IT WILL ALWAYS BE YOU

This song is to none other than my wife. We have been together for most of our adult lives. It seems like we have been through a lot together, been pulled apart a few times, but still find our paths in this life to be together. She has been with me through some very dark times and some of the happiest times in my life. I can’t imagine being with anyone else, now, or beyond this world. It isn’t the mushy kinda love song she will probably get out of me someday, but it is a very heartfelt deep truth. The lyrics pretty much sum it all up.

WHAT’S MEANT TO BE

This song was inspired by my terrifying health scare that culminated at the Mayo Clinic. I tried to capture what I experienced, and what I honestly thought about. I have never been so filled with dread in my entire life. While my outcome was not catastrophic, I can certainly empathize with anyone else who has, or is, in that diagnostic phase of cancer or other life threatening/altering medical conditions. While I might have fueled my own living hell with my high levels of anxiety, and should have been more faithful and optimistic, the experience took me to a place I never would have gone without it. It made me realize that I am very appreciative for what the Lord has provided and every day that I wake up in the morning. It renewed my belief in purpose and in God. I am not an overly religious person per se, but I am deeply spiritual. Ultimately, this experience single handedly launched me back on the pathway to making music.

YOU LIGHT THE WAY FOR ME

A deeply personal song written for my mother who died from Cancer in 1991 at the age of 51. I actually had started this song in 1993 when I had a brief renewal in my music as personal healing therapy. When we lose someone close, time tends to fade our memories. Little things that I recall became monuments along my life journey, not because they were that significant at the time, but upon reflection, they take on deeper meaning. My mother was a special person to me. I know many others feel that same love and pain if they have lost a parent or someone else that was very close. It is my way of telling her how important she was, and still is to me. The phase about the last words she said to me was actually true. It was the last coherent conversation we had before she was so loaded up on morphine pain medication that our dialog was scattered at best. I hope this song becomes popular someday so that the world can never forget her when I am gone.  I can rarely get through this song without choking up. I don’t perform it live very often for that reason. Yet, I am trying to find ways to get though it without having my throat seize up as it is one of the most lyrically powerful songs I have ever written. People relate to it and often tear up before I do.

LIVE IN PEACE, LIVE IN LOVE

I wrote this song for my son when he graduated from high school. It was my attempt to lyrically tell him how amazed and proud of him I am, and  to not to get lost in the world by forgetting what is really important. It is my belief that without love, life is empty. That what really matters is how you live your life and not how much you accomplish materially. The rich and poor die the same and you can’t take anything but love to the grave. Probably a little bit heavy for a teen, but what can you expect from a dad with a background in Philosophy who thinks about things way too much. J

LEAVES ME WONDERING

No matter how much I try to find my way in this world I still seem to be wandering, questioning, second guessing, etc. This song attempts to capture that sense of wondering if I will ever find my way, or ever know when I am going in the right direction. It also takes stock in the idea of reflection about where I have been and the meandering choices I have made along the way. It ends with the idea that even though it seems like I know where I am going today, I still am left wondering. It is probably the most accurate self portrait I could lyrically craft that sums up how I perceive myself as the custodian of my life.