This playlist contains previously unreleased original song demos and alternate versions / mixes from my recording sessions over the years. Some songs are fully instrumented, while others are just guitar / piano and vocal. 

Thanks for listening!

Lost Tracks & Demos

This song was written & recorded on the day that John Prine passed away in April 2020...

Make the snow go
Make the wind blow
Let the spring come
Let the sun show

Give the new sky
Some new sunshine
Give this old world
Some more John Prine

Make the outlaw
Make the front door
Let the lock set
Let the hurt roar

Give the new sky
Some new sunshine
Give this old world
Some more John Prine

Run the border
Run the water
Let the fever break
Let it for her

Give the new sky
Some new sunshine
Give this old world
Some more John Prine

John Prine

Here's a song written & recorded in January 2018...

Paper plane
Sailing high at midnight
Silver stars
Lighting our way
Take your seat
Say goodbye to the Apple
Close your eyes
We’re on our way
 
Painted words
All around the city
It takes time
Graffiti fades
Lift our wings
Up and over the Hudson
Close your eyes
We’re on our way
 
Paper plane
This is Captain Midnight
All the stars
Fading to grey
Feel the rain
It’s summer in the mountains
Close your eyes
We’re on our way
 
Paper plane
We’re on our way
La La La La
We’re on our way
La La La La
We’re on our way
Paper plane
We’re on our way

Paper Plane

This song was written in 2017 and recorded in 2018 as a response to the tragic events in Charlottesville, North Carolina...

The sun sinks low in Charlottesville
On an evil August night
You can smell the citronella
You can see it burning bright
The fear is rising slowly
From the windows up above
You can almost hear the footsteps
And their words have run amok

The sun comes up in Charlottesville
There's a new day ahead
You can see the strangers gather
You can almost feel the dread
The streets are filling slowly
From the first light of the day
You can read the printed signposts
And the flags now on display

The sun comes up in Charlottesville
In the middle of the day
You can see the monsters prowling
You can smell the pepper spray
The crowd is in slow motion
From the blinding metal weather
You can see the flowers scatter
And the tears upon the heather

The sun sinks low in Charlottesville
On a somber August night
You can see the shadows running
You can feel their vile delight
The house is in disorder
From the streets and all around
You can hear the voices singing
And the rising of this town

The sun sinks low in Charlottesville
The sun sinks low in Charlottesville
The sun sinks low in Charlottesville
The sun sinks low in Charlottesville
The sun comes up in Charlottesville
The sun comes up in Charlottesville
The sun comes up in Charlottesville

Charlottesville

This song was written & recorded in 2022...

You’ve been running
I’ve been waiting
It’s been a lifetime
That it's been raining
I’m on the Northside
I’m running a ditty
Through my brain
Dark in the city

You’re a mama’s girl
I’m a papa’s boy
It’s a phone call child
For a little joy
I’m a south bound train
I’m getting gritty
On the tracks
Dark in the city

You’ve been thinking
I’ve been dreaming
It’s been a long night
To find some meaning
I’m lost in Chelsea
It’s such a pity
So many lights
Dark in the city

Dark City

Here's a track from 2019...

There’s a fire on the border in the midday sun
Mothers and daughters under the gun
What is this thing called human rights
It gets erased under the cover of night

Stop the clock
Somebody pull the plug
Shine the light
Two minutes to midnight

There’s a man with a sign in Central Park
Saying jack the mayor and jack the cops
I’m watching like a statue on a granite base
You better get yourself back to Chelsea Place

Stop the clock
Somebody pull the plug
Shine the light
Two minutes to midnight

There’s you and me we got bleeding hearts
The horse is running away from his cart
I’ve got a watch never could tell time
And the weight of love and a suspicious mind 

Stop the clock
Somebody pull the plug
Shine the light
Two minutes to midnight

Stop the clock
Somebody pull the plug
Shine the light
Boom two minutes to midnight

Two Minutes

This is a piano / drum / vocal demo from 2016...

Adios

This song was written following the horrific bombing of the Manchester Arena in May of 2017. This is my small tribute to Olivia Campbell who was one of the many that perished in the blast.

Manchester (Olivia's Song)

This is a demo track from November 2014...

Laurel Canyon Dreaming

Watching the day rise
The geese are flying high
The sound of the morning
And the far away cries

But I’m building my day 
Piece by piece in your cup
Pouring coffee in the kitchen
And baby that’s what’s up

Running a shower
The heat is sounding rough
The mirror shows a bit of age
And it’s never warm enough

But I’m building my day 
Piece by piece in your cup
Pouring coffee in the kitchen
And baby that’s what’s up

Counting on the shadows
The night is lifting off
The dark is just an orphan
And the hours are the cost

But I’m building my day 
Piece by piece in your cup
Pouring coffee in the kitchen
And baby that’s what’s up

Pouring Coffee

Here's a track written in 2013 and recorded in 2019...

The sky was coming down
All around the stars
Footprints in the night
Lighting up the dark
Like a path or a tunnel through the haze
Like an axe coming down to spilt the days
She’s a vision up against the fading light
She’s a ghost in a line of crooked sight

And she don’t pay no mind
And she don’t pay no mind
Moving in and out of time
Baby’s on the mainline

It could have been Detroit
Or a condo by the sea
In the middle of the night
In Kansas City
Like a jet or a rocket to the sun
Like a war that never will be won
I’m on a mission to unwind the crime
I’m a shape shifter running out of time

And she don’t pay no mind
And she don’t pay no mind
Moving in and out of time
Baby’s on the mainline

I’m on a mission to unwind the crime
And she don’t pay no mind
And she don’t pay no mind
Moving in and out of time
Baby’s on the mainline
Baby’s on the mainline
Baby’s on the mainline
Baby’s on the mainline
Baby’s on the mainline

Mainline

This song was written in 1993 and recorded in 2018. Guitar, bass & vocal...

I'm driving south from Santa Rosa
In a mustang convertible
She's on the red-eye bound for Brooklyn
I can hear those engines whirl
The sky is made of diamonds 
As I make my way to town
And the highway curves before me
Like the zero of sound

She was with me at the Fairmont
By the San Francisco Bay
Now she's clear across the country
A million miles away
As I cross the Golden Gate
The sun has long gone down
And the waves move beneath me
Like the zero of sound

Walking down California
I hear the trolleys and the horns
As the sun begins to fade
I smell the rain of a summer storm
Her eyes are wide and open
Her skin is soft and brown
She's like an orchid in a downpour
Like the zero of sound

In the quiet of the hotel room
Her presence lingers on
I feel the message of her spirit
And my weariness is gone
I know that I can't reach her
Until the morning comes around
And the darkness folds around me
Like the zero of sound
Yeah, the darkness folds around me
Like the zero of sound

Zero Of Sound

She’s looking for solace 
She’s looking for sunshine 
She’s out of seasons 
She’s out of time 
Winter runs its course 
Like an old October horse

He’s only a pony
He’s only a Mustang
He’s a July moonbeam
He’s got his own gang
Summer runs its course
Like a slow October horse

I don’t have an answer
I don’t have an aim
I can’t tell what you need
I know it’s such a shame
Love runs its course
Like a cold October horse
Oh love runs its course
Like a cold October horse

October Horse

This track was recorded in Huntington Station, NY in February 2015...

Hey Radio

This track is from 2018...

All the graves are in the backyard
And people move on there’s no doubt
Now I see the changing of the guard
Separate pathways a different route

No need to wave flags in the air
The stars won’t see them anyway
I sometimes just look up and stare
Still the same sky different day

And it's full speed into the light years
Shift through all the tired dreams
There’s a new moon on the mountain
If I can fly this old machine

Take a bus to New York City 
And see your face in every mile
This old Trailways is a pity
It can run but it can’t fly

And it's full speed into the light years
Shift through all the tired dreams
There’s a new moon on the mountain
If I can fly this old machine

Light Years

This track was written in 2018 and recorded in 2019 in Woodstock, NY.

I walked to Albuquerque 
In the first part of my dream
Following the path you left me
Following the path you left me

I left my home in Woodstock
In the second part of my dream
Following the path you left me
Following the path you left me

Woke up in Albuquerque in the rain
Running horses and falling manes

I walked to Albuquerque 
It was midnight in my dream
Following the path you left me
Following the path you left me

I traced my steps this morning
In the third part of my dream
Following the path you left me
Following the path you left me

Woke up in Albuquerque in the rain
Running horses and falling manes

I walked to Albuquerque 
In the first part of my dream
Following the path you left me
Following the path you left me

I walked to Albuquerque 
In the first part of my dream

Lost Tracks & Demos

Robert S. Dean