UP  N THAT TREE
WORDS AND MUSIC BY RICHARD KRANJAC©2016

End of the school year, sizzling late June
Time for a family trip
Fled the city for the country pretty
Finally got there
Fruit pies, the moon, fireflies everywhere 
It was peaceful as I sat

  Up in that tree
  Up in that tree
  Sacred summer breeze touched me

Catching some porgies down by the dock
I lost my fishing rod 
My brothers laughed, I was crushed
That old tree called me
When I climbed up, I felt different 
They couldn’t find me 
The years couldn’t reach me

  Up In that tree   
  Up in that tree
  Sacred summer breeze held me

    Much older than me
    If I could count it’s rings I would see
    The lifetimes it’s lived through 
    All the seasons and people it knew
    Like those I would lose
    But not then, not when I was

   Up In that tree   
   Up in that tree
   Sacred summer breeze healed me

Up In That Tree

BULLSEYE
WORDS AND MUSIC BY RICHARD KRANJAC©2021



I’M NOT WHERE I WANNA BE
BLACK FIRE SINGS INSIDE OF ME
SUCH YEARNING, IT NEVER DIES
MY ARROW ACHES FOR THE PRIZE RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES

  BULLSEYE 
  DEAD CENTER
  WATCH AS IT ENTERS THE 
  BULLSEYE 
  DEAD CENTER
  WATCH AS IT ENTERS

WHEN SILENCE SPEAKS THEN I WILL SEE
JUST THE TRUTH NO BOUNDARIES
HIT A TARGET THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN HIT
A TARGET NO ONE ELSE CAN SEE, NO ONE ELSE BUT ME


  BULLSEYE 
  DEAD CENTER
  WATCH AS IT ENTERS THE 
  BULLSEYE 
  DEAD CENTER
  WATCH AS IT ENTERS

    BREATH IN
    BREATH OUT
    BREATH IN

  BULLSEYE 
  DEAD CENTER
  WATCH AS IT ENTERS YOUR
  BULLSEYE 
  DEAD CENTER
  WATCH AS IT ENTERS

Bullseye

IF I DON’T ASK 
WORDS AND MUSIC BY RICHARD KRANJAC©2022 

Standing at a crossroads again
In a new town with no good friends
Meet a cute girl at the seashore
Everything I could want and more
Sometimes I’m shy to make the first move
I don’t know, what should I do?

  If I don’t ask her, then I won’t know
  If I don’t ask her, the answer is no

Walking with our feet in the sand
Gotta summon all the courage that I can
Take her hand now, my heart beats faster
She turns to me and that’s when I asked her
It’s one small step for me
One giant leap for my life
When I go out on a limb, take a chance
Will the universe pitch in?
     
  If I don’t ask her, then I won’t know
  If I don’t ask her, the answer is no

I could no longer wait
I took my leap of faith into a moment of grace
I didn’t have to guess
She blessed me with a yes I’ll never forget

  Chorus

  If I don’t ask, I won’t know
  If I don’t ask, the answer will always be no

If I Don't Ask

KILLER
WORDS AND MUSIC BY RICHARD KRANAJC©2020
Anger, such a jealous lover
Won’t let me have another
She steals everything then stays
Have no strength to push her away

  Fucking killer
  You’re a fucking killer
  Crazy heartless killer
  You’re my fucking killer

Invade me, feel my sanity slipping
Betray me, a slave to do her bidding
How to put her back in the bottle?
Foot on my neck, her hand on the throttle

  Fucking killer
  You’re a fucking killer
  Crazy heartless killer
  You’re my fucking killer

    Intoxicating, devastating, always waiting, manipulating, conflagrating
    You have me just where you want me

  You’re a fucking killer
  Crazy heartless killer
  You’re my fucking killer

Killer

LOST AND FOUND
WORDS AND MUSIC BY RICHARD KRANJAC©2024


Summer air so electric
Water glistening
Concert so perfect 
Every bird was listening 

  That night, those sounds
  Changed my life
  Lost and found
  Right where I belong
  Saved by songs
  Lost and found

Guitar waves so seductive
Arm hairs tingling
Lost in that moment
At peace with everything

  Right where I belong
  Saved by songs
  Lost and found
  That night, those sounds
  Changed my life
  Lost and found

    In the past I ran and quit
    Hid my light so much missed
    Now I’ve found sounds profound
    Drink them in just like this

  Right where I belong
  Saved by songs
  Lost and found
  That night, those sounds
  Changed my life
  Lost and found

Lost and Found

 NO TIME FOR CIVILIZATION
WORDS AND MUSIC BY RICHARD KRANJAC©2018

 
Used my get out of jail free card today   
When I went out to lunch, I decided to stay 
Don't want a 30 year mortgage 
Don’t want a white picket fence
Can't work my whole life away 
And die before enjoying it

  No time for civilization
  Gonna start my celebration
  Closer to the truth than I ever could be
  And I'm feeling every minute of it 

So I have free will, everything else I pay for
Ponzi schemes, faded dreams, they don’t redeem
Don't want to profit on misery
Don’t want to see you get hurt
Sometimes when I look around, that's all I fucking ever see

  No time for civilization
  Gonna start my celebration
  Closer to the truth than I ever could be
  And I'm feeling every minute of it 

    Kick you to the curb and doubt your every word
    No time, no time, no time, no time
    I am not amused by the trust that you abuse
    No time, No time, no time, no time
    Kick you to the curb and doubt your every word
    No time for civilization

    Liberation, Celebration

  No time for civilization
  Gonna start my celebration
  Closer to the truth than I ever could be
  And I'm feeling every minute of it 


No Time For Civilization

 PEBBLE TO A PEARL
WORDS AND MUSIC BY RICHARD KRANJAC©2024
I will take the worst in the world
As fuel for my fire, burn bright in me
Misery is the money I need
To bring to life my darkest seeds 
  I must come in through the storm
  Write the songs that right the wrongs
  The true alchemy

    Sonnets from sorrow
    Hope for tomorrow
    Take all my pain change the world
    Turn my pebble to a pearl  
    Triumph from trauma
    Make sense of the drama
    Take all my pain change the world
    Turn my pebble to a pearl

Silent for decades aching to be born
Turn garbage to gold, treasure of the torn
I bake some very tasty words 
The best you’ve ever heard from the firebird
  Bursting free from self pity
  Giving thanks for all the angst
  The true alchemy

    Sonnets from sorrow
    Hope for tomorrow
    Take all my pain change the world
    Turn my pebble to a pearl
    Triumph from trauma
    Make sense of the drama
    Take all my pain change the world
    Turn my pebble to a pearl

      Come over here fear, come drown in my tears
      I seek you, I embrace you
      I can use you, I can use it all

    Sonnets from sorrow
    Hope for tomorrow
    Take all my pain change the world
    Turn my pebble to a pearl
    Triumph from trauma
    Make sense of the drama
    Take all my pain change the world
    Turn my pebble to a pearl
   

I never let my pain be in vain


Pebble to a Pearl - 8_18_25, 9.19 PM

TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN
WORDS AND MUSIC BY RICHARD KRANJAC©2017
Wanna be my own boss 
Make my own hours
Call all my own shots
My profession is the second oldest
Gonna be an artist, the Picasso of pillage

Take the money and run 
Tell ya what I’m gonna do 

Met a sweet girl, she is so special
Couldn’t tell her what I did
She thinks I’m a lawyer, that I work down on Wall Street
Even wore a new suit, freshly pilfered last week

Tell ya what I’m gonna do
Take the money and run 

I got busted, she learned the truth and still stuck by my side
I may be the Picasso of pillage, but she stole my thieving heart

Chorus

Take the Money and Run

A song that anyone can relate to. Those that we've lost are still with us, just in a different form.

DRAGONFLY
WORDS AND MUSIC BY RICHARD KRANJAC © 2012

They are with you when you need them the most
Helped me climb down from that whipping post
The signs are there if we'll but see them
They remind us that we're never alone out there

Their prayers reach us 'cross the space between worlds
They watch over us, every boy and girl
They sacrifice to keep us safe and warm
They're still with us, just in a different form

They may come to you in the guise of a dragonfly
They may look at you through a new set of eyes
They may come to you in the guise of a dragonfly
A love so strong that it never, never dies

Even if you don't believe, even if you don't care
You'll see the truth, the answer out of thin air
Over here, over there, over everywhere
Rings of hope, the end of despair
They're still with us, just in a different form

Chorus

We don't have to say goodbye
They can see every tear that we cry

Chorus


Dragonfly

AND THE CHOIR SINGS ON
WORDS AND MUSIC BY RICHARD KRANJAC©2020
Elder gods have voices like sirens
Their fell songs darken horizons with their violence
As the arch angels slept, we all held our breath

   And the choir sings on

Starless eyes far older than time
Bewitch and inspire all crime in our minds
Supply and demand is our command for more
Dark demons play flutes made of sound
Shadow drummers scream and slam the ground, shriek and pound
Black bird knows the score, nighttime evermore 

   And the choir sings on  

    No more chorales of chaos
    No more dystopian duets
    Stop the sordid sonnets
    All that makes us forget
    Our only hope is true music
    Epic, cosmic, magic music
    Frequencies of forgiveness
    Timbres of truth
    Righteous rhymes
    Love that’s proof    

  And the choir sings on

And The Choir Sings On

PLEASANTVILLE
WORDS AND MUSIC BY RICHARD KRANJAC©2020
You can’t go forward by going back
Those folks you see as different, you fear and attack
Because you want to, doesn’t mean I should
You turn your flaws into laws, you think hate is good

 But no, I don’t think so

  Why don’t you go back?
  Go back to Pleasantville
  Blinding white Pleasantville?
  I’m gonna stay
  I’m gonna stay in technicolor
  Love my sisters and brothers

Just like your last name, privilege is passed down
From parents to their children around your hometown 
Those white shields you wield, they also steal
They rob you of the rainbow and the powers that heal

 Outgrow the status quo

  Why don’t you go back?
  Go back to Pleasantville
  Blinding white Pleasantville?
  I’m gonna stay
  I’m gonna stay in technicolor
  Love my sisters and brothers

    As you drown in your stagnant gene pool
    How do those walls feel, cages cruel?

  Chorus

Pleasantville

INSIDE JOKE
WORDS AND MUSIC BY RICHARD KRANJAC ©2020

In another boring class, I can’t sit still
Find out fireworks make the best fire drills 
Driver’s ed teacher thinks I’m high as a kite
He may be wrong, he may be right

  It's an inside joke, go on and get out
  It's for us to know and you to find out
  It's an inside joke, that's plain to see
  Go ahead and ask, but you won't get the answer from me

Happened at that party at that house on that night
Everyone was fucking trashed, we got in a fight
People were passed out, then it got interesting
Gave them a peach, one that can’t reach

  It's an inside joke, go on and get out
  It's for us to know and you to find out
  It's an inside joke, that's plain to see
  Go ahead and ask, but you won't get the answer from me

    I get by with more than a little hell with my friends
    The crazy fun, the mischief done
    Laughing as we got thrown out of all kinds of places
    They called the cops, but by then we'd all vanished without a trace

  Chorus

Richard Kranjac

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