Plain and simple, the lyrics are about my daughter. As a proud parent, I am often overwhelmed by the innocence, beauty and unlimited potential when holding a new-born in your arms. Not to get weird here, but there is nothing like it. As I cradle, rock or talk baby-talk, it is difficult not to think about the new life I am holding, how fascinating they are and to drift into thoughts of what will happen in their future and how we can make that path easier. This song also features Gary Jefferson on vocals. You will hear him a lot on my tunes, and he was the vocalist in the demo recording the band did in the studio. He has pulled me into a number of projects and I often ask him to help me with mine. There are so many musicians I depend on and work with regularly. I will introduce you to them and the work they have done in future posts.
Most of the music is sequenced along with the drum tracks, I play the rhythm guitar parts and had a friend come in for the guitar solo, while my wife adds back-up vocals. All grown up and with children of her own, the meaning of this song gets deeper and closer to the heart every year.
“Slick as A Dream” (c) MSK 1988
Slick as a dream, this beauty machine
Sharp and so cold, young – just as old.
Moving so sweet you can feel the heat
Smiles of sorrow can’t wait ‘til tomorrow.
One thing you’ve learned: love has to be earned
Pain must be shared, embraced if you dare.
Nightmares are gone, but she carries on
Can’t forget her, love lasts forever.
Tender love cries slowly hypnotize
The helpless day now melting away.
And if you dare she’ll become aware
Give those who bleed whatever they need.
She knows exactly who she is.
And exactly what she needs.
MidiMike 
To quote Muddy waters, “first you start at the top!”
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You got that right! Maybe instead of doing reviews of performers/bands, I should review their best words-pieces of wisdom…..?
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I love it, Mike! You had me dancing at my computer and the fact that this is a song about your daughter is delightful. My son is also a musician and songwriter and I know he’d love your work. Thanks for following my blog, btw, at http://stilllifewithtortillas.com/
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That is good to hear! I had the lyrics for a while before I found the right theme to go with it. I think they are a good combination and thanks for letting me know it got you moving too! I would be delighted if your son found something helpful from my blog. I would be thrilled to hear his work someday. Glad I stopped by too and thanks for making my evening!
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How wonderful that this is about your daughter. My dad used to make up little ditties about me and it was so warming to hear him. I miss him. Thank you for following my blog. I hope you visit often and always feel welcomed.
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I am glad this brought you fond memories as well. I cannot help but smile and think of those days when I hear this song even after all these years. It sounds like he did a great job raising you.
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He and my mom tried really hard.
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wow, great song and terrific lyrics!
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Very kind of you to say. Until recently, only family and close friends have heard these songs, so I need to let you know that I am thrilled you liked them. Sticking your head out of the shell can be dangerous as you never know what is out there. Thanks for your comment….. I feel a bit braver now LOL
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“pain must be shared, embrace if you dare”====hehehe teenager or young at heart.
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I have not been a teenager for decades, so I will go with the “young at heart”! Sometimes embracing the pain is the only way to get through it…….? Good to hear from you.
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Mike, loved hearing your melody. Once when I was younger, I had a friend put some of my poetry to music; unfortunately, I have no sense of rhythm, and he had no sense of task completion (ADHD on his part), so I never got to hear the finished product, but you’re quite accomplished. I am impressed with your skills, not simply from listening to your music, but also reading your About Me section. I wish I had any musical talent besides turning on the radio. 🙂
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From the blogs I have visited and comments on my pages, it is easy to see how powerful poetry is. Thoughts from one person inspire images from another, and melodies from others. I think that is why we have so many successful songwriting teams – one focusing on the lyrics and the other on the music and instrumentation. Many artists do not write their own songs and depend on material they find from writing teams. In truth, I think I would love to focus on writing the lyrics (my first love…) and then putting them to music to have an artist record and perform them. But if I did that, I would not have any versions of these songs and could not share them here. Thank you for the great compliments. One day if I keep plugging away, maybe I will hear my tunes performed by known artists and you may indeed get to hear your poems put to music. Today is the beginning of baseball season (Cincinnati has a special place in that history!) and to use the analogy, do not stop because you missed the ball on your first time at bat. Keep swinging and you may even hit a home run out of the park!
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Mike, thank you so much for your thoughtful response. I am not so worried about hearing my words put to music as just merely having people hear my words. I have been writing for twenty years, and I have finally fine-tuned my voice, and I am hoping to eventually have an audience, whether it be via spoken word poetry or by self-publishing an e-book or a paperback. I just want to share my words with those who would appreciate them. I am very impressed with both the structure of your lyrics and the sounds of your melodies. I will keep long as you promise to do the same.
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You are very welcome. I understand your position and agree totally. I never thought about selling my music or going commercial. But the funny thing in life is sometimes it is difficult to broaden the listener base when you offer everything for free!! To get to more people, making my songs available for purchase has a potential to reach more people. Your comments are not taken for granted and as I am too old to change, I GUARANTEE I will keep slugging away! When you launch the e-book or recordings, please make sure to let me know.
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Loved it. 🙂
Just a suggestion:
Go to Settings>Sharing, and select the checkbox – Front Page, Archive Pages, and Search Results
Now if someone visits your blog, he/she may like the post without opening the post separately. It will help you get more likes on the blog. 🙂
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You are wonderful! Much appreciated. So much to learn…… so little time, but SOOO much fun!
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😀 Just happy to help. 🙂
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Hi Mike: First, thanks for liking my Ode to a Dying Leaf and following my blog. I am quite new to this — if you looked at my About — writing poetry and after a number of tutorials, putting them out there! But I am enjoying myself immensely. Always fun to follow through a Like and meet someone else — think we are simpatico in a number of ways — certainly not me, myself, and I — but rather some things about me. As in, two children (38 and 40) both of whom we introduced to music at a very early age — even though I am basically tone deaf and raised on Lawrence Welk and my husband can play the spoons! But, we both love music. So when my folks retired and sold all their worldly goods to move into a small trailer and travel the states, they gave my brother an awesome wall school clock my dad rehabbed, and for us, they gave us my dad’s small small Lawreys Organ that my mom gave him for his 50th birthday….reasoning was that they stayed longer at our place and he could play Beautfiul Dreamer more often! 🙂 We had it in our bedroom for many years and our daughter kept asking to take lessons — “when you can reach the pedals”. Let’s shorten this story, my daughter earned a BA in German and organ performance, went on for a DMA in organ…studied at the Hochsule (sp?) fed Musik in Germany, and her career is music…she is on faculty at Philips Academy now in Andover, MA. Her husband is a composer (google Kevin Siegfried) — like you, he followed an unusual path and writes many choral music — you can listen to some on his website. Our son, studied piano and drums — won many awards — and then decided to major in computer science and linguistics — music is an avocation for him rather than a career. We had family concerts rather than teacher’s recitals — so for me, to read About You, hear your music, and read your daughter’s words — very special indeed!!! All goes back to passion, right?
lillian
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You are very welcome indeed. I am still getting the hang of this as well and I apologize for the delay in responding to your thoughtful comments. How funny and true. I cannot tell you how many hours I spent watching Lawrence Welk and other popular shows. Having access to music and hopefully musical equipment at an early age can have a very positive effect. I remember growing up and visiting my grandparent’s house. They had an old piano they stored in their basement. I spent hours goofing around on the piano while the other kids played upstairs or outside. I had no idea what I was doing and probably annoyed a number of people in the house, but from that freedom to experiment I felt encouraged to continue ‘playing around’. I also appreciate percussion contributions and have posted about playing bongos before other instruments. There are a lot of skills involved in playing spoons, so don’t worry about not being a first chair violinist in an orchestra! The fact that the both of you enjoy music and enjoy it with each other is way more important to me. It is that inspiration the probably helped your daughter launch her interest and career and enabled your son to feel comfortable exploring his interests and passion for music. We may never know what the triggers are, but I can guarantee you that replacing a snide remark or insult with a kind word of encouragement has an enormous effect on those of use just starting out. In doing so, you and your husband made this world a much better place….. and not just for your children, but again to all those they have inspired and encouraged and performed for. Music moves in waves in more ways than one. Your ripples are still being felt and I congratulate you. It all goes back to passion. Thank you for your comments and your patience, you did great.
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love it! and the beautiful way you express the love and pride you feel for your little girl ♡
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I had to wait a while to respond so I could stop smiling! Your comments are awesome and appreciated. I am glad to see it shows. My kids are my best “creation”. Never thought any other way.
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😉
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