Love the update Tom☺️.... Happy New Year 🎊

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 been 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

Tom Hanson - acoustic guitars, vocals
Dan Lawonn - acoustic guitars, cello

Turning Of The Wheel

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

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

Three Sisters

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

Strange notions
New emotions
Swallow the 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

Blurring vision
Then collision
Indecision
And it's all blindsiding

Behold the wonder
Torn assunder
Gone with 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

More  dystopian  tech musing about how we will manage this growing power of AI,   using the  Original Star Trek Episode Where No Man Has Gone Before ....Hopefully we get it right... 


Where No Man Has Gone Before

I'm a doctor
Not a prophet
I wonder how it came to this
A little nature 
A little nurture
I'll be a song psychiatrist 
Kinda hokey but you get the gist

Was it father?
Was it mother?
With their foolish and their fallacies
Computer Nation
AI creation
They put a bunch of little devils in me
We've gone giddy on the gadgetry

Erratic fanatics 
We rage, we rile up 
So routine, the calls for war
Id inner states to sublimate
Let's take a trip to Where No Man Has Gone Before

…..Wait there's more…….

Once a doctor
Now a defector
With a push ‘n’ prompt electro-fist
Paranoia meets persuasion
Money maker on the precipice 
Gone from licensed to the ludicrous 

It's so cinematic 
God makes Man makes God to call for war
All urethaned and baked our brains
Shall we wake them and go to Where No Man Has Gone Before

Where's the Human?
Here's the New Man
The doctor now a fantasist 
AI shaker
Body faker
No longer the psychiatrist
Even Captain Kirk has been dismissed
Algorithms trump the Altruist 
When I'm cranky then I get like this
Gonna Meta-meet my therapist








Where No Man Has Gone Before

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.

This Is My Promise

Tom Hanson

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