Nice work. Keep up the good music and sound.

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

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

Self-Portrait (Alternate Mix)

A little crossover between funk, rock and electronic. Enjoy!

Perfect Match

"This Morning" [05.05.25] (Jack Miller)
J Dulva and Counting Coup
(c) 2025 Cenote Music

This Morning [05.05.25]

Hole

Climb

Reflections on the life and times of an alcoholic

Drinking Man

I've always loved the Gertrude Stein quote 
“There ain't no answer.
There ain't gonna be any answer.
There never has been an answer.
There's your answer.”
I thought there might be a song in there somewhere.  When I came up with a chorus I was encouraged, but it took a while to turn it into a song.  Who knew that the piano would figure so prominently.

The Lyics:
You could be searching far and wide
At pretty great expense
Hoping to hear some magic words
That’ll finally make it all make sense

If you hear those words you will know the answer
And everything will work out fine
Nothing will ever be crazy again
Today was the very last time

I’ve heard it said that the answer’s out there
Hidden in plain site
Look hard enough and you might find it
On the other hand that might not be right 

I'm pretty sure 
There ain’t no answer
There never was
And never will be
That’s the answer, the whole damn answer 
And that’s ok with me

And if that's the only answer 
That we're ever going to get
We’re gunna have to find new questions
That we haven't asked quite yet 

Do you spend hours in meditation
Do you sit at the gurus feet
Has he shown you how to reach a higher plane
Is he the one that you were destined to meet

If he’s not, there’s always another
Out there in the great somewhere
Who’s knows the way to ever deeper places
If you find him he might take you there there

Are you quite sure that this is real
Is he worth everything you spent
So many gurus seem to misbehave
In ways you don’t expect from enlightenment    

I'm pretty sure 
There ain’t no answer
There never was
And never will be
That’s the answer, the whole damn answer 
And that’s ok with me

I'm pretty sure 
There ain’t no answer
There never was
And never will be
That’s the answer, the whole damn answer 
And that’s ok with me

I always wanted to know the what and how
Who and where and why
But when the questions are big enough
Answers are in short supply

I heard a while back that Gertude Stein
Proposed a different take on the grand design
Seemed clever - quite an insight 
It occurred to me that she might be right

I'm pretty sure 
There ain’t no answer
There never was
And never will be
That’s the answer, the whole damn answer 
And that’s ok with me

And if that's the only answer 
That we're ever going to get
Were gunna have to find new questions
That we haven't asked quite yet 

I'm pretty sure 
There ain’t no answer
There never was
And never will be
That’s the answer, the whole damn answer 
And that’s ok with me

There Ain't No Answer

Tender Rest
For moments too delicate for words,
this instrumental whispers instead.
Let each note cradle you like the exhale after grief,
like a sunset that doesn’t ask for attention—
just presence.

Tender Rest

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

Song written, arranged and recorded by Tobias Wolf.

Climb

PaulC

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