A song written for my Step Dad, Harvey Jarrell.  He suffered from Alzheimer's which eventually took him from us in November of 2009.  It truly was a long goodbye.  My mom asked me to write a song for his funeral and this was what came out.

The Long Goodbye

Everything Has Changed

The Scientist

I Need You

Volcano

Falling Slowly

Lessons I've Yet To Learn

My pappy was a sailor when he was younger.
Through the porthole of a ship he saw the day.
It was seldom he would talk about his childhood.
But he worked hard for little pay.

Guess examples in his life were hard to come by.
How would I expect much more from where he came.
His daddy shot a man and went to prison.
He never talked about that day.

Don't borrow from your neighbor unless you have to.
Don't play with the bull unless you want the horns.
These are just the sayings I remember.
The lessons I've yet to learn.

I think his kids learned to forgive him.
Late in life he gave it another whirl.
In his way he made up for their lost childhood
with the love he gave that girl.

He'd thank the lord for every meal he was given.
And he'd fight you to the death if you tried to pay.
He said the day you stop working.
Don't forget to dig your grave.

Don't borrow from your neighbor unless you have to.
Don't play with the bull unless you want the horns.
These are just the sayings I remember.
The lessons I've yet to learn.

I've heard sin is passed through different generations.
And to fight these ghosts you know I've tried my best.
But Pappy would say just do the best that you can,
and let Jesus take the rest. 

Don't borrow from your neighbor unless you have to.
Don't play with the bull unless you want the horns.
These are just the sayings I remember.
The lessons I've yet to learn.

Lessons I've Yet To Learn

Testing out a new mic I recorded a rough version of Ray Wylie's The Message.  

The Message (RWH cover)

A song I wrote after finding a 2" green army man in a drawer.  I pondered what his life must have been like and what he would tell us about the hardships he endured as a soldier.

Army Man

Andrew Peterson - Silence of God

Recorded at home from a Stage It show on May 28, 2013.

Silence of God (via StageIt)

Written in a hotel in Washington D.C. in anticipation of the birth of my second child.  We had just returned from the air and space museum where I was surprised to see Orville Wright shared a love for music and his Mandolin was on display next to the Wright Flyer.  For some reason seeing that one of the pioneers in aviation also had a love for music made it clear that the love for one thing does not have to lesson love for another. 

Orville's Mandolin

Husband, Dad, Pilot, Luthier, Singer/Songwriter (the last two are not for profit)

Will Livingston

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