Our Wedding Song

This is a piece that I've been working on for some time now. The current plan is to perform it at my upcoming wedding in July. A demo recording should be following in the not too distant future:

Our Wedding Song
For Justine
Lyrics by John W. Leys, Music by Elijah K Wilbury

E7
Tongue tied and stuttering
A7
Looking for the words to say
E7
To tell how much I love you
D G
Gotta keep from spitting up cliches

E7
You opened a door, shone a light
A7
And made my life complete
E7
No more lonely nights spent
D G
Wandering like a hobo in the street

E7-A7-D

E7
I was a man of constant sorrow
A7
Knowin' nothing but trouble all my days
E7
Now reborn like a flower
D G
Touched by the spring sun rays

E7
I followed my footsteps
A7
Ramblin' down a lost highway
E7
'til your love found me at that truck stop
D G
Finally giving me a reason to stay

E7-A7-D

E7
The prospect, it chilled my soul
A7
Can life really be this way?
E7
All my years on the road
D G
Love was just another way to betray

E7
But you made me a father; gave me a son
A7
Created a new family
E7
The light you shown opened by eyes
D G
Finally allowing me to see

E7
With your love in my heart
A7
And your pillow for my head
E7
There's really nothing left to fear
D G
For the past is truly dead

E7-A7-D

Self Preservation Blues

This is a set of lyrics I've been working on lately. Not 100% satisfied with them, but close enough to show them in public ;)

Self Preservation Blues
by John W. Leys

I've seen this movie before and never liked the ending.
So why would I sit through it again?
I can see the plot twists all a comin'
I know what'll happen, its just a matter of when.

The lead is a self absorbed princess
Living in a run down trailer tent
All the other actors are there to serve her
Displease her and be prepared to repent

“What happened, where're you goin'?”
Words have no meaning if you don't listen.
“I don't understand what you're doin'”
Your eyes must be open to see the sky

She fancies herself a high class princess
Though she's just a burned out trailer tramp
Using people like disposable needles
She'll jump a thousand cars using you as the ramp

Like a newborn baby, she's blameless in every situation
Though her dress is scarlet red.
Kindly, she'll show you your every misstep
Though it was you down this path she led.

“What happened, where're you goin'?”
Words have no meaning if you don't listen.
“I don't understand what you're doin'”
Your eyes must be open to see the sky

So, without a word, I left the theater
Not stopping for a refund, nor to complain
Behind me the projector screened the second act
While I slept in comfort on an outbound train.

“What happened, where're you goin'?”
Words have no meaning if you don't listen.
“I don't understand what you're doin'”
Your eyes must be open to see the sky

A New Life

New Life
For Justine

As I traveled, the path ahead seemed clear
I walked alone searching, yet not finding
A companion within the road windings.
Someone in the darkness to fight the fear
That wrapped my heart and drained me of my tears.
Many promises made; few still binding.
A mask pretends a heart is not minding
Liars and thieves, though the cost is so dear

But the moment before all hope is lost,
A hand offered to dust away the strife.
A soul so warm to thaw a frozen heart,

Ne'er asking what, to her, would be the cost
To risk her soul to save my broken life
So a new life together we can start

14 Dec 2008

----------------
Now playing: The Beatles - Something
via FoxyTunes

Sherman's Lament

This is a piece I've been working on for a while. It was inspired by several quotes I've read by General Sherman concerning war.

Sherman's Lament
by John W. Leys

For General William Tecumseh Sherman
and soldiers everywhere.

The day over, the battle won.
No joy rests in the victory.
The home front questions tactics,
I'm a soldier accused of barbary

Looking out o'er the battlefield
I see the bodies of fathers, sons and brothers.
Their blood cried out to me from the mud
Like the weeping of wives, sisters and mothers.

I'm but a humble soldier
With a job that must be done.
A country that needs healing,
A war that must be won.

We fight for freedom and glory,
Or so the politicians tell.
But their reasons are all moonshine
This war—all war—is Hell.

18 May 2008

Leonard Cohen

On 10 March 08 Leonard Cohen, one of the most talented poets and lyricists of our time, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Lou Reed:

Singing the Blues

I just posted a couple new Elijah Wilbury songs to my EZFolk page. The first is my version of the St James Infirmary Blues:



The second is an original blues song based on St James, which I call The Lost Love Blues:



The Lost Love Blues
Lyrics by John W. Leys, Music by Elijah K. Wilbury

Intro: Dm-A7-Dm-Gm-A7-

Dm-A7-Dm-A7-Dm

Dm A7 Dm
I went down to the station
Gm A7
Headed for I don't know where
Dm A7 Dm
I saw an old man layin by the dustbin
A7 Dm
With a pain he couldn't help but share

I asked him what the matter was
And what path to this place had led
He looked up with bleary eyes
And these were the words he said:

“I was looking for my lady
In the house where her parents dwelt
Not suspecting what I'd find there
And the hand that I'd been dealt.

Her parents sat on cushionless stools
The mirrors were covered and blind
And no sign there was of my true love
Who in this world I would never again find

Oh my sweet Lord, please bless her
Wherever she may be
I could search the whole world over
And never find one as sweet as she

I rent my shirt o'er my blood-pump
And dropped down to my knees
Asking the Lord of Hosts above me
'Save me if you please!'

It was raining when they buried her
In a plain box five feet long
Six Rabbis were her pallbearers
With Six Cantors to sing her songs

Not a flower colored the garden
Her family tree dressed in black
18 traveled to the graveyard
Only 17 came walking back”

His eyes rent open my breastbone
My soul for his love did cry
To hear of that wicked day
That he saw his future die.

And as he finished his sad story
He drew one last ragged breath
I pray he finds that lost love
Out there on the other side of death.

Outro: Dm-A7-Dm-Gm-A7-Dm-A7-Dm-A7-Dm

Layla and Majnun

In an attempt to keep some of my sanity (shut up!) I've been making an effort to do some reading for pleasure outside of my classroom studies. Recently I've been reading from Nizami's The Story of Layla and Majnun, which relates the legendary Arabic story of a boy named Qays who falls madly in love with a beautiful girl named Layla. And while Layla returns his love she is forbidden to be with him by her family. Unable to have Layla and unable (or unwilling) to let go of his love for her Qays in driven insane and becomes known as Majnun (madman). It is a brilliantly poetic story of a heartbreaking unrequited love which helped inspire Eric Clapton's "Layla" from the Derek and the Dominoes Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs album (Clapton also set one of Nizami's verses to music as the song "I Am Yours" on the same album).



Many of the passages are incredibly moving and/or beautiful, especially for anyone who has found themselves in similar situations. I found the description of Qays love at first site to be particularly worth repeating:

"Whose heart would not have been filled with longing at the sight of this girl? But young Qays felt even more. He was drowned in the ocean of love before he knew there was such a thing. He had already given his heart to Layla before he understood what he was giving away... "

There are many more memorable passages, which I may share at a later date.

Life (Now with English Subtitles!)

"Vitaque mancipio nulli datur, omnibus usu."

- Titus Lucretius Carus (c 99-55 BCE), De Rerum Natura

Updated: Since I apparently misjudged the classical education of my readership, here is a translation of the above quote:

"Life is given no nobody, it is loaned to everyone"

-Titus Lucretius Carus, On the Nature of Things

This Isn't How the Story Ends

This is a revised version of a song I posted here earlier (and played live last night). Studio recording to follow (eventually).

This Isn't How the Story Ends
by John W. Leys

A casual wave good-bye
Her other hand clinging to another
An unfaithful, unworthy rake
His tequila soaked drinking brother

The tear-stained photograph
By his fingers often traced
A mind obsessed with the whys
Of a love lost that will never be replaced

He quietly watched her walk away
The bridges as she passes they burn
The question asked; the answer known
“Will she ever to me return?”

But this isn't how the story ends

In the courtyards of academia
Too public a place to cause a scene
Quiet reasons and no desire to continue
Calls a waking from this nightmarish dream

With walls crashing down around him
Remains of a romance that should never have been
The final stab thrust through him:
“I hope I can always be your friend”

Stunned, he watches her walk away
A lesson his heart doesn't wish to learn
The question asked; the answer known
“Will she ever to me return?”

But this isn't how the story ends...

It doesn't end this way
Traveling down our lonely roads
It doesn't end in tears, nor pain
That strangles until your soul explodes

This isn't how the story ends...

A lonely letter down an endless wire
Long expected, arriving from nowhere
Detailing coldly and concisely
All the ways this perfect love they can no longer share

But this isn't how the story ends...

Facing a fork in the road,
He calmly decides to take it
Not giving her another chance
To grip his heart and break it

The phone in the cradle he lays
A chapter here is finished
So often left behind, he now leaves
His love for her never truly diminished

Stunned, she watches him walk away
Desperate to mask her panic and concern
The unspoken answer known only in his soul
“Someday, to you, I promise to return”

But this isn't where the story ends...

It doesn't end this way
Traveling down our lonely roads
It doesn't end in tears, nor pain
That strangles until your soul explodes

This isn't how the story ends...

Stunned, she watches him walk away
Desperate to mask her panic and concern
The unspoken answer known only in his soul
“Someday, to you, I promise to return”

This isn't how the story ends..

Vox Pop

Last night I had my ukulele playing stage debut at the Vox Pop open mic night. I played an original song, which I have actually yet to record (using a revised version of lyrics posted here earlier) and had a great time listening to the other artists present. At the end of the evening myself, Tony III (and family) and the Buffalo Poets (MOOSE!) took part in a free form jam session on guitar, harmonicas and voice.

I highly recommend Vox Pop's open mic night. They have a very relaxed, accepting, friendly atmosphere & serve damn good coffee and tea!

New Song Lyrics

These are the lyrics to a song I've been working on for the past few days. Any feedback or suggestions are most welcome:

A casual wave good-bye
Her other hand clinging to another
An unfaithful, unworthy rake
His tequila soaked drinking brother

The tear stained photo
By his fingers often traced
A mind obsessed with the whys
Of a love lost that will never be replaced

He quietly watched her walk away
The bridges as she passes they burn
The question asked; the answer known
"Will she ever to me return?"

In the courtyard of academia
Too public a place to cause a scene
Quiet reasons and no desire to continue
Calls a waking from this nightmarish dream

With walls crashing down around him
Remains of a romance that should never have been
The final stab thrust through him:
"I hope I can always be your friend"

Stunned, he watches her walk away
A lesson his heart doesn't wish to learn
The question asked; the answer known
"Will she ever to me return?"

A lonely letter down an endless wire
Long expected, yet coming out of nowhere
Detailing curtly, coldly and concisely
All the ways this perfect love they cannot share

A tactical retreat to tend his wounds
So often left behind, he now leaves her
Sidetracked from his grail quest this knight
Convinces himself foolishly that he no longer needs her

Stunned, she watches him walk away
Desperate to mask her panic and concern
The unspoken answer known only in his soul
"Someday, to you, I promise to return"

Two Years Already?

I feel kind of bad that I had to be reminded that today is the anniversary of another death.

I posted this two years ago & I'm not sure I could say any better today:

Three Strikes
For Michael Thomas Cunningham, 1967-2005
by John W. Leys

When you took ill
I prayed for you.
Every day I prayed.
Three times a day:
Morning, noon and night
I begged for God’s mercy;
Begged for a miracle

But the time for prayer is passed
Mourning is now here.
Enriched by your memory,
Wounded by your absence.
Nothing will bring you back,
Your miracles are spent.

The path you walk
I will one day follow,
But you can never follow it
Back to me.

All Those Years Ago

26 years ago...

John Winston Ono Lennon
9 October 1940 - 8 December 1980

"We all shine on..."

"I'm shouting all about love
While they treated you like a dog
When you were the one who had made it so clear
All those years ago.

I'm talking all about how to give
They don't act with much honesty
But you point the way to the truth when you say
All you need is love.

Living with good and bad
I always look up to you
Now we're left cold and sad
By someone the devil's best friend
Someone who offended all.

We're living in a bad dream
They've forgotten all about mankind
And you were the one they backed up to the wall
All those years ago
You were the one who Imagined it all
All those years ago.

Deep in the darkest night
I send out a prayer to you
Now in the world of light
Where the spirit free of the lies
And all else that we despised.

They've forgotten all about God
He's the only reason we exist
Yet you were the one that they said was so weird
All those years ago
You said it all though not many had ears
All those years ago
You had control of our smiles and our tears
All those years ago"
- George Harrison, 1981

---

A Bit of the Applause
(For John Winston Lennon)
by John W. Leys

You were the Walrus
Then you were John
You were the Dreamweaver
And now, you are gone

You were a poet
You were a man
They call you a god
They don't understand

They mourn your death
Say you died for the cause
When All you wanted
Was a bit of the applause. (1989)

Heavy Load and a Worried Mind

This is a poem I started a few weeks ago, partially inspired by a conversation I was having with my friend Tony III. I just got around to finishing it up yesterday afternoon. I'm toying with the idea of setting it to music.

Heavy Load and a Worried Mind
by John W. Leys

Out the door to the platform
Just waiting for a train
Tug down on my hat brim
To shield my eyes from the rain

No tears this time
I just can't stay still
Nothing to tie me down now
I guess I've just had my fill

I've got souvenirs from places
I ain't never been
And every year I confess
Even if I didn't commit the sin

Walkin' through the Village
To listen to the Cabaret
When the singer gently pulls a tune
From the poet of the lost highway

The Lord has retreated from the world
And yet remains within our reach
Like the tide receding out
While the ocean still kisses the beach

I follow my footsteps down
Through the road map of my soul
No home for this weary traveler
When the road itself is a goal

The train pulls into the station;
All the passengers climb on in
No promise or prediction made
Can guarantee I'll ever be here again. (6 December 2006)

Just in the Mood for a Poem

We'll go no more a-roving
by George Gordon Noel, Lord Byron, (1788-1824)

SO, we'll go no more a-roving
So late into the night,
Though the heart be still as loving,
And the moon be still as bright.

For the sword outwears its sheath,
And the soul wears out the breast,
And the heart must pause to breathe,
And love itself have rest.

Though the night was made for loving,
And the day returns too soon,
Yet we'll go no more a-roving
By the light of the moon.