All of my songs from the last couple of years, which I'm trying cull through to pull together a couple of official album releases.

The ALL

A collection of tracks for the next album to "whittle down" to album size.

The Whittle Down

Swirling in the sun
Did you dream the starling again?
The many and the one
Soaring like a starling again
You hear the haunting sound, look around
Will you be the starling again?

Join the chorus, sing along
That murmuration song

You hear the cries
And you are a starling again
Ride the rhythm of the skies
Will you dance the starling again?

In a chorus, a symphony
A canticle

Oh I don't know why
You are so shy today
You don't know when
It will come again your way

The isolation fades
And you are a starling again
Down the desolation days
Fly like a starling again
The madness, the rage, turn the page
Oh you are a starling again

Join the chorus, sing along
That murmuration song

I don't know why
You try to hide away
Who can say when
It may come again your way?
Look to the skies
Starlings will rise today

Starlings

We go deeper, always deeper in the sun
When the light of the day, day is done
When the world is upside down
And the sky is holy ground

Now we're rolling, oh rolling out the scrolls
And cracking all the codes
The cipher lies within the book
Cryptic pages, take, take a look
In a glass, an image undefined
But a face beautiful and kind

Pull the strings that light has spun
Fall deeper, deeper in the sun
And the last, the last shall be first
And the meek will inherit the earth
When we shake, we shake the curse
In this glass, this image undefined
And the face beautiful and kind
In the sun, deeper in the sun
Down down

Tom Hanson - acoustic guitars, vocals, synths

Deeper In The Sun

Won't you sing to me, sad melodies?
Sing them soft and low

Bring some eloquence, some words of innocence
And sing them adagio

Now lay me down
Oh way down in your soul

Sing the mystery, the quiet history
The meaning of the whole

Play that dulcet tune, bring me back to you
Slowly, adagio

Oh come on now
And lay me down in your soul
Down, down
Where your rivers flow

Dream, oh dream for me, be my reverie
Surround me with your glow

Yes sing, sing to me blue, blue melodies
Sing them adagio

And take me down
Way down where you go
Down, down
Where your breezes blow
Now lay me down
Way down in your soul

Image by Barry Sherbeck

Adagio

She wants to slip away
Away from the fear and the fray
Her journey a passion play
And she says, "I'm gone for the day"

She's waiting for something to break
The sun or her own heartache
So much sorrow to shake
And she is gone for a day

Oh, oh my dear
I will wait right here
I, I will stay while you
Are gone for the day

She hides her feelings, she holds them close
Disappears like a ghost
No one knows where she goes
When she is gone for the day

I am missing her, I am standing by
When she returns I will try
To listen, to understand why
She is gone for a day

Oh, oh my dear
I am always waiting here
I, I will stay while you
Oh yes, yes my dear
I am still right here
And I, I will stay while you
Are gone for the day

Image by Brian Kermichal

Gone For A Day

Took a walk in the garden
As the day was starting
And the clouds were parting
At the turning of the wheel

I want to drink it
Not overthink it
Deflate or shrink it
This turning of the wheel

Have I been be hypnotized
Or mesmerized
By moonlit skies
At the turning of the wheel?

Now the memories are returning
And all the yearning
My heart was burning
At the turning of the wheel

Took a stroll in the garden
As the day was starting
Felt like a pardon
This turning of the wheel

The Turning Of The Wheel

One of my favorite recent songs.  I was looking to include it in a specific album, but in that collection it didn't quite fit--until I experimented with removing the bass guitar.  That changed the mood and now it fit better.  I do dig the bass part so not sure what I'll do, but thought I'd share this version while I "sit with it" for a while:

Swirling in the sun
Did you dream the starling again?
The many and the one
Soaring like a starling again
You hear the haunting sound, look around
Will you be the starling again?

Join the chorus, sing along
That murmuration song

You hear the cries
And you are a starling again
Ride the rhythm of the skies
Will you dance the starling again?

In a chorus, a symphony
A canticle

Oh I don't know why
You are so shy today
You don't know when
It will come again your way

The isolation fades
And you are a starling again
Down the desolation days
Fly like a starling again
The madness, the rage, turn the page
Oh you are a starling again

Join the chorus, sing along
That murmuration song

I don't know why
You try to hide away
Who can say when
It may come again your way?
Look to the skies
Starlings will rise today

Starlings (alternate)

She wore a garland of daisies
She skipped across the field
The morning sky was hazy
It all seemed a bit unreal

I tried to tell you about her
I cried, "come, come along"
You ran right through the clearing
By then she was gone

All these moments, like memories, slip away
Pretty flowers fading with the day
Silver raindrops that quietly evaporate
Just like time my love, just like time

She seemed a little like changeling
A child of the fey
It was the way she floated
And glided on her way

I really wish you could have seen her
And the daisies in her hair
I turned to you for a second
Then she wasn't there

All these moments, like emotions, melt away
Pretty flowers wilting with the gray
Silver raindrops that softly evaporate
With time my love, with time

Image by Jeanette Ranney

Then She Wasn't There

Dream, dream, dream, oh dream my darling
Green, green, green the grass on your hill (on your hill)
You know I wish you all the world
If only it were up to me my girl

Dream, dream, dream, oh dream a star
You know in my eyes that's what, what you are (yes what you are)
Rain drops fall from storm clouds overhead
And you will be washed clean again and again

And this is my promise
This is my prayer
And my, my purpose
To see, see you there

Yes dream, dream, dream, oh dream my angel
Who knows how high you may fly (but oh you'll fly)
And you know I wish you all the world
And if it were up to me my girl
You'd have it, oh yes you would

And this is my promise
This is my prayer
And my, my purpose
To see, to lead you there
This is my promise
Now this is my prayer
Oh my purpose
To see, see you there

Dream, dream, dream oh dream

Image by Barry Sherbeck

This Is My Promise

Alternate version of "Mary Jane (In The Rain)," with a different lyric and arrangement:

Did you lie when you said
"Let it fall on my head"?
Why would you pull on that thread?
It binds us together

And did you lie when you cried
"I am yours and you are mine"?
"I'll be with you 'till the end of time"?
I think that's forever, I don't know
I'm not the clever one

Now lay, lay down, no, no do not lie
Lay, lay down every alibi
All the fear and the battle cry
Come on, lay it down

And did you lie upon a bed
A bed of roses when you said
"The light has dawned, now lift your head
The sky's open wide"?

Oh did you lie in daydreams
On peaceful waters, gentle streams?
Now do you know what that means?
Can't keep it all, all inside
Hard times will come, can't be denied
Now if you will just

Lay, lay down, no, no do not lie
Lay, lay down every alibi
All the fear and the battle cry
Come on, lay it down

Lay, lay down now, no do not lie
Don't take the blame no, no do not hide
This could all be, be a lie
Come on, lay it down

Lay Down (Do Not Lie)

When we broke into the magic within
You asked me, "how can it be?
Can it linger, can it last
In a world of entropy?"
I was thinking of something to say
Some words to reassure
But there is only, only today
And no need to open that door

We when fell into the wonder within
You asked me, "is this real?
Is it a fancy, just a whim?
I don't know how to feel"
I was thinking of something to say
Some wisdom to give you
But there is only, only today
And no other truth

Image by Kier In Sight

The Magic Within

I wrote a tribute to you my dear
A eulogy in a way
It is a tribute to everyone
On Memorial Day

I'll sing a song of remembrance now
A pretty accolade
I will be raising the banner high
On Memorial Day
Memorial Day

Sing, sing it out
Sing, sing, sing it out
Scream and shout
On Memorial Day

This is a tribute to what once was
Something lost on the way
Well maybe this is an elegy
On Memorial Day
Memorial Day

Sing, sing it out
Sing, sing, sing it out
Scream and shout
On Memorial Day

Now let me pay tribute to
The fallen and the brave
A tribute to everyone
On Memorial Day
Memorial Day

Sing, sing it out
Sing, sing, sing it out
Sing it loud
On Memorial Day

Sing, sing it out
Sing, sing, sing it out
Scream and shout
On Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day

Image by Pauline Iakovleva

On Memorial Day

Here you will find little acoustic pop songs; melancholy, dreamy-folk things. Sometimes some jangly, fuzzy rock tunes or ambient pieces as well. Work-in-progress demos to finished tracks, informal playlists to official album releases. Enjoy.