Cell Phone Killers

 It is not everyday that we as songwriters become social commentators.  But this day was my day!  I do not know where exactly I picked up this strange chord sequence, but a African American fellow came by my street performance in Cohoes one day and challenged me to come up with something soulfull in conjunction with what was emanating from his boombox, so I came up with this.  The song which I adapted to it was an idea about something in society pertaining to behavioral phenomena which I observed.   It that I surmised that an underground had formed of cell phone users who were attempting to manifest a cause of which I was not certain. I wrote this song about it entitled "Cell Phone Killers."  I hope you like it.    d

7-10-8-7     4 string bar

went to church one day

talked to a girl showed me the way

told me to be

a cell phone killer

Holy Spirit had its day

big sharp objects and some frays

today is gonna be the day

cell phone killers

God became a WU telegraph

searchin' for these epitaphs

fakin' all the charts and graphs

cell phone killers

reason was a friend of mine

now I sin and do my time

groupies and a pantomime

cell phone killers

ref:    17-9-7    four string bar

hadn't any church after that

got a great big brain attack

Turner and the great big facts

cell phone killers

Send Them In

I wrote a song about the taking of the city of Ai by Joshua and his army.  Seems that they came up with a plan that they would ambush  the town by drawing them away from it  with a fake pursuit.  Then they proceeded to occupy the abandoned place.  Uncharactaristically in Biblical times, they divided the plunder.  I hope you like this song  inspired by this story.

Send Them In

  C               F
too many battles
  Bb                                F
won by stregnth and might
  C                   F
Gideon had a little
 Bb              F
send them in


take them by pure mettle
we won't bargain for a settle
only twelve apostles
send them in


big tasks and big people
people without a steeple
David had a fiddle
send them in


take them by surprise
watch their fleeting eyes
take the town of Ai
send them in


speak with a soft tongue
lend a helping hand
give 'til you have none
send them in 

The chord progression is I-IV-bVII.  The key is C major.

d

So Many Times

Back in the day when I was writing in this blog frequently...lol...Here is my latest project, a song titled "So Many Times".  It is a song about how we let our preoccupations clutter our relationship with God.  Sin, business, zeal...you name it we all do it.  I hope you get something out of it.  I haven't yet put it to music, but I think it deserves a R&B theme with a hard rock line...d


So Many Times


so many times                                         Refrain:
we think that God                                    God has His time and place
won't do it                                                to show you which way to go
faith ebbs like the waves                          put your trust in His care
so many times

so many times
"what am I going to do
to get out of it?"
looking for a quick fix

so many times
we try to fill out
our papers
do it now not later
so many times

so many times
"just let me get this done!"
life on the run
so many times

so many times
relaxing in a misdemeanor
God will break your fever
listen to His will


 



 

Everything is Hard

Nothing worth while is easy.  Take my job for instance lol.  But it's true.  I guess I was thinking this when I wrote "Everything is Hard"  for the electric guitar.  I did it in Aminor so it has a raspy kind of finish.  Try it sometime....d


Everything is Hard
       Am
too much trouble
     D♭m           B♭          Em
it seems  like all there is
  Em               Am              D7                                 I
will we ever cease from being tested
   D♭        Am          Em
pain is a tool of God

        Am          D7
the only relief is our slumbers

perils escape in dreams                                                                     I
 
the sweet dawn gives recompense

guiding us for the  Way

          Em            D♭m
your men will dream dreams
            B♭                Am
your children will have vision
           Em
close your eyes
                        D♭m     B♭      Em
and feel the burning of the lamb
           Am
His sacrifice
 D♭m      D7          Em  
He will get you through 


It plays kind of punk but....especially "perils escape in dreams"  and "pain is a tool of God".
The effect is good, though.  Do it as an encore and tell them I sent you lol.

thankfully d  

There is a Girl

One day I was sitting in the McDonalds lobby and in walked a pre or post teenage girl Im not sure which.  I thought that she probably had a lot on her mind...who to marry where to work and such.  It inspired a song in me.  I performed it rather rudimentary on keyboards via social media a while back.
Its in the rather pensive key of Fminor....here it is:
     
There is a girl
   F
theres a girl
     G
she gets a drink
    Am
she goes to eat
    C
on a mission

    B♭
works in the sun

Thy will be done
    E♭
Ive just begun
    B♭
theres a girl


theres a girl
will be dating
but keep waiting
theres a girl

getting older
time flows freely
help the needy
theres a girl

autumns coming
look what Ive done
On a mission
theres a girl

kids are trained in
all they have to
and some more too
theres a girl  

I was going to perform it on social media on the guitar, but Id rather live in front of people.  I think Ive made enough videos for one lifetime!

d  

I've Spent a Long Time

Sorry I haven't written in so long.  You get busy.  This song I wrote about all the immaturity that I and all people in general need to overcome in life, especially in living the christian life.  In delving more into the development of the Holy Spirit dwelling in me,  He (the Spirit) has shown me that this concept is an essential issue on the Way.


I've Spent a Long Time
 D                A7
I've spent a long time
  A             Em
taking sin as it comes

talking to strangers

being a stranger


I spent a long time
mocking my brother
one thing or another
wasting my life

God didn't come so sudden
He really took his time
understanding when I was
rebellious
I spent a long time

(repeat and fade)

d 

 

Commentary and some things about my music

I don't know why particularly that I started writing songs, but mainly because worrying about copyrighting is a pain in the neck.  Plus I thought I had a good literary background or namely familiarity with words and thought to give it a go.   I've always enjoyed the guitar and have aspired to play like the legends.  How so much I have accomplished this is marginally affirmed.   It's fun however to strum the melodies and bang out the lyrics.   Certain chords like D and Ab almost talk to you anyway.   I have always enjoyed this.   My dear father suggested early on that I develop a playing pattern all my own, so I had at it doing just that.  Although emulating the techniques of the masters is fun and challenging, it is also very hard to do.   I always say that interpretation follows careful attention to the fundamentals, and I think that this is essential.  Soon I began to enjoy getting my thoughts and feelings reflected in my music.  It has been rewarding.  I have always enjoyed and have been influenced by the music of the Beatles and many of the high-rolling bands of the seventies in which I grew up.   I skipped the eighties and merely enjoyed it, but took to the music of the likes of Nirvana and 10,000 Manics during the coffee and grunge emanation.   Soul and Rhythm and Blues added to my knowledge of tempo and rhythm.  This has helped much.  In becoming and developing as a Christian has ultimately made the goal of expressing my faith.   It has become the main theme.  I hope you enjoy it all.  I have had fun so far on my way.


sincerely

d