Congratulations to our March/April 2017 Lyric Contest winners, listed below. Click here to enter the May/June 2017 Lyric Contest.
1st Place
“Come And Go Town”
by Don Owens
Medina, Ohio
The boardwalk’s filling up tonight
The glow of a thousand twinkling lights
Floating in the air
Parking lot full of out of state plates
Everybody stays up late
Life without a care
Once a year
That’s all they’re here (Chorus)
No one hangs around
This come and go town
I was born and raised here near the beach
The best in life is within reach
Three months a year
The summer girls, they come to town
The boys all try to chase them down
Drunk on sunshine and beer
Once a year
That’s all they’re here (Chorus)
They don’t stick around
This come and go town
A summer kiss, the sky all lit
On Independence Day (Bridge)
August fades as September waits
To take it all away
When the sun sets at 6:00PM
We all gather once again
Locals sitting at the bar
We watch the fall waves rise and crest
The fog rolls off of our breath
As we reclaim what is ours
When summer disappears
We’ll all still be here (Chorus)
We’ll be holding it down
In this come and go town
When summer disappears
We’ll see you all next year
We can all be found
In this come and go town
2nd Place
“Talisman”
by Jeffery Walker
Tampa, Florida
Crucifix or black cat bone
Spirit totem made of stone
Something more than faith alone
In your hand
In your hand
Cup of wine and piece of bread
Holy water on your head
Let the sinful skin be shed
Born again
Born again
I send a prayer up to the sky
Lifting up my spirit high
Please hear me as I testify
Let it fly … let it fly … let it fly
Prayer wheel or chicken blood
Celtic cross of sacred wood
Hallowed ground where prophets stood
On your knees
On your knees
Take your comfort where you will
Let belief suffice until
When your heart is finally still
And at ease
So at ease
I send a prayer up to the sky
Lifting up my spirit high
Please hear me as I testify
Let it fly…let it fly … let it fly
Mysteries that no one can explain
All our imperfections and our pain
Only faith to wash away the stain
Mercy and salvation then
But there comes a deadly sin
Looking to reside within
Every soul,
Oh my soul
In this world the bloody gun
Has become a talisman
Now it’s part of everyone
No control
No control
My invocation to the sky
I’m begging any god on high
Change our ways before we die
Now please let this prayer fly
Let it fly … let it fly … let it fly
3rd Place
“Hangovers And Memories”
by Rocky Quetel
Annapolis, Maryland
In the morning when I wake up
My brain is pounding inside of my head.
I don’t remember where I was last night
Or even how I ended up in my bed.
I stumble to the kitchen to get myself a bite.
I see the pictures hanging on my wall and it starts all over at night.
(Chorus)
Hangovers and memories are both two of a kind.
One gets your head spinning and the other steals your mind.
You put them both together they make one hell of a shine.
Hangovers and memories
Start all over tonight.
I can still remember all the good times that we spent.
You and I together and all the places that we went.
What I wouldn’t do to be standing right here with you.
And with all our family who passed and our good friends that have too.
(Chorus)
Hangovers and memories are both two of a kind.
One gets your head spinning and the other steals your mind.
You put them both together they make one hell of a shine.
Hangovers and memories
Start all over tonight.
In the evening when I go out I drink one for my dad.
Another for my mother for giving me the life that I had..
One for my sister who fought until the end.
Another for my brother who gave his life for Uncle Sam.
(Chorus)
Hangovers and memories are both two of a kind.
One gets your head spinning and the other steals your mind.
You put them both together they make one hell of a shine.
Hangovers and memories
Start all over tonight.
4th Place
“Aurora”
by Matt Waters
Flushing, New York
Someone stole
Your dream
And drove away
In a limousine
You wanted to
Believe
That there was more to this world
Than the cardboard ads
Tucked inside a magazine
You were to be
The exception
They would follow your
Direction
In A Hollywood hued
Resurrection
F. Scott Fitzgerald went to rehab
And finished a script about debt collection
You are Aurora
Drunk on salty drops of mourning
What you see, you don’t believe
They never grieved, were never seized
By the ingratitude of their passions
Aurora
The truth is lacking
What you heard, you never learned
They caught fire, but never burned
Their glory was lasting
Lasting
Well how does she?
Not succumb
To the misery
Standing on the edge
Of the balcony
Staring over her blurry city
Martini in her hand, born without a plan
Just know she’ll get where she’s going
Eventually
If she danced in her apartment
It must have been a good day
If she connected with a record
It was worth the price she paid
For her soul exposed
In this life she chose
They can have her dream
They can’t have her
(No)
They can’t have her
Her
You are Aurora
Drunk on salty drops of mourning
What you see, you don’t believe
They never grieved, were never seized
By the ingratitude of their passions
Aurora
The truth is lacking
What you heard, you never learned
They caught fire, but never burned
Their glory was lasting
Lasting
Lasting
Lasting
Lasting
Lasting like
New Year’s Eve
A promise you
Swore you believed
Aurora
Aurora
Please stop
Aurora
Aurora
Don’t stop
Please stop
Don’t stop
Please stop
Dreaming
Dreaming
Dreaming
Dream a little dream
You read in a magazine
Dreaming
Dreaming
Honorable Mention
“Streetlights, Street Fights And Saturday Nights”
Mark Montijo
Jamul, California
“Messy Girl”
Joy Zimmerman
Fairway, Kansas
“Joy Moved Out”
Jason Berkowitz
Longmont, Colorado
“What’s Left Of You”
Tracy Newman
Los Angeles, California
“Good For Nothing”
Daniel Henderson
Hendersonville, Tennessee
“Everyone Sings”
John Chaffee
Naples, Florida
“What’s Left Of Me Still Loves All Of You”
Susan Kaessenger
Brooklyn, New York
“I Have A Champion”
Eric Schumacher
Ames, Iowa
“Live It To Sing It”
Ray Boone
Mount Juliet, Tennessee