Two rivers, one life, one love and one home
Two lovers, side by side, sharing the unknown,
And it seems to me these rivers
Have watched our lives unfold
Borne our hopes and dreams on their rising tides
And carried them safely home

Monday morning platform carries me so far away
Twenty years I’ve rode this train, a few regrets along the way
But I know when I cross that river, I will soon be home
Like I know we belong together, I will soon be home

Two rivers, one life, one love and one home
Two lovers, side by side, sharing the unknown,
And it seems to me these rivers
Have watched our lives unfold
Borne our hopes and dreams on their rising tides
And carried them safely home

Every day I walk to work, every day I feel the same
I give thanks for what I’ve got, wish you weren’t so far away

credits
from Cowboy Songs, released February 1, 2020
Vocals, acoustic guitar – Paul Nowak
Bass & guitar – Steve Powell
Drums & percussion – Colin Lamont
Backing vocals – Alice Pearson
Mixed & engineered by Steve Powell at Ark Studios, Liverpool

Cowboy Songs

Two Rivers

Wasn’t born on the endless prairie, or raised on stories of how the West was won
Never wandered through those valleys, high in my saddle, ‘neath a blood-red sun
And rows of northern, suburban houses, lack the romance of the open plain
But a cowboy can still win and lose his fortune
And whiskey, wine and women, can hurt you all the same

And I know these of heartbreak, sang in bedrooms here, sang round campfires there
Tell the tales, and the stories that connect us, to the things that really matter
The ones for who we care
Those cowboy songs

Now a cowboy, he’s supposed to ride through heartbreak, supposed to ride through sorrow,
supposed to ride through pain
But the riding is always that much easier, when there’s someone there beside
Who can help you start again

And I know these songs of heartbreak, sang in pubs round here, sang in bar-rooms there
Tell the tales, and the stories that connect us, to the things that really matter
The ones for who we care
Those cowboy songs

Saddle up and hunker down, cos’ there’s a long, long road ahead my friend
Dust yourself off, get back on, cos’ there’s a long, long road ahead, my friend

credits
from Cowboy Songs, released February 1, 2020
Songs, vocals, acoustic guitar & uke – Paul Nowak
Bass & guitar – Steve Powell
Violin – Amy Chalmers
Drums & percussion – Colin Lamont
Mixed & engineered by Steve Powell at Ark Studios, Liverpool

A song for my dad and grandad.


Born overseas by the storm clouds, the struggles and stresses of war
Built a new home, built a new life
Started with nothing at all
Passed on the surest of lessons
Be honest, work hard and be true
Find the right woman, treat her with respect
And the rest I will leave up to you

Because the simple things, most important things
To face what life brings
I learned from my hero
My hero was you

Worked far away for a long time, wherever you where, we all knew
It wasn’t the call of a new life you heeded, it’s what you gave up to get through
So not all of my heroes are cowboys, not all of them play the guitar
Not all of my heroes are left-wing firebrands, didn’t run out at Goodison Park

Because the simple things, most important things
To face what life brings
I learned from my hero
My hero was you

The lessons you learnt from your father, the lessons you passed to your sons
Are the things I hold dearest, the things that speak clearest
To the sort of man I want to become

Passed on the surest of lessons
Be honest, work hard and be true
Find the right woman, treat her like a queen
And the rest I will leave up to you
credits
from Cowboy Songs, released February 1, 2020
Songs, vocals, acoustic guitar & uke – Paul Nowak
Bass – Steve Powell
Violin – Amy Chalmers
Drums & percussion – Colin Lamont
Guitar – Joe Nowak

Mixed & engineered by Steve Powell at Ark Studios, Liverpool

Hero

Lyrics:

We talk to each other
But don’t really talk to each other
About the things that really matter
About the feelings deep inside

And we think it’s somehow better
To pretend to one another
That we forgot him or forgot her
Leave our heartbreak to one side

Chorus: But if you don’t share the pain, 
with those you trust and those you love
Can’t find words to explain, 
all the stuff you’re frightened of

You will hurt….

So you smile though you’re hurting
Spend your, yeah, life so uncertain
About the way that others see you
How you stand before their gaze

And every waking moment
That you lie there in the darkness
Replaying half remembered conversations
Or mistakes that you have made

Chorus

You need to wake in the morning
See the world anew
Take a breath
Reset, and see you the way I do

But if you don’t share the pain, 
with those you trust and those you love
Can’t find words to explain, 
all the stuff you’re frightened of

Chorus

So take a chance, reach out
To those you trust and those you love
Find the words, speak out, 
About all the stuff you’re frightened of
It’ll hurt, we all hurt, we all hurt

Hurt

It's been a strange few months. I've loved being at home most nights, but lock down has been a weird and unsettling mix of up's and down's. Here's a little song I wrote about all of that.
lyrics
Riding on an empty train
Rolling south, and work again
Empty seats and shattered lives
Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives

And I wonder if we’ll ever be
Back to the place we used to be
Nights with friends in crowded bars
Music, laughter, old guitars

Chorus

And I trust, these days will prove
To bring the best in, best in you
And I hope we look back and see
The best in you, the best in me


Riding on an empty train,
Rolling north and home again
Home to more than town and place
Home to feel your warm embrace

Chorus

Too many times now, I have found
What matters least
Still brings me down
Time to roll away that pain
Riding on an empty train

credits
released August 16, 2020
Song & music - Paul Nowak
Mixed & mastered by Steve Powell
Recorded at home, Birkenhead, August 2020

Best of Us

Recorded at home in Birkenhead on 16/17 April, 2020.

credits

Songs, vocals & acoustic guitar - Paul Nowak

Guitar, 'Sent to War' & 'Thread' by Steve Powell

Mixed by Steve Powell, Ark Studios

Cover by 5-11 Arts. Orginal artwork, 'Gassed'', John Sargent Singer, 1919

You Tell Me

Thread

Sent To War

Singer-songwriter from Birkenhead, Merseyside. If you don’t know Birkenhead, it’s a bit like Brooklyn to Liverpool’s Manhattan. If you do know Birkenhead, you’ll know it’s not...

Cowboy Songs is the first thing I’ve recorded in a studio since my late teens, and throughout 2020 I’ll be doing the odd-gig to promote it when the day-job allows. 

You can get more downloads at my Bandcamp site

Paul Nowak - Live from the Shed

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