My Secret Place

My asthma flared up when the Canadian forest fires of 2023 began to rage in earnest. This song began as selfish complaint with a slight rewrite rendering it less sarcastic and more hopeful. I recalled summers on a tree planting crew and reflected that tree planting is an inherently hopeful act. (Written Canada Day, July 1, 2023)
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When Canada Burns (Send the Brigade)

When Canada burns my lungs hurt
from flames a thousand miles away
A populace wheezes, yearns for breezes
praying for some falling rain today
They can see it on the way to work
Brown sickly haze over New York
when Canada burns

We laughed at the joke
when scientists spoke
from ivory towers in the sky  
Now animals choke on poisonous smoke
while wild forest flowers wilt and die
Time to pack their things and go
Leave behind everything they know
when Canada burns

Back to working summers memory flashes
sowing saplings row on row
in the rich furrows ploughed from ashes
Now I wonder what will grow
Gonna teach the kids my tree planting ways
Send them out with saddle bags and spades
Gonna send the brigade

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Credits

Words and music (c) John David Lawson, 1 July 2023
G-tuned guitar, bass, vocals and whistling - JDL
All sound sources originated in the acoustic realm; no VSTs harmed

Thanks to replant.ca for use of the classic tree planter image (replant.ca is a site "designed to provide information and education about Canada's tree planting & reforestation industries.")

Technical notes
Still learning how to track and chasing that elusive tone
Acoustic guitar - a Tony Snyder OM-1 based model tuned in G and tracked in stereo with DI and M-Audio Sputnik tube mic
Bass - Fender Precision bass played into a Golden Age Pre-73 Jr.

When Canada Burns

CURSED INK MIX.mp3

This is just a tribute to the albums that changed me.  Got a favorite album? New or old, I'd love to know what it is!

Lyrics
I felt like the dust
On the cover of Let It Be
Was forgotten and lost
12 years old but I felt 43
Then....

(Chorus)
I let the vinyl spin
And in a moment
My spirit's on the wind
Let the vinyl spin
Needle runs over and so
I start it again

Turn the radio on
Flip through the music that just isn't me
I long for a song
Start to hum that simple melody
And it's like....

(Chorus)

Now I try to create the magic
That hangs in the air
But I can't replace what I found
That summer, I'm still there
When....

(Chorus)
I let the vinyl spin
I let the vinyl spin and spin and spin and spin
Start it again
Let the vinyl spin

Let The Vinyl Spin

Second Hand Song  

Chorus
Is anybody looking for a second hand song
Melody is good but some words are wrong
It don’t quite fit with what’s going on
But hear it once or twice and you can sing along
Anybody looking for a second hand song

It sounds like something that you heard before
Beat is midtempo, maybe more
It feels kinda hopeful and kinda sad
Reminds you of a record that you might have had
Anybody looking for a second hand song
Is anybody looking for a second hand song

It’s a little beat up, it’s been around the block
Got traded and lost, put into hock
Forgotten and left in some corner to die
I just happened to hear when I was passing by
Anybody looking for a second hand song

Chorus

There’s so many choices you can make
And this one’s kinda rough, like it was just one take
I probably should have left it where it was found
Why don’t you take it and pass it around
Anybody looking for a second hand song

Chorus

Second Hand Song

This song was sung, played, and minimally recorded analog in a laundry room, 1979 in Bremen, Georgia. It is me doing a a song I wrote for friends mentioned in the words. I am not in the habit of showcasing my inadequacies, but the purpose is to show the real me and give evidence to support the reasoning behind my being a dedicated co or team writer. I want you to know that guy, and I haven't come out of hiding before now. It is why I think of myself as primarily a lyricist and why I am grateful to have found the friends I have, folks with total buy in and steady readiness when it comes to being in this thing together!

Lyrics:Calling Cards - Thin Line Medley
It was not the astrologers, and not a band of angels
It was just a few good old friends, who had chanced to happen by
When they told me how their lives had turned
And told me of the things they’d learned
They told me that I’m welcome in the sky.

With the world as my teacher, I have learned to recognize
A brother by the calling cards, he leaves me with his eyes
 Or a sister, who with words so clear
Assures me that I’m drawing near
To all the things I’m searching for, and more.

There’s a thin line, between trying and relying
On your God to pull you through
And it seems I never cross that line
Unless I think I’m out of time
Or when it seems there’s nothing else to do
But that’s not true
There’s more in store for you.

There’s a thin line, between trying and relying
On your God to pull you through
And every time I hear that line, it serves not only to remind
It helps me know, the things I know are true
It leads me back to you,
Leads me back to you.

It was not the magician, or the players in disguise 
It was just a few familiar faces
And as it turns out, they didn’t even try
When they showed me how it works so well
Much better than their words could tell
They told me that I’m welcome in the sky.

Calling Cards Thinline Medley

I wrote the seed words for this prototype country blues tune in 1958, at the age of 16. It was a scripted kind of episodic fictional daydream ( it's time to be gone song ), my teenage attempt to mimic my major blues influences of the late 40s and 50s. This year Mark Lyle, Bryan Carter and I got it cranked back up word wise and flew it forward to now with updated lyrics that kept the spirit of the original but reflected an matured set of skills and the help and input of each other in the process of charting and producing the music. We like to think we retained the feel of and old Willie Dixon song, one of my earliest influences and heroes. This is another time travel oriented Three Amigos production from Southside Tracks.

Lyrics: 
1958 / 2023: I’m Outta Here / I Ain’t Lying 
1.	I don’t need no bossy lady, Treat me like I’m second rate
I can’t take all this drama mama, You set up in your mind to set me straight
I can’t stay here one more hour, No need to say you’re sorry, time is up and it’s too late.
Chorus:	I’m outta here, and I ain’t lying
		Like a flash of heat lightning ‘cross the sky
I ain’t listening to no more fussing and crying
I done tried everything there is to try
If I told you once, I did a thousand times
That one day I’d be leaving like I’m flying
Like a flash of heat lightning, ‘cross a dark night sky
 		Woman, I’m outta here, and I ain’t lying!
2.	You just too opinionated, Always got to say what’s right for me
Woman, You just too opinionated. You’ve done decided who I need to be
I can’t stay here one more minute, Made up my mind, I got to get free!
Chorus:	(same as above)
3.	Don’t want to be here with nobody, Look to have herself a man to raise 
Don’t wanna be with some somebody, Got a sure fire plan to change my ways
I can’t stay here one more second, My clock say quitting time, and no more days.          
Chorus:	(same as above)

I Ain't Lyin'

She’s Out There Somewhere

I never saw it coming, guess I was looking the wrong way
If I had eyes behind my head, she might still be here today
I sit around and I’m feeling down and I’m talking to myself
And she’s out there somewhere loving somebody else

You know that tear jerk movie, the guy gets a Dear John note
She left me one it was just like that, and that was all she wrote
I thought I knew someone true but oh you never can tell
And she’s out there somewhere loving somebody else

I used to fall asleep beside her thinking it don’t get no better than this
Now I wake up in a cold sweat with my hands clenched in a fist
She used to be my angel then it all went straight to hell
And she’s out there somewhere loving somebody else

Oh I want to lose my memories, I even hired a hypnotist
He said you’ll forget about everything when I snap my fingers like this
Now I wander ‘round the streets downtown like I’m under a wicked spell
And she’s out there somewhere loving somebody else

I used to think I was the lucky one, I had a love that was gonna last
Now I’m standing here beside myself watching it fade into the past
She used to mean the world to me now it’s all just an empty shell
And she’s out there somewhere loving somebody else

No More Stars

She's Out There Somewhere

On The Broken Side Of Love

Sittin' at this bar
Waiting for the last call
Marking my time
And bracing for that hard fall
Thinking about
All these memories of you
I've become a shadow of myself  
Now that we're all through

Chorus:  
So baby, tell me where do I begin
So I can learn to love again
Cuz I've been on this carousel
Of our smoke and mirror fairy tale
And everything that mattered most
Was shattered by the one I've loved
And now I'm left here wanderin' through
On the broken side of love
Yeah, I'm on the broken side of love   

I guess our time 
Has come and gone
And I guess I've loved you
For so long
That movin' on
Ain't gonna be that easy

And in everything I do
I'll still have some memories of you
Lurkin' in my mind
And making me crazy ....Yeah,Yeah

Repeat Chorus:

 Every time I walk down the hall     
Where your picture's hangin' on the wall
It crosses my mind
Just to give you a call

But there's this wedge         
That's been drove in my heart
Where our love was torn apart
And trust was broken
And taken a fall

Repeat Chorus:

Bridge option:   ***Not on radio version***Extended Version Only
But I'd still love to believe again
That I could be in love again
Oh baby, why can't dreams come true
There just ain't no gettin' over you
Repeat Chorus:

On The Broken Side Of Love   (COUNTRY POP)  STUDIO CUT

Crazy
Sittin’ on your front porch swing
Drivin’ me crazy in your cut off jeans
And when you throw those arms around me
You got me falling apart at the seams
  
A storm has been a brewin’ inside me
That’s makin’ me feel this way
And then you kiss me…….and I’m blown away
Don’t ya know now, baby…………

Chorus:
You’re makin’ me crazy
My lovely country lady
A sweet kinda crazy
Your love is gonna save me
You’ve got something and I want it all
Ain’t no secret……people gonna talk 
So I’ll start the rumors just to save us some time
Baby don’t ya know ya drive me outta my mind
I’m going crazy
For my lovely country lady
A sweet kinda crazy
For my pretty mountain daisy

And when we're dancin' with the lights down low
Swayin’ to the music on the radio
You fill me up with a burnin’ desire
Like a tidal wave of a ragin’ fire

And when you’re lying in the bed at night
And when you wake me up in that morning light
That’s such a beautiful sight
Don’t ya know now, baby………

Repeat 1st Chorus:

Bridge:
Your smile is such a breathtaking view
Your beauty’s written all over you
You’re in my mind in everything I do
Don’t ya know now, baby.....baby.........

Repeat 1st Chorus:

 Yeah, you're making me crazy
 My my lovin' country lady
Yeah, you're making me crazy
My pretty mountain daisy
Yeah, you’re makin’ me crazy
My lovin’ country lady
Yeah, you're makin me crazy.............
                                    
(Fade out)

Crazy --- (Country)  STUDIO CUT

Pretty Feeling

I am a singer/songwriter and musician. I’ve been writing and performing for 30+ years.

I fell in love with music when I heard the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. When I was 16 I sang and played guitar in my first cover band (Grand Funk Railroad!). In the following years I was in and out of various original and cover bands and played bars and clubs in NJ/NY. I was also writing and playing solo. 

In the '80s I had my first home studio with a Tascam Teac 244 Portastudio. I wrote songs, sang, played guitar, bass, keyboards and programmed drums. In 2000 I bought a 8 track Roland VS880 Digital Studio Workstation and in 2020 I started recording with Adobe Audition. I have written 300+ songs, some of which are under contract with industry publishers and I have several independently released albums available on various internet sites. 

I am a graduate of The Institute of Audio Research and a previous member of the Songwriters Guild and ASCAP. I hosted the 1978 Arts Center Arts Café in Maplewood NJ. From 2001-2005 I played in a blues rock band that performed in NJ and from 2016-2020 I played 350 solo acoustic shows at restaurants, bars and private events in NJ/NY. I am currently writing and recording new material in my home studio.

Some of my influences include The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Eric Clapton, Doors, Animals, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Muddy Waters, Paul Simon, John Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Dire Straits, Elvis Costello, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Jeff Beck, Pink Floyd and David Bowie. In addition, some of my favorite guitarists are Mike Bloomfield, Mick Ronson, Robin Trower, Mick Ralphs and Kim Simmonds.

She's Out There Somewhere

Steve Jones

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