't know.
Here I sing and play it finger picking style or a change without picks. I play a Blueridge Parlor guitar.

He Was A Friend Of Mine

Old song, recorded with an iPad 2. The guitar is a Blueridge BR-341 Historic Series O-Style Parlor Guitar.

Don't Get Trouble In Your Mind

This is a song written by my on-line friend Ove Ofteness. A new kind of collaboration I haven't tried before. I have tried to make my rendition of it. 
He's on sound cloud too. I make it a bit different. But he seems to like my version of it. I hope.

Alco-Hall Of Fame

Written and recorded in my room after a frustrating trip to Atlantic City.

Might As Well Be Gone

You don't try to love me honey
The way a man ought to be loved
You're just trying to drive me crazy
Telling me my hand never fit your glove
So you let me lie here lonely
With nothing but my feelings on
You can't express a real emotion
So I might as well be gone

CHORUS:
Might as well be gone
From this cold north wind
Might as well be gone
Like some forgotten sin
Might as well be gone
From this mindless game
Think I'll call a cab
Think I'll catch a train
Might as well be gone

I should have listened to my conscience
I guess I really had you pegged
I knew you'd never give affection
Even if a man went down on his knees to beg
But I'm not a beggar honey
And even though you turn me on
I can't take what you're not giving
So I might as well be gone

CHORUS

Don't call me to say you're sorry
Cause I'll know that it's a lie
Why do you need a man around you
Do you want to look straight in the public eye
Give it up, it isn't worth it
Don't let this fantasy live on
I know you'll never really want me
So I might as well be gone

CHORUS

Might As Well Be gone

Ove Ofteness has written the lyrics for this song and posted it on facebook and asked if there was a melody for it. I thought it was interesting and thought I would give it a try. This was what came out of it.

OXYMORON SONG.MP3

A dark song about travelling to the other side...

There must be a better answer
When the world doesn't seem to rhyme
There has to be greener grass than this
In some other place or time
There aren't any good times left
All that's left is pain and sorrow
So you climb the stairs to the highest floor
You don't want to face tomorrow

DON'T JUMP...says a small voice
Far too faint to hear
DON'T JUMP...it says, fading
As your reasoning disappears

You step out on the roof top
The wind almost blinds your eyes
You walk to the edge, but you don't look down
You look up to the skies
You stand on the edge forever
As a crowd gathers in the street
Their murmuring grows louder
Still, you don't look at your feet

DON'T JUMP...they're shouting
But the wind blows the sound away
DON'T JUMP...they're screaming
But you can't hear a word they say

So, you step out into eternity
And you plummet toward the earth
You tell yourself "I'm not dying,
It's another form of birth."
Suddenly, there's blackness
The crowd stares in disbelief
Then the light comes back for a second or two
And you hear them cry their grief

DON'T JUMP...they whisper
As they turn their heads away
DON'T JUMP...they're thinking
And they start another day...

Bill Dureen ©2017

Don't Jump

This was my first GOOD song. I wrote the original version of it (intended for piano) in 1975. 
Lyrical contributions by Neil Patton Rogers, six years later, improved the song substantially, but he put his name first in the credit. 

This one-off performance would have worked better vocally a key lower, in A. 
These recordings are roughs. I hoped that they'd be further developed, with added instruments.
_

"I'll Know the Way of Love (Next Time Around)" 
by Ove Michaelson (sic) and Neil Patton Rogers 
Copyright 1981, House of Longhorn Music, BMI; 
Buckhorn Music Publishing Co., Inc., Nashville, TN

Next Time Around - Co-writer: Neil Patton Rogers.

Ove Ofteness / O.V. Michaelsen

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