Maybe not the best one to play for your kids

I’m Not Letting Santa Leave

In the other room I can hear them talking, I don’t think they hear a word I say.
I ask myself, “What keeps me from walking
Out that door, I see nothing stopping me. Would they even know if I was gone?
I can see myself on a great big highway – out there on my own.

In the other room I can hear them laughing. I admit I don’t get the joke.
Still I find myself just leaning half it, then
Out that door, this is clearly not for me. I’m not ready yet to pack it in.
It’s not much, but at least I know I am free out there on my own.

In the other room I can’t hear them thinking. Someone does it all for them.
Empty faces – not one eye is blinking
Out that door, this might be my last chance. The music’s stopping – should I run?
Am I confident that I have what it takes out there on my own.

I’m not afraid of where I’ve been, I’ll never be afraid of where I’m going.
I’m not questioning the wind, but does it really know where it is taking me?
I’m putting all my chips down on this thing called random.
Don’t know where I’m going; won’t you come with me?

I may never find my way, but staying here has never been an option.
If you want to, you can stay, but you know I’d love for you to come along.
The road we take may end up leading us to nowhere.
But no where’s gotta be a better place than this.

Don’t know where or when; all I really know is that I’m going.
Following no plan; find out where I’m going when I get there.
Find out where I’m going when I get there – if I get there.

Freedom Suite

When in Rome, you’ve got to do as the romans they do
Try to look all tough in your mini skirt, and feed the lions a Christian or two

When in Nashville we sleep in our cars
The songs in our heads ain’t makin us bread
But our eyes are full of stars
When in Nashville

I went punk in up in New York City, grew my hair out in LA
But when I went glam in ol’ alabam’ they escorted me right out of the state

When in Nashville, we all get along
The hippie’s the hicks and the hypocrites
Spinning lies in to songs
When in Nashville 

Every waitress has a demo
Every barman's got a band
Even the outlaws have a song to sing
So they brought them to the promised land
They say dreams come here to die
But they just change shape under neon light
Maybe the story's in the struggle
and maybe that alright 

When in Nashville, I think I found where I belong
Spinning daydreams in to stories, 
and heartbreak in to songs
When in Nashville

When in Nashville

Not Your Granny's Ireland Anymore

Stars Of My Life - 11:18:24, 10.23 AM

Tell me your questions, and I’ll tell you mine. Don’t be afraid to ask.
Don’t make believe that you get along fine.

I cannot see all the scars you bear inside you.
I cannot see, but I know that they’re there. They can’t be hidden, they must be shared.
Keep ‘em inside and you’ll never learn to heal.
Trust me, I know, I’ve been there before. Just when you think it can’t hurt anymore,
That’s when you start to feel. That’s when it all gets real.

I see resistance, I understand. It’s hard to let it go.
You took a big chance, you made a plan.

I cannot see all the scars you bear inside you.
I cannot see, but I know that they’re there. They can’t be hidden, they must be shared.
Keep ‘em inside and you’ll never learn to heal.
Trust me, I know, I’ve been there before. Just when you think it can’t hurt anymore,
That’s when you start to feel. That’s when it all gets real.

Real

She sat by the door to the church every day
Praying that someone would care. 
All the fine ladies and gents came to pray, heard her prayer.

She sat at the table, her nose in a book,
Trying to hide in plain sight.
Did anyone notice? Did they even look -  offer a bite? 

Don’t straighten the line, follow the curve, trust in supply and demand.
Adore the Divine, then have the nerve to say you want a Christian land.

The question was simple, “Can you spare a dime?”
I’ve got a family to feed.
Look straight ahead, it’s not a crime, you’ve got your needs. 

Don’t straighten the line, follow the curve, trust in supply and demand.
Adore the Divine, then have the nerve to say you want a Christian land.

Feed the hungry, find the lost. Don’t complain how much it costs.
Love the ones no one else will, love your neighbor.
Heal the sick and offer hope, give the fallen ones a rope.
Do the things he told you to.


Living Simply

She smiled a smile that can break you.
She breathed in, and I lost my breath.
Her eyes saw everything.

She heard, she heard what I’m saying.
She spoke out, and my ears were listening.
Her voice gave way to wind, at one, the two of them

She dreamed, but I was not sleeping.
She felt, but I was just numb.
Was she even real, the way she made me feel?

Her skin looked to me to be as a pearl. She seldom looked my way
And I can still remember -

She hoped, but I lacked ambition.
She spoke, I covered my mouth.
So much I want to say, but words got in the way, but I said them anyway.



She Smiled

He was just looking for his salvation, and they all came, extending a hand.
We can get you on track, nothing holding you back. Just listen to the plan.
With options so many, he wondered, is what they’re telling me real?
They all gave the steps to take my life back, but nobody asks how I feel.
He rejects everything this world expects.

There were times that the world was all rosy, no one can say where or when.
But sometimes it fell and it all went to hell, fighting those demons within.
And so he avoided decisions. Anything’s fine, I don’t care.
From the outside it sure looked like he tried, but inside the clouds were still there.
He rejects everything this world expects.

Dreams, they say, are a window to the soul
A map to where you’ve been.
When the dreams just take off and leave a hole,
Sometimes you just fall in.

So the lesson to learn, if there is one, is that life is complex, and it knows,
You can plan and predict, control and restrict, label and put into rows.
But all stories are not happy endings, if yours are, rejoice it made sense.
When your story is shared, relived and compared, not all will take offense.
He rejects everything this world expects.

Expectations ( Song for Travis)

Retired the beginning of 2023. Been writing music seriously for about six years. Thanks for listening - and sharing!

Real

Scott Orr

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