The slow and intentional pace is fabulous. You voice fits the picking very well. Lovely lyrics.

Ahh, this is poignant and heartbreaking and beautiful all in one fell swoop. You articulate grief in a way I am yet unable to, Niki, thank you.

Hooked from that first line - gorgeous and gripping and sad but still hopeful and resolved.

A really sad one with a hint of hope peeking throuygh at the end.

Very grateful for an opportunity to take in this one, without need for explanation or participation. Just letting it into my heart.

the writing that connects us to nature is really amazing in this!  it's a power technique how the nature images also carry a metaphoric potential connecting to human emotions/experiences.  Very nicely done!

My heart is breaking listening to this song. One of the most emotionally touching songs I've listened to in a long time.

That first vocal note on the Am of the chorus is pure magic!

I love the way you soften your delivery of certain lines. Matches the guitar variation. Beautiful song.

I can't tell you how special I find your music, Niki - it opens up space inside my heart, and fills it with peace and tenderness.

"The Silver Lining" (#444, 210306)

 * Co-written with Mark Anderson / @mark-anderson-474835928 * 

Half the prayer on earth lives in hospitals and prisons
Guess that's what it takes to get soul to listen
A simple conversation can break your heart in two
Funny how we learn to love what we're just about to lose

Doesn't matter who or why it hurts to say goodbye
But even then it's sometimes been a blessing in disguise
Every season I been seein' more and more examples
Life's for livin' and we ain't given more than we can handle

Like hot and cold like salt and pepper
Oh God sure knows how to weave it all together
I can make a plan but I gotta' trust His timing
And find the silver lining

You know that moment when you wake up from a dream
Ain't awake ain't still sleepin' you're somewhere in between
Damn near twenty years I walked around like that
Couldn't see the forest through the trees the good inside the bad

Like hot and cold like salt and pepper
Oh God sure knows how to weave it all together
I can make a plan but I gotta' trust His timing
And find the silver lining

Movin' on when someone's gone is something you can't measure
Holdin' hands or golden bands nothing lasts forever
Wasn't always pretty but it made me who I am
I think I understand

Week 10a - The Silver Lining (210306)

SONG A WEEK 2022 (some of these chords are wrong-soz)

WEEK ONE- 09/01/22

PROMPT: SOMETHING NEW 
C.                                                                             F
LIKE STEPPING OUT BEYOND THE STARS AND PLANETS
AND SWIMMING UNDER WAVES AGAINST THE FLOW
ANOTHER WORLD AWAKENS IN MY BEING 
F                                                            G
ONE I THOUGHT I’D NEVER NEED TO KNOW 

LIKE LIVING IN A MIND’S WELL OF CONFUSION 
CAVERNOUS IT’S ANXIOUS DEPTHS BELOW 
THIS PATH THAT LEADS AWAY FROM ALL I’VE TAKEN 
ONE I THOUGHT I’D NEVER NEED TO KNOW 

  
F                                Am
AND IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE 
F                         G
THIS IS REAL TO ME
Dm.                                                             G
SOMETHING NEW I NEVER COULD CONCEIVE 
DM
SOMETHING NEW
G                            C
LIVING WITHOUT YOU 

Bb                                                                            Eb
LIKE FALLING FROM THE PEAKS OF HIGHEST MOUNTAINS 
THE ROCK ON WHICH I BUILT MY HOUSE MY HOME 
TO FIX MY EYES ON ALL THAT IS TOMORROW 
Cm                                                                          F
NOW FILLED WITH DAYS I NEVER KNEW I’D KNOW 

Bb                                                                Eb
AND YET THE ECHOES OF AN ANCIENT SINGING 
RISE ABOVE THE RUBBLE AND THE WOE
CALLING STILL THE WEARY DESPERATE TRAVELER 
ON AND ON TO WHERE WE NEED TO GO

SOMETHING NEW WEEK 1 22

Standing In The Doorway (#543, 220115)

I never did enjoy vacation
Too much free time freaks me out
Some people seem to strike a balance
I never could quite figure how

The rope I need to climb a mountain
Is plenty long to hang myself
And there's somethin' 'bout just standin'
In the doorway between heaven and hell

Standing in the doorway with one foot either side
Could go either way it's gettin' hard to see the line
Tryin' to see the future but it's still to soon to tell
Standin' in the doorway in between heaven and hell

When it's midnight at the crossroads
There's one train headed south
Another's racin' off the iron
One last chance to turn around

Where the point of no return is
Probably anybody's guess
I keep watchin' from the doorway
But I haven't seen it yet

Week 03 - Standing In The Doorway (220115)

Life is crazy? Feels like the world is ending? Can't handle anymore?
Chill out my friend and do the Matcha Latte Cha Cha. 
Life gets better when you're in it. 

*****

Matcha Latte Cha Cha

El trabajo nunca se acaba
siempre mil pendientes hay para mañana
en la guerra de lo importante y lo urgente
se nos olvida vivir el presente

Al mal tiempo con buena cara
es mejor que actuar como si no pasara
con cada error algo nuevo aprendemos
otra manera de cómo no hacerlo

Un paso para atrás
no es volver a empezar
dos pasos para atrás no es fracaso
más bien un cha cha chá

Do the Matcha Latte Cha Cha
la vida para contarla hay que vivirla
Matcha Latte Cha Cha
mi vida es mejor si tú estás

El pasado ya no regresa
el futuro guarda más de una sorpresa
no hay más que lo que tenemos en frente
en el presente vivir plenamente

Un paso para atrás
no es volver a empezar
dos pasos para atrás no es fracaso
mas bien un cha cha chá

Do the Matcha Latte Cha Cha
la vida para contarla hay que vivirla
Matcha Latte Cha Cha
mi vida es mejor si tú estás

Matcha Latte Cha Cha

NIKKI DEAN

AMSTERDAM

Song a week 2020 challenge - Week 49
Theme " Near Or Far"

I would like to thank David and Laurie Easterling for this co write which is about the loss of child experienced by my good friends a few years ago.

This is a song that would never have been written with out the fantastic Eastelings.  I will be forever greatful to them.

BetsyRose - Song A week 2020 Challenge Week 49 written with David & Laurie Easterling

Will the Trees Remember Our Names
by Tamora Wilson and Laurie Easterling © 12/20/2020 New York, NY and Oak Ridge, TN

Photo by Tamora Wilson, Appalachian Trail near NYC

I’ve been a part of this forest
As long as I can remember
I know every brook and tree
Hiked through her valleys and hills
January through December
She feels like a mother to me

I’ve learned how to read wildfires
Fighting flames far from my home
Now I teach all I’ve seen
As I lead a group up the ridge
I see the smoke and grab my phone
Not too late to call in the team

Chorus:
Will the trees remember our names
We fight to save them from the flames
Hold us in their memories
As the years become centuries
Will the trees remember our names

We all don our gear and grab shovels
The fire grows like it’s alive
My students tremble at the sight
Branches start to burn overhead
As the rest of the team arrives
We will battle through the night

Chorus

Bridge:
Though scarred the forest will survive
She nurtures saplings through the winter
Whispering stories of history
Rebuilding the network together

Chorus

Tamora Wilson and Laurie Easterling - Will The Trees Remember Our Names - 1:1:21, 4.15 PM

From the demo reels: I Need More

First recording in 18 months. Hoping that Song-a-week 2021 will get me going again.

Music and image Copyright © Claes Akerblom

Solitude(demo)

You'd Be Green Too

A tremendous thank you to @deborah-kelly-676260696's imaginary and incredibly talented friend @erinwolf for bringing my lyrics (and suggesting minor edits to them) to life (and for contributing the guitar to this track).

Erin's Version: https://soundcloud.com/erinwolf/cross-this-bridge-into-the-unknown

Lyrics:

I’ll never forget the night we met,
When the winter sky was painted with stars,
We didn’t know it then,
God had a plan for us way back when.
 
With this bridge here before us,
Do we cross into the unknown?
We don’t know exactly what lies ahead,
There’s no one else I’d rather have beside me than you.
 
I confess sometimes I’m lost easily,
And I don’t always know the right way to go,
But every time I followed the stars,
They would lead me back to you.
 
With this bridge here before us,
Do we cross into the unknown?
We don’t know exactly what lies ahead,
There’s no one else I’d rather have beside me than you.

We’ve never been apart this long before,
I feel closer now more than ever,
And whenever we meet again,
It will feel as no time has passed at all.
 
With this bridge here before us,
Do we cross into the unknown?
We don’t know exactly what lies ahead,
There’s no one else I’d rather have beside me than you.

SOMETHING NEW WEEK 1 22

niki s

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