Not a Day Goes By - Second Hand Live

Here's a video of my former band Second Hand's performance of Not A Day Goes By.

Enjoy!

Not a Day Goes By

This song was written about my desire to move to San Diego when I was younger. Surprise, I'm here. The title came later after some friends moved out here before I actually made it out. They referred to San Diego as Dego (day-go), which formed the original song title Not a Dego By. That being too... cryptic (?), offensive (?), I changed it to the current title.

The map I refer to really does exist...

Video tomorrow!

Not A Day Goes By

sick of pulling straws
i plant my feet, they're taking over
time and time again
they just keep getting shorter

well, i bought a map today
i put pins into the places that i've been
and places i'd love to be
but san diego is just so far away

They set him up To watch him fall
But can you see him Up on the wall?
Mark one up, Let it be known
That San Diego, I'm coming home.

i've lingered long enough
and i'm sick of screwing up
i'm tainted with the lust
for a sunny day in california

look at that map today
and laughed at the boy who would take it over
his ideas fit like puzzle pieces
but san diego's just so far away

They set him up To watch him fall
But can you find him Up on the wall?
Mark one up, Let it be known
That San Diego, I'm coming home.

i'm sick of waking up
to a bleeding alarm clock every morning
hit that button one more time
and pause our lives for ten more minutes

this shower can only wash away
this city once, do it every day
i'd wash it away for good
if san diego weren't so far away

They set him up To watch him fall
But can you find him Up on the wall?
Mark one up, Let it be known
That San Diego, I'm coming home.

Epic

This was written in the same coffee shop, but it was a little later and I seem to be a little more upbeat. Good.

The verse where I describe laying in a field is about a painting. If I could remember who painted it or what it was titled, I'd show you...

Also, for those still paying attention, I use lines in this song again later... Keep your eyes open.

Epic

(mmm, yeah)
(my head’s a little cloudy)

Parts of my mind are missing this morning
My head too cloudy to be piecing together such a story
About a memory we once knew
And how a thought can become an endless journey

Slide over, lemme have a seat
Let’s take another look at this
We are rhythm, are we waiting for muses
This is not amusing, waiting on a masterpiece

In my head
In my head
I hear there’s a surprise ending
In my head
In my head
This is not the end, not the end

Last night I think I had a dream
My legs were broken, I was laying in a field
I looked out into the distance
For something to save me, a single tree
I reached my hand
I closed my eyes
My legs again
Supported me…

In my head
In my head
I hear there’s a surprise ending
In my head
In my head
This is not the end, not the end

We.
Are.
Epic.

Reader Art!

Concept art for Soldier. The hotness. Special shout out to [maq] designs for this. Thank you. :)

Check out her creative talents at -simply stated-

The Art of Dying

Oh, young [my name is jonas], why are you so sad?

The Art of Dying

Twinkle tonight little star... just remind me
while i spend the night... laying awake
open window by my bed... fresh air, find me
bottle of wine and sleeping pills paint the art of dying

twinkle tonight little star
starry nights aren't very far from starless dawn
open book next to my bed
a lonely poet struggles with his greatest song

art is hard.
here's to the art of dying.

tonight's the night... let me shine
open up my masterpiece... the art of dying
the good guy goes down... in this final scene
a grand blaze of glory... the art of dying

twinkle tonight little star
just to remind me that autumn leaves are raining
they sprinkle their pain onto the ground
here's to the art of dying.

art is hard.
here's to the art of dying.

goodbye.

Intervention

I was depressed and drinking a lot, acting the fool... that's basically it.

Intervention

on rainy days with pink elephants
i dance in cabarets
the bars are my stage

with unnamed shots and loose bellyflops
kick it into autopilot
it's time i got off

take hold of me
i don't want control
turn my face red
don't shake anymore

when tongues get tied in noisy tribes
i think i'll try
to let it slide

it won't let me stop
'till myself is gone
not me anymore
but my body's still going

which way did he go?
i must apologize
you must understand
i have an evil side

come out, come out wherever you are
just one more and another one more

This is Really Happening

I'm going to post a trio of songs tonight. They're all depressing coffee shop songs. I'm heading out of town for a few days, so I thought I'd post several this week to keep anyone reading occupied.

This Is Really Happening

Flatscreen parents
Internet presidents
Do you fear its presence?

This is all around

Botox humans
Litterbox ashtrays
Can you feel the falling yet?

It’s falling all around

Laughing pigs
Screaming hygiene
Tearing and then burning down

It’s burning all around

Collapsing money
Bulls and bears fighting
Leave before the bitter end

There’s bitter all around

Poison diamonds
Migraine ideas
Spinning around your head

Heads spin all around

We’re clawing at doves on strings
The beasts encircling me
Stop the air from bleeding me
This is really happening

One More For Tonight

There is a page in my songbook that only reads "6 months later." Seems I took a hiatus from writing for a while. This is the song just after that page. There are a couple handfuls of songs that came before this that I haven't posted yet, but I've kinda lost order anyway. Besides, after tonight's posting frenzy, it seems fitting to finish with a song titled....

One More For Tonight

let's face this from another angle
it seems that's when things start looking strange
it's not the camera lens after all these days

put it into place
put it into place
put it into words i can say
let's try another day
let's try another day
today is moving in mysterious ways

don't compare to all the others
that's when it'll start to get a little strange
people just all react in different ways

so when it's time to let it out
don't hold back, now, don't hold back

put it into place
put it into place
fit it in between your usual ways
let's try another day
let's try another day
and forget for now that today remains

can see things from this other angle
and be satisfied that it's all strange
chance is not the problem after all these days

so when it's time to let it out
don't hold back, now, don't hold back

it's there if you listen
just take the permission
to take what you're missing
and lock up the confusions so you
don't hold back, now, don't hold back

put it into place

K

This one is bitter. I'm not bitter anymore, but I was at the time. No further comment.

K

there were holes in my thoughts about you
gaps i missed along the way
but they're there. and i'm ok.

that was a clever first impression
if i may, you played the card well
but hearts turned out to be spades.

when you left, you left me dizzy
i imagined it far more painful
then... you made it easier to be ok.

watched me stumble around clumsy
still with clever false impressions
until the real k came out to play.

would it be so hard to play the truth?
a clever first assumption made you right
made you think it was ok.

but we all know how assumptions go
you made an ass of yourself
and unleashed the ass in me that day.

so now it's easy to wash my hands of you
watch the dirt swirl down the drain
my hands are clean. and i'm ok.

i hope it's what you wanted
you should have been kind and left me pining.
i don't care now if you're ok.

One New Years Morning

One thing I learned growing up around songwriters... never break the heart of a musician. You're bound to end up in a song somewhere.

None of these songs will ever go on to be hits. In fact, they probably won't be read by more than thirty people. Still I wonder, though, what the people I've been involved with would think if they knew that there was a song about them.

I try to keep the commentary pretty vague. For the most part, I have not named any names. Those that really, really know me already know the situations I may hastily describe, and those that do not won't be any wiser. Even so, I hope that the people I write about are flattered. It was in the past, but they all should realize that I cared enough at the time to put the situations into lyrics.

My songbooks are my most valuable possession. Most of the songs may not be great, but they are the moments of my life, both wonderful and terrible.

Anyway, this one is about one who got away...

One New Years Morning

come walk with me a while
tomorrow, start anew
for now let's dance in the twilight
let the stars plan our steps tonight
let's gaze at the sunrise of a new years morning

i know it's january
but let my feet stay bare
the more i feel, the less i'll forget
so let me stand with another's prize
and never lose the sunrise of this new years morning

...these are the things that i think about...

i regret that awkward goodbye
i knew, never again
lost you with a simple word
a single word that i would take back
...a thousand different times
...on a thousand of these mornings
...let my stinging feet remind me
...that i am not asleep

let me rest my grasp
let her fall asleep
with the one she really wants
a better version of me
but i hope that she remembers still...

...these are the things that i think about
.........like watching the sunrise on a new years morning
...these are the things that i think about
.........i don't think i could stand forgetting.
.........and i don't think i could stand ever being forgotten.

On a Highway, Just Before Dawn

These are some of my musings after a fun, all-night event. I was driving home from the beach just before dawn. She was a schoolteacher.

The song isn't that great, but... whatever. Another page in my book.

On a Highway, Just Before Dawn

you're not alone
cuz you're here with me
and i'm halfway home
we're halfway to home-free

don't worry about leaving
safe if you don't look down
you get over your fear of heights fast
when you're this far above the ground

and when we woke up this morning
we woke up with a smile
just hold your breath a little longer
just half as many miles

quit your job with the school
and teach me how to live
bring your spirit with you
i want to think like the kids

don't worry about the money
it's no good where we're going
i must confess my ADD
these daily routines won't hold me

while my attention's somewhere else
we've already left, we're halfway there
where we don't believe in lies
where we can live alive

you're not alone
cuz you're here with me
and i'm halfway home
we're halfway to home-free

Treetops audio

Here's the mp3 for the song Treetops
Let me know what you think...

Treetops

Hope you enjoyed the posting frenzy. I like this one the best out of what I've posted tonight. It has an mp3 running around that I'll put up in a few days.

Treetops

i'll hang around
like leaves on treetops
and i'm not sure it's where i want to be
on a smaller scale,
like a lowercase whisper
i'll fall as a leaf among the trees

i've seen the ground
many years ago
i grew past that quickly
i moved upward
looking only towards the blue

and through the falls
i held on
and stayed upon the top of the tree
now that i'm up here
i'm looking down
i'm not sure this is where i want to be

when will i whither
when will i fall?
i smell reality catching up with it all
when will i finally
hit this ceiling?
well, i think brown might look good on me

farewell treetops
farewell treetops
farewell treetops
fare thee well

A Song About a Song

A simple song I wrote when I couldn't think of anything else to write.

I'm on a roll tonight......

Song About a Song

turn on the radio
a bit of art i can't afford not to hear
i remember our time
i'd sing along, but you're all too near

and it reminds me of a time
.back half my life ago
..when i began to know
...that music was my life

and it reminds me of
a noise after a silence that couldn't end too soon
so prepare yourself
it's the calm before the storm we both know will come

relax and close my eyes
.lay back in the sun
..until the moment is done
...my senses tease my mind

back to reality
can i make my life a tape and just rewind?
let's play make believe
and see to it that this is the soundtrack of tonight

do all your nerves tingle?
.could you stay up all night?
..and would it be alright
...to release this as my life's first single?

Ceiling Magnolias

The title comes from a ceiling fan in the home of someone I was close to one winter. It looked like a magnolia, with petals as the arms of the fan. The girl thought that something was wrong with her. I remember laying on that floor watching the magnolia spin, convincing her that she wasn't poison.

I'm not one for commentary tonight.

Ceiling Magnolias

a magnolia still spins in my mind
don't let me go home, imagine me one more time

looking back on this round's events
a happy moment was one spent with her
i know i'm romancing a flower
that blooms only in the morning before i rise
when i lay counting surreal ceiling tiles
just one more hello. goodbye.

wasn't expecting any resurrection of myself
a virgin birth brought something i'd never expect
play me a song to carry me home
i'll spin with the planes on my ride
as i drive along and get lost in the sky

let me check... i'm dancing alone
long after i've carried the flower home
no reason to wish for more this time
this round was perfect; back for the hours i'd drive
i'll wrap this up this time, it's mine.

let me check, seems my flower has died
no use to hope for a bloom
it's wilted despite the water and
light and love i gave and i look above
for a flower still spinning in my mind.

don't lay too near the fire
but let it warm our sight
and lose ourselves in the afterglow
of a once fantastic light
a magnolia still spins in my mind.
not time to drive home, pretend there's more time
for the dance of the magnolia in my mind
yes, the magnolia still spins in my mind.

you're not poison
you're not poison
you're not poison
you're not poison

Good Problem, Good Mistake

Women... ;-)

Good Problem, Good Mistake

i'm a good actor
i'm a good liar
but when did this all turn real?
just a little boy
lookin' through a window
give it all back to him

i guess i thought this was real
i never wanted back
i never wanted to have to deal
counter-clockwise
the second hand should reveal
another problem, another problem

she's a good problem
she's a good mistake
who ever heard of such things?
just a little boy
good thing this glass
has blurred his vision, it's blurred his vision

i guess i thought this was real
i never wanted back
i never wanted to have to deal
counter-clockwise
the second hand should reveal
another mistake, another mistake

i guess i thought this was real
i never wanted back
i never wanted to have to deal
counter-clockwise
the second hand should reveal
another chance wasted.

Try

This one came about a little later in my writing career, but April Fools Day is about as good a day as any to post it. Besides, I feel like finally posting one of my best songs... plus a video and mp3.

I'm not exactly sure how this commentary should go. Try was about my girlfriend at the time... we hadn't been together for too long when I wrote this, and we began dating with the knowledge that I was moving away... but I wanted to try to stay together.

Reading the lyrics now, I think most people can take something from the song. I've lost a lot of sleep over the years worrying about the ends of various things. "Let's all laugh into the fire" is, in my humble opinion, a great line. Enjoy the good times as they happen, and remember them fondly. And finally, don't give up on something you believe in until there is nothing more you can do. It may not work out, but that's life. All you can do is try.

Try

Set it off
Build it up
Let's all laugh into the fire

Tell me now
did you cry?
raise the bar a little higher

close your eyes and just pretend
i could use a little rest for my head
can't fall asleep, all i see
all i see is the end

if i go
overboard
please excuse my behavior

i'd make it right
but i forget
just how it feels to be a savior

close your eyes and just pretend
i could use a little rest for my head
can't fall asleep, all i see
all i see is the end

excuse me baby, but i don't want to give up

close your eyes and just pretend
i could use a little rest for my head
can't fall asleep, all i see
all i see is the end

let's all laugh into the fire
let's all laugh into the fire




MP3




Video