The prompt for Week 1 of PDX Songwriters 52-Song-Club was "the name of a city." Berlin was the last stop on my 3-week journey through Europe. I always knew a song would come of this day, and I'm so glad this chapter of my musical memoir has finally been written.

The end of that trip was starting feel like a total slog and I woke up that last day feeling ready to go home. My plan was to check off a few last sights, see my friend perform, and then get a good nights rest before heading to the airport the next morning. Little did I know. 

It started with four foreign strangers all on the wrong bus line and ended in a 5am embrace with a bartender and a silent dance party in my hostel. After all that, heading to the airport on no sleep, all I could think was that I wish I could stay just a little longer.

In Berlin - Ronnie Carrier (52 Song Club - Week 1)

I wasn't expecting to have a @short4veronica song so in only the 2nd week of the 52 Song Club but I'm pleased nonetheless!

I spent a lot of time at the drawing board for this prompt, originally planning to write a song about my Papa's Pendleton, then a Phosphorescent Spacesuit, but when it really snowed in Portland I finally landed on :snowflake:Snowsuit! What came of it was an entirely instrumental tune made with my midi keyboard and an AI drummer in Logic.
I started making the music for this song yesterday morning while watching the snow blanket my front yard and was aiming to capture the sense of wonder that I feel whenever it snows.
I'm by no means a sound engineer, but I've been trying to familiarize myself with some of the tools in DAWs for a few years so it was fun to put some of that education into practice.

Snowsuit - Ronnie Carrier/short4veronica (52 Song Club - Week 2)

This week’s prompt for the 52 Song Club was “Write a song from the perspective of someone who broke your heart.” OUCH. Kudos to all the songwriters in the group who put themselves into a vulnerable place to write a song this week.

It was both painful and cathartic for me. The process for this was interesting because it really went through a lot of structural and lyrical changes from where it started to where I wound up. I trimmed a lot of fat.


I'm really loving this opportunity to keep working in Logic to demo out my songs. Getting to add more than just guitar and lead vocal really helps crack the music wide open. It's really a departure from my usual sound.


Also, very poetic that the song turned out to be 4:20 because I think the person this is about would appreciate that.

Lyrics:

Verse 1
Two years since we said goodbye
Know the answers but I'm still asking why
Lay in bed and ruminate
Hit snooze again until I'm late
And I'll never say what you wish
Just keep adding notes to that list
I haven’t loved all the roads we’ve been down
But I miss having you around

Prechorus:
Oh Wish that you had seen me
Oh It never gets easy
Oh Either way, I'm sorry
I’m Sorry

Chorus:
I still wonder
I still wonder about you
Do you wonder bout me too?
Do you wonder bout me too?

Verse 2
Thought you'd call when you got back home
But I never saw your name on my phone
I've been thinking about reaching out
But what would we speak about?
I haven’t done the work

Chorus 2
I still wonder
I still wonder about you
Do you wonder bout me too?
Do you wonder bout me too?
I still wonder
I still wonder about you
To tell the truth
I still wonder about you

Bridge:
You, you, you

Verse 3:
I heard your song on the radio
I thought it was beautiful
Before I even knew it was you

End on Chorus 2

Ronnie Carrier - Still Wonder (Week 3)

Verse 1
I have a key, in my pocket
Can find the exit, to unlock it
I’m a square peg
Surrounded by round holes
So expensive, cost of living
I can’t keep up despite what I’m given
Debts rise
And prices climb
Chorus
I could sell my soul to the
Suburban Devil
And no one would know the difference
I could sell my soul to the
Suburban Devil
At the cross road with the white picket fence
And no one would know the difference
Verse 2
I work harder
Don’t get farther
What sorrow
All I earn is borrowed
I might not have what it takes
Deep fakes
Heartbreaks
Risking it all
On an empty tank
Oh
I’m good, but I’m not great
>Chorus
Bridge
Is there no redemption for a young soul?
Catching up now seems damn near impossible
What I’m taking to my grave
Spans decades
I was only a child when I lost control
When I lost control
Ohhhhhh
Ohhhhhh
Ohhhhhh
Ohhhhhh
Verse 3
Higher you climb
Farther you fall
I saw it all
In my crystal ball
Oh
Still, I risk it all

Suburban Devil - Ronnie Carrier (52 Song Club - Week 6)

This week's prompt was to write a love song. I wrote a love song for a beach I visited in Crete over summer called Damnoni. It was by far the best part of my trip, so a love song actually feels really appropriate. 

Lyrics:
Sandals waiting by the wooden door
First sign of a sunny day
I saw your flag wave
Suggesting a longer stay

Water, warm and calm
Walk the dirt path lined by palms
You wrapped me in your arms
And swept me away

Prechorus:
I feel closer to the sky
You are paradise

Chorus:
Damnoni
Damnoni
Damnoni
Damn.

Floating on an ancient sea
The Gods smiled back at me
Now I can I only see you
When I close my eyes

I plucked an olive from your tree
Read all the books on your history
I cherish what you gave me
You gave me peace.

Prechorus:
I feel closer to the sky
You are paradise
How I wish this wasn’t goodbye

Damnoni
Damnoni
Damnoni
Damnoni
Damn.

Damnoni (52 Song Club Week 7)

Verse 1
Family on the front porch
Watching the leaves change
In the autumn light

Waning summer breeze
Birds, beetles, and bees
The family dog
Barkin at the buzzing trees

A mosquito bite
Might last longer than this plight
So I’ll just bide my time

But I’m missing home
On old Oak Hill Road
Traded California for Carolina Time

Chorus:
I’ve been in this same place
But it still feels so far
I’m sure one day I’ll write a song
On an old piano
Or an out of tune guitar

But I’ve been wastin’ my time
Wastin’ my time
Away from you too long

Verse 2:
Family on the front porch
Watching the leaves change
In the autumn light

I’m missing home
But at least I’m not alone
Surrounded by unexpected delight

Chorus:
I’ve been in this same place
But it still feels so far
I’m sure one day I’ll write a song
On an old piano
Or an out of tune guitar

But I’ve been wastin’ my time
Wastin’ my time
Away from you too long

Been away from you too long

Ronnie Carrier - Away From You Too Long (Week 9)

Verse 1
Golden sun at dawn
A new morning
Waking up to birdsong
The seasons are turning

Under Persophone’s powers
Skies of gray and blue
I could my pick from a field of flowers
And I still bloom for you

Prechorus
So won’t you take my hand
Sow me in your land

Chorus
I’m blooooooooooooooomin’ for you
blooooooooooooooomin’ for you
Wash away my winter blues
No one can renew like you
I’m blooooooooooooooomin’ for you
I’m bloomin’ for you

Verse 2
Budding purple clovers
Under the cherry tree
The church bells are ringing in the distance
Could be for you and me

Ahh fresh green
Glistening with dew
I could have my pick of magical mushrooms
And I’d still forge for you

Prechorus-> Chorus

Bridge
The wise ones always know
That you reap just what you sow
And I promise my love will only grow
For you

Chorus

Bloomin4u (Week 10)

Cunning coyote
Leaping through the cholla
Dotting the landscape
Plotting her escape

Moonrise horizon
Hughes of pinks and blues
Fade into the night
The stars her only light

Cool desert breeze
Brushing through the trees

Boulders meet to clouds
Branches bending at the elbows
Cunning coyote 
Where are you going?

Phoebes singing 
As the sun climbs the sky
There’s a message in her song
The coyote sings along

Cool desert breeze
Brushing through the trees
I know silence, I know peace

Cool Desert Breeze

What A Wonderful World - Sam Cooke Cover

1234 - Feist Cover

Once described as Sarah McLachlan meets Nirvana, Portland-based folk-rock songwriter Ronnie Carrier’s musical world is like a haunted house with friendly ghosts. Each room is a gothic, fantastical observation on life's anxieties and addictions, risks and rewards, loves and loses. Infusing haunting vocals and Lewis-Carroll-like lyrics, Ronnie Carrier’s musical narratives are as catchy as they are clever.
 
With music drawing influences from pop to choral to blues to country and beyond, she’s released two albums, an EP, and several singles. She’s toured festivals and venues, taught music to kids, hosted monthly music showcases, appeared on television and radio, and is currently producing instrumental music under the name short4veronica.

Ronnie Carrier

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