1,201

(5 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Jim  I love those lyrics of yours and the way they make the story of faith being available to an individual to choose in everyday life if they so want.  The art of calling out to a higher power and believing. That is what I used to love about a lot of Johnny Cash's songs. I will attach a link to Johnny's sister Joanne Cash singing about it recently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_tKb9RXYMw     

1,202

(8 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Phill three words came into my mind reading your post GO FOR IT. Now you have twenty four tracks to play with you have a big musical canvas to play with.  I agree with all that Jim and Beamer said.     

1,203

(5 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Jeff I hope your feeling better and I look forward to hearing you do this  song.     

1,204

(5 replies, posted in Poems)

Cheers Phill the under thirties seem to be addicted to their smartphones. The smartphone battery gone flat is a major life threatening crises for many young ones.
Jim and EB I enjoy watching people doing everyday things. I wonder if in twenty years time if the young ones will  still be addicted to their smartphones ?
Thank you guys for your feedback as I know my stuff doesn't always work it is  always good to hear your thoughts. Hopefully my way of writing about everyday things doesn't bore people.

1,205

(2 replies, posted in Songwriting)

EB your singing voice and guitar playing good.     

1,206

(5 replies, posted in Poems)

Just me writing about a local bar.. I like to to put my experience of every day real Kiwi life into words hope it works.


                                                 Bar Room Couple.

Boy and girl sitting at the bar.

She pulls out her phone.

Drowning out a quiet guitar playing at the bar.

Her voice travels across the room.

“Lets put our selfie on Facebook”.

A quick little snappy are they bored or are they happy.

Why do  they need their face on cyberspace.

Are their minds in this space or another place.

Is multi tasking while talking to each other.

A new way of dating and mating.

Are new apps updating looking to grab more of their time.

Are they in love with each other.

Or are they looking for another.

Texting looking at their devices.

Nattering and chattering.

While taking little sips from flash cocktails.

On the other side of the bar beers in pints.

There is me and my mate talking lost in debate.

I look at the time.

I need to shoot through.

Got other things to do

The young couple catch my eye as I am preparing to say goodbye.

Raise their glasses high.

Wishing me good health

Enquiring of them. I  ask,“ Are you having a good day”?

He says” yes” and with a big smile she shrieks “this day has been the best.”

“My boyfriend  asked me to marry him and I said yes.”

I drain my uplifted glass in a salute.

Wish them God Bless and all the best.

1,207

(5 replies, posted in Poems)

Cheers Phill and Beamer thank you for your comments. I try to look at everyday things from a different angle but at times I am not sure if it works or let alone make sense.     

1,208

(2 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Another good one Jim I have left you a comment on Soundcloud.     

1,209

(4 replies, posted in Poems)

Good one Beamer I like the Hot rods analogy.     

1,210

(5 replies, posted in Poems)

Cheers Jim your comment as an introduction to your last song "Rain Of Mercy" did help me think about sad songs in this poem. Then turning on radio hearing three  sad songs in a row got my mind ticking again.  This Monday morning its between 55 and 59 degrees in your temperature scale around here  or 13 to 15 in ours.
Hope you have a good week.
Pete

1,211

(5 replies, posted in Poems)

It is  a beautiful sunny winter morning down here in NZ. Turned on the radio after listening to three  songs turned it of so I could just enjoy the quiet and nature outside my window. Picked up a pen and paper and wrote this.



Song Writer.

Why would I want to be a songwriter.

When its the sad songs that sell.

I guess I could lead the crowd.

We could all sing lets be sad together.

Lets be sad together.

On a dark night in the spotlight.

People waving lights.

Thousands singing lets be  sad together.

All in great delight.

Waving arms and dancing.

A sea of arms in the air.

Cell phone lights shining bright.

Entranced in a mantra.

Lets be sad together.

Lets be sad together.

Their spirits all hyped up.

Negative voices filling the night with delight.

Do these negative lyrics filling  my head.

Make me feel better.

Or do they make me feel worse.

Or are they a subliminal curse.

Woke up this morning listened to the radio.

Three negative songs in a row.

Lets be sad together.

Lets be sad together.

Peoples mental health not given much wealth.

A stream of sad.

Does it make them happy or is it  driving them mad.

Lets be sad together.

Lets be sad together.

Why would I want  to be a song writer.

If its sad thoughts that keep me up all night.

1,212

(2 replies, posted in Poems)

Excellent  powerful words Phill,  I often wonder if my ancestor's and those who have been part of my life who have passed on get to look down on what I am doing. Is their hidden hands still guiding me? Though many of my family elders have passed on many years ago when I am in a tricky situation their wise words said to me when they were around come back to me.
Here is an old Kiwi  proverb that my Mum often uses when talking about those who have passed on.
He hono tangata e kore e motu; ka pa he taura waka e motu
Unlike a canoe rope, a human bond cannot be severed.     

1,213

(5 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Jim I look forward to hearing this one been played and sung.     

1,214

(3 replies, posted in My local band and me)

Cheers EB it was a good challenge this collaboration. Thank you to you and Phill for letting me part of it.  I liked the way Phill put it all together. The music and the singing worked great also I loved hearing some beautiful Welsh,  Cymraeg as part of the project. Hope our fellow chordies take time to check out the video and give us some feedback. I also enjoyed the way we got to tell our stories on this rock theatre musical piece' about the human spirit  and also the legacy of those who have passed on.

Thank you Jim for your feedback.

1,215

(311 replies, posted in Bands and artists)

Good one CG, Van has been an interesting and complex character to listen to over the years.

1,216

(5 replies, posted in Songwriting)

EB it was great to hear Jan after a long time. She did an excellent performance of your song. I hope she drops back into chordie sometime.

1,217

(2 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Sad news Peter passing away. Maree and I use to see him around the area we use to live in Richmond, London while living in the UK.. Our good friend Chris Patton use to play bass with him in a recording studio along with some of the guys who were in Thin Lizzy. Sadly at the time Peter was experiencing extreme mental health issues and the recording never got released. Maree and I got the privilege to hear some of the sessions while visiting Chris and they were real good. I thought Pete wrote some of Fleetwood Mac best songs and  I always like the Santana cover of his song Black Magic Woman.

1,218

(12 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Happy Birthday Jim. I am sure you and your Taylor will put together many a good song.     

1,219

(9 replies, posted in My local band and me)

Phill that is a great party song and I love the washboard sound.     

1,220

(311 replies, posted in Bands and artists)

Good find there CG I like her drum setup. The setting for her video is an interesting one nothing flash but lots of character.     

1,221

(6 replies, posted in Poems)

Cheers Jim it is sad how drugs and alcohol can ruin life's. Even in our beautiful country with a laid back way of life we cant escape people making bad choices which destroys them and their families and helps create crime to pay for their addictions.  Now days there is this terrible  storm ripping  through our communities Methamphetamine use and addiction hitting all sectors of society rich and poor. I will attach me doing Thrown Of Line on YouTube for anyone that is interested in hearing   it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHLlXmYdMFY

1,222

(6 replies, posted in Poems)

Cheers Phill, Beamer and EB. I enjoy having a beer with friends and try  to make it to our local at least once a week. Also I have friends who don’t drink so I do different things with them it is a bit like having separate ways of socializing. Having family members and friends who are  alcoholics and ex drug addicts makes me aware that not everyone can touch alcohol.   Here in NZ it is Dry July it  is a fundraiser that challenges you to go alcohol-free for a month and raise funds for New Zealanders affected by cancer. Instead of going dry I am sponsoring a friend who is. The thing with addicts and alcoholics if their not functioning their choices hurt more than themselves. With addicts they are people who come from all sorts of backgrounds some good some bad. One of the reasons I stopped playing music about forty years back was due to all the drugs and heavy drinking around the groups I  was involved in at the time.

1,223

(6 replies, posted in Poems)

Maree and I use to help out at a Salvation Army drug and alcohol rehab centre. One man I  got to know who was  in the rehab told me one day about his twenty six year old son tracking him down in a dodgy pub he frequented. Years later I met his son who also told me about that meeting. This is me writing about it from how I heard both their stories  of the event. I decided to write it as though I’m the father.


Thrown Of Line.

Sitting at a bar on the wrong side of the city.
Feeling like a flea bitten dog. 
My head full of smog.
Scratching at something that tickled.
After all these years a muddy still pond has rippled.
In amongst the stench of stale beer.
This young man walks in here.
Twenty years on he runs into me.
No hatred no sympathy.
Young man beer in hand.
Of all the places in this land
Beer and here.
Last time together.
He was just six.
My mud sticks.
My bad tricks.
About to haunt me.
With no challenge.
Just a shake of the hand.
He looks me in the eye.
Unaware I’m high.
Yet in that moment I knew I was living a lie.
Time to tell the truth.
Once before I die.
I know your my old man.
He  says to me with outreached hand.
With no where to hide.
I let him sit by my side.

Reflections of my time a train track.
With carriages thrown of line.
It should be just me doing the time.
It should be just me doing the time.

I want my head to be clear like a mountain stream.
Cocaine driving me insane.
Booze the empty glass.
Head hanging at half mast.
Cigarettes killing my throat.
Around me a swirling moat.
More dirt than water to keep me afloat.
The hunt for applause no longer important.

Reflecting back on my time.
With carriages thrown of line.
It should be just me doing the time.
It should be just me doing the time.

Son  love your mother.
She protected you from me.
She gave you certainty.
She gave you her soul.
I never fulfilled my roll.
It must have taken its toll.
It is true .
Its nothing new
Why have respect for me.
Last time I saw you .
You were six and your brother was three.
Your baby sister as pretty can be.

Carriages thrown of line.
It should be just me doing the time.
It should be just me doing the time.

I drank from the devils well.
Made your mothers life hell.
Go out and live your life well.
Kid you don't have to respect me.

Carriages thrown of line.
It should be just me doing the time.
It should be just me doing the time.

Shake my hand  son I'm nearly done.
I'm still on the run.
My life is a mess.
Say goodbye and wish me God Bless.

Carriages thrown of line.
It should be just me doing the time.
It should be just me doing the time. 

1,224

(7 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

He was very popular here in NZ.
RIP Charlie.     

1,225

(311 replies, posted in Bands and artists)

CG he is real good so is his band. First time I have heard of him and I have enjoyed it very much. It is a cold winter Saturday night down here in the South Pacific and your post has helped to make an entertaining night. Wishing you folk in the USA a safe and enjoyable July Fourth weekend.