2024

for songwriting group...the prompt was "Haunt"

favorite haunt

POGWHIP - Haunted DEMO

Stay silent
Simple choices
Don’t complicate it oh yeah

In the morning
That same feeling
Not letting go again

How shall I decide
Had time enough to try
What to say?
Cowardice aside I often want to hide it
Anyway

Here we are
Years later
How much have we changed?

Deep emotion 
Autopilot
Getting over the strain 

Chorus x 2

Time Enough To Try

I went looking for it in the sound of ‘91
The proof was in the kiss and in king’s x it’s love
It was a song for love, a sixties mind, a bull’s eye guitar
Glittering in every step a rising joy star

Walked around a dying tree with dust arms raised 
I found it in the copper caps and white stalk maze
The devil falls and living walls, splash stone floor
Shimmering in every step a rising joy star

In the now, in the end, it’s there in a memory’s hum
I vow to attend to the pointlessness swelling inside
You’ll SEE me rise, with a truth loud as a snare drum
Leaving the Past and the future behind

Making something out of nothing music in our minds
Push it farther move it closer dreaming unwinds
Listening with intent a syncing of hearts
Vibrating every step a rising joy star

Imagination, effortless, no need to worry
Loosening the beat, goodness no need to worry

In the now, in the end, it’s there in a memory’s hum
I vow to attend to the pointlessness swelling inside
You’ll see me rise, with a truth loud as a snare drum
Leaving the past and the future behind

Songwriting Challenge Jan 2023

Here we are again
In the light of another place
Holding time again
With that glow up on your face

I want to reach right through 
Feel the space of another climb
What we might do 
If we gave ourselves the time

Don’t you know we are part of the same matter
A couple of stars explode
you and me end up on the same platter
Why can’t we be together doing the same thing
Instead of having this space between us
When we’re playing the same string.

Stars Explode

Sohnemänner feat:  R. Pappik, N. Weidemann & J. Ilja / Regie: Ingo Haeb

Let Down Your Guard

Written in January 2024 for Ithaca Songwriting Challenge
Lyrics:
In the mirror, messy days
Candles help concentrate 
Roots from 25 years ago 
Attention, distant lights 
A bright dog, a burning past
A painting, an artist driven into the ground

Chorus:
In boxes and bedrooms to be found
Junk and riches
Dusty collections in the clouds 
The boxes and bedrooms’ final sound
What’s for keeping?
Don’t be sentimental now

The headdress, ship upon the ocean
Photo of the royal 
Tapestry from the war
Stamps from the priest
The kitchen table
The cracker tin the leaf bowl
Horses and the miniature town

In boxes and bedrooms to be found
Junk and riches
Dusty collections in the clouds 
The boxes and bedrooms’ final sound
What’s for keeping?
Don’t be sentimental now

Bridge:
Memory ablaze smoke and 
Mostly unfazed easy choice easy choice in control 

In boxes and bedrooms to be found
Junk and riches
Dusty collections in the clouds 
The boxes and bedrooms’ final sound
What’s for keeping?
Don’t be sentimental now

Songwriting Challenge Jan/Feb 2024

Boxes and Bedrooms (Demo)

V1: Gotta get up, sit down, jump a little higher
No time to worry ‘bout stepping in the fire
Running in the rain to deliver the promiseE
Shakin’ the cash ‘fore it’s all worthless

Don’t lose your step, 
the bottom of the pile
nice to know ya son, 
was it all worthwhile?

CH: Tightrope
Walking on the tightrope
Walking on the tightrope
Better watch your step

SOLO on E for 2 measures

V2: Smoke, lava, steam, mud, mist and dust
Baby if you stand still you turn to rust
Never met the devil, I can feel him here
Hiding in the shadows bringing up the rear

Run a little faster, talk a little louder
Smile a little wider, 
you know you hit the big time

CH: Walking on the tightrope
On the tightrope
Walking on the tightrope
Better watch your step, better watch your step 

SOLO

BR: How ya gonna make it through 
when you just wanna lay down and die
How high can you fly?

V3: What’s it gonna be now that you are here
Step up to the plate, or see ya’ next year
Bigger than a bear, stronger than an ox
Doin’ time in the school of hard knocks

Don’t lose your step, 
Gonna go in style
nice to know ya son, 
was it all worthwhile?

CH: Walking on the tightrope
Walking on the tightrope again
Standing on the tightrope
Fallin’ from the tightrope my friend
Walking on the tightrope—-

Better watch your step

Tightrope

SWCH WEEK 1  TREASURE WE FOUND

Marathon Runna

The Diary

Let’s make some noise
Pack the supplies
Celebrate the date
And the stars in your eyes

I’ll get it down in the diary
worlds and life and colors that you can’t see
Tell you if the trees 
are cold or flourishing 

Someday you’ll come with me and make your own entries

We’re going to be gone
Many cycles around our suns
You tend to the energy pools
We’re going to be gone
I’ll take the pictures that you’ve drawn
You know I’ll miss you
Miss you so

They say there’s life
Like you’ve never seen they’re massive beings
Tiny forms
Could be perfect for spice 
Could be perfect for spice x 4

Solo

Someday you’ll come with me and make your own entries

Chorus

They say some fly 
Rake apart with just one try
Don’t you fret
And don’t you cry 
And don’t you cry x 4

The Diary (Songwriting Challenge 1.21.24)

I perform as a solo singer-songwriter with a guitar, but also like playing with other sounds. I tend to sing about love, loss, transcendence, and the passage of time, but I like songs with humor and "show don't tell." I like (to make and hear) recordings that feel organic but not sloppy, complex but clear, intentional but serendipitous. Finished albums and some singles are for sale on Bandcamp, and available for streaming on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, etc.

The Diary (Songwriting Challenge 1.21.24)

Jeff McCaffrey

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