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

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

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

Update of a recent song:

Hello 3 AM, the storm wakes me again
And hello my old friend, adrenaline

I hear the chimes ringing out as the wind whips them all about
And now there is no doubt

That I must greet the day in the darkness
There's no other way
That's the curse of light sleepers
Night's castaways

This vigil, it is mine, and once again, it is time
So open bleary eyes

And meet the coming day, in the darkness
There's no other way
That's the curse of light sleepers
Night's castaways

Yes I must greet the day in the darkness
And what can you say?
It's the curse of light sleepers
Night's castaways

Now here we go, yes here we go

Light Sleepers

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

Early demo:

In the deepest, darkest madness, their saturnalia
They flash you, crash you, trash you, try to derail 'ya
All the wicked, winding, blinding soulless lies: oh euthanasia

Always slipping, minds are skipping, looking for some reason
What the hell (now who can tell?), so many acts of treason
They will sell our broken bell for nothing, we can't appease them

Open up for the bitter cup, they think that we will swallow
The things they cheer all disappear, you know that they are hollow
All we get are pirouettes and buckets full of sorrow

In their deepest, darkest revels, their bacchanalia
If I spun out every one ... oh, I won't regale 'ya
With all the wicked, winding lies, their aim: euthanasia

Image by The HIDDEN

Euthanasia

After a month of vocal practise and studying music production, I definitely feel like I've improved since End of an Era but still have a long way to go. I'm still getting the hang of mixing but mastering is still something I need to study. Regardless I felt satisfied enough to release the song so I can move on to other projects.

I wrote this song late last year. It's a bit of a difficult one to fully explain. The lyrics are a bit messy but kind of make sense in my head. It's based on the emotions that come from the anticipation of someone who's going to leave you who you don't have the strength to leave yourself.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gone in a flash
Like somehow I'd imagined a ghost
I saw through your act
And denied all the facts when you showed

I saw through the cracks 
In your invisibility cloak
So you can pretend all you like
Oh but darling, you know

That it's true 
All I can do is stay beside you
Playing along till you're long gone
I'll wait beside you

Don't say goodbye when you go
Leave me here with the lies that you told 
'Cause I've seen all the signs 
And I said my goodbye long ago
'Cause I've known all this time
And I said my goodbye long ago

War with your mask
I'm outnumbered ten thousand to one
I can't counteract your relentless attacks anymore

Caught in a web
Inescapable threads that you wrought
So you can pretend I'm a fly 
For you darling, you know

That it's true 
All I can do is stay beside you
Playing along till you're long gone
I'll wait beside you

Don't say goodbye when you go
Leave me here with the lies that you told 
'Cause I've seen all the signs 
And I said my goodbye long ago 

Don't tell me I'm not enough 
I know I can't provide what you want
Only here on the side for you
Don't say goodbye when you go 
Don't say goodbye when you go

Don't say goodbye when you go
Leave me here with the lies that you told 
'Cause I've seen all the signs 
And I said my goodbye long ago 

Don't tell me I'm not enough 
I know I can't provide what you want
Only here on the side for you
Don't say goodbye when you go 
Don't say goodbye when you go


When You Go

Many listeners will have caught the Nick Drake influence in my music. He was a tremendous inspiration, and directly affected my sound, perhaps especially on earlier albums. In the last decade or so I've listened to Nick less, but he is still in the back of my mind when writing. When composing this guitar part, I thought, "I would not have come up with this without Nick Drake." And then it occurred to me that I had never written a tribute to him. This track is for those who know and appreciate Nick's music, and especially his lyrics:

A song for you, just for you
The palest blue
A song for you, gone too soon

Is this the time of your reply
When we deem you oh so high?

And did you find your place to be
Your second grace
Your fruit tree, your fruit tree?

And did you lie behind the sun
When the day, the day was done?
Day was done

Then a new day dawned from the ground
And now you rise, you're all around

A song for Nick, gone too quick

(The song image is from the label of a Martin 000-28 Custom "Nick Drake Tribute" guitar--only 10 made, of which I am lucky to own #2.)

A Song For Nick

Slight reworking and update of an idea from a couple of weeks back:

I had a bad, bad dream
I wasn't sleeping
Take it from me
It's just a bad, a bad, a bad dream

Now look, look all around
As the shadows cross the ground
See it all falling down
Hear the haunting sound

Oh I'm caught up in the waves
Of emotion hard to name
Fear, disillusionment
And shame

Yes it's a bad, bad dream
Can't shake it, can't break free
A sad, sad scene
I think you know what I mean
Just a bad, a bad, bad dream

Image by Alexandre Dinaut (Unsplash)

A Bad Dream (updated)

When I look back at my youth, I am shocked at how shy and frightened I was with girls.  I just couldn't take a risk ... or a hint!:

You blew me a kiss on the Ferris Wheel
Drove me mad with your sex appeal
Were you looking for a heart to steal?
Oh look, oh look, oh look this way again

You threw me a smile at the old arcade
I was transfixed, I was amazed
You came on like a tidal wave
Oh look, oh look, oh look at me again

Did I miss my chance, my only chance
Was it happenstance
Or fear of you, fear to play the fool?
I don't know, it's hard to say for sure

You winked at me at the swimming pool
Those baby blues, beautiful
Now I don't want to be uncool
But look, oh look, oh look this way again

Did I miss my chance, my only chance
Was it circumstance
Or simply fear?
Did I miss my time, was that my crime
Did I miss the sign
Was it fear of you, or fear to play the fool?
I don't know, it's hard to say from here

You blew me a kiss, I couldn't believe
Lost my chance

Image by Melody Hanson

Blew Me A Kiss

All rights reserved 9/25/2025

We used to know how to read a room
Knew exactly what to say…
Now we’re divin in too deep
Never losing any sleep
in the bed we made

We used to take the time 
To see another point of view 
Now we toe another line
Like a party to a crime
In the bed we made…

Driving home
so alone
the streets on fire
Winding down
to the sound
it seems so dire

Why did you have to come around
as if you’ve made some kind of grade
My ears don't want to hear 
Now would you please just disappear
in the bed we made

Driving home
so alone
the streets on fire
Winding down
to the sound
it seems so dire

The Bed We Made

Oh my blue, how are you?
Or should I say, I hope you make it through?

Oh my blue, how I long for you
To find some joy, or peace on this day

Hey my blue, it could be true

Now, now my blue, I will fall for you
And I trust that you will not misconstrue

Oh my blue, I'll be there for you
And when you need me, just call, I'll come to you

Oh my blue, it could be true, I'll see it thorugh

Oh my blue, I know it's hard for you
To pull out of the whirlpool

But oh my blue, whatever you do
I will be right here, close

Oh my blue, you know it's true, I'm here for you
Hey my blue, we'll see it through, 'cause I love you

Image by Marcus Spiske (Unsplash)

Oh My Blue

Is it a mystery to you
When the Fates collude?
When they step out of the shadows
And you're pursued?

Three sisters from on high
Light up your sky, you want to fly
But now you are the apple
Of their eye

Like waking from a dream
And floating down a stream
A moment without warning
Oh unforseen

Gone the anonymity
The sweet obscurity, you plead
But for now the Fates are calling
For now it feels like falling

It's a mystery and more
Three sisters at the door
Is that your destiny crawling
Across the floor?

And where are you now?
Under a cloud?
Is it a shroud?
Oh now, you are their apple
Yes now, you must grapple
With what is coming

Image from The Art Institute of Chicago

Three Sisters

New demo:

Long, long days
The slow haze
I'm out of phase
This brain backsliding

Strange notions
Drink the emotions
Like magic potions
As the clock is winding down, down

Now I'm gathering all the leaves
From the ground
I put them in my dream tree
So I'll never forget

Blurry vision
Come the collision
No transition
And it's all blindsiding

Behold the wonder
Torn assunder
Gone the thunder
Now where is it hiding?

So I'm gathering all the leaves
From the ground
I put them in my dream tree
So I'll never lose them
Now I'm gathering all the leaves

Image by Liana S (Unsplash)

The Gathering

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.

Light Sleepers

Tom Hanson

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