Gregg's Tunes

My first song. Written for Elaine, who lived in Beaverton, OR as a child.

Verse 1:
This stretch of highway
printed on the Wyoming plain
Is drier than an old man's arm
Yeah, and I've been in love
But the harvests never paid off
In the soul of this man's farm

Chorus:
Through a cloud break
Comes a guiding light
Leading straight to you
And feeling oh so right

Beaverton Angel
How could I repay
My Beaverton Angel
You save my life each day

Verse 2:
Now on this journey
I won't be alone
Not with you by my side
The love I'd only dreamed of
And never thought I'd find
Is ours for the rest of this ride

Chorus:
Through a cloud break
Comes a guiding light
Leading straight to you
And feeling oh so right

Beaverton Angel
How could I repay
My Beaverton Angel
You save my life each day

Verse 3:
With more road behind me
Than what I’ve left to go
I’m at peace with the path I chose
I have the one thing
The last face I want to see
When this life’s curtains finally close

Chorus:
Through a cloud break
Comes a guiding light
Leading straight to you
And feeling oh so right

Beaverton Angel
How could I repay
My Beaverton Angel
You save my life each day

Another song for Elaine. Something I thought would be fun to perform at the Vashon Island Strawberry Festival. Originally written with a Blues tune in mind, but I tried a Country version and liked that, too.

[Verse]
Hey now baby, I need you to know.
Unless you ask me to, I won’t go.
Oh baby
I promised you for real.
'Cause you’re my magnet,
I’m your hunk of steel.

[Verse]
I’m tellin’ you woman, I hope you can see.
You don’t ever have to worry ‘bout me.
Oh, baby
You know the way I feel.
You’re my magnet, honey.
I’m your hunk of steel.

[Verse]
I told you baby, sick or well
The day they rang that wedding bell.
Oh baby
With you I made a deal
You’re my magnet
I’m your hunk of steel.

[lead solo]

[Verse]
Some say metals are bound to rust.
But I’ll never, ever break your trust
No baby.
This paint will never peel
You’re my magnet,
I’m your hunk of steel

[Verse]
If I don't go to heaven, If I wind up below
I swear I'll love you 'till the cold winds blow
My baby
Cupid's wound will never heal
You’re my magnet,
I’m your hunk of steel

I wrote this for myself. Being a "Boomer", I grew up with cars. I love to drive and I love nature, away from people. Elaine agrees that this sounds like me.

[Verse]
For those with social leanings
the night life hustle calls
But I can't take the city
with all those concrete walls
Not that I don't like people
and yet, I think it is
I guess there's no right answer
this ain't no college quiz

[Chorus]
I can only open up
when on the open road
Leaving all my cares behind
before my head explodes
If there's a destination
Then I might drive straight through
But I won't miss the exit
that leads me home to you

[Verse]
My windshield is a cinema
my mind is free to drift
Each milepost behind me
I feel my spirits lift
When driving with my loved one
my hand upon her knee
In silence or conversation
this is the best of me

[Chorus]
I can only open up
when on the open road
Leaving all my cares behind
before my head explodes
If there's a destination
Then I might drive straight through
But I won't miss the exit
that leads me home to you

[bridge]
[Verse]
Those old cowpokes regale us
with stories of the West
Of fenceless open prairies
and burdens off their chests
I might not have a saddle
I might not have a horse
But winding roads and canyons
guide me to my source

[Chorus]
I can only open up
when on the open road
Leaving all my cares behind
before my head explodes
If there's a destination
Then I might drive straight through
But I won't miss the exit
that leads me home to you

I wrote this, hoping that I could plunk out the tune on Elaine's piano. I got a start on a theme, but I was able to refine it with AI. This is mostly reminiscent of my many heartbreaks in my previous life.

[Verse]
I punch the snooze
Crawl out of bed
Drive through this city
With the working dead

I find my desk
Your photo's there
There's nothing for me
In this cold white glare

[Chorus]
I'm doin' okay on the outside
But I'm fallin' apart 
from the outside in
Not really sure where I am goin'
But I wanna go back 
to where I've been

[Verse]
So it's happy hour
I'm holding a beer
Of all these people
I wish you were here

I'm counting the bottles
Behind the bar
I see my reflection
In the ham hock jar

[Chorus]
I'm doin' okay on the outside
But I'm fallin' apart 
from the outside in
Not really sure where I am goin'
But I wanna go back 
to where I've been

[Verse]
I go to parties
I don't wanna go
I go through the motions
Put on a show

I do my dishes
I make my bed
I can't get your face
out of my head

[Chorus]
I'm doin' okay on the outside
But I'm fallin' apart 
from the outside in
Not really sure where I am goin'
But I wanna go back 
to where I've been

This was fun. I heard this clearly in my head as an old gospel tune.

[Verse]
I said now baby
I'll be gone for a while
you know that I'll miss you
When I've gone half a mile

She said to me "baby"
you know I'll be here
whether you're absent
a day or a year

[Chorus]
We're on the same wavelength
We're on the same team
I guess you could say
that we're livin' the dream

'Cause we are...
bound by...
bound by...
the shackles of love
Yes, we are
bound by...
bound by...
the shackles of love

[Verse]
She's got some girlfriends
Who were off to the coast
I told her, "get goin'
I love you the most"

They'll get to have you
For a couple of days
But I get to have you
Forever, Always

[Chorus]
We're on the same wavelength
We're on the same team
I guess you could say
that we're livin' the dream

'Cause we are...
bound by...
bound by...
the shackles of love
Yes, we are
bound by...
bound by...
the shackles of love

[bridge]

[Verse]
The forces that bind us
Are stronger than steel
The strength is increased
By the love that we feel

We love each other
and we love freedom too
By love we are bound
Through love we are true

[Chorus]
We're on the same wavelength
We're on the same team
I guess you could say
that we're livin' the dream

'Cause we are...
bound by...
bound by...
the shackles of love
Yes, we are
bound by...
bound by...
the shackles of love

I've made more attempts at nailing this song than all of the rest. I had a specific jazz/big band style in mind. One rendition was great, but others were good, too. Recently, I gave it another go and this one seemed very appropriate for a song about being "Trapped in a Dream". The vocals are crazy and things go off the rails near the end.

[Verse]
Something is strange here,
I don't understand.
All of my teeth,
In a pile, In my hand

I lose my grip,
While climbing a wall.
I'm frozen in terror,
As I wake from a fall.

[Chorus]

How is this happening?
I'm losing my grip.
Was I poisoned at dinner?
Is this a bad trip?

Some sort of evil.
Some nefarious scheme.
Someone please help me.
I'm trapped in a dream!

[Verse]
Crowds all around me,
Oh, how can this be?
I stand without clothing,
all eyes are on me.

Who is this driving?
Why did they swerve?
They're losing control,
I'm losing my nerve.

[Chorus]
How is this happening?
I'm losing my grip.
Was I poisoned at dinner?
Is this a bad trip?

Some sort of evil.
Some nefarious scheme.
Someone please help me.
I'm trapped in a dream!

[Bridge]
In some dreams I'm laughing.
In some dreams I scream.
Each night brings a movie.
The magic of dreams.

Can I change this outcome?
The way this dream ends.
The unsettling answer comes...
"Well, that depends".

[Verse]
Stairways to nowhere.
I run with lead feet.
The creature behind me,
it's large, and it's Fleet.

What's going on now?
I've been here before.
If I walk through this doorway.
I'll fall through the floor.

[Chorus]
How is this happening?
I'm losing my grip.
Was I poisoned at dinner?
Is this a bad trip?

Some sort of evil.
Some nefarious scheme.
Someone please help me.
I'm trapped in a dream!

One my favorites. It still makes me cry if I'm in the right mood. Great lyrics and another ode to Elaine, "My shining pulsar".

[verse]
The Phoenix of the forest
Conifers need flame
The mother tree consumed
Only ashes remain

But rising from the ashes
An emerald sprout breaks through
It reaches for the heavens
As I reach out to you

[chorus]
You are my shining pulsar
Though not a distant star
A light of such intensity
For me, that's what you are

I'm driven toward survival
My fears, they melt away
Knowing you're beside me
I head into the fray.

[verse]
The will of life force surges
The chick attacks the shell
It breaks into the sunlight
To what, it cannot tell

But instinct draws it outward
A fragile, awkward wretch
It grows to soar the heavens
With glowing, trailing fletch

[chorus]
You are my shining pulsar
Though not a distant star
A light of such intensity
For me, that's what you are

I'm driven toward survival
My fears, they melt away
Knowing you're beside me
I head into the fray.

[Bridge]
As naked, helpless creatures
We stumble through our lives
With hopeful perseverance
Life's force within us thrives.

[verse]
A monarch starts its journey
Within a silken tomb
Once it breaks its confines
its graceful wings will bloom

It won't survive its journey
a continent away
And yet it battles gravity
to live another day

[chorus]
You are my shining pulsar
Though not a distant star
A light of such intensity
For me, that's what you are

I'm driven toward survival
My fears, they melt away
Knowing you're beside me
I head into the fray.

I am NOT a fan of Rap/Hip hop. This hopefully drives that home. I thought that writing a Rap ~thing~ (not what I'd call music), I could at least have some prespective to have an opinion.

[verse]
If you think this is music, you're a moron
A solicitation that I will close my door on
If that's too mean, I've just begun, so let me pour on
It is trash that I wouldn't wipe my feet on

Crime and guns and drug addiction are the main themes
Gang violence is glorified, a frickin war scene
Misogynistic, hateful lyrics from a bad dream
A repetitious melody that makes my head scream

[chorus]
Please don't call rap art 
It's just the consequence of no fathers around
Neighborhoods ripped apart
A culture of hate that puts a life in the ground. 

[verse]
Teachers think it's cute to teach our kids rap
Kids are groomed and led into a frickin death trap
It is art we hear them say, but no it is crap
It is obvious but teachers need a road map

If you haven't been convinced, you've got to hear it
That kind of criminality you've got to fear it
Call it out for what it is, and don't revere it
That's my warning, and I hope that you will cheer it

[chorus]
Please don't call rap art 
It's just the consequence of no fathers around
Neighborhoods ripped apart
A culture of hate that puts a life in the ground.

[verse]
Rising violence supported by the left side
Paid for billionaires like Soros, they cannot hide
The USA is the country that they deride 
They don't give a shit about those who have died

White guilted liberals try to signal virtue.
By stating claims that are virtually untrue.
In actuality, they think they're better than you
But hateful rhetoric is all that's on their menu.

[chorus]
Please don't call rap art 
It's just the consequence of no fathers around
Neighborhoods ripped apart
A culture of hate that puts a life in the ground.

We are in a very strange time in history. We have been fighting and killing each other for as long as we have been standing erect. A book called, "The Fourth Turning" was written in the late 1990s and it spells out exactly what is happening now. We are deep within the Fourth Turning and surviving to emerge from other side is not guaranteed.

[verse]
Lying deep in ambush on a Serengeti plain.
Wearing sweat soaked pelts of leather and of mane.
Their stone tipped spears beside them,
As they watch their foes advance.
The battle leaves one standing,
In a soon repeated dance.

[chorus]
Wherever groups assemble,
An irresistible need,
Leads us to be violent.
The consequence of greed. 
 
Can we not remember?
Can we not recall?
This sequence in our genome,
Will bring about our fall.

[verse]
Whatever they can carry, pitch fork, club or sword.
They charge into the carnage of bodies stomped and gored.
Though hatred is the fuel,
Its purpose is arcane.
Survivors will in earnest,
Go on to fight again.

[chorus]
Wherever groups assemble,
An irresistible need,
Leads us to be violent.
The consequence of greed.
 
Can we not remember?
Can we not recall?
This sequence in our genome,
Will bring about our fall.

[verse]
Their muskets packed and ready, the bugle makes the call.
They race into a wall of smoke, where most of them will fall.
By the generals it is touted,
as strategy and means.
So the pattern is repeated,
while red blood soaks the greens.

[break]

[bridge]
We're told we are the apex,
Of consciousness and thought.
We escalate our methods,
From battles we have fought.
We're destined for extinction,
Yet our leaders spur us on.
To mushroom clouds and fire,
And everything is gone.

[verse]
Sitting in a bunker a mile underground.
A screen alerts the viewer to something it has found.
A button red and blinking, 
a shaking hand will press.
Humanity is finally freed, 
from this awful mess.

[chorus]
Wherever groups assemble,
An irresistible need,
Leads us to be violent.
The consequence of greed.
 
Can we not remember?
Can we not recall?
This sequence in our genome,
Will bring about our fall.

A song about my childhood and the Minnehaha creek that cuts through Minneapolis. That little ribbon of water created a sanctuary all along its path, from its source at Lake Minnetonka to Minnehaha Falls where it has been cutting its way into the limestone for millenia, retreating from its final destination of the Mississippi River.

[verse]
When I was a Cub scout,
I was stranded on a ledge.
Too scared to move up or down.
I clung onto the edge.
Through the kindness of a young man,
who was with us on that day.
He plucked me from the precipice,
and scared the ghosts away.

[chorus]
Where the Minnehaha tumbles
A depiction made of brass
Shows Hiawatha carry her
To the safety of the grass

The Mississippi takes her in
And carries her along
From Minnesota to the Gulf
Where oceans sing her song

[verse]
Lying in a snowbank.
In a blizzard, in the dark.
Drinking Snowshoe Grog and grinning.
Acting on a lark.
Minnehaha's tears were frozen,
And we crawled around behind.
Slipping on the forming ice,
To see what we might find.

[bridge]
Fifty years of memories
From bugs and rain and snow
I was sculpted by an artists hand
To be the man you know

[chorus]
Where the Minnehaha tumbles
A depiction made of brass
Shows Hiawatha carry her
To the safety of the grass

The Mississippi takes her in
And carries her along
From Minnesota to the Gulf
Where oceans sing her song

[verse]
I've walked along her sandy base,
Crayfish in reverse.
From Minnetonka where she's born,
I've paddled and immersed.
To a growing boy she offered up,
an urban life escape.
And as a man my preference lies,
In Nature's vast landscape.

[chorus]
Where the Minnehaha tumbles
A depiction made of brass
Shows Hiawatha carry her
To the safety of the grass

The Mississippi takes her in
And carries her along
From Minnesota to the Gulf
Where oceans sing her song