“Waste My Time”
Music/Lyrics by JK Wilson/BR Tant

Verse
I guess you led me on, maybe a bit too well
You had me believin in our love, that we had it all

Something makes me think you’ve done this before
But just a matter of time before some girl evens the score

Chorus
Why'd you waste my time
Why'd you tell me there was something there that we didn’t have

Why’d you waste my time
Wish you told me some sort of lie as you walked out the door
It’s not you it’s me, or some other line you used before
Why'd you waste my time

Verse
Signs were there things were moving way to fast
Guess I refused to see
You and I wouldn't last

Knew love never stays the same, feelings can change
Got caught in the moment, then you walked away

Chorus
Why'd you waste my time
Why'd you tell me there was something there that we didn’t have

Why’d you waste my time
Wish you told me some sort of lie as you walked out the door
It’s not you it’s me, or some other line you used before
Why'd you waste my time

Bridge
Sure gonna miss how good you look in boots, hat and jeans
Sure gonna miss your kiss and holdin you close as can be
But I ain’t gonna miss the way that you walked out on me

Chorus
Why'd you waste my time
Why'd you tell me there was something there that we didn’t have

Why’d you waste my time
Wish you told me some sort of lie as you walked out the door
It’s not you it’s me, or some other line you used before
Why'd you waste my time
Why'd you waste my time
Why'd you waste my time

Waste My Time

A powerful meditation on cultural appropriation and white guilt wrapped in indigenous imagery. The song builds through vivid descriptions of pre-colonial America before delivering a devastating twist - the narrator reveals he's actually a white man in Denver who has romanticized Native American history. This confession transforms the song from cultural reverence into a critique of performative identity and the commodification of others' trauma. The coffee/ash metaphor becomes a symbol of guilt's bitter taste.

"I Remember" 

The coffee tastes like ash this morning
But I drink it anyway
Like my grandfather drank
From streams that ran clear
Before they learned our names
Were inconvenient

I remember when buffalo moved like black thunder
Across grass that had never heard
The word property

I keep drinking coffee that tastes like smoke
From fires that warmed the councils
Where decisions mattered
But now I'm counting the cost
Of remembering
When forgetting would be
The final victory they don't deserve

They came with metal pots first
Shiny things that caught morning light
Like promises
We should have known
Anything that reflects that much
Is trying to hide something

My grandmother's hands knew every stitch
Every bead placement on winter robes
That kept us from the kind of cold
That lives in bones now

I keep drinking coffee that tastes like smoke
From fires that warmed the councils
Where decisions mattered
But now I'm counting the cost
Of remembering
When forgetting would be
The final victory they don't deserve

Three AM and the weight of knowing
How streams sounded before they carried
Industrial runoff and broken treaties downstream
I sit on this quarter-acre
They call preserved culture
And remember when the world was wide

I keep drinking coffee that tastes like smoke
From fires that warmed the councils
Where decisions mattered
But now I'm counting the cost
Of remembering
When forgetting would be
The final victory they don't deserve

But wait
I just realized something
Sitting here in my kitchen
In downtown Denver
Drinking fair-trade coffee
From my favorite mug
I'm not Native American
I'm just a white guy
Who read too many books
And fell in love
With someone else's tragedy
The coffee still tastes like ash though
Guilt has its own flavor

I Remember

Poet • Performer • Composer • Lyricist

John Kelly Wilson is a songwriter whose influences come from a wide variety of music genres. Growing up listening to all types of music including country, rock, pop, R&B/Soul, standards, singer/songwriters, etc, you can find those elements in the songs he's creating. As much as he loves great melodies/hooks/lyrics, he found he always gravitated to wanting to know who wrote the music/lyrics, and who the the studio players are, and what their creative process and inspirations were behind the songs. His knowledge and interest in the songwriters, producers, session musicians, and the artists of all music genres, especially country, runs deep!

Having always loved country music, his focus has been on song output inspired by the current contemporary country sound, country pop, and classic country. Working with several top producers in Nashville, TN, and A-List session players, with vocals provided by great Nashville studio veterans, these songs/demos are the beginning of a diverse country music catalog that continues to grow with many more songs in production, and on the way. He's also beginning to write a number of pop and R&B songs, and instrumentals.

Recently, several of his songs, including "(Tonight) Let's Live For Today" and "Always Looking" in both March and April 2021, "I Know You Know" in January 2023, and "Summer Sunday Drivin'" in November 2023 were selected as Top 5 Songs Of The Month by top industry publication Songwriter Universe Magazine. In addition, "(Tonight) Let's Live For Today" was selected as Broadjam's Song Of The Month in October 2021. Also, his songs have been semi-finalists out of thousands of entries in the Music City SongStar Songwriting contest, and the International Songwriting Competition. He has also placed several tracks in advertising and TV sync opportunities. He simply loves writing, and hopes others love his music too.  

All his songs are licensed with BMI, and available for use/recording. Hope you enjoy them!

https://open.spotify.com/album/4Nnn2K9FzIJrWB0r907xcW?si=24J_F9Q0QZGv7Z3x7Ne49A

https://www.youtube.com/user/Johnhollywood8/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid


https://twitter.com/johnhollywood8

https://johnkellywilson.bandcamp.com/album/the-nashville-sessions

New tracks tagged ##Contemporary Country