Twenty days ago, I completed the final round of an epic 8-week event called the Steemit Open Mic Songwriters Challenge, hosted by @luzcypher and sponsored by @meno. Looking back on this contest, I think it is my best effort on Steemit so far, and so it feels OK to give myself a hug and high-five, along with extending my heart-felt thanks to a few of you.
Steemit Open Mic Songwriters Challenge
The Story
I believe I was one of the earliest and most enthusiastic advocates of the Songwriters Challenge. Long before the event launched, I promised to participate in making the contest the best it could be. Each week, I submitted an original song, commented on some of the standout tracks created by my peers, and promoted the #openmic through posts, replies, upvotes, and resteems.
Every Steemian knows it is very humbling to put our art (from the heart) out there to be seen or ignored, criticized or applauded... so of course this experience lived up to its title as a "Challenge." In fact, it felt like an Initiation, to me. Like a Rite of Passage that pushed me to a wall, and then a ceiling, and then a breakthrough or two.
The Music
Here's the full collection of eight original songs I wrote for the Steemit Open Mic Songwriters Challenge. I'm listing them in an order based on my own taste preferences, beginning with my personal favorite, but you'll notice a wide variance in the way these songs were perceived by others. I believe I'll win the award for "Songwriter Ninja Of The Year" because I managed to slip through the entire contest without making the list of top performances or honorable mentions. I'm magic like that. ;)
Happy to report that I've grown immensely in my musicianship, ever since joining the #openmic five months ago, and I've learned some quality character traits as a human being. I've also gained a strong sense of kinship with a number of the other artists, e.g. @chrisroberts, @basilmarples, @paulhallman, @sazzler... So I'm really grateful for that. I've earned some STEEM along the journey too, and that always helps to justify the time and energy investment.
1. Right Place Right Time
Right place right time
The stars align
Right here right now
Some way somehow
In the sleeping meadow fire flickers awake
Dreams dashing away like a mustang
Hooves and heart lub-dubbing with booming
I hoot and howl like a wolf to the moon
Right place right time...
Fire flashes at my feet on the ground
Rising through the top of my crown
And the wind lifts my breath like a rattlesnake ghost
As a prayer goes up in smoke
Right place right time…
Some invisible force is moving me to tears
Eyes stinging as I face my fears
Throat burning I am all out of words
I sit and listen to the singing birds
Right place right time…
2. Broken Mirror
He was a mohawk hipster party-seeking
She was a braided hippie granola-eating
Met in Austin started rock ‘n’ rolling
Soon left Texas to pursue country living
He got ready to be a rad daddy
She got ready to be a hot mama
Suddenly they had a five-member family
In a wild world getting wildly heavy
[One sun reflecting on a broken mirror
Echoes many suns all at once] 2x
He let his inner animal howl
She let her inner animal roar out
Broke many mirrors as a man and a woman
Broke many more mirrors married with children
[One sun reflecting on a broken mirror
Echoes many suns all at once] 2x
He saw himself when he saw his daughter
She saw herself when she saw her sons
They learned to be mirrors for each other
Reflecting the light and growing together
[One sun reflecting on a broken mirror
Echoes many suns all at once] 4x
3. Far Out In Oregon
Behind eyes closed
My heart goes coasting
Over the edge of Oregon
Getting life in motion
Windswept shores
Old growth forests
Cattle guards on country roads
Fields filled with roses
Far out in Oregon
This tornado goes to unwind
Blowing in the breeze to the great big ocean
Gonna ease this little troubled mind
Moving forward
Further inward
My heart remembers
Windy winter blizzards
Reflections on Crater Lake
Listening to meadowlarks
With evening coyotes
Howling in the cedar trees
Far out in Oregon...
My heart advances
To future glances
New songs new dances
Adventures and romances
In Bend in Redmond
In Ashland in Portland
Cannon Beach
With loved ones with me
Far out in Oregon...
4. Ah Eve
Ah Eve let’s get away
To the Garden of Eden
I will be your mister
Will you be my miss
Ah Eve let’s be together
Where we belong
I believe we can bring
Heaven here now
Ah Eve let’s have a little
Slice of paradise
And we will share the apple
Because we can
5. Lost Until I Found You
My heart remembers a winter when
I was colder than the snowmen
And the clouds refused to let the sun shine
Shadows dominated my mind
I was lost until I found you
I was a nomad without a home
Lost until I found you
I was a nobody with no one
My heart remembers a summer when
I was wilder than a forest fire
And the smoke refused to let the sun shine
Ashes dominated my mind
I was lost until I found you...
My heart remembers another sky
I was floating in the clouds featherlight
Drifting like a kite without a string
When I met you in the heights drifting with me
I was lost until I found you
I was a nomad without a home
Maybe I’m still lost but I found you
Now I’m somebody with someone
6. Rosebud
A sun arrives on a horizon
Colors come out of hiding on a mountain
An old woman who time forgot
Receives a rosebud growing in a flower pot
And by the grace of Mother Mary
A woman learns to cultivate a rose
Witnessing the way she holds the sunshine
Witnessing the way she bears the rain
A storm appears on a countryside
A widow mourns a passing life
A rosebush soaked in dew drops
Shows a first rose budding in a flower pot
And by the grace of Mother Mary...
A woman adores a rose
Growing more alive as a flower grows
Facing all the sun rays and rain storms
Embracing all the petals and the thorns
And by the grace of Mother Mary...
A sun sets on a horizon
Colors go into hiding on a mountain
An open rose begins to wither
Mother Mary brings the rosebud home with Her
Hm-mm-mm-hm
7. The Pearl
They call this girl the Pearl
A psychedelic rainbow swirl
She is a sight to behold
She has a voice so beautiful
They say the world is her oyster
Her singing brings a band to join her
They take the show on the road
She has a voice so full of soul
Her audience adores
The way she opens up their doors
She brings them out of their shells
Reveals the pearls inside themselves
The Pearl’s singing draws them
By the hundreds and thousands
They take a piece of her heart
They steal a piece of her soul
Her audience adores...
They pierce the skin of the Pearl
They make a pearl necklace out of her
They take a piece of her heart
They steal a piece of her soul
Her audience adores...
8. Adios To The Blues
Adios to the blues
The coldest of hues
I’m choosing a warmer color
To help me through the Winter
Navy blue baby blue royal
I’m letting every shade go
Every sign of depression
Every reminder of cold
Oh depths of the sea
Oh heights of the sky
I will wait for you in the night
In the black absence of light
Here in the dark
Where no blues to harm me
I close my eyes and go far
Through the tones of my guitar
Red minor chords sensual
Yellow chords intellectual
Bringing me to the eventual
Blue chords spiritual
Oh depths of the sea..
The Acknowledgements
So amazing to see the Open Mic expanding, and reaching the masses! Just this week, I noticed one of my all-time favorite musicians ( @benleemusic ) joined us here, and if anyone's new to Ben Lee's music, you've got to hear his song, "Gamble Everything For Love." Really exciting seeing the number of participants rising so rapidly.
Thanks again to @meno and @luzcypher for co-creating the Open Mic Songwriters Challenge, and thanks to @passion-ground for being so fair, honest, and generous as a judge. Cheers to all of the Open Mic as a whole, including all of the sponsors, judges, participants, and audience members. Thank you all for being here and supporting live music.
This post contains 100% original content by @cabelindsay.
