{Ian Read Nov 2025} This song (in verse-refrain form) uses the common trajectory of hopeful confusion that typifies crushes, attraction, and the tentative, risky time that precedes making one’s feelings known.  It starts clueless, travels through imagined successes and failures, and ends having discovered nothing about the other’s thoughts or feelings. 

                                      C                                             Em
A word can mean this, a look can mean that
                        Dm                                          G
Suddenly silence is keeping me curious
Chasing your glance, my whole afternoon
Somehow we dance without hearing a tune.

What if I wait?  What if you go?
Is it too soon to uncover my secret?
What if I tell?  Or what if it shows?
How will it be for us after you know?

                      Am                C                       F              G   /      /
And the clouds look down on the fool below
                     Am                C                  F                  Em     F     G   
And the moon says maybe is better than no,    no,   no

What if I sit? What if I stand?
What is it like to be holding your hand?
What if we talk?  What will I say?
How is it right to be feeling this way?

What if we touch?  Is that too much?
Wash me away with a sweet gentle rush.
What if we kiss? What if I drown?
What if you hate that I’m hanging around?


[Am  C | F     G |  G        |G          ]
And the clouds look down on the fool below
And the moon says maybe is better than no!

What if I could?  What if you would?
What if the world was a different place?
What if you yearn?  What if you ache?
What if I burn all my bridges with one big mistake?

                      [Am               C |                      F          G |  /     /    /    ]
And the clouds look down on the fool below
And the moon says maybe is better than no!
                    [Am                   C |                       F               C |                  Em        |  G          ]
And the clock spins around and the oracle says “I don’t know”. 

Cos’  a word can mean this, a look can mean that
Suddenly silence is keeping me curious.

What If (Original - rough sketch)

Sometimes
Ian Read Dec 2025

A photograph that someone takes
In evening light that somehow makes
A halo of your hair

The contour of your face belongs
To whispered words of quiet songs
That linger in the air

Sometimes what cannot be said
Is written there behind my head
In fire in the sky

Why is the story always written ’tween the lines
I wonder why sometimes

Sometimes I’m awake again
At one or two, or three am
But it’s no clearer then

Sometimes I reach in empty air,
To squeeze your hand when it’s not there
I’m in my head again

Sometimes when my river runs, in silence under crushing tons 
Of ordinary days
And all the things we can’t discuss, will weave around the pair of us 
And go their separate ways

Why is the story always written ’tween the lines
I wonder why sometimes

Sometimes when your eyes compel
The power of the ocean swell
To pull me off my feet

A history that’s not begun
The list of things that’s said and done
Is always incomplete

Sometimes when my river runs, in silence under crushing tons 
Of ordinary days
And all the things we can’t discuss, will weave around the pair of us 
And go their separate ways

Why is the story always written ’tween the lines
I wonder why sometimes


No Capo
verse stanzas
[ D         |   A7      |  C add9  |  G       ]   
Refrain
[Bm  A7 |  Em   A7 |  D           |  G     A7]
Chorus
[Bm  A |  G     A   | Bm       | Bm      | Bm  A |  G     A   | Bm       | G   A7   ]
Interlude
[Em7    |   A7      |  Dmaj7   | Dmaj7   | Dm7    |   G7      |  Cmaj7   | G     A7   ]


Sometimes (Original - Rough Sketch)

I really like this song.  I wanted to step right away from how Rod Stewart did it though, since my voice is absolutely nothing like his.  It is a simple ii V I in the verse with a lift to the IV V in the chorus.   Perfect for a rubbish guitarist. Still playing with all my new toys and learning how to mix.  Thanks Sandy for the loan of the sm57 to mic the amp.

I Dont Want To Talk About It (Cover)

In memory of Jason. Gone too soon.  No-one wrote them quite like James Taylor.

Trippy Taco 2017

Fire And Rain (Cover)

Under The Waterline, Ian Read 2019
The sky is an oracle, without any clues
(and) I’m none the wiser, consulting its views
No sign on the ocean,
To show me the way.
All this  perpetual motion gives nothing away.

(but) Under the waterline, 
Under the waterline,
Who knows how deep,
Never a glimpse of the secrets you keep.

Restless as water, obeying the pull of the sea
Tumbling over the days as they happen to be
In a glimmering mirror, the world is a shimmering show
What I already know,
Staring right back at me,

(and) Under the waterline, 
Under the waterline,
Who knows how deep,
Never a glimpse of the secrets you keep.

All of the sailors, who never came back,
Gone to the underworld, crushing and black
I don’t care who you are, sirens make fools of us all,
I’ve got to be heading back home, before the night fall

[Chorus]
(‘cos) Under the waterline, 
Under the waterline,
Who knows how deep,
Never a glimpse of the secrets you keep.

Trippy Taco 2019

Under The Waterline (Original)

"Fold You In"  Ian Read June 2019

The veil across the sun,
The knots won’t come undone
Wounds are always open,

They’re breaking down the door,
You’re crying on the floor,
Bleeding in the broken glass

Sheets and corridors,
Refuge from the wars,
Flowers from the day before

I don’t really understand,
Let me hold your hand,
Rest upon my shoulder

Hold on a little while,
It takes patience to see you smile,
Talking into the night,
Where to begin?

Oh the lake of tears,
The night and the frozen fears,
Put away the broken years
And fold you in 

I will see you through October,
If the wounds are closing over,
I won’t open them again.

Your shoulders won’t stop shaking,
Your heart is tired and aching,
‘cause I know it’s harder then

Argue with the dead,
Fight to lift your head,
Can you see that I’m not leaving

I don’t really understand,
Let me hold your hand,
Rest upon my shoulder

Hold on a little while,
It takes patience to see you smile,
Talking into the night,
Where to begin?

Oh the lake of tears,
The night and the frozen fears,
Put away the broken years
And fold you in 

Hold on a little while,
It takes patience to see you smile,
Talking into the night,
Where to begin?

Oh the lake of tears,
The night and the frozen fears,
Put away the broken years
And fold you in 

Put away the broken years
And fold you in

Fold You In

Fold You In (Original)

Desert Song (Ian Read Sep 2019). 
{Respectful contemplation of the Simpson Desert and the Wankangurru people, dispossessed of each other by the influences of European settlement. I pay my respect to their elders past and present and to their beautiful big sandhill country, Munga Thiri}

Daylight is ending and silence descending
The universe endless and painted with stars
Am I now abandoned and not worth defending
Yellowed with injury, covered with scars

Under the whispering wind that is fanning the 
Embers of this dying fire
Softer again than the sound of your breathing
The edge of your hearing; a pale disappearing desire

The tracks are blown over, the dust and the distance
Who’ll sing to me now that my people are gone
Out of the silence and into existence
Who’ll sing my desert song	

Out of the oceans of time that surround me 
The wave of the future came crashing ashore
After so many millennia of dreaming
I’m not hearing you anymore

The Two Boys are gone, their sons and their daughters
Who sprang from my womb and who wandered my ways
Finders and keepers of my secret waters
The black of your fires is still in my clay

The tracks are blown over, the dust and the distance
Who’ll sing to me now that my people are gone
Out of the silence and into existence
Who’ll sing my desert song,  desert song, 
desert song, desert song,
desert song

The grindstone grieves for the touch of your hand
The signs of your living alone on the sand
This alien life,
Disobeys my command

Where is my healing, who has the patience?
To walk in my country; remember my past
Retie the bindings of your severed nations
Pulling the pieces of song back together at last

The tracks are blown over, the dust and the distance
Who’ll sing to me now that my people are gone
Out of the silence and into existence
Who’ll sing my desert song,  desert song, 
desert song, desert song,
desert song

desert song, desert song, desert song

Desert Song (Original)

At Seventeen (Ian Read 2019)

At seventeen we danced with burning hips and 
Sang with drunken lips and made a list of who we kissed
At seventeen we used to roar like lions
Knew no fear of dyin’;  made a fist at all of this

At seventeen we told each other stories
Time was something there was always plenty more of
The future seemed so very far off
Hardly ever talked of things that we were scared of


Trust the poets trust the blues, trust the ramblings of your muse
Trust the road to rip the rubber off your shoes
And if you’ve no more fear of loss, if you’ve got a coin to toss
Carve the last two apple trees into my cross


We waited  for our days to go by
You waited while I collected words to live by
Outside the hall of wisdom, dropped my keys onto the floor
It was years before I understood there was a door

Trust the poets trust the blues, trust the ramblings of your muse
Trust the road to rip the rubber off your shoes
And if you’ve no more fear of loss, if you’ve got a coin to toss
Carve the last two apple trees into my cross

At seventeen we told each other stories
Time was something there was always plenty more of
The future seemed so very far off
Hardly ever talked of things that we were scared of

At Seventeen (Original)

Too Much To Ask 
(Ian Read Dec 2019, Acoustic Gtr by Pigsy)

The crack between the curtains
Where the day is sneakin'
The dust turns tiny circles on
The light that flickers in
I'm fighting for a reason
To throw them open

The fuel I'm burnin'
I know it's no good for me
The wheels are turnin'
But I'm losin' speed
It's a cryin' shame
Just how much I need

Is it too 
too much to ask
Is too
Too too much to ask
To make my bed among the roses
When all of this has passed

Spare me reverend
From your holy rigmarole
There's a dog that follows me
Howling through my soul
Sinks his teeth into me tight
Shakes and tears a hole

Is it too 
too much to ask
Is too
Too too much to ask
To make my bed among the roses
When all of this has passed
To make my bed among the roses
When all of this has passed

Too Much To Ask (Original)

Warm September (Ian Read Jan 2020)

It was already late, and the shadows were long 
when you made it your business to teach me your song
We were dancing in circles, a soft sacred tune
My heart was trembling too

A calm fascination with delicate skin,
A soft satin sense of you folding me in
Lie with me endlessly, gentle surprise
I’m lost with a faraway look in my eyes

Warm September
Warm September
Warm September

The harbor is shining with promises made
A fond little flourish, a welcoming wave
Funny how even one elegant flower
Brings a garden to life in its fortunate hour

The black and the white of my ignorant mind
Is dreaming in color and waking to find
Radiant garlands adorning the day 
Dissolving the distance that keeps you away

Warm September
Warm September
Warm September

[Instrumental break]

Passionate power of everyday spells
The afternoon quiet of private hotels
Bottles of burgundy curled up inside of me
Glowing like sun on the sea

Finding the hope for impossible dreams
Not all situations are hopeless it seems
Tasting of kisses and showing a smile
Even fools get it right every once in a while

Warm September
Warm September
Warm September

Warm  September (Original)

A live cover of one of my favourites, in front of a band of new friends.

Wish You Were Here (Live Cover)

A little weekend improvisational project that just built up brick by brick.

The Question (Instrumental)

Tiger Lily    {Ian Read Oct 2020}

Tiger Lily on the road again
Another town just around the bend
All the faithful are falling in line
On the stage it’s a rage of a party this time

You’ve got the only face in the crowd
Long legs and your head in the clouds
Splashing colour on a wreck of a scene
Tiger Lily on the festival green

It’s never quiet in your head
It’s never lonely in your bed
All the strangers for your friends
Better party while it all falls to pieces again

You’ve got the only face in the crowd
Long legs and your head in the clouds
Splashing colour on a wreck of a scene
Tiger Lily on the festival green

And when a clear new morning comes around
And all the tents are packed away
And any fool can see it’s over now
You’ve got to start again today

A little something for your pain
Double over here it comes again
Night falls and you’re spinning around
Another line is it time for you to settle it down

You’ve got the only face in the crowd
Long legs and your head in the clouds
Splashing colour on a wreck of a scene
Tiger Lily on the …
Tiger Lily on the festival, festival green

Tiger Lily (Original)

Borderline
Ian Read Jan 2021

{I acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters on which I live and pay respects to their elders past, present and emerging.  I give thanks to the singers of songs and the tellers of stories that have come long before me and those who come after.
This song “Borderline” acknowledges the many Boundary Roads and their significance to racial division in our troubled history, as well as working around the theme of borders generally as divisions between people, but also as transitions between states of being: between ignorance and understanding, between resentment and forgiveness.   In the bridge, it brings us back to the perspective of the deep time and powerful natural forces of the land in which we live.    Finally, that our heritage is not a fixed destiny, but lines we draw in our own hand.}

The rain falls soft on the Boundary Road,
Which side of the line are you on boy?
You know you can’t be here, it’s your time to go
He’s on the borderline

Desperate people in desperate times
Now you have no-where to go girl
A country divided by fences and lines
She’s on the borderline

Oh, forgive me my brother
Oh, forgive me my sister
Oh which way will we go 
On the day that we know what we’ve done?
We’re on the borderline

They tell me the babies were taken away
I don’t have the words for your pain
Confusion or sorrow or anger or shame
I’m on the borderline

Oh, forgive me my brother
Oh, forgive me my sister
Oh which way will we go 
On the day that we know what we’ve done?
We’re on the borderline

Through the trees I can hear the storm breathing
Waking up with a word from the sky
Feel the forces still lifting the mountains
Broad rivers tumble their way to the sea
Watching the seasons come roll over me

Blood is a country with borders defined
Yet shifting and drifting like sand
The past and the future are lines on our hand
While we draw the borderlines

Oh, forgive me my brother
Oh, forgive me my sister
Oh which way will we go 
On the day that we know what we’ve done?
We’re on the borderline

And the rain falls soft on the Boundary Road,
Which side of the line are you on now?

Borderline (Original)

THANKS for 5900 plays and counting, beautiful people, can we get to 10,000 ??
I'm an amateur Brisbane songwriter and community musician writing songs for the hell of it and having fun.  Just putting some artifacts out into the world for free and learning.  Loving being a part of this worldwide community of creators.  Write, play, sing record.  I want to hear your stuff.

Trippy Taco

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