"A Hundred Miles from Boulder"

"A Hundred Miles from Boulder "

Short Chorus:

He's a hundred miles from Boulder,

He's given up his chains.

Yesterday's being washed away

by the Colorado rain.

Verse 1:

When he left his home in Georgia,

he'd done all that he could do.

He would never be the man

to fill his father's shoes.

So at twenty-five, he's left it all behind.

Somewhere deep inside,

there is a man he has to find.

Chorus:

He's a hundred miles from Boulder,

He's given up his chains.

Yesterday's being washed away

by the Colorado rain.

He breathes the cool, clean western air,

feels the wind blow through his hair.

He's a hundred miles from Boulder,

but his heart's already there.

Verse 2:

He has always longed for freedom-

He has always wanted more.

He's been tied to the ground

but has wings that need to soar.

So at three A.M., he's driving through the night

He will learn to live,

climb a mountain, and take flight.

Repeat Chorus

Bridge:

The life he lives tomorrow

will be his- and his alone.

With this change, he just might free

the sword lodged in the stone.

Repeat Short Chorus

Lyrics by Jason Spraggins- 6/28/11
Music by Matt Glickstein

The Jazzman's Lullaby

This is a lyric that I originally wrote in perfect meter.  However, as the music was being composed, I had to make some changes that disrupted the original meter.  This is the altered version that was set to music...

.

"The Jazzman's Lullaby"

His cigarette is burning,

and his glass has just been filled.

He looks down from the stage 

into a storm that must be stilled.

Though tired and drunk on whiskey,

he breathes a smokey sigh,

picks up his guitar,

and starts playing the jazzman's lullaby.

(short instrumental break)

He strums the chords of longing

and sings words of despair.

The melody's so peaceful;
it's calming the air.

Look into his drunken eyes;

his spell can't be denied.

Every soul is enchanted 

by the jazzman's lullaby

(short instrumental break)

The night is growing older,

and his song's near its end.

He has captured their minds;

their hearts are his to mend.

He knows the drink will kill him;

he's not afraid to die.

He takes a sip and starts again

into his jazzman's lullaby

(Instrumental break)


Lyrics by Jason Spraggins
Music by Matt Glickstein

"Ghosts"

Ghosts

Verse:

The shadows hang on empty walls
throughout this quiet place.

There's nothing here but loneliness
to fill the hallowed space.

Still carelessly the seconds pass
and steal time from my heart,

And though I'm master of this house,
I cannot play the part.

Chorus:

The ghosts of all our memories
 are living with me still.
This house I once called home
 now holds a pain I cannot kill.

I'm haunted by the life we shared,
but I'm a willing host.

I've given up on might- have- beens
 but can't give up these ghosts. 

Verse:

I'm left alone- a servant to
the past you left behind.

I search through thoughts and longings
for my missing peace of mind.

And though I may forgive the way
you left without a trace,

The broken mirrors of my mind
will still reflect your face.

(Repeat Chorus)

Verse:

The cold wind's blowing through the cracks
 appearing in the walls.

It's getting late and time won't wait;
too soon, this house will fall.

I've built a prison of regret
and things that cannot be.

I must let go of you
 if I'm to set these spirits free.

(Repeat Chorus)

I've given up on might-have-beens,
but I can't give up...
No I can't give up...
These ghosts.

Lyrics by Jason Spraggins

June 21, 2011
Music by Matt Glickstein

"Don't" (new vocal demo)

My New Site

Check it out:
http://readingmusic101.blogspot.com/

"Yours" performed by Andy Brown

"Yours" 
Lyrics by Andy Brown
Music by Jason Spraggins

My YouTube Channel

I've opened a new YouTube channel so that I can post my songs with some images to go along with them.
Give it a look....

http://www.youtube.com/user/SpragginsMusic

Brian.

   It's hard for me to believe, but I lost a dear friend five years ago today.   He was just shy of his 30th birthday (a bit younger than I am now).  I still think of him often.  I've never met anyone like Brian, and I suspect I never will.   I can't remember a time when I didn't look up to him.  He was the most gifted musician I've known, and he had intellect to match.  He came a long way and accomplished so much in a short amount of time.  The world needs people like him.  He gave without thought or expectation, he didn't judge, and he ALWAYS smiled.   I miss him still.

Allen Toussaint: "Southern Nights"

An American treasure singing a classic with just his piano.  Sweet and Peaceful.  Does it get any better?

"Yours" by Spraggins and Brown

     Andy Brown and I are polishing a new song.   Andy wrote the lyric in 2007, and I (late as always) just finished the melody.  The song is called "Yours", and I have arranged it to be pretty "big"- with harp, strings, oboe, and timpani.  This is one of my favorite things Andy has written; I thought it was very moving even as poetry. You can hear the sheet music by clicking the link below:

"Yours"

I would scale the gates of hell

if it brought more time with you.

I can't help that you're the waking thought

that carries all day through.

You've never masked the truth from me

about the way you do not feel.

I don't think you'll be surprised to know

when before your feet I kneel.

You'd never ask me,

and you'd never want me.

But it doesn't change the fact;

you've unlocked my heart's sleeping doors.

You'll never seek me,

You'll never need.

And  in our play's second act

you'll add me to your list of chores.

Without pride or reservation,

without a moment's hesitation,

I get wrapped up in the corners of your smile.

And we're only here together for a while.

Raise you eyebrow.

I'll ask for more.

Lower your walls.

Consider me yours.

Lyrics by Brown

Music by Spraggins

"Elizabethtown" a new musical

     Andy Brown and I have started work on a new project.  It is a musical based (partly) on a song that I wrote a while ago called "Elizabethtown."  Andy is writing the script and lyrics, and I'm doing the music.  We have finished three songs so far.  Look at my older posts to find the original "Elizabethtown" song.

     You can hear the sheet music to our new songs by clicking the links below:

"Under the Surface"

"Pay the Piper"

"In the Attic"

"The Desert of God"


"In Search of a New Life"


"Blood Money"


"The Ghost Town Hoe Down"


"Why Fear the Forbidden?"


"Marshall Law"


"Heart of an Angel"


"Theme One" (Instrumental)


"Theme Two" (Instrumental)


"Theme Three" (Instrumental)

Hear My Original Music

Visit my artist page at myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/songsbyjasonspraggins

Quincy Jones on Kanye West...

Mr. Quincy Jones, the musical genius, recently said something very wise about the self-proclaimed "voice of our generation", Kanye West.

Here is a part of the interview Jones gave toOMG!:

OMG: Kanye West is similar to you in that he's the producer everybody wants to work with in the last decade....

QJ: How man? No way. Did he write for a symphony orchestra? Does he write for a jazz orchestra? Come on, man. He's just a rapper. There's no comparison. I'm not putting him down or making a judgement or anything, but we come from two different sides of the planet. I spent 28 years learning my first skill. I don't rap. It's not the same thing. A producer has to have some sort of skills that enable him to be a producer. It's totally different to know what to do with 16 woodwinds you know from piccolos down to bass clarinet. It's a whole different mindset. No comparison. None.

Well said Mr. Jones!  You can read the rest of the interview here:
http://omg.yahoo.com/news/quincy-jones-lashes-out-at-kanye-west/51100

Riding with the Prince (draft)

Riding with the Prince

Verse:

I awoke with a vengeance from a year long sleep.

I escaped from my prison and I made the leap

from a time spent in service as a hired gun

to a life filled with endless days on the run.

Verse:

I was looking for salvation in the midst of war.

I never understood what we were fighting for.

After years as a captive I had jumped the fence.

And thats when this renegade meet the Prince.

Chorus:

And I was running.

I was looking for a place to hide.

I was searching-

crossing the border to the other side.

And I found a prince there

who taught the blind to see.

And we were brothers

He found the best in me.

And I've looked beyond

the surface ever since.

I found a new world

While I was riding with the Prince.

Verse:

Well the times still are changing, and I've since gone home.

I've let go of the demons from the life I'd known.

The Prince from the kingdom I'd been taught to fear

made the walls of difference disappear.

(REPEAT CHORUS)

J.A.S. -10/17/10

-for my friend, Prince Buchanan


*click the box below to hear a partial version
of the sheet music:

The Marble Man

(Click box above to hear a midi version of a rough draft for this one)

The Marble Man

Verse:

How did it feel to be home in Virginia,

to leave the haunted battlefields behind?

Did you still hear the cannons and the rifles?

Did sounds of dying men still fill your mind?

Verse:

Remember when you rode from Appomattox.

Did Union soldiers stand up and salute?

You'd worn your uniform and sword in scabbard

to end the bloody war of gray and blue.

Chorus 1:

And did you really live up to your legend-

a southern knight of gentil chivalry?

You bore the burden of the lost rebellion.

You held the old south's battered hopes and dreams.

Verse:

How did it feel to see the south-land burning?

And did you question God at Gettysburg?
How did you keep your courage, faith, and honor
when lines of friend and foe were ever blurred?

Bridge:

How did you hold the strength of your convictions?

Was loyalty a blessing or a curse?

You sought the better angels of our being.

But in the midst of war you saw our worst.

Chorus 2:
You'll live forever as a man of marble-
A distant, mythic figure cast in stone-
A Washington who did not win the glory.
But were you ever truly flesh and bone?

Verse:

How does it feel to be home in Virginia-

immortalized, forever set in stone.

Do you still hear the cannons and the rifles

In secret thoughts that will remain unknown?


-J.S. , (2001/2010)

New Demo Recording- "Rio"

Here is a new demo recording of a song I wrote some time ago called "Rio".   It's about the late actor River Phoenix.

"Zebulon" by Rufus Wainwright

Kanye West may call himself the voice of our generation.  For me, it's Rufus.  I love him and what he does.
Who couldn't?  Here he sings one of his new songs.  He does it with no re-verb, no studio tricks, and no band.  It's just Rufus, his songwriting, and his piano.  Beautiful.