Spare a Little Sympathy
Inspired by a woman I saw at a 7-11, who seemed to be homeless, down on herself, desperate and looking for hand-outs, as a result of her bad decisions. This song is all about taking responsibility for our actions, and asking God for forgiveness…basically, a second chance… when the time comes to be judged in the end.

Hey there, Jesus… looking down on me
Don’t you know I could use a little sympathy
Though, I know there ain’t much I’ve done right in my life…
Please unlock your door,
I’ve got a lot of pain and a lot of friends inside to see

Off And Running
I wrote this one shortly after college, while reflecting back on those days when I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. It’s about being unsure but prevailing… looking forward and doing what comes naturally, and hurdling all the obstacles that can get in the way. It’s about taking chances with confidence and not worrying too much about it…making decisions, moving on and making the best of it.

Well you tremble and you shake just for a while, but you’re still standing
You think the walls are closing in…
Look again… it’s only your perception
So you climb into your head and go to bed
And wake up with a new direction

Glad With You
Most of us have had friends or acquaintances who have been down on their luck, but then for one reason or another, they “find” them selves, succeed in some big way, and then let it go to their heads, at the expense of people who have tried to help them along the way.

I’m glad with you… you finally got a clue
After all this time stirring up all the dust
Looks like you finally earned your way into the lucky few
I’m glad with you… you got me grinning like a silly dope
I’m glad with you… you had me worried now there’s lots of hope
I’m glad with you… you got your girlfriend artificially stacked
I’m glad with you… you bought a yacht now you’re mentally whacked

Words With No Song
“When the mood hits” is when I write, and I almost always get a simultaneous melody accompanying the lyrics in my head. I usually grab an acoustic guitar to work out the chords and go from there. But in this case, I spontaneously wrote these words late one night, while sitting on the couch in the dark, with no intent other than self expression, so this song perfectly expresses how my written thoughts sometime turn into songs somewhere down the road.

Now I’ve got the perfect moment to reason
Why I’m writing down these words with no song
I stay up and find I’m trying to translate what I’ve been wanting to say for so long

Then I Knew
About the night my wife and I initially “hit it off”, after I decided to talk to her and ask her out for a date. I was overwhelmed with emotion and felt something extremely special between us… and then I knew.

It was getting late… I thought I’d catch my breath
So, I stepped out the backdoor into a nice cool breeze
With a background full of crickets and moonlit trees
Well, yah, I stepped out to catch up and give you some company
And I knew there was something trying to tell me
Then I knew it was you I would learn to know so well
It was you I was meant to hold on to
It was you… you were meant to hold on, too

Beltway Blues
If you have ever lived or visited this area, you know about the dreaded Beltway (I-495) circling Washington, DC. What an unpredictable and hellacious highway it is! The shear volume of traffic and situations resulting in dead-stops, creeping autos, accidents… is staggering, but quite understandable, when you think about it.

If time didn’t exist I probably wouldn’t be pissed…
It took me forty minutes just to go five miles
If I had a wrecking machine, I’d be Mr. Mean
Rammin’ up piles and piles

Running Alone
A story about a kid left alone, as a result of a broken family, to fend for himself, day in and day out

I look at the family portrait on the wall in front of my face
But the only thing keeping us together is the frame around us all

I've Never Seen This Way
Not a happy subject, but if I was ever going to do away with myself, I’d do it peacefully somewhere out in nature

It ain’t so bad loosing all this misery
I really don’t think anyone will miss me
Hanging around ain’t worth filling all these voids, now
I’ll cling to my soul like a tail on a kite soaring to freedom
I feel like laying down… feeling equivalent to this ground
I’m feeling the depth of this drought and I wanna evaporate into the sky

The In-Between
I’ve always considered myself to be an in-between, not knowing which way I really want to go with my life. For instance, while growing up, I had an interest in all kinds of sports, so I was part of the “jocks” crowd, but on the other side were my friends who were into music and partying, considered “the heads”, so I had to split my time and it kind of took away from me being able to concentrate all my efforts in sports or music, my two favorite things. I have always had a lot of interests that took away from my real passion for pursuing music more seriously, so this song is about my decisions and feelings about my decisions that, in the end, will “tell my tale”, so to speak. Since I do so much driving in my job, I wrote this from the perspective of all the time I spend thinking, while on the road, about my decisions relating to my reality and dreams. It’s interesting how one decision can change the course of ones life, for better or worse.

I do most of my thinking and self interpretation
Flying down a highway road in a bucket seat when I’m bored
If I did half of what I thought, I’d be somewhere else
Doing God knows what, only God knows what
I could be scraping out the bottom of rusty tin can
Or playing every tune I’ve ever dreamt of playing in a band…. well, I think so
I’m tired of being the in-between… not sure of anything but what I dream
Not sure of me, myself or I, or which ones gonna live when I die

Pray For The Fields (Instrumental)
Praise to a favorite place of mine, near where I grew up in Western, Pennsylvania. We used to hang out at this beautiful, natural, spring fed quarry in the middle of rolling hills and farmland. Talk about serenity… this was it for me, my friends and many others

Lucky To Be
This is a very simple song about living a normal, happy, respectful life without constraints, with total freedom, love, peace and happiness… being happy just to be alive and satisfied with the simple things, regardless of all the bullshit we’re faced with day in and day out. We really have it good, and words can not even come close to expressing how thankful I am!

We take so many things for granted… a plush nest in this tree
Sometimes we forget all about it… it’s almost like believe
There ain’t no way to deny it… looking back with belief
People still die to keep our freedom
And it will never end ‘til everyone’s free to do what they believe