American Songwriter has received countless submissions for each 2019 bi-monthly Lyric Contest in hopes of being awarded annual Grand prize — and the time to make a final decision is fast approaching. The winner will receive:
- Round-Trip Flight to Nashville (domestic only)
- Professional Demo Session (1 song) at Omni Sound Studios
- Two Nights @ Union Station Hotel Nashville, Autograph Collection
- “Dream Co-Write” with Brent Cobb
Videos by American Songwriter
The co-write will be held in Nashville in February.
Past years Dream Co-Writers include such luminaries as Rodney Crowell, Bobby Braddock, Elizabeth Cook, Chris Young, Hayes Carll, Ashley Monroe, Chris Stapleton, Charlie Worsham, Brent Cobb, Mary Gauthier and Jim Lauderdale.
From the upcoming, 2020 Lyric Contest winners, one winner will be selected for the Grand Prize which includes:
- Round-Trip Flight to Nashville (domestic only)
- Professional Demo Session (1 song) at Omni Sound Studios
- Two Nights @ Union Station Hotel Nashville, Autograph Collection
- “Dream Co-Write” with Dallas Davidson
The 2020 judges panel includes Steve Cropper, Chris Collingwood, Mo Pitney, Marc Broussard, Michaela Anne, Gary Burr, Drew Holcomb, Wendell Kimbrough, and Ruthie Collins.
Stay tuned for the January/February contest results, which will soon be announced. The March/April Lyric Contest is now open. ENTER HERE.
Click here to see the Rules & Deadlines.
To review, here are the individual winners from 2019:
January/February Winner: “Evangeline” by Jeremy Dion of Lafayette, CO
An ocean town
The kind where you’re known around
And everyone heard
What your sister said last night
In the days before
I was standing outside your door
Hoping there’s way
To make this turn out right
Evangeline, Evangeline
Either bring the water
Or the gasoline
Pay no mind
To all you’ve seen
Please bring the water
Evangeline
Those tales we’d tell
Standing ‘round by the wishing well
With one more penny
Then it’s all just riding on the dime
Soft and low
How I loved it when you told me so
But words don’t matter
When you’re running short on time
Evangeline, Evangeline
Either bring the water
Or the gasoline
Pay no mind
To all you’ve seen
Please bring the water
Evangeline
All the people in their places
They pass the time with honest faces
The morning bird
Had me hanging on to every word
But not a tear before she flew away
We loved the same
But that picture never found a frame
Now I’m aching baby
And begging you to stay
Evangeline, Evangeline
Either bring the water
Or the gasoline
Pay no mind
To all you’ve seen
Please bring the water
Evangeline
March/ April Winner: “Mary Dyer” by Todd Hearon of Exeter, NH
I came here with the reckoning done
And I saw the scales sink into the sun
And the fields were heavy with the heresy grain
And a lone tree leaned and chuckled my name
Oh up in Boston
It’s a hard falling from grace
Oh up in Boston
It’s a dark professing place
Well they welcomed me into the fold
And they bound my arms my hands to hold
They kissed my cheek my tongue to check
And knitted me a pretty noose around my neck
Oh up in Boston
It’s a hard falling from grace
Oh up in Boston
It’s a dark professing place
They tied my skirts and covered my face
My house of blood and bone to raze
My body you kill, my spirit flies freed
As the big wind taking a dandelion seed
Spin my shroud when I come to die
With a thread too bright for the magistrate’s eye
No tongue can tell nor eye can see
That diamond dangling from the gallowman’s tree
Oh up in Boston
It’s a hard falling from grace
Oh up in Boston
It’s a dark professing place
Such a dark professing place
May/ June winner: “Changing (While Staying The Same)” by Mike Guiney of Gananoque, Ontario, Canada
I’m still a drifter
but don’t stray as far
I’m still a drinker
but don’t close the bar
I’m still a joker
but the laughs don’t mean as much
I still like to look
but I don’t touch
I’m still a dancer
but I never lead
I’m still a taker
but got simple needs
I’m still a romancer
but now I take my time
I’m still a giver
but I know what’s mine
When you say I’m not who I used to be
It makes me wonder, who knows who
‘Cause I’m the same person I always was
just not the one you thought you knew
‘Cause i’m still a talker
but careful when speakin’ my mind
I’m still a walker
but I quit walkin’ the line
I’m still a listener
to what I need to hear
I’m still a thinker
but my head is clear
I’m still a gambler
but it’s a different game
I’m still a dreamer
but my dreams aren’t the same
I’m still a friend
to those who are true
I’m still your man
but I’m my own man too
When you say I’m not who I used to be
it makes me wonder, who knows who
‘Cause I’m the same person I always was
just not the one you thought you knew
July/August Winner: “Cradle Of The Moon” by Lucy LeBlanc of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Cradle of the moon
Where dreams and shadows lie
I lay my head upon the bed and hear your
sigh
Fragment of the night
Where limbs and lovers lie
I touch my tongue into your lips and
taste your cry
Secrets linger there too long to untie
(Chorus)
The night is still
The hour is late
Hush now
Feel the weight
Of this empty lullaby
Cradle of the moon
Where lines of poets pray
I fall asleep sleep on restless sheets
and wait for the day.
Fragments of my mind
Where questions dip and sway
I move along down your side and feel you
pull away.
Secrets linger there too long to untie
(Chorus)
The night is still
The hour is late
Hush now
Feel the weight
Of this empty lullaby
(Repeat chorus)
Cradle of the moon
Where dreams and shadows lie
I lay my head upon the bed and wonder why
In the cradle of the moon
Cradle of the moon
September/October Winner: “Where The River Runs Clear” by Scott D. Smith of Columbus, OH
I remember when I was a little boy
down on the corner of Eagle and Troy
I felt your hands so calloused and strong
as you picked me up and carried me home
You used to share your stories of a sailor’s plight
on a front porch step on a moonlit night
You showed us maps in the sky so we could see
stars could guide us home from wherever we might be
Daddy oh Daddy take a ride with me
down in the valley past the evergreens
There’s no sorrow, no pain and there’s no fear
just the peaceful waters where the river runs clear
Out past the cornfields over Johnson’s covered bridge
that old Buick kicked up gravel headin over the ridge
Down in the hollow, summer sun perched up high
we ran through the woods and in the river we’d dive
Daddy oh Daddy take a ride with me
down in the valley past the evergreens
There’s no sorrow, no pain and there’s no fear
just the peaceful waters where the river runs clear
Now I can feel your cold skin as you’re lying there
as I brush my fingers through your hair
I kiss your forehead one more time
as I watch them move you on down the line
With a widow’s tears up on your chest
in an endless sleep of peacefulness
A hero’s farewell I hope it made you proud
as the morning sun opened up the clouds
Daddy oh Daddy take a ride with me
down in the valley past the evergreens
There’s no sorrow, no pain and there’s no fear
just the peaceful waters where the river runs clear
November/December Winner: “Parallel Universes” by Larry E. Black of Asheville, NC
Somewhere, someone is kissing a lover
that should’ve been mine.
Somewhere, someone is rocking a baby
descended from my line.
Somewhere, someone’s regretting the past
and shedding my tear.
Somewhere, someone is saying the same
as I am saying here.
Parallel universes,
equal luck, equal curses.
Lives in line with some design
too intricate to see.
Should they intersect the force could reflect
the way things ought to be.
Somewhere, someone is filming the life
that I’ll never see.
Somewhere, someone is sculpting a bust
that looks just like me.
Somewhere, someone is singing my song
and using my voice.
Somewhere, someone’s deciding the future
by taking my choice.
Parallel universes,
equal luck, equal curses.
Lives in line with some design
too intricate to see.
Should they intersect the force could reflect
the way things ought to be.