These days we can probably say that there are a lot of things out there that would make us believe we are all alone. But as I was watching the news on CNN recently, I turned to my wife and said, “I miss Walter Cronkite…” She replied, “I know what you mean.” I turned the channel to Comedy Central.

I kept thinking about that line though. What was it I missed? His take on the news? or his demeanor? I remember Cronkite and I watched him once in a while when I was a bit older. I primarily remember him from the moon shots because I was glued to the TV during all of the Apollo missions.

I wrote a quick verse about Cronkite and then started to write freely about other TV personalities that I admired from my youth and I came up with Johnny Carson, Carroll O’Connor, Carol Burnett, Mary Tyler Moore and a few more. I loved TV when I was a kid in the 70′s: The Rockford Files, All In The Family, Sanford and Son, Mary Tyler Moore Show. There are no shows on like those today. I loved watching them and became familiar with the characters. But, these days I got nobody to turn to for good news, good laughs, good drama. Ah! There’s my hook!

I wrote the lyrics to this song first, so while I was trying to find a melody I kept hearing this train beat running through the song and I knew that this was going to be one of those hillbilly twang tunes. If and when I do record this for a CD I’m going to have to find someone that is well versed in that style of playing because I’m just hinting at what I wanted from the electric guitar.

A tip of the hat goes to Andrea Stolpe and her book “Popular Lyric Writing” for helping me through the rest of this song. I’m going to continue to use her 10-step process in my future lyric writings.

Let me know what you think!

Peace

~dg~

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

These Days

I miss seeing Walter Cronkite
On the network evening news
Everything he said to me
Seemed like it was the truth
His voice was like my father’s
So serious an calm
I felt like was coming home
Every time I turned him on

But these days
I got nobody to turn to
These days
I don’t know who is wrong or who is right
These days are pullin’ me
Underneath the blankets
These days are turning
Into one long night

I miss seeing Johnny Carson
On TV late at night
I didn’t always get his jokes
But I guess that was alright
Easing out onto the stage
As Doc played that famous theme
One-liners about our messed up world
And he’d put my mind at ease

But these days
I got nobody to turn to
These days
I don’t know who is wrong or who is right
These days are pullin’ me
Underneath the blankets
These days are turning
Into one long night

I place my hand
Upon the TV set
A cool digital spirit
That conjures no respect
Self-absorbed reality 
Our pop culture fad
The good stuff’s all gone boy
And it ain’t comin’ back

Mary Tyler Moore’s not in
My house on Saturdays
Like she she used to be
Back in the 1970’s
She was like my big sister
Who had moved far away from home
But I could always drop in on her life
Whenever I felt all alone

But these days
I got nobody to turn to
These days
I don’t know who is wrong or who is right
These days are pullin’ me
Underneath the blankets
These days are turning
Into one long night

© 2009

Don’t worry, be happy. Words to live by, yet we all worry about something. Some people worry more than others, but we all worry to some extent. Where does it end? The worry that is. Can we grab worry by the throat and kill it? or do we get lead around by the nose for the the span of our years by the fears of the unknown?

This song is about not worrying about what we had or what we will have. We used to do certain things and now we do other things. We can go back and get those things or even relive them because we’re different and even the places we did those things are different. So let’s be happy with what we have and think about the actions that will affect the changes to what we have. Don’t look around for things that we don’t have right in our hands because this is where we’re supposed to be.

Let me know what you think! Leave a reply, tell a friend

Peace & Happiness,

~dg~

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Where You’re S’posed to Be

We put our pennies on the table
I got coffee you got tea
Then we sat and pondered Shakepeare
At a café on Bleeker Street

But babe this ain’t New York City
And we ain’t 20 any more
Now we’re livin in the suburbs
And weekends on the Jersey Shore

Don’t look up
Don’t look down
Don’t look back
Don’t look around
This is where we’re supposed to be

They say you can’t buy happiness
It’s in the eye of a child
You can’t find clarity
When your thoughts are runnin’ wild
So be still – nothin’ to do
The world turns and so do you
Try to see
This is where we’re supposed to be

Baby’s cryin’ for no reason
Phone is ringin’ off the hook
Is this a perfect moment?
Why don’t you stop and take a look

But babe we’re born to distraction
Even though the candy’ in our hand
So let’s just sit here and take it easy
Stick your feet back in the sand

Don’t look up
Don’t look down
Don’t look back
Don’t look around
This is where we’re supposed to be

© 2008 by EmptyHead Musikwerks

Where You’re Supposed to Be by Darryl Gregory is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

It’s interesting to try to determine whether a song is sad or uplifting. What is it that makes a piece of poetry happier than another? Unless we’re dealing with Hallmark Cards, there is usually some aspect of a verse that has some underlying bite of mortality to it. Things change and it’s hard to accept. Change and regret, love and release.

I originally thought this songs was about divorce. I was singing it as a solo and from the point of view of the singer it sounded to me like he wanted out. Was I everything? Well its time to try something else – stop the newspaper and call the kids. But when sung as a duet it takes on a whole different aspect of a waning point in the arc of love. Well the kids are out of the house. We need to move to a smaller place. Are we OK and do we still love each other. And the answer is yes, but differently.

I had been doing this at gigs with Lisa M., but I’ve recorded here with the famous Francine Wheeler of Swanky Hotel fame and more recently of The Dream Jam Band. She lends such a beautiful, laid-back feeling of “no worries” to the female character.

Enjoy and let me know what you think.

~dg~

Photo by Ian Gonzaga. Check out his photo blog at www.iangonzaga.blogspot.com

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

What About Love?

What about you
What about me
Was I your guiding light
Your rock of Gibraltar
Did I part the sea
What about the moon
What about the sun
Was I everything you wished for
Was I the one
So what about you
So what about me
And what about love

Place your hand upon my face
Each touch is a memory
A different place
I’ll stop the newspaper
I’ll call the kids
Put our stuff in a plastic box
And close the lid

So this is all we have
So this is all we’ve earned
A simple good-bye
A tear in the eye
And then we breathe
Every morning we breathe

What about you
What about me
Was I your guiding light
Your rock of Gibraltar
Did I part the sea
What about the moon
What about the sun
Was I everything you wished for
Was I the one
So what about you
So what about me
And what about love

© 2009 EmptyHead Musikwerks