Ode to 169 Square Feet is an anti-war statement. I was trying to divert the reader with the "big picture," and then bring them back to reality with a hard hitting final sentence. Though this is on my Lyrics page, I never actually set this poem to music.

Tommy was a soldier,
One of the many ranks of olive drab
That marched into the village that day.
A report said they encountered minimal resistance.

When the town went silent,
The women and children came out of their homes.
It was safe now,
For the enemy had been conquered, and the soldiers had gone on.
A couple of Children played ball in the street.
Someone hung their laundry in a side yard.
A dog barked at a stature of St. Mary,
As the wind blew yesterday's paper through the headline.

Tommy lay in pieces over 169 square feet of Hobbs Lane.

El Dorado is based on the Edgar Allen Poe poem of the same name. Often regarded as the only "happy" piece written by Poe, I interpret it that the knight who is seeking the riches of El Dorado in his youth, finds that he becomes so weary of the quest in later years, that his El Dorado, the city of riches, becomes death itself. The lyric is set to a rousing pop/dance tune with a grand total of six, count them six, chords. The first stanza is a spoken introduction, with a andante music bed behind it.

You are my fantasy,
Your are my lifelong dream,
Take me away.
I've walked in the shadows so long,
And my weary heart from my voyage gone wrong.
All alone,
It's time...
Kiss me.

In my thoughts of distant past times,
Linger tunes of heroes half-rhymed,
Knights in armor, shinning swords,
Gallant battles never more.

And in this world of fantasy,
The writer's hand has penned for me,
A land of gold from tired dreams,
An emerald sea and golden leaves.

Chorus
El Dorado, hold your glory,
Open up your gates to me,
Oh, El Dorado sing your songs of golden dreams,
I'm on my way.

My carriage, it awaits for me,
To take me on a long journey,
Over moons, across the heavens,
Through the valley of the shadow.

Racing through the halls of thunder,
Corridors of ancient splendor,
Greet the souls of heroes gone,
Marching onward to the dawn.

Chorus

Chorus

I wrote this lyric in 1999 with a dear life-long friend for my wife, my soul-mate, my Tammy. The song was performed live at our wedding in September of that year.

I feel I've known you for so long,
The dolphins play and sing our song,
I finally feel my life begin,
My heart is warmed from your fire within.

(Chorus)

And so my friend, we meet again,
The smile in your eyes, it makes you glow,
When the lights are turned down low.
And so my friend, we play again,
The sun and the stars, they lead the way,
Between our lives we play.

Forever's where we must begin,
As we face the sun and ride upon the wind,
A wonderful ride it's going to be,
Now I have you dancing inside me.

(Chorus)

And so, my friend, we meet again.
And so, my friend, we finally play again.
And so, my friend, we meet again.
And so, my friend, we finally love again.

So, my friend, we've found our time,
When my heart is yours and yours is mine,
Our souls run free, like children play,
Your hand in mine, we turn to start our day.

(Chorus)

(Chorus)