Once in a Million Years
May 22, 2021  All Rights Reserved

Once in a million years
Stars align just to make it so 
Laying aside the fears
A feeling that we can’t let go

All through the day
It’s just like dreaming
Time slips and slides away
While we are scheming

Once In a million years
Fates are tellin you hold the phone
Pushing away the tears 
Believing that there’s no one home

Drift through the days
We’re only dreaming
Time slips and slides away
As we are scheming

Once in a million years
It’s crystal clear the time is now 
Leaving it in the rear view mirror
A time that never knew just how

All through the day
It’s just like dreaming
Time slips and slides away
While we are scheming...

Once in a Million Years

Photo: Physically choreographed charcoal art by Heather Hansen

The Price (Round And Around Go The Days)
August 19, 2021 All Right Reserved

Round and around go the days
Reaching for something that slips away
Is this the price we must pay

Speaking of things that you don’t understand
It’s a crying shame
Lingerin’ too long like an overplayed song
it’s a fools game

Over and over we go
Hoping for reason to take control
Try not to let it all go

Tellin me this and you’re tellin me that
to ad nauseam
I’m goin my way and you’re going yours
To the bitter end

Round and around go the days
Reaching for something that slips away
Is this the price we must pay

The Price (Round And Around Go The Days)

Reasons Why
11/12/2021  All rights reserved

The reasons why we turn away
From all that’s seen…
A complication for another day
And the lies between…

The living daylights up the darkest night
And places we have been…
Raise a glass to our prosperity…my friend 

The reasons that we go out late 
And stay too long
A complication for another day
What could go wrong…

The vapid prattle and another beer
As the clock strikes half past two
Tell me everything I long to hear, would you…

In the season of obscurity
Lines will fade
A complication for another day
We’ve got it made

The living daylights up the darkest night
And places we have been…
Raise a glass to our prosperity…my friend…

The reasons why we turn away
From all that’s seen…

Reasons Why

All rights reserved 3/29/2022

All is Fair

You won’t take a chance and
due to circumstances
keep the color well within the lines

how come you don’t care and
Won’t be made aware and 
stick with birds of familiar hue

Can’t you see
It’s killin me…

You don’t lend a hand and
cannot comprehend when
It ain’t jumpin off your tv screen

Like a crow without wings
You cannot believe things
If it ain’t standing right in front of you

Don’t you see
It’s killin me…

On and on…
You sing your song
Won’t be long
until it’s gone

All is fair
In love and tears
Hold on tight
Through the years…

Times they come and they go 
Many things we don’t know
Wipe the mist from the camera lens

Fear still grips so tight and
Keeps us up at night then
Builds a wall made of razor wire

I can see
We won’t be free…

All Is Fair

Katmandu

Everybody Knows

Dead Melodies

This one is a bit of a jumble about the elusive search for truth.
How real clarity tends to emerge when we are on our own, in the natural world, away from the allure of the constant messages and distractions coming at us in the modern world.  Something like that anyway:)

All rights reserved 9/15/2022

Standing in the station
The moon is shining low…
With a touch of revelation
And nowhere else to go

Waiting by the ocean
For answers to reveal…
You beg, steal and borrow
For the things you cannot feel

Beauty isn’t wise
No matter what they say
if you see through the disguise
In the light of day
fate is on our side 
If we let it in…

Cruisin through the canyon
With the sunlight in my eyes
I recall the conversation
Was it all a pack of lies

Beauty isn’t wise
No matter what they say…
if you see through the disguise
In the light of day
Fate is on our side
If we let it in

Light of Day

How Can I Tell You

Might need to turn it up a little:)
**remixed 12/23 to fix boomy guitar and adjust eq on multiple tracks:)***
All rights reserved 12/5/2022
Artwork by Robin F. Williams 

I know… if I look away
I’m better off to see…
Time in a different way
And how it should be…
The minutes move so slowly
And sow their seeds…
Morning takes away the darkness
Eventually…

And if…I don’t miss the chance
To take it all in inside
Before walls come crumbling down
And we run and hide…
The hours show so little mercy 
Don’t you see
That we’re given what we need
Eventually…

The hours show so little mercy 
Don’t you see
That we’re given what we need
Eventually…

Eventually

Get Home
Written and performed by Todd Brown
Sonic adornments provided by Boxy https://soundcloud.com/boxy-683069948
All rights reserved 2/18/2023


All that we are
is not near or too far
all that we do
will not make us brand new

Take the ruby from my hand
and see how it glows
a thousand yesterdays will hold on tight
until we get home

We've travelled so far
not to know who we are
Curtains will fall
making clear to us all

Take the locket from my hand
and see how it shines
a thousand yesterdays won't make it last
until the end of time

I've waited so long
just to find
If you'd just

Take the ruby from my hand
and see how it glows
a thousand yesterdays will hold on tight
until we get home

Get Home

Already Dead

This one started out as 2 different incomplete projects (in different keys) after failing to fully actualize either I thought I'd fuse the 2 into one piece with lyrics that touch on longing and loss.  
All Rights Reserved 5/16/2023

Into the crystal light
a deep and satisfying sight
then I'm in your arms once more

Over the distant range
a tale that never wants to change
can you see it now, with me

Under a mystic spell
the ole familiar parallel
to be in your arms again

After the driving rain
the landscape never looks the same
now I'm back again this time

We will remember
never surrender
We will remember now

Once we discover
Love in forever
we'll make it through somehow

We will remember
never surrender
We will remember now

Into the crystal light
a deep and satisfying sight
then I'm in your arms once more

In Your Arms

Flight

*Please note that the unfortunate soul portrayed here is completely fictional and is a depiction of nobody in particular.  More accurately a hybrid of individuals encountered or observed.
Enjoy:)

All rights reserved august 12, 2023

Tequila
He takes a sip and lets it gnaw
On dreams that never will take form
He's slippin' away

Morning light
The new day ends another night
Of nothing but another fight
That takes him away

He never knows the plans he should make
Or chances that his heart wants to take
He's heard it all before 
But not anymore
It's slippn' away

No reply
His efforts never get him by
So baby don't you even try
He's slippn' away

Sweet Charlotte
He gives it everything he's got
Then orders them another shot
She turns him away

He never knows the plans he should make
Or chances that his heart wants to take
He's heard it all before 
But not anymore
It's driftin’ away

Albatross 
It's like a train you can't get off
He's sees the stop but not the cost
Of slippin’ away

Slippin' Away

All rights reserved December 5, 2023
Music composed and performed by Todd Brown

Life, drives you to the ground
Kicks you when you’re down
Wants to wear your crown

Love, comes as no surprise
Right before your eyes
With truth instead of lies

Stop explaining
Days are waning
Then you realize
That it’s your time to fly

We have travelled through this life 
Through the tears and strife
To the other side

Dreams, elude us when we sleep
And rivers run so deep
The secrets they will keep

Lives are taken
Plans, forsaken
Then you realize
That it’s your time to fly..

It may be we’ll never understand
Building castles in the sea and sand…

Love, comes as a surprise
Right between the eyes

For the Love of Life

Baby, I know you cannot hear me now 
 'Cause you're fast asleep 
 But I love you now 
 Colors inside your head go spinning around 
 Like a ferris wheel 
 Exploding and falling to the ground 
 Oh, people are screaming, people are screaming 
 My baby, she's dreaming 
 Oh, people are shouting, people are freaking 
 I'm just staring at the ceiling 
 Waiting for the feeling 
 Oh, oh but when she calls, 
 I know she's the one 
 Makes me want her harder 
 Makes me want to be a little stronger 
 Still I see monsters 
 Still I see monsters 

 Baby, I know you cannot hear me now 
 'Cause you're flying around 
 At the speed of sound 
 Colors inside your head go spinning around 
 Like a ferris wheel 
 Exploding and falling to the ground 
 Oh, people are screaming, people are screaming 
 My babies, she's dreaming 

 Oh, people are shouting, people are freaking 
 I'm just staring at the ceiling 
 Waiting for the feeling 
 Oh, oh when she calls 
 I know that she's the one 
 Makes me want it harder 
 Makes me want to be a little stronger 
 Still I see the monsters 
 Still I see the monsters  


 

I See Monsters

I had the pleasure of collaborating with the talented 2 Way Street aka Laurie on this little known Ryan Adams song and here is the result.  Please check out Laurie's page @ https://soundcloud.com/2-way-street 

Dirty Rain (Collaboration with 2 Way Street)

Bridges

When I told you of the chapter
you said you would read it 
now I sense that you are weary
and you couldn't feel it
every now and then I wonder 
are you comprehending?
this one aint gonna turn out nicely
got no rosy ending

Wish that I could build that bridge
that leads me to your heart
knowing that the way to you
leaves its mark
when we gonna find a way
it's a ribbon through the dark
wading through your deep dank sea leaves a mark

Maybe I should reconsider
true my expectations
its so clear that you cant hear me 
there's no revelations
the sun is sinking on the sky now
another day is ending
think that I'll be on my way now
gotta stop pretending

Wish that I could build that bridge
that leads me to your heart
knowing that the way to you
leaves its mark
when we gonna find a way
a ribbon through the dark
searching through your deep dank sea for a spark

Bridges

Written and recorded July 2016.

Will u retrieve me
 when I stay a little long...
 Suitcase and memories
 Put 'em back where they belong

 Silkscreens and moonbeams cling to my mind  
 Suitcase and memories ...


 If u can see me
 Through this thinly veiled disguise
 Crosswinds and hair pins
 U can't see em through my eyes

 Silkscreens and moonbeams cling to my mind  
 If u can see me..

 Chorus:
 Can I talk to you now...
 Tell u where I'm going
 Would you offer me now...
 Another road worth knowing  
 Will you relieve me from the ashes of the past 

 Blue skies and white lies
 Elusive as the day is long
 Coastlines of cayenne
 Take it in before it's gone

 Bright haze of sun rays race through my mind...
 Coastlines of cayenne...

 Chorus:
 Can I talk to you now
 Tell u where I'm going
 Would you offer me now...
 Another road worth knowing  
 Will you relieve me from the ashes of the past

Thin Disguise

a little ditty about the search for that elusive peace of mind:)

The Flow  2/5/2017

Holding on so tight I see you there
shuffling to the sound of mayhem rising in the air
rails and hails the city's waking
clamor all around
Can you feel the heartbeat of the sound?

In the distance I see you appear
through the waves of morning drifters walking off their fear
Rays of light above the sky scrapes
darkness from the town
Can you feel the heartbeat all around?

Seek some refuge silence all the gloom
as algorithms calculate and soothe
Keep the volume turned up nicely dive into the glow
Ride the stream and get into the flow

Merging through the people everywhere
trying not to make connection wouldn't even dare
Making waves among the madness
never to fall down
Do you feel the static all around?

Seek some refuge silence all the gloom
as algorithms calculate and soothe
Keep the volume turned up nicely dive into the glow
Ride the stream and get into the flow

The Flow

Beneath the Surface

Taken in by what is seen
my heart won't ever let me be
a little sunshine through the showers
shakes me to me knees

Beneath the surface lies the pain
of what won't ever be the same
a little glimmer through the pouring rain
drives me to my knees

All I see is new
it makes this world so blue
wandering through those sleepless nights not knowing
what I can do
 
Above the pavement there is flight
just as the day turns into night
a little rhythm to the neon skies
shakes me to my knees
 
Everything is new
it makes this world so blue
driving through those sleepless nights not knowing
what I can do

Beneath the Surface

All rights reserved  4/15/2017

Is it any wonder that I see u 
Is it any wonder that I care
Holding on to pieces in the middle of the afternoon
Is it any wonder I go there

Pictures of a place and time that once had been
Feels just like a warm breath on my skin
Rolling back the pages of a dream that has been left behind...
take me to that place inside my mind

Is it any wonder that I wander
To a space so deep inside my mind..
Wading through the increments of all that we have ever known
is it any wonder that I do

Pictures of a place and time that once had been
Feels just like a warm breath on my skin
Rolling back the pages of a dream that has been left behind...
take me to that place inside my mind

Any Wonder

All rights reserved  July 2017

Takin in stride all the people inside 
As they make their way...
To the start of a new day

Can't understand with my coffee in hand
All the disarray..
Gotta check out of this dive

Am I the one who can't see you runnin round
Making your way through this unsuspecting crowd
 
One more reply from the passers on by
Gonna be a brilliant morning
If I let myself decide...

Am I the one who can't see you spinning round
Making your way through this unsuspecting crowd

Gotta keep on keepin on...

Am I the one who can't see you spinning round
Making your way through this unsuspecting crowd

Takin in stride all the people inside,,,

Sunset Motel

All rights reserved 9/9/2017

All is Well

If you're looking for a reason
for the things you need today
familiar faces and some mild diversions
it's just another way

All is well...

With the dawning of the season
could I spend some time with you
anticipating all that we would see
'fore autumn winds break through

All is well
All is well
all is well can't you see

Are you're looking for a reason
why I do the things I do
a silky body and some citrus notes
don't mind if I do

All is well
All is quite well
all is well can't you see

mmmmmmmmm.......

All is Well

Our Days  6/17/2019
All rights reserved

One more time 
All the things that matter in our hearts and minds
will unwind 
When our days are done...

If I could find a way to get to you
A way on through your door...
Pull the curtain that surrounds u now
To the place you were before  

Every minute is a symphony
Ringing like a bell..
The dust collects upon the window sill 
As sure as time will tell

One more time 
All the things that matter in our hearts and minds
will unwind 
When our days are done...

The evening brings a wealth of tragedy
Will it ever ease...
Discontentment seems beyond repair
need my shoes upon the street

One more time 
All the things that matter in our hearts and minds
will unwind 
When our days are done...

Our Days

All Rights Reserved April 23, 2020

Artwork by Walter Piehl  

The rodeo’s in town
You gotta head on down
And check out at all the painted faces
Just head on down the line
To places you will find
Will ease the memories and traces
 
The things you say I can’t believe it
Tell me one more time
 
Just head on down the line
To places you will find
 
Come in out of the cold
The tokens bought and sold
No longer held in long embraces
You came into the room
In ended all too soon
As if there were no time and spaces
 
Tell yourself if you believe it
Listen to the sound
 
You came into my room
It ended all too soon
 
The rodeo’s in town
You gotta head on down
And check out at all the painted faces
Just head on down the line
To places you will find
Will ease the memories and traces
 
The things you say I can’t believe it
Tell me one more time
 
Just head on down the line
To places you will find
 
The rodeo’s in town
You gotta head on down…

The Rodeo's in Town

This song is my attempt to process the wrenching incident that took place in my hometown on Memorial Day.  My hope is that real change will come from George Floyd’s murder though 2020 is seeming eerily similar to 1968.  
Tech note:  the jet plane heard in the recording was not intentional, just bad timing.  ***Updated with live drum kit 3/26/2023.***

All rights reserved June 11, 2020

Close your eyes
Til you can see it
look inside
Til you believe it 

A weight is upon us now
Digging itself a hole...
When it seems it’s beyond us now
It’s time to take control..

Free your soul
Til it confounds you
Take the time...
As it surrounds you

I see you lying there
Reaching for your last breath
Your future is dyin there
While the whole nation wept

A city cries
Beneath the skies
We gotta try 
To get it right...

Get It Right

All rights reserved 9/7/2020

Late to the Show

You came in from the pouring rain
And stepped into the light...
Worn and frayed
That stormy night...

You slipped up to the microphone
Held with all your might
Quarter past ten
That Tuesday night....

The kit it fell silent
The bass man he froze 
Echos through the rafters
Straight to the soul...

The silence was so deafening
Until you let it go...
Rich and arresting
How could they know...

The teardrops rolled like thunder
From your eyes into theirs
Rivers of emotion 
For all to hear...

The kit it fell silent
The bass man he froze 
Echos through the rafters
Straight to the soul...

Late to the Show

Tomorrow
December 27, 2020  All Rights Reserved

Shadows stretch upon the avenue in time
And echo chambers pass the time away...in rhyme 
With repetition by design...
Right before our eyes
One more time

When the mourning comes before the dawn
Underneath electric skies 
There’s a place where we can run and hide
A place for you and I...

Tomorrow holds the second hands...of time 
The past will leave itself behind...this time
The wheels of change will turn from yesterday 
Roll on down the line 
One more time...

The forest lies somewhere beyond the trees 
If we could get there that’d be fine...
Reason’s just another casualty
of a truth so undefined...

Shadows stretch upon the avenue in time
And echo chambers pass the time away...in rhyme 
With repetition by design...
Right before our eyes
One more time

Tomorrow

I am amazed at the level of talented artists encountered on this site.  Sharing and providing feedback is such an effective way to nurture the creative process.  I am so inspired by many of you.  My songs consist of mostly live instruments and voice.  An organic approach to song writing with a few surprises in the mix.  Please feel free to comment and download if you like!  Todd

tbone711

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks