- This page is under construction.
- Be patient, please. Or not; your choice. It’s more fun to be patient, in my opinion.
- In some cases I am providing the story behind the song.
- I’m hoping that someday soon I’ll figure out a simple way to organize these and have links for the lyrics, where available, so that I can minimize the extra B.S. on the page.
- Actual song entries are separated by a cute little picture (hard to know otherwise because of all the extra B.S.); cute pictures may look something like this:
There but for fortune…
My cover of a classic Phil Ochs song. Poor Phil must be rollong in his grave. I’m sorry, Mr. Ochs.
Lyrics:
There but for fortune
Phil Ochs
(C)Show me the (Fm)prison, (C)show me the (Fm)jail,
(C)Show me the (Am)prisoner who’s (D)life has gone st(G)ale,
And I’ll (C)show you a (Am)young man with so (F)many reasons (Dm)why
There(Em) but for fortu(Am)ne, go you o(D)r go I (G)– you and I.(C)
Show me the alley, show me the train,
Show me the hobo who sleeps out in the rain,
And I’ll show you a young man with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or go I — you and I.
Show me the whisky stains on the floor,
Show me the dunkard as he stumbles out the door,
And I’ll show you a young man with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or go I — you and I.
Show me the famine, show me the frail
Eyes with no future that show how we failed
And I’ll show you the children with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or I.
Show me the country where bombs had to fall,
Show me the ruins of buildings once so tall,
And I’ll show you a young land with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or go I — you and I.
You and I,
There but for fortune, go you or go I — you and I.
Banana In My Driveway
This is just 12 bar blues with no words. You can make up your own or you can use these:
Banana in my driveway… You fell out of my grocery bag (2X)
How could I have known then
You’d make my life be such a drag
Banana in my driveway…Churnin burnin in the sun (2X)
Been lyin there 6 or 7 weeks now
I guess I’ll have to get my gun
Oh, banana in my driveway… You been lyin there so long (2X)
I have to raise my fist to heaven
I say banana you done me wrong
Yeah, banana in my driveway… You surely messin with my head (2X)
I hope the lord forgive me
You know I wish that I was dead
Banana in my driveway… black and runny like a slug (2X)
You ruined my whole life now
I may as well shoot up some drugs (okay, that’s a stretch)
Banana in my driveway… I can’t believe the mess you made (2X)
Gonna get my garden hose out
Gonna rain on your parade
Gone Beyond
This is a song I wrote in 1993 a year after my father died. The chorus is borrowed from “The mantra which releives all suffering”- Gate gate pāragate pārasamgate bodhi svāhā (for more info about the mantra go here). Th English translation- Gone Gone, Gone Beyond Beyond, Hail the Goer (or something like that).
Here’s what the mantra looks like:
My relationship with my dad was complicated. I really didn’t like him for a long time, and not because he was a bad guy. He was a good man, a spiritual man, who went through some heavy stuff. When I was a teenager (and before) his alcoholism was at full swing. He attempted suicide a few times around then, when I was, oh, 15-16. My older brothers and sisters had long before moved out, I became the main witness, besides my mom, of his self-loathing.
He was never unkind to anyone, no matter how drunk he was. All of his meanness was directed at himself.
He also had developed diabetes and sometimes when he drank he would have a severe reaction and become unconscious. On more than one occasion, I came home from school to find him on the floor of the entry way. I couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead (remember, he was also sharing with me his suicide plans on a daily basis). I would step over his body, without checking for a pulse and go to my room, hating him.
After a few hospital stays and some frightening situations with a gun (one that left a hole in our kitchen floor and almost killed both my parents), my dad quit drinking. For years I had a combination of respect and disgust to do with my dad. As years went by I grew to respect him more and the disgust faded away. I didn’t talk with him much but I liked him. I know he was filled with guilt about his alcoholism even so many years later- I don’t know if he ever forgave himself. I don’t believe so.
He was diagnosed with lung cancer several weeks before he died. His doctor had neglected to review his chest x-rays, which he had annually because of emphysema (and asbestos exposure in the navy). The x-rays sat for 3 months until he called his doctor to ask why he hadn’t received the usual report. This prompted the physician to check the images and he found what looked like a small tumor and he had my dad come in for a follow-up. At the follow-up they saw the the small tumor had become very large. My dad was told that with chemo and radiation they could extend his life for up to a year.
One thing I wanted to tell him was that he was a great Grandpa. He loved my kids and they loved him. Not much of a dad, but a really good Grandpa.
He lasted almost a month and a half. What actually killed him was congestive heart failure brought on my a reaction to a dye injection he was given (for a test checking the advance of the tumor). On his last day his legs and feet swelled up so much he couldn’t walk. He was denied hospitalization when my mom took him in to Kaiser emergency. They sent him home and said he should rest. He was dead before morning.
A year and a few months later I was still processing. I felt like I somehow hadn’t succeeded in making for the years I hated him. I decided to go to the beach- Short Sands, below Cannon Beach, for any of you familiar with the Oregon coast. Short Sands beach had a small camp ground reachable only by trail- no RV’s, tent/ back-pack camping only.
While there I spent a lot of time meditating and watching the ocean. I also talked to my father. He has a sailor most of his life and I felt it appropriate to have this out with him at the ocean. I wrote this song on my last morning there. It was a real high- my heart seemed open, a burden lifted from my soul (if that doesn’t seem too corny). I went home to my family. I slept well,with no dreams.
The following morning I walked into my daughter’s room to find her dead by her own hand. That is a different story (and many different songs).
So, first, here are the lyrics to the song:
Gone Beyond
At the end of the day, by the side of the road in the cool of the breeze
I am knowing
Rest like the weary, peace as the river in the rush of the
water flowing
On the dark of the road I open my heart to the light on the path
you are showing
Deep and silent my source that I strain to perceive- hidden by all my doing
and going
Chorus:
Gone Gone, Gone Beyond Beyond-
Hail the Goer (X2)
I’ve walked in the storm, my face to the wind until I could not tell
raindrops from tears
Or I’ve stood on the mountain, my arms in the sky, rejoiced in the spirit
as it appears
Early in the day it was whispered that we must act as our stories unfold follow the mystery
until it clears
Now my heart is so still I am reduced to a breath- I will go to the dawn
as it nears
(chorus)
In this moment of life, for this flash of a breath, through the songs of our laughter
and crying
Miraculous heart, mysterious soul, barely seen through desire
and trying
In an instant we’re free- as on the wings of a dream- through sky and through clouds
we go flying
Where we stand at the edge of the world that we know- wonder where do we go
when we’re dying
(chorus)
This is the song:
My lullaby to myself and everyone else, too, I guess)
words go like this:
Close your eyes- You don’t have to worry anymore
In your boat- That god is rowing to another shore
Rocking slow- Now the sweetest dreams will soon begin
May the wind of your breath whisper the same secrets as the wind
Now you are free
I am not lying- You needn’t be afraid
Throw down your cares, Peace is attainable
There is a well, deep in your heart,
See your reflection and know that your soul is beautiful
You are beautiful
You have known burdens that are far beyond your share
You are weightless now- You have been released into the air
All around you love is falling like a gentle rain
Let your heart be healed- let your heart be open once again
…
You came from a place where there was nothing you could not become
Born into this world your eyes still held the light that you were from
At your core You are only dust thrown from a star
Further in, you still know the truth of who you are
…
The download goes thusly:
Here’s a new version of my EMDR/ PTSD song (long story):
I’ll add the words sometime.
On the Wind
This is the latest recording of the song I’ve been trying very hard to get right for some time. It still sucks, in my opinion, but in a different way. The words and basic chords are like this:
D Em—7 A
Reach up, open your eyes,
Em–7 A
feel the sky as a wheel that is turning
Em—-7 A Em—7 A
Look out, see the world you have made before your eyes is burning
G D Em—7
Breathe it in slowly and breathe it out slowly again
D G A D
Sometimes all you can do is cast your heart upon the wind
You can cover your tracks as fine as you please
Throw out all of the things that remind you
Turn away from the heartache you fear; In the blink of an eye it will find you
Or unlock your door and just walk to the light streaming in
Release your song and let it dance upon the wind
***
G A D
You don’t even know who cares about you
G A D
The one who stands beside you night and day
G A D
It’s so easy to love you
G A D
and it’s so hard to watch you live this way
***
You can sit down by me; I have always been here
I have waited like the starry night
I know you aren’t ready to stay but I will hold you in the light
And I won’t hold you back, I know that’s just the place you are in
Before you go just button up your coat against the wind
Download:
Right Beside You
The first re-recording to end up on this page will be my cover of Right Beside You, a “Sons” non-hit from their wonderful Follow Your Heart Album. I went to a Sons of Champlain reunion show a couple-few years back and they really rocked (at the Crystal Ballroom” on West Burnside/ Portland. It’s a greatr venue- terrific dance floor. Everyone there was as old as me. It looked like a senior citizens convention except for the crazy dancing, pot smoke and the heavy-on-the-tie-dye attire- oh, and the Sons- it was far out.
Download the mp3:
As a bonus with the new page, I’m adding some related links for your edification and entertainment. Starting with this article:
http://www.suite101.com/reference/the_sons_of_champlain
Official website:
May you dwell in the heart
This is one of the songs from the old page that is already done pretty well. It’s a combination of a traditional buddhist prayer with a counter-lyric-melody that my family has sung as a dinner blessing since my kids were small:
