This song is true to its name. So damn cozy.

Cozy

This is a demo of a song that will be on my upcoming new album.

Still Your Home

Recorded live in my home in Enid, Oklahoma on a chilly night in February 2015. Cozy up and enjoy.

Early in the morning
Sun is rising
My eyes are already open
And winter is
Just around the corner
I'm gathering wood for the fire
Gonna keep you warm
Safe and Warm

Soon the snow will cover
Every surface in a bright
Shimmering white
How it glows in the moon light
Bright enough that I can see the color in your eyes
The red in your cheeks
We should head back in side

So the days are getting shorter
The nights are longer
We have forgotten what it is like
To be hot outside
We should probably be restless
But the floors we are not pacing
You are cozy under blankets
And I'm to content to be bored

Soon the snow will cover
Every surface in a bright
Shimmering white
How it glows in the moon light
Bright enough that I can see the color in your eyes
The red in your cheeks
Our breath in the sky
We should head back in side


Winter (Is Coming)

This is the first single off my up coming album "Feathers" 

You can pre-order and listen to two more tracks off the album at www.rileyjantzen.bandcamp.com

The album will be out early next year.


Mourning Doves

Written by Riley Jantzen
Produced by Riley Jantzen and Barry Johnston
Engineered by Barry Johnston
Recorded at Watershed Studios
Mastered by Barry Johnston

All instruments played by Riley Jantzen 

I plan to release the album sometime early next year!

Hope you like it.

Sunday Morning

I really don't care if you are a Republican, Democrat, or anything in between. This song is intended as a reminder, that we as Americans are part of something bigger.

Unfortunately, our current leadership would love nothing more than to pit us against each other in hopes of keeping us all busy and distracted while they do everything in their power to benefit themselves and their rich friends.

Our opinions may vary sometimes, but I don't think we are as different as we like to pretend.

He Sold You a Lie (Single)

Riley Jantzen - He Sold You a Lie

He Sold You a Lie

This is the first song I have finished in a few months. Recorded this in my living room with my H4n. This recording is actually a pretty good representation of what my home sounds like most Monday mornings.

In the Morning

One day the days will
Be covered by darkness
and I only hope
We are gone by then
But if this evening
The sun set for the last time
I will be lucky to have you in the darkness

One day the earth will
Be swallowed by the oceans
We will be endlessly floating
On an endless sea
But darling we will be alright
So just keep smiling
Because you know we are already
Just merely surviving

If I die tomorrow
Remember I was lucky
Because not everybody
Gets to love a girl like you
They don't get to love like

Darkness

Time will end everything
Just give it time
All good living things
Surely are gonna die
Time will kill every one
So it's just a matter of
How long or when
And how well did you live

And the mountains high
Are gonna crumble to the ground
And oh the sun in the sky
Is gonna flicker out

Time can drive you crazy
If you spend your whole life waiting
Oh make the most of your time
But time can fix most anything
If you just give it a little more time
Most anything will work out alright

And the mountains high
Are gonna crumble to the ground
The sun in the sky
Is gonna flicker out

Just a Matter of Time

I am in the process of writing and recording my next album and decided to try this song in the style of rock and roll. Turns out I like it but it doesn't fit the record. So here it is for you all by its lonesome. Enjoy!

Lyrics-

One day the days will be covered by darkness
And I only hope we are gone by then
But if this evening the sun set for the last time
I will be lucky to have you in the darkness

One day the earth will be covered by the oceans
We will be endlessly floating on an endless sea
But we will be alright, just keep on smiling
Cause you know we are already merely surviving

If I die tomorrow remember I was lucky
Because not everybody gets to love someone like you
Gets to love someone like...

Riley Jantzen - Darkness (Rock and Roll Version)

What are we
To do with our lives
Make money and die
Or spend our lives
Happily scraping by
There is not much that I need
Just food, water and sleep
And you next to me
I'll be fine
That sounds pretty nice to me

What are we
To do with our lives
Some days it sound pretty nice
To just work our lives away
For a decent wage
But that is not what are dreams are made for
Even if it may be simple
Happiness is not always a simple thing
Happiness is not simple

Cause the more money you make
The more bills we gonna pay
And the more that we work
The more time we spend away from home

What are we
To do with our lives
Grow old, retire and die
What are we
To do with our lives
Do what we love until the second we die
Happiness is not simple

Happiness is Not Simple

Raised on a farm outside of the small farming community of Okeene, Oklahoma, there wasn't much to do for a kid who would rather have been skate boarding than hunting. This was the start of Riley's dependence on music that is still going strong. From 2004 to 2010 Jantzen was the lead singer and songwriter in the indie rock band Mayola who built a large fan base in the Midwest and shared stages with the likes of Drive-By Truckers, Dirty Projectors, Man Man, Joan of Arc and many other notable bands.

Press:

Matt Carney in the Oklahoma City Gazette
December 1st, 2011

I once knew Riley Jantzen as that harsh-voiced dude from that band with the even-harsher guitar tones, Mayola. Even when he wasn’t grunting or guttural, he sounded like a mean ol’ son of a rock ’n’ roll gun.
Anybody who knows Jantzen knows that couldn’t be further from the reality, and “Feathers,” his first effort as Riley Jantzen and the Spirits, should dispel his scary-guy image for those who don’t. It’s a wonderfully intimate album lyrically, and musically enriched by his absurd skill as a player. 

He’s credited as playing all the instruments, and his handling of the standards (piano, electric and acoustic guitar, and synthesizer) both invites you in close and dazzles with his dexterity. Subtle changes in volume of his guitar help to imagine him rocking back and forth inside some little shack of a studio somewhere that suddenly doesn’t seem so far away.

He’s really set himself apart as a singular figure in the Oklahoma music scene, capable of playing backup for anybody, as well as writing his own high-caliber material. This ability, coupled with his rough-hewn domestic songwriting themes (and even his voice at times) suggests Conor Oberst, once of Bright Eyes fame. Like Oberst, Jantzen’s definitely got the credibility and songwriting chops to mount a successful solo project. And he does.

“Sunday Morning” is the centerpiece here, a tough, hopeful, five-minute hand-washing of his conflict with religion. “My family’s got religion / But I’ve got silence and a pen,” he says, completely un-guilty of how he spends his time while others go to church. It sounds like his life has slowed down considerably (“The rush destroys everything / And everyone’s always rushin’ around”), and for the better. You’d better be holding on to something when the song spikes in the middle and then stomps its way to an emotional finish. It’s a scary-good ride.

Jantzen also tackles populist themes when he stretches into folk. “Work Week” is a Woody Guthrie nod with simple, pointed criticisms like, “Sad old money machine runs very inefficiently” and truisms: “Don’t let the past make your decisions / Tradition don’t make it right.” It’s a poignant, careful update on one of the oldest, truest forms of music.
 
“Feathers” mostly hangs out in Jantzen’s traditional alt-country/folk zone, although tuned a little softer by the presence of hovering, gentle synthesizers. It’s a gem of a locally made record, the kind of music that really ought to show up in Oklahoma more often, but sadly doesn’t.  

http://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/article-13754-riley-jantzen-and-the-spirits-%E2%80%94-feathers.html

Riley Jantzen

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