Teach Me To Pray
One month ago my dear grandmother passed away from a sudden, unexpected illness. While losing her has been incredibly hard for our family, we have been immeasurably blessed by the legacy she has left behind. Over the past several weeks, friends and family members have shared with us stories we’d never heard about my grandmother, stories about how selfless and loving she was. And my grandmother would be the first to say the source of that selfless love was Jesus.
That being said, I thought the best way I could honor her would be to arrange a version of her favorite hymn, Teach Me To Pray. Here it is. We miss you, Memommy.
Teach Me To Pray
Teach me to pray, Lord, teach me to pray;
This is my heart-cry day unto day;
I long to know your will and your way;
Teach me to pray, Lord, teach me to pray.
Power in prayer, Lord, power in prayer!
Here ‘mid earth’s sin and sorrow and care,
Men lost and dying, souls in despair;
O give me power, power in prayer!
Refrain
Living in you, and you in me
Constant abiding, this is my plea;
Grant me your power, boundless and free,
Power with men and power with Thee.
My weakened will, Lord, you can renew;
My sinful nature you can subdue;
Fill me just now with power anew;
Power to pray and power to do!
Teach me to pray, Lord, teach me to pray;
You are my pattern day unto day;
You are my surety, now and always
Teach me to pray, Lord, teach me to pray.
February 10, 2010 2 Comments
Transpose Chords with Chord Transposer
Instead of a song, today I’m posting a resource for songwriters! Chord Transposer is a website of mine that enables you to easily transpose song chords. Paste in the lyrics/chords, choose the original key, choose a new key, and hit “Transpose”. You can even put a cool little widget on your website…like the one right here. Go ahead, give it a try.
February 1, 2010 No Comments
Hit and Miss
I wrote a new song. And just as I was getting ready to record it…I got sick. Alas, it will have to wait until next week when I get my voice back.
Instead, I have for you a song from my album. It has resonated with me recently, so I thought I’d share it.
Hit and Miss
Never knew what it felt like to be a wreck
Always lived safe and slow
Swerved to miss a dead possum dead in my tracks
Hit a telephone pole
I never believed that someone like me would ever end up in this kind of shape
But who am I, anyway?
Never knew what my blood tasted like till today
It’s all over my face
And it’s all over my formerly white linen self
What ironic disgrace
I never believed that someone like me would ever end up in this kind of shape
But who am I, anyway?
I thought I was strong enough
I guess I was wrong enough
I never believed that someone like me would ever end up in this kind of shape
But who am I, anyway?
Never knew what it felt like to be a wreck
Never knew what it felt like to live so slow
January 28, 2010 No Comments
Love Dies Slowly
Hope everyone (except maybe you FL kids) enjoyed a snowy day 7 of 2010! The wintry mix in Nashville today was perfect weather for guitar playing and songwriting. So here you go–the first draft of a new tune. Cheers.
Love Dies Slowly
You wonder if it’s love or some other affection
Well if you’ll shed some blood, then there is one sure way to know
Love dies slowly, love dies slowly
Shoot it with a gun, or stab it with a shovel
No matter how you get it done, love’s got a stubborn will to live
And that’s why love dies slowly, love dies slowly
So if you want the facts and if you’ve got the courage
Go on and swing the axe and kill your curiosity
Remember: love dies slowly, love dies slowly
January 7, 2010 No Comments
1999
Happy New Year, everyone! I don’t have resolutions, but I do have a short list of “hopefuls”: start playing racquetball, find a summer job in Silicon Valley, co-author a cooking blog, and resurrect this website.
Today’s song is New-Years-Day-appropriate for two reasons: 1. It’s about change, and 2. it’s proof that you can accomplish something with a little resolve, even if it takes forever. I started writing this almost two years ago, sharing an unfinished version in a previous post. Since then I’ve revisited it a few times. And this is where I landed. Hope you enjoy. And Godspeed with your resolutions (or hopefuls).
1999
It was so long ago
We barely can remember what we said
The pain, it pierced too deeply to forget
But we barely can remember what we said
It was so long ago
We wonder why forgiveness is so far
Why all that seems to grow are all these scars
We wonder why forgiveness is so far
Is it so far?
We’re stuck in 1963
The start of our shattered history
And I want out of here
Fast forward, it’s 1999
And we can change this story line
Start it over here
It was so long ago
We don’t believe it’s ever gonna change
We think we’ll live forever in these chains
We don’t believe it’s ever gonna change
But it can change
We can’t win unless we lose our victory rights
Forgiveness hurts, forgiveness kills and brings new life
It’s not worth living life this way
It’s not worth living life this way
It’s not worth holding onto pain
If it means losing one more day
January 1, 2010 No Comments
Merry Christmas!
In an effort to spread Christmas cheer AND to resume blogging (we’ll see how long this lasts), here is a rendition of my favorite Christmas carol. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.
O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
December 24, 2009 No Comments
She’s gone
Well, she was gone. But now she’s back. (Me, that is.) I’ve overcommitted myself for the past two months at the expense of playing music…and I missed it terribly!
So anyway, hope you enjoy this. Oh, and I’m actually playing live in a couple of weeks! On Friday May 9th at the Channel with Jacob Johnson…and then again on May 10th at Paris Mountain State Park with Jonathan Edwards. Both should be fun, so come if you can.
April 26, 2008 No Comments
The days, they roll away
Easy, breezy summer’s day:
The time just seems to blow away.
Always think about the things I’ve done,
Forget to do the things I should.
And as the days, they roll away
Like the ocean’s waves of gray,
I dig to find myself in grains of sand.
Forget to look into the sun.
Who am I now, and have I run so far
That I can’t tell myself from these dying stars?
I feel so lost, and I would throw all I have off the edges of all I knew
To be lost in you.
March 18, 2008 No Comments
Aromatherapy for your ears.
Here’s some mellow electronic music for your listening pleasure. Listen…it will chill you out.
March 4, 2008 2 Comments
How Many Times
My first blog post with a *live* audience! A bit of a song idea I had a couple days ago.
March 1, 2008 No Comments