Day #12- "This Broken Land"

Hey guys!


Wrote a song late last night but didn't get around to blogging about it till this morning. I've been wanting to write a song about how I feel about America, but somehow the songs always end up being about something else entirely. This one is much the same. America is a complex thing to me. It makes me proud, indifferent, and frustrated all at the same time.


This song sort of ended up being about how much I loathe talking heads (not the band), and people who prey on others' insecurities to advance a destructive agenda. Read between the lines, I guess.


"This Broken Land"


Through the valley

Past the lonely hills

From the ocean

To the Catskills

Yeah i love this broken land

And i love it’s broken men

From the soldier

To the pacifist

People religious

And atheist

Yeah i love each and every heart

It’s their pride that drives them apart

Oh please be

Silent for once in your lives

This hate 

Only undermines 

Every nation

Even Americans

Every Muslim

And Christian

How can you claim war in the name of God?

Truth dare not be made your pretense

Lay your weapons down and weep for the death

We’re all complicit in

Day #11- Is This Love?

Hey guys! Back with a new song I wrote tonight.

I decided to take a break yesterday. My brain and spirit needed some time to recharge.

Today's song is about dealing with an unhealthy love. Something we've all had to experience.

"Is This Love?"

The small of your back
And your tiny hands
Just one glance starts me over
I can't stand it, I can't change it

I know I'm the fool
For hoping for you
You're the prize, in everyone's eyes
And the apple in mine

Is this love?
I don't think so
Cause love aint a broken heart
If you hurt me just one more time
I'll swear you off like the drug that you are
I catch my rush from a falling star

Like a moth to a flame
I am drawn to the pain
If the hurt in my chest is all I've got left of you
I'll take one more hit of the same

Burning out
It's burning out
We're burning out
You are burning me out

Day 11- "You've Set My Heart Free"

You make my spirit sing
I feel it calling out for me
I'm addicted to your truth
And your correction
Hear my voice and my affection
You are my direction
My feast forevermore.

I run to your commands
Like water to a dying man
The ways of sin have failed
To bring the joy I crave

You've set my heart free
And freedom is found
In pouring my life freely out
Make me less, make you more
Let your glory be my reward

I pray I don't remove
The smallest letter of your truth
It's by your grace I even know your name
I own a foolish heart
I hate the light and crave the dark
Lord, let your spirit change
The space I never let you claim

Day #10- "Unraveled"

(Before I get started, I know I haven't been the best about posting every single demo on noisetrade. I promise I'll get around this week to making sure all the songs are posted. I also think I'll just leave all the songs up on noisetrade till I hit my 40 song limit!)

I have a total obsession with nostalgia.

Maybe it's the whole only-child thing, but I spend an inordinate amount of time in my head, specifically in my memories. Most of the time, it's a bunch of "what if" scenarios that leave me wondering what could have been, had A, B, or C happened differently.

This song is about going to that place, but then ultimately finding that the mistakes we've made along the way, the missteps, have in fact made us who we are. And we wouldn't be as strong without them.

"Unraveled"

There are so many different lives I live inside my head
So many chances never taken, so many books I never read
I can count on my two hands, all the women I've made plans for
As they all fall through, I'm left wishing you had been my story

And so I'll dream of other "me"s that take the path less traveled
And memories they fade to hope of a life less unraveled than mine

The things we call mistakes, are the moments that will make us who we are
The hearts we think will break, are the hearts that time will take and make stronger
And if I don't see the world, if I don't meet a girl, or strike gold
How could I complain? Life is what you make of all the moments, when your heart feels cold

Bitter is the heart that never lets go
Holding on to ghosts
Strong and free is the heart that learns to make the most

Day #9- "A Hundred Million Reasons"

I need to start writing these earlier in the day.

Today I got home from work at around 12:30. For some reason, I feel most creative at night. But I also tend to feel sleepiest at night. Surprise. Thus the paradox. Tonight's was written in the twilight right before sleep in around 20 minutes. I've found the more I get in the habit of writing, the less hyper-critical I am with myself and my work- especially my lyrics. Since I know every day will lead to some form of expression, it takes the pressure off of me to make every song perfect. 

I need to find ways to spark my creativity in daylight methinks though.

"A Hundred Million Reasons" (totally used a Jon Foreman lyric in this one. see if you can find it)

There's seven billion heartbeats on the earth tonight
Seven billion mouths to feed, seven billion lives

I am not the man to save the world
I am not the one to heal it's hurts
This heart of mine gets surrounded by weeds on all sides
Distracted by myself
I could never form a plan
I can't help you
But I know the one who can

A hundred million reasons we can't ever change
Greedy politicians and fools behind the reigns

I've come to expect manmade solutions
Will always lead to dissolution
Your heroes always let you down
Distracted by ourselves
We could never lend a hand
We can't help it
But I know the one who can

Day #8- "The Cup of Your Hand"

Sometimes there are things about a loved one that we find hard to love.

We could be talking about a boyfriend, wife, brother, parent, or even God. There are some aspects of people that we find difficult to stomach- difficult to love or even believe.

This song is about choosing to love all of someone. Not just the parts that we find lovable or easy to agree with. Every single difficult, confusing, and irritating part.

"The Cup of Your Hand"

I love every single part of you
The things that make me nervous
And the arms that keep me true

I love the things you say that I dont get
But explain to me forever
So the lies I will forget

Even though I'm a fool
I'm a fool for you

You're a mystery to me
It only makes me love you more
For if I knew every part of you
There'd be nothing to explore
Your heart is an ocean
And I'm a desperate man
Desperate for a drink
From the cup of your hand

I could go on for days and days
Of the things your love does to me
For the ways you keep me sane

But mostly I'll always thirst for more
Oh I pray I never wander
That you'll keep an open door

Day #7- "Pieces of Me"

Today is all about travel.

The whole concept of a "road trip" has been all over my mind, heart, and life lately. It seems like all my friends are wanting to get away and travel, and I have found road trips to be one of the most therapeutic and fun ways to clear your head. The destination isn't even important- the most important thing is just to be the type of person who GOES.

This song is about finding your adventure not just in destinations and experiences, but in people, the most rewarding adventures.

(I'm writing this song in my Texas dialect. I know it's not grammatically correct. Chalk it up to poetic license.)

"Pieces of Me"

I've got to see so many places I always dreamed of
I crossed a lot of cities off my bucket list
But better than the memories
Are the people I shared them with

Ramblin' gives you some perspective
The things you took for granted are the things you miss the most
Rather than see one more city limit
I think I'd rather see an honest smile, or feel an honest touch

I leave pieces of me
In every single place I travel
Ever person I meet
Is another story to unravel
Every heart is
A work of art and I can't
Get enough of the colors I see
Yeah I love people, and people love me

But this don't mean I wanna settle
The world is a pull too strong for the restless heart
But while I'm out there looking for adventure
I know the wildest one is deep inside your heart

Day #6- "I'm About To Get Some Sleep"

So here is the first not-really-serious-oh-crap-I-need-to-write-a-song-today song that i've written.

Today was full of awesomeness. I got to spend the better part of it hanging out with a really good friend I haven't been able to see much of and really getting to connect. I then got to go to work for several hours. By the time I got home it was 11:30 and I just wanted to read Bossypants.

But at 12:20 it was time to get to work.

What was inspiring me? What could I write about?

How about how bad I want to go to sleep right now?

"I'm About To Get Some Sleep"

It's just the end of another day
Ain't nothing out of the ordinary
But it feels like I just won the lottery
Cause I'm about to get some sleep

You know I've been feeling just a little down
Sometimes I wish I just had a woman around
But tonight that don't bother me
Cause I'm about to get some sleep

Yeah I love it even more than eating
It's almost as important as breathing
And far more fun!
I hope this isn't one of those nights
Where my body's clock just don't work right
And I'm just
Staring at those
Little red numbers all night.

Day #5- "Last Words"

Today was a good day.

I got to go kayaking with my good friend Craig Rigney, and then I got to come and clean and do the dishes, do laundry, and even watch a movie. A productive day. And the perfect stamp on today is a new song.

This new song started from the viewpoint of two lovers watching the end of the world together. But as I continued it sort of became a warning. A warning that our lives could literally be over at any moment. The end of the world is only ever seconds away.

"Last Words"

Come on baby
Sit beside me
Pull up a chair and watch
I can feel it
The world is breaking
So let's watch it fall apart

The stars are dropping
In gorgeous burning
As the skyline tears
And in our last moments
Before the darkness
I hope I find you there

Oh bathe in the light!
Breathe deep tonight!
For it might be the last we have
Have you any last words?
Any debts incurred?
A confession to make before the last?
Better do it while you can

A life is fleeting
And looks deceiving
All is entropy
Here is wisdom
Hear this one thing
Your life may be asked of you tonight

Day #4- "I Want You To Know"

Today's song was cowritten with Kara DuBose, and features her on lead vocals. I'm still working on the demo, but I thought I would go ahead and put the lyrics up.

"I Want You To Know"

I was alive
I was on fire
I had everything that I required
The sun was on high
And so was I
High on you and I

And when I said
I'd wait for you
I never thought that you'd ask me to
And if this is how
We're gonna live
I'll have to get used to it

I carry the tension in my shoulders
I carry the distance in my heart
I cry my tears when no one's watching
And I count the days when we're apart

I want you to know
Every time I sing
There's a part of me going to where you are
And though we are apart
As every chorus rings
I hope you know that you are worth the fight to me
I want you to know

There's coming a day
It's not far along
When we'll be alone
And I'll sing you this song
And I'll see your smile
I've waited a while
To see it.

Day #3- "Oslo"

Today was yet another day where I struggled to find any free time to write. Eventually, I settled down around midnight, knowing that I was required to write a song today. Well, here we are at 1:20, and "Oslo" is written and recorded. There's something to say for deadlines.

I was pondering what to write today, and I always seem to gravitate towards writing about tragedies like happened the other day in Oslo. I had previous written a song about the Virginia Tech shootings called "Virginia," and this one is largely in the same vein. Something about the senselessness of shooting innocent people for some radical or nonsensical cause... it just breaks the heart, or at the very least makes us numb.

I was sitting in my closet thinking about what to say, when I realized- I don't really have any wisdom to share. All I really have are my prayers and my tears to share with the people of Oslo.

I also go on to address how insane it is that people who claim to be religious and spiritual can do such hateful things to others. Apparently this man was training for the "coming war with Islam." What a horrible cycle of fear and hatred we find ourselves in.

"Oslo"

I send you my prayers
I send you my peace
From overseas

I can see your tears
They have mixed with those
On my cheeks

One man's darkened soul
Cannot put out the hope that we have
God is not a license to kill
If lovers of God can't be lovers, then who will?

This is no time for retaliation
This is no time for debate
This is not political capital
There's nothing to be gained
Just be silent

Day #2- "So Long Feeble Heart"

Well this day wasn't quite as inspired as yesterday.

One of the toughest parts of songwriting is sticking through a difficult song to write, and just finishing it. I can't tell you how many half written songs I have lying around in lyric books around my apartment. Sometimes the most exciting new ideas at the time are the ones you end up rediscovering years later, unfinished.

"So Long Feeble Heart"

I see you there
Your blue eyes behind wavy brown hair
You aren't the one that I need
So long

I've played around
Given my heart freely out
But close to my chest are the cards I've got left
So long

So long feeble heart

A quick smile and a fading sense of self worth
An insecure moment that leaves you with her
A moment of weakness you can't take back

We're looking for peace in the midst of a war
We're searching for love in the arms of a whore
Out hearts are a battlefield, gather your guns

So long feeble heart

Day #1 "This Beautiful Design"

Thus begins my first day of my 365 project- my goal: to write a song every single day for an entire year.

I have never done anything like this before.

Writing a song is part inspiration, part craft, and part luck. Most of the time, you just have to pick up your guitar and hope something strikes you as interesting. Then you hope that you can somehow come up with some lyrics that aren't derivative drivel.

But my manager told me that Neil Young has written 365 songs a year for... what? Something like 30 years? Imagine all the songs he's written! Some are probably horrible, some brilliant, most probably forgettable. But it's not like we hear the bad ones! What's the harm in writing a song, even if it's awful?

Coldplay and Switchfoot had over 80 songs each to choose from on their last albums.

So I have this new metric:

Writing more songs= writing more bad songs.

But writing more songs= writing more great songs.

This is a trade I will make.

I'm going to try to post the lyrics for every song I write on here. Perhaps I'll also figure out how to post demos as well!

Song from day one- "This Beautiful Design"

I can see the plan behind the pain.
I can feel the grass under this rain.
Somewhere behind this broken mind.
There's a beautiful design.

Every war, death, and disease.
Reminds me that my need for peace
Was something that you put in me
This beautiful design

Broken People
Barely breathing
Seemingly far gone

Every heartbeat
Has a name
And they all need love the same.

I can see the plan behind the pain
I can see the picture for the frame
Through every doubt
I've figured out
There's a beautiful design.