LYRICS: STANDING IN THE LIGHT OF A BRAND NEW DAY
******* Breaking Dawn *******
Instrumental
******* Up on the Mountain *******
Up on the mountain where the river’s frail and slow,
it already has the power to flood the valley below.
Up on the mountain where I was born and raised
it made me rise to who I am today.
Every childhood is like driftwood.
It can turn and flow in every unexpected way.
You don’t need a happy youth to get stuck on something good,
so you ain’t going down the drain.
Up on the mountain where the river’s frail and slow,
it already has the power to flood the valley below.
Up on the mountain where I was born and raised
it made me rise to who I am today.
All those bad friends are like the sharp bends.
You only see them after you crash into their wall.
Sometimes you gotta sink low before you find the right flow,
so you ain’t gonna drown again.
You can move all the stones to get where you belong.
You’re in control to change the course of your own life.
There’s just no turning back, so enjoy moving down the track.
You can only go back up there as rain.
Up on the mountain where the river’s frail and slow,
it already has the power to flood the valley below.
Up on the mountain where I was born and raised
it made me rise to who I am today.
******* Caroline Brings *******
New-born sun rising slowly,
shimmering through the trees.
An early dawn in the city
paints fresh shadows on the streets.
And here we are back again
on that old bench in the park.
She’s changed but still the same.
And while this new day starts,
Caroline brings, Caroline brings me
all those stories from long time ago.
Caroline brings, Caroline brings me
the most beautiful of them all.
Summer nights rush towards daylight,
but linger forever long.
Drifting out of time on a high tide
of what is and has yet to come.
And here we are back again
on that old bench in the park.
She’s aged but her youth remains.
And while this new day starts,
Caroline brings, Caroline brings me
all those stories from long time ago.
Caroline brings, Caroline brings me
the most beautiful of them all.
******* The Unsung *******
This one goes out to the unsung
whose love we take for granted but miss when it’s gone.
While standing in the shadows of their light
they lead us through the cracks, where true beauty hides.
Always giving without regret,
love freed from expectation is a love without debt.
And when our restless hearts can’t be confined,
they let us spread our wings with both feet on the ground.
Somehow they can take on any fight
when we’re so stubborn and can’t see they got it right,
and every brick that built our own space
has their blood, sweat and tears holding everything in place.
We all need someone along our way
who'll lead us to tomorrow and away from yesterday.
The best things in life hide in plain sight
Oh, you're a lucky man, if you can see them by your side.
So here’s a song I wanna dedicate
to those who pray for us, even when we’ve lost our faith.
There ain’t nothing patience won’t mend.
They show time and time again how to become a better man.
******* I’m Your Man *******
My father’s in love. You can see
he’s like a teenager of seventy-three.
When he holds her tight, he says:
“Baby, I’m your man.”
So much to do, they’ve got so many plans
for eating cake and going out to dance.
When they start to swing, he says:
“Oh, Baby, I’m your man.”
Crazy in love after all those years
of trouble in mind.
All dark clouds have disappeared
ever since she waltzed into his life.
They ain’t got time to worry or fight.
Time’s too precious on their magic ride.
When he drives her home, he says:
“Baby, I’m your man.”
Crazy in love after all those years
of trouble in mind.
All dark clouds have disappeared
ever since she waltzed into his life.
It’s not the speed, but their devotion.
Making love is great, even in slow motion.
When they become one, he says:
“Baby, I’m your man.”
******* If I Were Your God *******
If I were your god, would I free you from religion,
or direct any decision that you’d make,
when you have it all inside to shape the world around you,
standing in the light of a brand new day?
Would I need a book with all the answers
if you’d question the answers you know?
Would I let you look, eyes closed while praying,
at the skies above or the ones that make you grow?
If I were your god, would I free you from religion,
or direct any decision that you’d make,
when you have it all inside to shape the world around you,
standing in the light of a brand new day?
Would you need to build a house of marble and gold
if I were just a carpenter’s son?
Would you be fulfilled when wisdom only unfolds
in the absence of glitter, free to everyone?
If I were your god, would I free you from religion,
or direct any decision that you’d make,
when you have it all inside to shape the world around you,
standing in the light of a brand new day?
Would you let me be your god if I made you hurt
or use hate to spread my message of love?
Would you let me be your god if this heaven on earth
no longer bound the differences we’re made of.
If I were your god, would I free you from religion,
or direct any decision that you’d make,
when you have it all inside to shape the world around you,
standing in the light of a brand new day?
******* No More *******
No more, no more, no more
will I waste another day.
No more, no more,
like I did on you today.
For too long I’ve been waiting in vain,
hoping you’d come back to me again.
It takes a strong will to hang on,
a stronger heart to walk away.
So, no more, no more,
will I waste another day.
No more, no more, no more
will I waste another day.
No more, no more,
like I did on you today.
******* Both Sides of the Blues *******
Down at the cradle of the blues,
there ain’t no rocking blue suede shoes,
standing on the African shore.
Muddy Waters and Clarksdale
seem so close, yet far away,
standing on the African shore.
Among the ruins and the baobab trees
I felt the other face of slavery.
Oh, what a revelation, hallelujah,
seeing both sides of the blues.
The Gambia and the Mississippi
are the same river to me,
standing on the African shore.
Kunta Kinteh and B.B. King
have more in common than you think,
standing on the African shore.
Behind that big smile those kids were giving me
I felt the weight of our cruel history.
Oh, what a revelation, hallelujah,
seeing both sides of the blues.
In New Orleans or Juffureh
music tells the same story,
standing on the African shore.
Their roots are both drenched in red.
No white bluesman should forget,
standing on the African shore.
James-Island was my wake-up call.
I ‘d never felt so humbled and small.
Oh, what a revelation, hallelujah,
seeing both sides of the blues.
******* Surrender to the Groove *******
Hear the music speaking to your soul.
It’s the sound of life that connects us all.
Amplified by hopes and dreams,
it holds the power to unite extremes.
Surrender to the groove and start to dance.
Follow the beat searching for your heart.
It’s a movement of love that transcends all parts.
Unconfined by borders or chains,
it carries the spark for the world to change.
Surrender to the groove and start to dance.
Feel the rhythm spreading under your skin.
It’s a sacred force that feeds us from within.
Magnified by its vibrant energy,
it keeps the truth safe from lying irony.
Surrender to the groove and start to dance.
******* Last Goodbye *******
Lay your head down, lay.
Fall asleep and roll into another day.
And wherever you will roam,
close or far away from home,
you’ll never walk alone.
I will shine a light.
Even you don’t need me longer by your side
to be caught when you fall,
to rise above it all.
You’ll never walk alone.
I will sing your song till I fade.
Move our stones before it’s too late
and our river has run dry
after our last goodbye.
So, lay your head down, lay,
as tomorrow might not bring another day.
When it’s hard to live your life,
you struggle to survive,
you always can come home again.
Your mind’s already gone out the door,
so eager to discover and explore.
Whenever you feel lost,
get stuck or bite the dust,
you always can come home again.
I will sing your song till I fade.
Move our stones before it’s too late
and our river has run dry
after our last goodbye.
******* The Way You Are *******
In my heart you’re always near me.
In my thoughts you're never far.
Don’t go changing anything
that comes from within.
I love you the way you are.
Every day you know how to move me.
Every night you’re my guiding star.
You’re the only one who’s been
so deep under my skin.
I love you the way you are.
When your world fell into mine, babe,
I swore I’d never let it fall.
So, let it grow, grow, just let it grow.
My love is unconditional.
I can feel your presence all around me.
I can hear your voice in my guitar.
You’re in every note I ring,
in every word I sing.
I love you the way you are.
Yes, I love you the way you are.
******* Karma’s Gonna Kick Your Ass *******
Hey, you, with your borrowed opinions,
slinging deceiving words.
Your tainted information
doesn’t care about the damage or hurt.
Hey, you disguise your hate speech
as harmless irony,
stirring up confusion
so you can’t tell truth from conspiracy.
Someday this will come back to haunt you
like a big mamma with a lot of sass.
Karma’s gonna kick your ass.
Hey, you, sharing all that fake news
striking fear in people’s hearts.
Friends turn against each other
making families drift apart.
Hey, you, in your viral cesspool,
misleading simple souls.
You trigger too many bad vibes,
safely hidden as a spineless troll.
Someday this will come back to haunt you
like a big mamma with a lot of sass.
Karma’s gonna kick your ass.
Hey, you, you’re not a mastermind or hero,
just a lonely frustrated pawn.
If you had some loving around you,
you wouldn’t waste it on hate and porn.
Hey, you, life must be so lonely
all alone behind your screen,
blaming someone else for your failures,
mistakes and shattered dreams.
Someday this will come back to haunt you
like a big mamma with a lot of sass.
Karma’s gonna kick your ass.
******* In July *******
White cotton clouds floating on a gentle breeze.
Together with the sun they’re playing hide and seek.
I’m on the grass looking up, painting pictures in the sky.
The living is so easy in July.
Green canopies rustle the heat from the air.
Together with the wind, an oak becomes a rocking chair.
I’m underneath, looking up how they reach into the sky.
The living is so easy in July.