I Can't Seem To Stop

up-fiddler

up-fiddler

Taming the World--for now
Here is another one. They are coming fast and furious for the time being but that seems to be the way I work. Then I will completely block or simply write crap for three or four weeks. That is when I go back to recording and playing. It is a convoluted process but it is mine and I stopped fighting it a couple of years back. This particular piece is biographic and nonfiction with a bit of poetic license. :rolleyes:

Great American Dream
C.Dave Morehouse 2009

Bud and Mickey got married
In 1948.
The Allies had whipped the Axis
And sealed a Cold War fate.
Bud had been mustered out.
He had nothing on his plate.
They were searching for the great
American Dream.

They met at Anderson College
Where Mickey filled her head.
Bud had tried for a little while
Then went to work instead.
A little boy came on the scene
The product of their bed.
They were living in the great
American Dream.

Mickey played piano
At church and in the school.
Bud sold paper products
Just like nobody’s fool.
The boy became a brother
And forgot the Golden Rule
They were fighting through the great
American Dream.

Surprise! They had a baby girl
In 1959.
They moved across to the big house
And took down the “for sale” sign.
They had to trim the hedges
And the honeysuckle vine.
Just to keep up with the great
American Dream.

Like most of their friends who worked hard
They overfilled their cup.
(When you started down near the bottom
There was no way to go but up.)
Alcohol and cigarettes were the
Fuel that fed the pups.
But they were living in the great
American Dream.

Like most of the folks who knew them
Mickey and Bud are gone.
Some of the kids are still around
And others have moved on.
They would have traded all their brains
For just a little brawn.
Because they’re fighting for the Great
American Dream.
There’s no returning to
The Great American Dream.
 
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Another good one, Dave! You creative guys are something. I sit and attempt to write, and nothing comes out - and you create another great set of lyrics as simple as me driving to the store. I am envious of not only your talent, but the guys who post here often. Good job, again!

Charlie
 
Dave the distiller

Sounds like your a distiller? All the time your not writing or you are 'writing crap' as you put it (though crap is relative) your subconscious is working on great lyrics like your last 2 posts.

I too struggled with this for some years and the moment I gave into the inconsistencies of the muse, things just started to flow better. There is a great TED talk on creativity that puts it all in context.

I think I like 'Mississippi' as it is more evocative of a place, but this one capture the 'War Baby/Boomers' socialscape superbly.
 
I'm with whatmysay on this one . . . Mississippi is just so compact, just so right and just so highly evocative that it pushes all aside at the moment.

American Dream is a great ballad, a great narrative, and I can imagine two treatments; a cynical Dylan-like drawl, or a mid-west Mellencamp earthiness. Either would do it for me.

It's funny how inspiration comes in great fountaining spurts!
 
Thanks guys. American Dream is hard for me to make any shorter. It is the mostly true-life story of my mother and father. As such, the song is more personal than I typically write and is much longer. You hit the nail on the head with your Dylanesque feel to the song. I sang it last night in much the style of John Prine and it worked on a visceral level. Mississippi is the song that will resonate more deeply with the general masses though.
 
up-fiddler said:
Great American Dream
C.Dave Morehouse 2009
Click to expand...

Nice one, Dave. As usual, you have crafted an interesting set of lyrics.

Now, I'm curious about the "Bud and Mickey" characters! Parents? In-laws? Friends? Spill, will you?!?! Heh. :)

I look forward to hearing it set to music.

Cheers,
Joseph
 
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Gen Y won't understand but I do.
Well crafted with images and language of the time.
 
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