"Start seeing everything as love,
But keep it a secret." Hafiz
I've written a lot of songs over the years, about women, love, partying, strange characters, pain, joy, the stuff of life. I thought I'd put a small collection of songs here that seems to touch people in a particular way, songs someone could just stumble across while surfing the web, songs which might touch them in a way that would be right for that moment.
This one is fun to sing along with... it makes you feel, well, joyful. Enjoy!
You can listen to an mp3 of Abiding Joy here.
You can download a PDF of the lyrics to Abiding Joy here.
Abiding Joy, Abiding Joy
Gonna empty out my heart make room for
Abiding Joy
Abiding Joy, Abiding Joy
Gonna stand right up and sing about my
Abiding Joy
When we search down deep inside our hearts… Abiding Joy
When we look into the deepest part… Abiding Joy
When our sighs have opened all the doors … Abiding Joy
Then we’ll find what we’ve been looking for… Abiding Joy
Abiding Joy, Abiding Joy
Gonna empty out my heart make room for
Abiding Joy
Abiding Joy, Abiding Joy
Gonna stand right up and shout about it,
Abiding Joy
Sometimes it’s like a fool in Spring… Abiding Joy
Sometimes a very quiet thing… Abiding Joy
Sometimes it comes a big surprise… Abiding Joy
Sometimes it’s in your lover’s eyes… Abiding Joy
Abiding Joy, Abiding Joy
Gonna burn just like the sun above with
Abiding Joy
Abiding Joy, Abiding Joy
We all shine by the grace of God with
Abiding Joy
Can you feel it in your blood and bones?… Abiding Joy
Don’t you love how it just takes you home?… Abiding Joy
Your heart grows lighter than a feather… Abiding Joy
Feels so damn good to soar together in Abiding Joy
Abiding Joy, Abiding Joy
We need it in our world, God knows
Abiding Joy
Abiding Joy, Abiding Joy
Gonna build it in my life today
Abiding Joy
(Dancing verse… dance!)
Abiding Joy, Abiding Joy
Gonna wear holes in my dancing shoes with
Abiding Joy
Abiding Joy, Abiding Joy
Gonna open up my heart and dance with
Abiding Joy
Sometimes you feel like joy is gone… Abiding Joy
You dissolve in tears, you can’t go on… Abiding Joy
But those tears will wash your heart all through… Abiding Joy
To prepare the birth of something new… Abiding Joy
Abiding Joy, Abiding Joy
Gonna wash my heart with my own tears
Abiding Joy
Abiding Joy, Abiding Joy
Gonna clean it out for something new
Abiding Joy
If there’s one thing for which I pray… Abiding Joy
It’s for everyone that’s here today… Abiding Joy
That sometime before your life is gone … Abiding Joy
Your soul sings out its precious song… Abiding Joy
Abiding Joy, Abiding Joy
Gonna empty out my heart make room for
Abiding Joy
Abiding Joy, Abiding Joy
Gonna burn just like the sun above with
Abiding Joy
Gonna stand right up and shout about my
Abiding Joy
Gonna wear holes in my dancing shoes with
Abiding Joy
We sing in union with our friends and with
Abiding Joy
© 2007 Steven Flynn / Wild Child Music BMI
This is a recording by my band Jr Cadillac, with Ned singing it in his wonderful earthy rich voice (by "my band" I mean I'm in it, not I own it. Jr Cadillac is what I would call an anarchistic democracy. That said, to me, it wouldn't be the same band without Ned's voice or Les's tenor saxophone. But, I digress...). What I like about this one is that it's a love song that can go either way... a love song to a human individual, or a love song to the Larger Picture. -Steve
You can listen to an mp3 of River of Love here.
You can download an PDF of the River of Love lyrics here.
I want to lay down with you tonight
Lay down the load I bear all day
Lay down my head where I can feel you breathin'
And let it all go, let it all flow
Down to the sea on the River of Love.
I want to touch you as the sun starts rising
Touch you with my heart and with my soul
Touch you so deeply we’ll be one together
And let it all go, let it all flow
Down to the sea on the River of Love.
Bridge
In the eyes of the world, I’m a lone bird flyin’
One small speck against a deep blue sky
But the winds of your love lift the wings of my heart
And together we can fly away.
I want to lay down in your heart forever
Lay there ’till I don’t know night from day
Lay down all my stories and my worries and my wonderin’
And let it all go, let it all flow
Down to the sea on the River of Love.
Let it all go, let it all flow
Down to the sea on the River of Love.
Let it all go, let it all flow
Down to the sea on the River of Love.
©1995 Steven Flynn / Wild Child Music BMI
I wrote this song in 1999, shortly after the tragic shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado. At the time, the news was also full of stories about the war in Croatia, detailing the horrors that neighbors were inflicting upon one another. I found the confluence of these events emotionally overwhelming, and wrote this song to try to make some sense of it. I think of it as a dark gospel song. -Steve
PS I'm working on a recorded demo of this... send me an email if you'd like me to let you know when it's finished and posted. -S
A stormy ocean swirls around the sailor.
He’s treading water as his ship goes down.
He’s cold and tired and scared and he keeps wondering,
“What’s it going to feel like when I drown?”
And as he starts to slip away
He turns his thoughts to Jesus, and he prays,
Can You call the angels down
Will they hear, will they come?
Can they touch us with their lives?
Can they speak or are they dumb?
Do they care about my pain,
Or do they watch with careless eyes?
Can You call the angels down
From their mansions in the skies?
Far away another man sits grieving.
The news is filled with cruel and savage crimes,
Of families who are driven from their homelands,
Of children taken way before their time.
“Where is the human heart?
And how can people do this to their kind?
And why is it no one can see an answer?
Are we like Saul, have we all been struck blind?”
He asks these questions every day.
He looks into his heart, and then he prays,
Can we call the angels down?
Will they hear, will they come?
Can they touch us with their lives?
Can they speak or are they dumb?
Do they care about our pain,
Or do they watch with careless eyes?
Can we call the angels down
From their mansions in the skies?
All night long the woman moans in labor.
She cries out, “What in the world was I thinking of?”
But finally with the sun rise she delivers
She holds her child, her world explodes in love.
And as they fall into each others eyes,
This wonderment is realized,
Can we call the angels down?
Will they hear, will they come?
Can they touch us with their lives?
Can they speak or are they dumb?
Do they care about our pain,
Or do they watch with careless eyes?
Can we call the angels down
From their mansions in the skies?
© 1999 Steven Flynn / Wild Child Music BMI