I wrote a song with someone I met over the internet. The name of the song is Somewhere in Texas.

 

Somewhere in Texas

 

Playing guitar all day

Living on tip jar pay

Singing on Friday nights

 

Trying to get a break

Takes every penny I make

Want my name in the marquee lights

 

Chorus- Someday, I'll get there

I ain't there yet.

Out on the road

doing what I do best.

 

Chasing the blacktop

wherever it takes us.

You can find me

Somewhere in Texas.

 

Singing Jason Aldean 

Selling homemade cd's

singing my autograph.

 

Mixing memories

with opportunities.

It's one step up, one step back.

 

Chorus- Someday I'll get there

I ain't there yet.

Out on the road

doing what I do best.

 

Chasing the blacktop

wherever it takes us.

You can find me

Somewhere in Texas.

 

From Dallas to El Paso

From Lubbock to Laredo

I play every county fair.

 

It's dance halls and bars

but no stadiums, so far

Maybe, you'll see me there.

 

Chorus- Someday, I'll get there

I ain't there yet.

Out on the road

doing what I do best.

 

Chasing the blacktop

wherever it takes us

You can find me

Somewhere in Texas.

 

     I worked on adding melody and chords to this song. I spent time trying to get the words to sing correctly. I chose the words very carefully. Finally I liked it and recorded a rough demo of it. I quickly sent it to NSAI (Nashville Songwriting Association International). No sooner than I sent it in and I thought, Oops!. It is not commercial. .What do I mean by commercial?  Not everybody will  care about the singer out on the road. I believe it needs tweaked to make it better.  

     Another problem with the song.is---- There is no girl in the song. After thinking about the song some more. The second verse could be about why he plays guitar and travels around. He is looking for the perfect girl. And where will he find the perfect girl- you guessed it. Somewhere in Texas.

     What happens next.? This could be the bridge on the third verse. He falls in love with the perfect girl, gets married, buys a house and lives happily every after, Somewhere in Texas. This makes the song more appealing to a bigger audience. That is what commercial songwriting is about. and  I am trying  to get better at writing songs this way. 

 

      

 

 

    I am always looking for song ideas. It might be a title, some catchy words that sing well together or maybe I'll write a few lines. It might be the start of a song or just practice at writing lyrics. Every Thursday I get a Title from Songwriter Pro. I will write a verse and a chorus to the title and post it on the website. I do this because it is good practice and it is fun.

    I decided to write a lyric  about hopelessness. I don't know if I'll do anything else with it but I thought I would share it. 

Hopelessness is a town, everybody drives through

Some stop for a while and spend a day or two.

I stayed so long that I built a home

but nobody visits and I'm here alone.

 

How depressing is that? Do I really feel hopeless? No, but that day when I wrote that, yeah it felt like a bad day. Maybe a pity party day and I was the Grand Marshall of the parade that got rained out. I hope you have a day filled with hope. I hope God blesses you today. 

 

     Have you ever lived in a bad neighborhood? I have. Our family has lots of stories about our experiences that we love to share. I wrote a song with my friend Dave about living in central Topeka. The first verse is about when Heather's bike got stolen when she was about eleven year old. She was so sad. The good news is that we did get the bike back. The police found a grown man riding it down Topeka Boulevard at 2am with bolt cutters strapped onto the bike. 

     The second verse is about a drive by shooting that took place as Jeremy was getting his homework out of the  car. The shooters were letting the bullets fly at a house that was two doors down. This was when we realized it was a drug house. Sometimes we need hints. Fortunately, the neighbors moved out pretty soon after this incident. 

      Samantha's pillow cries

Her birthday gift's chained to the porch rail

The purple streamer shine in the light

She feels free when she's riding

one last glimpse through the hole in the blinds.

 

A broken chain is all that's left now

Shadow stole her heart of joy. 

She sighs, "Oh, no! It's gone!

only God hears her voice.

 

Chorus- There's no home sweet home in our neighborhood

Lives shatter like windows, banshee curtains blowing in the wind.

Somebody lock the doors, somebodies gonna cry

Nobodies sleeping sound tonight, as Samantha's pillow cries.

 

Daddy's cars parked by the curb

As an SUV rolls by

Pistols brandished out the window

Hear the bullets fly.

 

Chorus, There's no home sweet home in our neighborhood

Lives shatter like windows, banshee curtains blowing in the wind

Somebody lock the doors tonight, somebodies coulda died

Nobodies sleeping sound tonight as Samantha's pillow cries.

 

Time heals the scars, the scars nobody sees

Hopes the medicine, Samantha really needs.

 

Chorus- There's no home sweet home in our neighborhood

Lives shatter like windows, banshee curtains blowing in the wind

Somebody lock the door tonight, Nobodies gonna die

Nobodies sleeping sound tonight as Samantha's pillow cries.

 

 

     Do what you say and say what you do. I posted on face book that I was going to enter a music contest. The music contest that I was going to enter is the Frank Brown International Songwriter's Festival. It is a big contest with prizes and the chance to perform you winning song on stage. You can also win money. Five hundred dollars. I would need to use the five hundred dollars to go to the festival. The song I entered is, Something You Can See. 

     This is the same song that I sent to a Steve Rutledge at Groove House Recording today. You can listen to my song if you're interested. Thanks, Jim

     It is a challenge to find Publishers that will listen to your songs. It is more difficult when you write country songs and don't live in Nashville. Why would I want to live in Nashville when I can live in Topeka? (Sarcasm)  Nashville really would be a great place to live if all my family was living there with me. Or if writing songs was my full time, high paying career.

    My full time, high paying career is as an assistant manager at a grocery store. Okay, we can scratch out the high paying part. My full time job gives me resources (money) that I can spend on my musical pursuits.(buying guitars, musical equipment, getting demo's made, etc.) If I was a full time musician I would probably not have health insurance, I would be playing an old beat up pawn shop guitar and driving a thousand dollar car. Trust me I have already been in that boat before. 

    On facebook, one of my contacts is Sandy Ramos. Her website is The Song Tuner. She posted that Steve Rutledge at the Groove House Recording is looking for songs for three projects. Here is the list of what he was looking for. 

1. Tracy Lawrence/Trace Adkins

2. Johnny and June

3. Carry Underwood/Miranda Lambert

Wow! Those are some big names in the industry. The next thing you have to ask yourself as a songwriter is, Do any of my songs fit these artists? I decided that my best fit was Tracy Lawrence/Trace Adkins.  The song I sent in was Something you can See. You can't pitch a song once and quit, you gotta keep on pitching. Here is a track of the song if you would like to hear it. Have a great day.