Let Me Set Your Soul On Fire Tonight...

When I was fifteen years old, I picked up a guitar and made a real attempt to play it.  A few years prior to that I had a guitar as well, but cared nothing about actually learning anything about music.  Something changed at that point, as you can tell, because everything you see in the picture above belongs to me, other than the blue acoustic in front;  you could say I became obsessed.  After playing guitar for a while, I began writing lyrics and an overflowing notebook exists at my house that is full of nothing but a decade's worth of songs in various stages of completion.

There was a time, as I have written about before, when I had a chance to stick my foot in the door with that catalog of original music and lyrics, but I left the whole idea behind me with good reason.  Some things never change, and besides that two years I spent in a self-induced dark place, I have continually written lyrics as they pop into my head, in the same was as I write my blogs.  I come across people all the time who say "Yeah, I write music/lyrics/stories all the time, but nobody ever reads them because I don't think they are good enough."  Those are the people who are either fishing for praise when you coax them into letting you read their stuff, those who have no confidence, or they actually believe the cannot write.  None of these are me. 

When I write lyrics, I write them as a way to clear my head or transcribe a lingering thought into reality.  Sometimes I do write them about other people and share with those very few who are in the subject matter, but overall most of these live on my hard drive or scribbled down on a piece of paper; most of them have actual music I have added in as well.  What do I do with them?  Nothing.  For me writing lyrics and music is a sincere and actual moment of clarity.  Most of the time when I write an entire song it will never again resurface, because for me that whole process served it's purpose on my end.  Personal expression that you keep on a personal level can move mountains in your own mind.  Try it sometime.  

I have written lyrics and contributed suggestions to quite a few of my friends who either do music as a hobby, in different facets of the public eye, or professionally, and I love that.  My own original writing, however, stays mostly unseen just because that was not the reasoning behind writing it in the first place;  for me, this has been a personal or relational exercise since I turned down a potential opportunity when I was nineteen years old and have not looked back...until now...  I am going to throw a few of those songs and lyrics I have written onto my blog occasionally for no reason other than wanting to share a bit and after realizing they can all be read as poems and still somewhat make sense. 

Like my stuff or hate it, either is fine with me.  But remember, if I die, there is a massive notebook full of similar things lingering around in my house somewhere to either be found or pitched away.

Here is one I wrote and added to my notebook yesterday:

 Just Ask

Ask me what I'm thinking
I'll tell you half what's on my mind
Jump up on the surface
Discover something to define
Hot days or cold nights
Shadow, cloak and life hidden
Sticky sweat to lifetime
No clue who or what's beginning
Moon shines bright
Glare down in those green eyes
Reflections of tonight
In my mind live forever defined
Sometimes I wonder off-time
If the struggle's really worth the fight
Can't see, can't breathe
Tomorrow's so far not in sight
We're all there
We're all there
We're all there
You may not see it, but we're all there
Imaginations of today
Tales of impossible dreams
Take it all as given to you
Lost to leave, love or need
Sink and swim at the same time
Drops in the bucket don't matter
Lies of the bad, truth of the good
They say "Don't worry it gets better."
That plan, smile, the look
Still in the deepest shade of green
Across the room or right beside
Small moments mean everything

Grace and Peace,

    -Drew

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/drew.silvers

YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/drewcoustic

Email:  drewcoustic@gmail.com

The lyrics in the title of this from are from this song: