My ninth solo release--how time flies!.  Love to my family and friends for support, and especially, PATIENCE as I toil away in the basement studio. And, as always, deepest thanks to my collaborator, Dan Lawonn for his friendship and inspired artistry--for always taking the songs to the next level.

All songs and production by Tom Hanson

Album image by Aleksandr Artiushenko

Star Spells

Now we dance among the silhouettes
The hollow men, all the counterfeits
And we trip through the shadowlands
Under spectral lights, over shifting sands
Well maybe love, we have wandered too far afield

And we swing in a puppet show
Mute marionettes bouncing to and fro
I'm telling you it's time to fly, time to go

On the silver screen, all the burnished stars
Just empty souls with their avatars
Flailing 'round like poltergeists, that's all they are

So forget all we've learned
All the lies we have heard
And wake from these visions blurred in dreams absurd

Tom Hanson - acoustic guitars, vocals, keys

In Dreams Absurd

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

Listen boy now to your elders
And you won't play the fool
Listen to their wisdom
And wear it like a jewel
A glittering jewel
The golden path of progress
Is sometimes much ado
Oh turn around, look backwards

And now this is me, I am he
And the time has come

Listen boy now did you think that
This was all new?
Nothing comes from nothing
Or appears out of the blue
The beautiful blue

And now mark the time, free the mind
And dig for the truth
Don't forget, no regret
They will forgive our youth

Listen boy now, there's a strange man
In the mirror
If you look close boy, the face
Is getting clearer
Now what do you fear?
And what do you hear?

I am you, that much is true
And the years have run
Break the chains, strengthen what remains
Yes the time has come

Listen boy now to your elders
And you won't play the fool

Tom Hanson - acoustic guitar, vocals
Dan Lawonn - cello, 12 string guitar, tenor guitar

Listen Boy Now

Don't look at me, don't you think I see
The light in your eyes?
The beauty everywhere, I'm trying not to stare
Or idolize, it's no surprise
I could never be the only one you need
It's in the eyes, they tell no lies
So don't look at me, now don't you think I bleed
Like everyone?

Oh stay, stay a little while
You can still make me smile
And you never know

Oh don't look at me, not so longingly
If it's not what you mean
I don't want to share any castles in the air
No fantasies, chimera dreams
No don't look at me if you really don't believe
'Cause there's no in between

But stay, stay a little while
You can always make me smile
I will wait like a little child
'Cause you never know
Where the wind will blow
And I want you so

Tom Hanson - acoustic guitars, vocals
Dan Lawonn - cellos, tenor guitar

Don't Look At Me

When the night descends like a cloud
When you try not to think too loud
You never want to be proud
You just want to fade

When the last ember burns out
When you just want to forget about
The remains of the day, listen

Oh hide, hide away
Sweep it all, all away, away
In the silence float away
And fade

All the clamor, the rush of the crowd
Hear the crack of that thundercloud
Is there refuge somewhere underground?
'Cause you want to fade

And now so far below
Take it easy, make it slow
'Cause there's nowhere to go
Just a world to dream
And hey, hey, oh listen
Hey, hey, hey, hey

Now hide, hide away
Send it all, all away, away
In the silence float away
And fade

Yes hide, hide away
Throw it all, all away, away
In the quiet drift away
And fade

Tom Hanson - acoustic guitar, vocals

To Fade

Video now at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lTXvFZJpF8

She stood there in "the shiver ring"
That was the name we gave the ring
Our footsteps made in the snow, a circle of truth

Let go all the lies and the make-believe
There's no snow jobs in the shiver, shiver ring
So she stood there and spoke her truth
When she said "I love you"

And in the cold, cold wintertide
The hard truths can't be denied
And I, I say I love her true
I really do

When we stepped into the shiver ring
Our breath in the air was glistening
A vapor born of something new

So goodbye winter and hello spring
Now we're rising from the shiver ring
My love, oh I remember
And everything still rings true

Tom Hanson - acoustic guitars, vocals
Dan Lawonn - cellos

The Shiver Ring

Tom Hanson - acoustic guitars
Dan Lawonn - acoustic guitar, tenor guitar, cello

Entwined

I stand upon the shore
Looking out at all that I adore
Here at the turning of the tide
Wondering if this is goodbye?

And I will sing a lament
For all the riches now misspent
And the blessings thrown away

I grieve for all the coming tears
I grieve for all those who cheer
The destruction of all they fear
Who celebrate, mock and jeer

Now hear my lament
As the straight paths now are bent
And so many are led astray

I can't believe I've lived so long
To see such simple things gone wrong
There's always hope, I know, I know
In the truths that now seem so old

But I will lament
What is lost in our descent
And I will pray we will repent
Everything we've thrown away

Tom Hanson - acoustic guitar, vocals
Dan Lawonn - cellos, ambient electric guitar

A Lament

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

Tom Hanson - acoustic guitars, vocals, percussion
Dan Lawonn - cellos

Image by Barry Sherbeck

This Is My Promise

BEDEVILED (Star Spell #1)

I've been bedeviled, I've been besieged
I've been the supplicant, down on my knees
And if I told you, would you believe
Stars are falling from the sky?
And there's no time to say goodbye?

I've been blindsided, I've been bereaved
Too long adrift upon that sea
And I wonder if you can conceive
That stars are falling from the sky?
And now too late to say goodbye?
Where do they go?

I've been bedeviled, I've been besieged
This is my story, my leitmotif
And now I've told you, I'll take my leave
As the stars fall from my sky
And there's no good, good goodbye
Where do they go?

NOCTURN (Star Spell #2)

Someone tell me why
I'm staring at the sky
I should be falling down a well

Head full of stars
Signals from afar
How do they weave their spells?
Ride their swirling carousels?

Count all the things you lose
When you chose
And when you do not as well
Sometimes it's hard to tell

Oh nocturnal song
You lead me on
Solitary stars
Come ring the hours and

Tell me the tale
Of ships that never sail
And a place I'll never dwell

The alchemy of dreams
Too dear it seams
When you're wrapped up in a hermit's shell

A world of shifting clouds
Far from the madding crowd
Philosopher down a well

An alien, an infidel
Too far beyond the pale?

Oh nocturnal light
You fill my sight
Nocturnal song
You lead me on
Sing the sweet farewells
Come ring the matin bells

UNDER THE SPELL (Star Spell #3)

Was there a star up in the sky
When you came down from on high?
Was it the forest for the trees
When I missed you among the leaves?

But still you found me, how could you tell?
Did you know when or where I fell?
Oh yes you found me down the well
And you put me under your spell

And if I fade away, don't let me fade
And if I stray, don't let me stray
And if I climb back down the well
Pull me out, put me under your spell

Now there's a dream I always dream
Could be delusion, or a fantasy
A new moon rising, a ringing bell
And everyone under the spell, the spell

And if I fade away, don't let me fade
And if I stray, don't let me stray
And when I fall back down the well
Pull me out, put me under your spell, your spell

Tom Hanson - acoustic guitars, vocals

Turning Of The Wheel

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

Tom Hanson - acoustic guitars, vocals, percussion

Then She Wasn't There

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.