Ain't No Reason - Brett Dennen

♫There ain’t no reason things are this way
It's how they always been and they intend to stay
I can't explain why we live this way,
We do it everyday.
Preachers on the podium speaking of saints
Paupers on the sidewalk begging for change
Old ladies laughing from the fire escape, cursing my name
I got a basket full of lemons and they all taste the same
A window and a pigeon with a broken wing
You can spend you whole life working for something,
Just to have it taken away
People walk around pushing back their debts
Wearing pay checks like necklaces and bracelets
Talking 'bout nothing, not thinking 'bout death
Every little heartbeat, every little breath
People walk a tight rope on a razor’s edge
Carrying their hurt and hatred and weapons
It could be a bomb, or a bullet, or a pen
Or a thought, or a word, or a sentence
There ain't no reason things are this way
It's how they always been and they intend to stay
I don’t know why I say the things that I say,
But I say them anyway
But love will come set me free
Love will come set me free, I do believe
Love will come set me free, I know it will
Love will come set my free, yes.
Prison walls still standing tall
Some things never change at all
Keep on building prisons, gonna fill them all
Keep building bombs, gonna drop them all
Working your fingers bare to the bone
Breaking your back, make you sell your soul
Like a lung, it's filled with coal, sufficating slow
The wind blows wild and I may move
But politicians lie and I am not fooled
You don't need no reason or a three piece suit, to argue the truth
The air on my skin and the world under my toes
Slavery is stitched into the fabric of my clothes
Chaos and commotion wherever I go
Love, I try to follow
Love will come set me free
Love will come set me free, I do believe
Love will come set me free, I know it will
Love will come set my free, yes.
There ain't no reason things are this way
It's how they always been and they intend to stay
I can't explain why we live this way,
We do it everyday.♫


"Brett Dennen – just an average American vocalist with a crazy passion for change and unity in our society. With such hits as “Darlin Don’t Fear”, “Desert Sunrise”, and “Ain’t No Reason” – Dennen’s music is gathering followers from all around the country. But as it grows, it seems his music remains true to its purpose, an ideology for hope for the hopeless and strength for the broken.

Brett Dennen was born and raised in Northern California, and from a young age, nature became a huge part in his life. His career was actually sparked from a freestyle song he composed around a campfire. His thoughts about everything in life from the environment, to love, to human rights is captured perfectly in each of songs. Dennen is part of many humanitarian and society reform missions, and has even created one called “Love Speaks.”

The Diary of Jane - Breaking Benajmin

(Acoustic version above and the original release below. Interested in hearing which you prefer and why.)



♫If I had to
I would put myself right beside you
so let me ask
would you like that?
would you like that?

and I don't mind
if you say this love is the last time
so now I'll ask
do you like that?
do you like that?

No

Something's getting in the way
something's just about to break
I will try to find my place in the diary of Jane
so tell me how it should be

try to find out what makes you tick
as I lie down
soaring sick
do you like that?
do you like that?

there's a fine line between love and hate
and I don't mind
Just let me say that I like that
I like that

Something's getting in the way
something's just about to break
I will try to find my place in the diary of Jane
as I burn another page
as I look the other way
I still try to find my place in the diary of Jane
so tell me how it should be

Desperate, I will crawl
waiting for so long
no love, there is no love
die for anyone
What have I become

Something's getting in the way
something's just about to break
I will try to find my place in the diary of Jane
as I burn another page
as I look the other way
I still try to find my place
In the diary of Jane..♫


("Breaking Benjamin is an American rock band from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, currently consisting of Benjamin Burnley and Chad Szeliga. The band has released four studio albums to date and a greatest hits album that was released on August 16, 2011. The group initially went on indefinite hiatus due to frontman Benjamin Burnley's recurring illnesses and inability to tour in mid-2010. Further complications arose in August 2011, when it was revealed that members Mark Klepaski and Aaron Fink had been fired from the band." A legal dispute over a song released around the time of the split is still pending. The band plans to continue it's musical pursuits once the lawsuit is settled.)

Superstition / Isn't She Lovely

(Two of my favorite tunes. Which cover do you prefer?)

Anyway - Nichole Nordeman

"Bless the day
This restoration is complete
Dirty dusty something must be underneath
So I scrape and I scuff
Though it's never quite enough
I'm starting to see me finally

A gallery of paintings new and paintings old
I guess it's no surprise that I'm no Michelangelo
Every layer of mine hides a lovely design
It might take a little patience
It might take a little time

But you called me beautiful
When you saw my shame
And you placed me on the wall
Anyway

You who have begun this work will someday see
A portrait of the holiness you meant for me
So I polish and shine
til it's easier to find even an outline of mine

But you called me beautiful
When you saw my shame
And you placed me on the wall
Anyway
Anyway
And you placed me on the wall
Anyway"

Never Alone - BarlowGirl

(Another link that doesn't always play. If so, click on the words "Youtube link" within the video screen.)

♫I waited for you today
But you didn't show
No no no
I needed You today
So where did You go?
You told me to call
Said You'd be there
And though I haven't seen You
Are You still there?

I cried out with no reply
And I can't feel You by my side
So I'll hold tight to what I know
You're here and I"m never alone

And though I cannot see You
And I can't explain why
Such a deep, deep reassurance
You've placed in my life

We cannot separate
'Cause You're part of me
And though You're invisible
I'll trust the unseen.♫

(Sums up my faith pretty much.)


Don't know why you made it rocky
why it's not come easy
why you dislocate my bones
with the force of my disagreements
why I shake my fists
at your decisions
yet your love reaches down this far
how you hear such a small faith
whispered in the world
how tenacious you've made it
made me
of rock

Say (All I Need) - OneRepublic

"Do you know where your heart is?
Do you think you can find it?
Or did you trade it for something
Somewhere better just to have it?
Do you know where your love is?
Do you think that you lost it?
You felt it so strong, but
Nothing's turned out how you wanted

Well, bless my soul
You're a lonely soul
Cause you won't let go
Of anything you hold

Well, all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

Do you know what your fate is?
And are you trying to shake it?
You're doing your best and
Your best look
You're praying that you make it

Well, bless my soul
You're a lonely soul
Cause you won't let go
Of anything you hold

Well, all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

I said I all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it?
Better than you had it
Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it?
Yeah, better than you had it (Better than you had it)

I said I all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

I said I all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

Whenever the end is
Do you think you can see it?
Well, until you get there
Go on, go ahead and scream it
Just say it"

Hard Times - Eastmountainsouth

(You may have to click to watch this video on YouTube, as half the time I am restricted from view. I am curious as to which version you prefer...Eastmountainsouth, or James Taylor/Yo-Yo Ma.)

let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears
while we all sup sorrow with the poor
there's a song that will linger forever in our ears
oh, hard times come again no more

'tis a song a sigh of the weary
hard times hard times come again no more
many days you have lingered around my cabin door
oh hard times come again no more

while we seek mirth and beauty
and music light and gay
there are frail ones fainting at the door
though their voices are silent
their pleading looks will say
oh, hard times come again no more

'tis a song a sigh of the weary
hard times... hard times come again no more
many days you have lingered around my cabin door
oh, hard times come again no more

'tis a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wave
'tis a wail that is heard upon the shore
'tis a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave
oh, hard times come again no more

'tis a song ¦a sigh of the weary
hard times hard times come again no more
many days you have lingered around my cabin door
oh, hard times come again no more
oh, hard times come again no more

Lift Me Up - The Afters

(Sorry, you may have to click the Youtube link to view. I highly recommend it.)

"You lift me up with your love
You lift me up with your love
You lift me up with your love
You lift me up

Waiting for the sunrise
Waiting for the day
Waiting for a sign
That I’m where you want me to be

You know my heart is heavy
And the hurt is deep
But when I feel like giving up
You’re reminding me
That we all fall down sometimes
But when I hit the ground

You lift me up when I am weak
Your arms wrap around me
Your love catches me so I’m letting go
You lift me up when I can’t see
Your heart is all that I need
Your love carries me so I’m letting go

You lift me up with your love
You lift me up with your love
You lift me up with your love
You lift me up

I know I’m not perfect
I know I make mistakes
I know that I have let you down
But you love me the same

And when I’m surrounded
When I lose my way
When I’m crying out and falling down
You are here to

Lift me up when I am weak
Your arms wrap around me
Your love catches me so I’m letting go
You lift me up when I can’t see
Your heart is all that I need
Your love carries me so I’m letting go

I can see the dawn is breaking
I am feeling overtaken with your love
With your love
I don’t know what I can offer
In this moment I surrender to your love
To your love

You lift me up when I am weak
Your arms wrap around me
Your love catches me so I’m letting go

You lift me up when I am weak
Your arms wrap around me
Your love catches me so I’m letting go
You lift me up when I can’t see
Your heart is all that I need
Your love carries me so I’m letting go

I can see the dawn is breaking
I am feeling overtaken with your love

You lift me up with your love
You lift me up with your love
You lift me up with your love
You lift me up"

Dreamin' - Jordan Stevenson

I am a novice at iMovie and couldn't figure out how to make one photo extend through the entire song, so I just kept adding pictures of my son until his song ended (which he will surely hate)! We went to tour the Los Angeles Film and Recording School two days ago. For a couple hours that evening Jordan and his buddy Thomas fooled around writing and editing some music. It was an education and I am in awe of both of them. This version is "rough" and" unfinished" and "Gee Mom, it's nowhere near done!"


There are five layers to the high hat.
It is these layers that make it BOOOSHHHH
and your heart along with it in rhythmic synchronicity.

And from a recording they take as much as they add
such a delicate balance
of surgical extraction and masterful enhancement.
Much must be stripped away
before layer upon layer can be applied to the canvas of sound.

He loves the minor keys.
Of course he would.
My fluid is the river on which he entered this world.

A whistle sounds in the distance.
He knows it's pitch...
can replicate it two weeks from now if necessary.

I stand amazed
listening.

Crash and Burn - Lifehouse

All these nights are catching up to me
I just can't put insomnia to sleep
I close my eyes but all that I can see
Is someone who I'm never gonna be

I hope that you can bring me back
I gotta make it right

And if I fall and crash and burn
At least we both know that I tried
And as I crawl there's lessons learned
Yeah, they remind me I survived

Silence just keeps screaming back at me
The ones I love are lost in memories
And I wish that I could take back what was done
You can only change the person you become

I have to try and find a way
To leave it all behind
And if I fall and crash and burn
At least we both know that I tried
And as I crawl there's lessons learned
Yeah, they remind me I survived
And I've been hurt, and I've been scarred
At least I know that I'm alive
And If I fall and crash and burn
At least we both know that I tried

All of the things I tried to say
All of the words just got in the way
I'm waiting here, I need your help
Don't leave me down here all by myself

And if I fall and crash and burn
At least we both know that I tried
And as I crawl there's lessons learned
Yeah, they remind me I survived
And I've been hurt, and I've been scarred
At least I know that I'm alive
And If I fall and crash and burn
At least we both know that I tried