Eric  Ramsey

OK - well, as promised here's a demo version of the new song. I say "new", although the little bastard has been in gestation for more than a couple of years and just recently decided it was time to crown. Kids! Anyway, after much struggle with finding the proper voice, key, tempo, cadence and delivery I quit trying and went to the banjo. 

So - here it is in all its, what? glory? perfidy? I give you "So Much Promise" 

No need to send flowers.

We here at the House Of Strays hope you are staying well and…

Well, here's the whole thing. Lotsa time to write these days. I hope to have a scratch track for you to hear next week - but ... no promises. Stay well, be strong in the face of this Bad Craziness. 

So Much Promise 

A battered picture in my room 
The portrait of a young Marine 
Faded now to shades of gray - like so much promise 
His buttons polished 
I can just imagine how they shone like gold 
Buttons polished, how they must have shone 

Battered pictures, tattered letters 
Yesterdays flung to the wind 
Long…

Trying hard to not buy in to the hysteria surrounding - suffusing - COVID-19. Not really as successful in this endeavor as I would like myself to be. But when a trip to the market results in lacerations or worse in the TP aisle, or some crazed bloody eyed suburbanite hoarding at gunpoint the last of the eggs, well, it's hard to stay strong. Perhaps self-quarantine is best, so as to try to unsee the rampant greed and arrogance our that defines our species.

These are fast and strange time we live in, to…

So much for promising! 

Here's the second verse and chorus as they currently exist (subject, of course, to editing, forever editing, never ending editing!)

V  A battered picture I keep as a bookmark 
The little boy with a catcher’s mask is 
Looking out on the field - so much promise 
His future bright 
That next half inning gonna shine like gold 
Future bright, how he’s gonna shine 

C  Broken bats, shattered windows 
Baseballs flung into the weeds
Long ago in seasons past - dreams to words, dreams to deeds and …

Monday. Every week begins with so much promise, you know? LAST Monday I promised - myself, no one else! - that I would finish this song and move on to whatever was next. Alas, one more promise unfulfilled. But here's a rough of the first chorus, anyway. 

Battered pictures, tattered letters 
Yesterdays flung to the wind 
Long ago - now a cedar box holds vestiges of what had been and 
So much promise

We here at the House Of Strays wish you a pleasant week filled with the promise of Spring and ... baseball…

We're all suffused with promise. Indeed, promise is a blessing and a curse; a blessing that gives us permission - to try, to learn - shows us possibilities, validates our existence.

A curse that creates the burden of expectation.

I've been working on this tune for several months - at least a year, maybe more, actually. It's rounding into form, albeit grudgingly. Here's the first verse:  

A battered picture in my room 
The portrait of a young Marine 
Faded now to shades of gray - like so much promise 
His…

Here's the finished lyric. And yes, it it finished. 

Probably. 

State Of Grace 

Been all ‘round this country from end to end 
Just one place I have yet to wend 
I’ve never set foot in the state of Grace 
‘Cause I’m not really sure how to get there 

I been on the mountain, I been in the mud 
I’ve tasted honey and I’ve tasted blood 
Been washed away and been left out to dry 
But I’ve never been forgiven 
And I’m not really sure what forgiveness means 

Is Grace really a place or just a word or a deed 
Does it…

And the journey continues - second verse stanzas as they currently exist:

Is Grace a state of the Union or a state of the mind 
Or just a construct to help us feel better in time 
Does the road of forgiveness lead to the State Line of Grace 
‘Cause I’m not really sure how to get there 

Simple is as simple does - I like the way that sounds 
But chaos always seems to follow me around 
They say it’ll get a little easier 
I don’t think I believe them 
And I’m not really sure what easier means

I'm hoping to have a…

So back to this new tune I'm working on - here's the Chorus

Is Grace really a place or just a word or a deed 
Does it have a post office and a library 
And a place where the hungry can eat 
‘Cause the hungry are always hungry

I'm still working out the cadence and tempo (and will probably change many things before I pretend to be satisfied.) Next week I'll share the newly revised version 23 of the stanzas of the second verse.

We here at the House Of Strays wish you a pleasant week. Please be kind to one…

"Everyone is crying out for peace but none is crying out for justice
Everyone is crying out for peace, yeah, but none is crying out for justice
Me I don't want no peace
I want EQUAL RIGHTS AND JUSTICE (ER emphasis)

We here at the House Of Strays wish for you a contemplative day, thinking about equal rights and justice and just what those concepts mean.

Here: EQUAL RIGHTS

It's a poor comparison, of course, but here's my song "The Other Side Of The World" (a demo version) for you. 

Contemplate....