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The Perfect Chord (May 2021)
I’ve been searching for the melody since I began to sing
It’s hiding in the corner of a dream
And if I try to solve its mystery and find its secret spring
It slips away somewhere behind the scene
It’s out there hiding somewhere in the mist beyond the ridge
If I could only find my way cross some forgotten bridge
A little resolution is all I’m hoping for… the perfect chord
Sometimes some tune rides in on a gentle wind
And you can almost hear a rhythm like the beating of a heart
Once when you feel that groove, you can’t help but move
So set aside your fear
Go find the flame that’s promised by the spark
It’s out there hiding somewhere in the mist beyond the ridge
If I could only find my way cross some forgotten bridge
Some real resolution, more than metaphor… the perfect chord
The depths and peaks of the notes you reach,
Like no song heard before
The sadness and the sweetness of its range
When the day is done and your song’s been sung
At the faded, final chord
The memory of your melody will remain
It’s out there hiding somewhere in the mist beyond the ridge
If I could only find my way cross some forgotten bridge
The kind of revolution we’re all waiting for… the perfect chord
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2. |
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The Right Side of History (September 2020)
Look out on the streets, you see they’re empty, save the refugees
Seeking an escape from isolation
The peacemakers and warriors The bridges and the barriers
Six feet, a million miles of separation
Well, here’s the fork in the road, the crucial episode
And we are caught in its twisted plot
Shades of gray meet the light of day
Now’s the time to find some spine
Are we gonna be on the right side of history?
When science challenged God, the Church left Galileo in the lurch
And put the earth right back there at the center
When superstition rules the day and dogma dictates what we say
The status quo’s not kind to its dissenters
Here’s the line in the sand, will you take a stand?
Find your voice and make your choice
The story is told below the fold
Now’s the time, make up your mind!
Are you gonna be on the right side of history?
Or are you gonna be on the wrong side?
Caesar at the Rubicon
Lincoln still awake at dawn
Fate and fortune forged in flames
You decide, the world will change
The bridges where John Lewis marched
The churches where the bombs went off
The suffragettes who finally won the battle
The trolls and the provocateurs, the cynics and the saboteurs
As if we were a mindless herd of cattle
There are lessons to learn from the scars and the burns
One more take to fix the mistakes
The lines are drawn, we can’t get this wrong
If we’re as strong as the wall of moms
Because we’re gonna be on the right side of history
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3. |
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On the Other Side (April 2020)
The mornings are much darker since the clocks were set ahead
The dawn is lost to shadow and I should be in bed
But I wander through this quiet world, adrift in isolation
Looking for a ray of hope in a desperate situation
But I’ll be waiting with both arms open wide
We’ll be stronger, grateful we survived
When our mettle has been tested and our tolerances tried
I’ll see you on the other side
You went to war without a shield, the generals left you there
The first line of defenders, disarmed and unprepared
And you rush through busy, crowded wards with poison in the hallways
And risk your life while we pretend that life’s the same as always
We’ll all be waiting with both arms open wide
You’ll be stronger, grateful to survive
Let’s put aside our anger, reach across the great divide
I’ll see you on the other side, I’ll see you on the other side
Will we recognize each other behind the mask, beneath the glove?
If we can’t hold one another, can we still hold on to love?
For all the lives we sacrificed at the altar to our pride
I’ll see you on the other side
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4. |
Bob McPeek - Dragonfly
04:17
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Dragonfly
Translucent wings of subtle hue,
An iridescent shade of blue
Through dales and pastures wet with dew
A living flash of light, she flew
Across the sky, dragonfly
Sapphire, ruby, emerald green
Colors like you’ve never seen
She hovers through our waking dream
Till she takes her leave to ride the breeze
Passing by, dragonfly
Dragonfly, wipe away the tear from your eye
Don’t cry, dragonfly
Her hum in flight, her sweet refrain
The harbinger of summer rain
Messengers of hope, aflame
And we were never quite the same
You were why, dragonfly
Dragonfly, spirits on the wing, flyin’ high
Goodbye dragonfly
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5. |
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The Deeper the Love (January 2020)
We pray for the sun but we need the rain
The price of our pleasure we pay with our pain
I’ll take the risk, I’m in all the way
Till the toll of the bell at the end of the day
The lessons of loss, so heavy they lay
When we bear the cost of living each day
We’re whittled away to wounds burned and raw
Till we’re blown in the wind and our bones turn to straw
The deeper the love, the darker the sorrow
The shadows that fall when the sun sets
Count your blessings, not your tomorrows
We borrow each moment of love that we get
Grief freezes time and we’re lost in the now
Between frozen moments of wondering how
To return to the cycle, back to the flow
It’s our turn to be here till it’s our time to go
The deeper the love, the darker the sorrow
The shadows that fall when the sun sets
Count your blessings, not your tomorrows
We borrow each moment of love that we get
Light leaves a shadow, joy leads to sorrow
We borrow each moment of love
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6. |
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Still Looking for America (March 2020)
We came ashore at Plymouth Rock
And gave the neighbors quite a shock
Our destiny was manifest
We pointed wagons to the west
Concord, Yorktown, Lexington
Tradin’ slaves in Charleston
Three-fifths of a man in the census takin’
The trail of tears to the reservations
But I’m still, lookin’ still
For that beacon of light from the city on the hill
From the wall at the border all the way to Canada,
I’m still lookin’, I’m still lookin’, I’m still lookin’ for America
Once I rode the Greyhounds and rails like a Kerouac poem
If somehow that kid could be here now, I don’t think I’d know him
It’s been 50 years since I hitchhiked from Saginaw
And I’m still lookin’, I'm still lookin’, I’m still lookin’ for America
Woody said this land is ours
Sea to shining sea beneath the cell phone towers
From A1A to Route 66
You can feel the pulse of the heartland tick
And I’m still, lookin’ still
For that beacon of light from the city on the hill
From Shiloh to Selma, the battle lines are still drawn,
And I’m still lookin’, I’m still lookin’, I’m still lookin’ for America
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7. |
Bob McPeek - Turn to You
04:10
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Turn To You (Fall 2018)
We measure time by the whirling of worlds
How much darkness the light travels through
As we each take our turn on this turning world
It turns out I turn to you
The turning of the moon marks the turning of the tides
As we circle ‘round a star through the cycles of our lives
Just a dance, a circumstance we try to comprehend
We measure time by the whirling of worlds
How much darkness the light travels through
As we each take our turn on this turning world
It turns out I turn to you
If we could just stop time
And stay one moment more
While our lives are intertwined
And I am yours and you are mine
Deep, you pull me in
The gravity of skin
Sets my heart aspin
So we end as we begin
Each of us returns to dust
That’s all we ever were
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8. |
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Ways of War (April 15, 2021)
I stand upon this field of death
Where thousands drew their final breath
I’ve come to pay my last respects and ask what they died for
A thousand generations’ blood
Has flown like rivers through the mud
Tributaries to the flood of centuries of war
Did the treaty last? Not long at all
Till the cannon blast and the musket ball
The die was cast when the bugle called us all to the ways of war
With pointed sticks and sharpened stones
We rip the flesh and break the bones
Tyrants lusting for the throne no matter what the cost
We point our missiles at the sky
Let slip the dogs of war to fly
How many billions more must die till we comprehend the loss?
Alexander, Caesar, Genghis Khan
The Kremlin and the Pentagon
Arrows, spears, and smarter bombs
Such are the ways of war
Did the treaty last? Not long at all
Till the cannon blast and the musket ball
The die was cast when the bugle called us all to the ways of war
So we lay the wreath and plant the cross
An ever longer list of loss
The tragic toll, the tortured thoughts
The cost of the ways of war
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9. |
Bob McPeek - 1968
04:31
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1968 (August, 2021)
One day the clock struck twelve and woke me from a dream
I felt the whole world change the day I turned 18
I couldn’t wait to graduate, gotta get out of this place
Back in 1968
That San Francisco summer was just the year before
Its broken promise lay like shaven hair across the floor
Now the draft board’s got my number,
Gonna teach me how to hate
In 1968
Gimme my cap, gimme my gown,
Gimme my gun, I’m leaving this town
Gotta go out and meet my fate in 1968
Than Martin died in Memphis and Lyndon said “no more”
The last drop of my innocence bled with Bobby on the floor
As the whole world watched Chicago,
The Pentagon kept score
Marching in the streets…bringing home the war…
A life or two ago, the world went up in flames
And I was left to be whatever man that I became
Now all that we remember is that America was great
Back in 1968
Gimme my cap, gimme my gown,
Gimme my gun, I’m leaving this town
Gotta go out and meet my fate in 1968
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10. |
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My Last Day at the Circus
Can’t remember the day when the circus arrived
Feels like it’s always been here
With its three rings of action, sideshows, and attractions
Filled me with wonder and fear
I remember the way the carnies would say,
“Hey kid! Feelin’ lucky today?”
And I laughed at the clowns and their hopeless hijinks
Grownups who knew how to play
On my last day at the circus
The carnies converged in parade
The trapeze didn’t fly, the whole troupe passed by
Swallowing swords, spinning plates
On my last day at the circus
The barkers’ extravagant claims
Rattled the cages of all the big cats
Lions and tigers to tame
There were puppets and pipers and misfits galore
Contortionists tryin’ to fit in
The penultimate prance down the midway before
The ultimate strange trip begins
This time the mimes escaped their own prisons
Walls they had conjured by hand
And the cannonball guy shot off to the sky
Not quite sure where he’d land
On my last day at the circus
The calliope played one last tune
And I walked away, though I wanted to stay
Each moment passing too soon
On my last day at the circus
The elephants pulled up their stakes
Twelve clowns climbed in an impossible car
And honked as they made their escape
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11. |
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The Secrets We Keep (July 2014)
Her hidden history she left untold
Shrouded in mystery for reasons unknown
Dark memories buried deep
The secrets we keep
They married just before Pearl Harbor Day
Lost to the fog of war, the world turned to gray
Dreams haunting deepest sleep
The secrets we keep
What do you do when they’re gone?
How can we all carry on?
And when her spark was gone, we were left in the dark
She gave up everything and it broke her heart
Forever in her debt
The secrets she kept
What do you do when they’re gone?
How can we all carry on?
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12. |
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Heard Immunity (November 2020)
Sometimes the news is a little bit grimmer
The shine on my shoes a little bit dimmer
Crowds are swarming, tempers simmer
Rumors flyin’, omens warn
Leaders lyin’, friends are dyin’
Oceans warming, coming storm
I heard immunity in the melody
I found the remedy in the rhyme
I heard immunity in the melody
That’s what’s keepin’ me alive
Sometimes I catch reality slipping
Stumbling, wondering whether I’m tripping
At our corner of this multiverse
Could be better, could be worse
Are we blessed or are we cursed?
At the broken edge of the flattened curve
I heard immunity in the melody
I found the remedy in the rhyme
I heard immunity in the melody
That’s what’s keepin’ me alive
We’re all in the same boat, clinging to hope
Singing to just keep afloat
I heard immunity in the melody
I found the remedy in the rhyme
I heard immunity in the melody
That’s what’s keepin’ me alive
It’s keepin’ you and me alive
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13. |
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(We Can't Fly With) Only One Wing
The birds of prey are hunting today
The vultures are circling high
As the crows in the fray shriek their dismay
At the dark cloud of hawks in the sky
The wing on the right is flapping in vain
Only one half of a pair
As the left wing beats to a different refrain
This flight is goin’ nowhere
Some birds get their beaks wet and feather their nests
Retweeting the song of the king
Set your sights high, to the top of the sky
We can’t fly with only one wing
Birds of a feather all flock together
Believing a different truth
Inside our bubbles, unruffled, untroubled
Mistaking consensus for proof
Peacocks parade, parrots repeat
The claim of lame ducks to the throne
The talons deploy, the ostrich retreats
And the scavengers pick through the bones
The chickens came home to roost, sitting ducks, cooked goose
What a lark, when they let the loons loose
We set our sights high, to the top of the sky
We can’t fly with only one wing
We can’t take off till we shake off the hate
That’s draggin’ us down to the ground with its weight
So take a deep breath and leap from your nest,
Fledglings cutting our strings
Sharing the skies, we could soar, we could rise
We can’t fly with only one wing
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14. |
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Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town (Bob McPeek-Eddie Suggs) May 2021
It's a quarter moon in this ten cent town
I spent half my life just hangin' ‘round
Restless ghosts that make no sound
Stir the shadows as the moon shines down
Well, you grew up fast as a jimson weed
This sleepy town never saw such speed
I thought you hung the moon at 17
But you were done when the sandhills came
Blew through here like a hurricane
Each of us inside a separate dream
To the crescent moon and its sideways frown
I confess my sins when no one’s around
Judgment looms like a thundercloud
Stalking shadows as the moon shines down
I guess I could’ve left here a thousand years ago
There’s nothin’ to hold onto, but still I can’t let go
Dead end streets, restless feet, searchin’ for somewhere
I’ve been lookin’ all this time but still there’s nothin’ there
I can close my eyes and taste your skin
That held your secrets tight within
Bottled up and ready to explode
When the days dragged on so slow and cruel
Before time played us both for fools
Set up to fall like a row of dominos
Now the new moon skulks through its darkened shroud
I could start anew if I just knew how
Hidden stars can’t convince the clouds
To let the light come shining down
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15. |
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On With The Show (1978-2019)
Sometimes it all seems so absurd
That all you can do is laugh at your words
I remember that young man out of his depth
Spinning his words and wasting his breath
Had I known what to say instead of just talkin’
And rushin’ somewhere I should have been walkin’
So much of the message I just didn’t get
And I’m just at the top of my list of regrets
Let it go, let your sorrow melt like crestfallen snow
Let it go
For your tears, blood and sweat have had no effect
And it’s time to get on with the show
Now I am told “try not to care”
And all that I need is inside me somewhere
I remember that young man, bitter and sweet
Till you came along and made me complete
All of that talk when I should have listened
Apologies made just gave us permission
To do it again and fall under the spell
Now it doesn’t matter whose story we tell
Let it go, let your sorrow melt like crestfallen snow
Let it go
For your tears, blood and sweat have had no effect
I guess we all choose what to lose or neglect
And nothing is ever quite what you expect it to be
And it’s time to get on with the show…
On with the show (let it go)
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16. |
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Walking Each Other Home (Dec 2018-Mar 2019)
Way back when we took our first steps and toppled to the ground
All those lessons learned from falling couldn’t keep us down
It was our mother’s hand that helped us to stand
Till finally we stood on our own
If we crawl or we fly, I want you by my side
As we find our way across this great unknown
With each step we take from the cradle to the grave
We are walking each other home
Those first steps we took together, we barely touched the ground
Did we understand the treasure that somehow we had found?
And each passing year has made it more clear
So simple and yet so profound
If we crawl or we fly, I want you by my side
As we find our way across this great unknown
With each step we take from the cradle to the grave
We are walking each other home
Take my hand, walk with me, through the fire, on this wire
Take my heart for eternity
As we live till we die, I want you by my side
As we find our way across this great unknown
With each step we take from the cradle to the grave
We are walking each other home
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Bob McPeek Gainesville, Florida
The founder of Mirror Image Studios in Gainesville, Florida, Bob McPeek has produced, engineered, and/or played on at least
10,000 songs for artists as diverse as Bo Diddley, River Phoenix, and Less Than Jake.
Mixing Metaphors is his first solo album of original material, showcasing the considerable songwriting, performing, and producing skills applied for his own material at long last.
... more
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