solo voice, solo guitar

VERSE #1
In the winter's chilly season
When the heart most needs a lift
Christmas is the reason
For the giving of the Gift


CHORUS
Rejoice! Christmas lives again!
Rejoice! Christmas lives again!


VERSE #2
Signal star above to trust Him
Guided sages through the night
Remembering the custom
Guides us to an Inner Light


REPEAT CHORUS



BRIDGE
Some day maybe everyone can hear it
That song of peace and love -- the Christmas Spirit!


REPEAT VERSE #1


REPEAT CHORUS

Copyright ⓒ 1978 James Ord Swan, registered 2006

None-Too-Great Hits

Christmas Lives Again

solo voice, heavy rock guitars, bass drum

VERSE #1
One year old and you're growing fast -- 
Blew out your first candle today!
Wish I could make these moments last, 
But you've got to grow and go your own way!


CHORUS
You are my son!
You are my son!
You are my, my, my only son --
You won't let me down!


VERSE #2
Five years old and you're growing fast -- 
You started to school just today!
What to believe and what to let pass?
Don't listen to everything the teachers say!


REPEAT CHORUS


BRIDGE
My son don't have to pound his chest!
My son don't have to beat the rest!
And my son don't have to pass no test!
Use the talents you've got and give it your best


REPEAT CHORUS


VERSE #3
Eighteen years, gone so fast -- 
You just graduated today!
Draw your lessons from the past,
Set your course, and never stray!


REPEAT CHORUS

Copyright ⓒ 1982 James Ord Swan, registered 2006

My Only Son (solo version)

solo voice, solo piano

VERSE #1
I have to say 
That I don't think you should go.
I have to say 
That I don't think you really know me.

How I long to hold 
What I must set free!
Precious melody!  
Woven wisps of gold!


VERSE #2
I have to say 
That I don't think you've tried.
I have to say 
You've never seen what's deep inside me.

All the joy I feel 
When I touch your face!
Passing time and space -- 
Isn't it revealed?


CODA
I have to say 
How much I wish you would stay!

Copyright ⓒ 1978 James Ord Swan and John W. D. Davis, registered 2006

Wisps Of Gold

solo voice, piano, guitar, bass

VERSE #1
It's a short life, a small world, and a noisy crowd
Don't you want just the same things as me?
Aren't there times when you’d like to just cry out loud?
Don't you want just the same things as me?

In this world of ad campaigns, 
Commercial gains, and brainwashed brains, it's
So hard to find a love to last!
A life spent in chronic pain, 
Commuter trains, and jumbo planes --
Look up and we find that love has passed us . . . .


CHORUS
Don't you want me to love you the best I can?
Don't you want just the same things as me?
As me . . . .


VERSE #2
Can't you see what this crazy world's coming to?
Don't you want just the same things as me?
If you'll have me, I'll stay here and sing to you
Don't you want just the same things as me?

But if you're playing games, 
Collecting names, or staking claims, then
Nothing we do will make it last.
No point in fanning flames, 
Assigning blames, or hiding shames -- 
Let's finish it now, and get it past us . . . .


CHORUS
Don't you want me to love you the best I can?
Don't you want just the same things as me?
As me . . . .

Copyright ⓒ 1978 James Ord Swan and John W. D. Davis, registered 2006

The Same Things As Me

solo voice, solo guitar

VERSE #1
Sitting outside, 
Rain pouring down my face.
Not a cloud in the sky!
Raindrops salty to the taste.


CHORUS
Well, I know each life has joy and pain
Into every heart must fall some rain
Hard to life your life out full if
Only good dreams come true
Sometimes you've got to have cloudy skies -- 
You don't appreciate the sun otherwise!
And I know that simple fact can not be changed.
You can't change it, no matter what you do.


VERSE #2
Walking along
Whistling a lonely song
That's nothing new
Just seems a little bit sadder after being with you


ALTERNATE CHORUS
But I know each life's got its ups and downs
Everybody wears both smiles and frowns
Hard to life your life out full if
Only good dreams come true
It's through sadness that a person grows!
How can highs exist without some lows?
And the low point that I'm at right now tells me
A high point in my life has been you.

Copyright © 1973 James Ord Swan, registered 2006

Farewell

solo voice, solo guitar, bells, vocal chorus

VERSE #1
You gaze at me, sad eyes across the table
And you wish I'd say I dreamed of you last night.
But we both know that dreams are all unstable,
Just random flight till morning's light


CHORUS
I can't imagine why I don't dream of you at night --
Every day I find my thoughts revolving around you
No, I can't imagine why I don't dream of you at night --
Considering all the dreaming . . . 
Considering all the dreaming . . . 
Considering all the dreaming that I do!


VERSE #2 -- NOT RECORDED


REPEAT CHORUS -- NOT RECORDED


BRIDGE
By now you wonder just how much i love you!
By now you guess my thunder's just a game!
Each day I swear there's none above you, 
But each night I call out other girls by name . . .


VERSE #3
The dancer in my dreams, she schemes and flatters,
Then she disappears, replaced by someone new.
But in real life, the only one that matters
Is just you -- only you.


REPEAT CHORUS

CODA

Copyright ⓒ 1976 James Ord Swan, registered 2006

  --------  UNRECORDED VERSE #2  --------
If having dreams could make me rich and famous,
Then by now I would have been a millionaire!
But even turned to gold, life would be aimless
Without you there, anywhere . . . 

ALTERNATE BRIDGE, LINES 1 AND 2, NOT RECORDED
By now I guess you wonder if i love you!
By now you guess my thunder's just a game!

Considering All The Dreaming

solo voice, solo guitar

VERSE #1
I didn't know
The first time I talked with you
The first time we exchanged HELLOs 
And HOW-DO-YOU-DOs
You're the lady I'd choose!


VERSE #2
I didn't know! 
I couldn't read the signs
I couldn't tell that what I'd always hoped I'd find
You had all the time!


BRIDGE
Long ago it should have ended --
Sweet GOODBYEs to those befriended
Never had intended to let
Love steal the show . . . 


VERSE #3
I didn't know, 
The first time I touched your hand
Still didn't understand that in somebody's plan
They had me down as your man!


ALTERNATE BRIDGE 
Ain't no time for analyzin'
Can't you see that gold horizon?
Now I'm realizin' I just
Can't let you go!


REPEAT FIRST VERSE


CODA
I didn't know!  No, no!
I didn't know!  No, no!
I didn't know!  No, no, no . . .
No, I didn't know!

Copyright ⓒ 1978 James Ord Swan, registered 2006

I Didn't Know

solo voice, solo guitar, orchestral strings

VERSE #1
When it's dawn in Honolulu, she's falling asleep in Japan.
When it's dawn in Honolulu, I get by as well as I can.
Does she ever dream of me in her homeland, far away?
When it's dawn in Honolulu -- got to face another lonely day!


VERSE #2
When it's noon in Honolulu, the sun's just peeked under her blind.
When it's noon in Honolulu, the heat drives me out of my mind!
Has she ever wished for me, beside her, where she lay?
When it's noon in Honolulu, I'm only halfway through another lonely day!


BRIDGE
Time!  It used to fly so fast
Before that girl was gone!
But now it doesn't seem to pass --
The hours are just dragging along . . . .


VERSE #3
When the day is done in Honolulu, the hot sun drowns in the sea!
When the day is done in Honolulu, the memories flood over me!
Has her golden shining love sunk forever out of sight?
When the day is done in Honolulu -- got to face another lonely night!


CODA
When the day is done in Honolulu, I'm dying for . . . 
Another morning's light -- This lonely night!

Copyright ⓒ 1980 James Ord Swan, registered 2006


ALTERNATE VERSE #3 -- NOT RECORDED
When the day is done in Honolulu, I watch the stars in the sky
When the day is done in Honolulu, I can't help wondering why
Does she watch and wonder too if our stars will work out right?
When the day is done in Honolulu -- got to face another lonely night!

Dawn in Honolulu

Dawn In Honolulu

solo voice, lead guitar, rhythm 12-string guitar, bass

VERSE #1
Always watching the time go by!
When will I start to live?
Future plans shift like desert sands.
I don't want to do just what they tell me to!
Who can see things from my point of view?


CHORUS
Life flows day to day!
Don't let your life waste away!
Take everything life can give --
You might get just once chance to live!
Don't be a fool!  Don't waste your time!
Don't be a fool!  Don't waste your time!


VERSE #2
Some men know just where to stand -- 
I've no hand in my fate!
And I do not know where the waters flow
But I don't want to be what they've got planned for me
I can't hack all that dull strategy!


REPEAT CHORUS


VERSE #3
Everything has been oversold
Uncontrolled and untrue
You have been my only friend
I don't want to leave -- it can be retrieved!
Who can tell how much we might achieve?


ALTERNATE CHORUS
Love grows day by day!
Don't let your love fade away!
Nobody gets quite enough --
You might get just once chance to love!
Don't be a fool!  Don't waste your time!
Don't be a fool!  Don't waste your time!

Copyright ⓒ 1978 James Ord Swan, registered 2006

Life Flows Day To Day

solo voice, metronome, bass, guitar, mandolin, vocal chorus

CHORUS
Good, good, good -- I'm feeling so good today!
I think it all began when you first came my way
So let's hold on tight --don't let it slip away
It feels so good to feel so good today!


VERSE #1
I've always been complaining that love has passed me by
Been watching from the sidelines while other people fly!
But you came into my life and now I've got to say 
(that it) feels so good to feel so good today!


REPEAT CHORUS


VERSE #2
You know, I've had some hard times
The blues have come my way - -
But everything began to change
When you first came to stay - - 


REPEAT CHORUS

Copyright ⓒ 1978 James Ord Swan, registered 2006

Good, Good, Good

solo voice, solo guitar

VERSE #1
Life is like a bathroom wall with writing all around
Most of it's pornography, but some of it's profound --
Extolling all philosophies, expressions of all creeds
With yarns of gross proportion and memories of stirring deeds


VERSE #2
Entering the Stall of Life, our options are but three:
Improve this world by adding to the writings we can see,
Or we can leave a sorry prize for the next poor slob in line,
But the worst thing we can ever do is waste everybody else's time.


BRIDGE
I want to leave remembrances for those who come behind
I hope they're not just physical, but products of my mind
But as I flit from thought to thought, my mind's just like that wall:
Non-sequiturs, insipid jokes, and old cliches -- that's all


VERSE #3
Still, when my life has been wiped out, I hope I qualify
For a private stall to write on in that Big John in the Sky!
But I hope, if there's another line when my Dime of Life's been spent,
What I've left behind is more than just a dissipating scent


CODA
Lord, if there's a waiting line up there when my time down here's been spent,
Hope that what I leave behind's not just a dissipating scent!

Copyright ⓒ 1972 James Ord Swan, registered 2006

Graffiti

solo voice, solo guitar, choral voices

CHORUS
Oh, how many faces are there?
What do you suppose it is we hope to find?
Each day separates us farther
Day to day is the surest way there is to lose your mind!
Lead me back home to the soothing kind . . . 
Lead me back home to the soothing kind . . . 


VERSE #1
If I had another chance 
To love you as I should have done before,
I would take that second dance
And I would glide you around the floor.


REPEAT CHORUS


VERSE #2
If you'd forgive me just once more,
Replace that love I've spilled so carelessly,
I'd savor every drop you pour
And I would make it part of me.


REPEAT CHORUS


CODA
Stumbling through my life as if I was blind . . . 
Lead me back home to the soothing kind.

copyright © 1974 James Ord Swan, revised 1976, registered 2006

The Soothing Kind

US expat in Japan since university Study Abroad days in 1973.

Jim Swan

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