For notes and lyrics, see the original post. Click here.

This is another song that was pretty quick in creation. I came home from a party one evening, and wasn’t in the best of moods. So, I’m not really sure how this tune came of that as it’s a pretty uplifting melody. I think it comes close to what I’d consider a “signature” Trance Blackman song.

Life’s tough sometimes. We get caught up in all sorts of strange energies, ideas, influences and such. It’s a wonder how many come out of that haze sometimes, myself included. I had some dark times in my late-teens, but nothing that didn’t serve to create in me the opportunity to explore just the opposite. My music was one of the most important factors in maintaining sanity and having the vessel to get ideas and emotions out was extremely cathartic. I’m sure any artist can relate.

It’s important to remember that no matter where you think you are in life, you’ll never get it done. That’s not the point. The exercise is in the experience of the journey. Tripping, falling, getting up, falling, getting up, laughing, crying, and climbing into a new you every time you re-discover where you are “now”.

See the Sun
by Trance Blackman

Intro (spoken)
Everywhere you walk
Everyone you see
Brothers and sisters, like you and me
Gotta see the sun…

You think that nothing ever goes your way
You feel that everyone’s your enemy
Desperate times
Don’t be calling for desperate measures

You feel that some things aren’t meant to be
You see your dreams sometimes turn into a fantasy
Please be wise
No falling down
Don’t close your eyes

‘Cause you’ve gotta see
You’ve gotta see the sun now

Chorus
See the sun
See the light of the morning, radiance, love and…
See the sun
Don’t you know, don’t you know there’s always tomorrow…
See the sun
Open up your eyes, see the time, see the life ahead…
See the sun
Never lose faith, never lose sight, never stop trying…

Now maybe your heart’s been broke
I know it hurts
And maybe your soul’s been shattered and lost
But with time
You will see
They will all mend themselves

You think that you’ve been made a fool of
You think that everyone’s got some secret kept from you
But be wise
Just believe
Don’t close your eyes

‘Cause you’ve gotta see
You’ve gotta see the sun now

Chorus
Solo
Repeat chorus and end…

©1995, 2002 Nothing So Right Music

This is an attempt to describe a certain crush and/or infatuation I once had the pleasure of enduring… It’s about the dance that begins and blossoms, and sometimes works out. Other times, it’s just in one’s mind for the most part. I think we can all relate.

Stay
by Trance Blackman

It started just the other day
I caught your eye and had to say
Would you go with me and have this dance
Or is it just too quick, to quick an advance

‘Cause I believe love grows from seeds
Words planted inside the heart of need
I’d give my mind, my world and gold
If you would love me, be for me to hold

Is there such thing as first sight
Is there reason for all this pride
How did you come into my life
Will you be staying on through the night

Stay, stay here now
I want this moment,
we can keep this moment
Stay, stay here now
For love this potent
Can’t be beaten or broken
Please stay, I’m begging you please, stay with me

So today and on until the end
In life there is nothing worth pretend
My offer to you is committed and true
Please believe in me, can you trust me too?

‘Cause I believe trust grows from seeds
Actions decided upon inside the heart of need
I’d give my mind, my world and gold
If you would love me, be for me to hold

Is there such thing as first sight
Is there reason for all this pride
How did you come into my life
Will you be staying on through the night

Stay, stay here now
I want this moment,
we can keep this moment
Stay, stay here now
For love this potent
Can’t be beaten or broken
Please stay, I’m begging you please, please just stay!
Stay with me, won’t you please, just stay…

BGs
stay with me, won’t you stay with me
we have this moment, let’s keep this moment .. (fade out)

©2001 Nothing So Right Music

So, I wrote a song for someone who asked me, more than once: “do you love me?” What an odd question to ask. Nevertheless, an important one… This was my attempt to answer.

Wanted
by Trance Blackman

I want to hold you so much
I want to feel your touch
I want to be near you
to make you feel wanted
to know that you’re wanted by me

Oh when I miss you so badly
I want to kiss you so madly
I want to caress your skin
to make you feel wanted
to know that you’re wanted by me

‘Cause I don’t want to have to explain to you
Just how much I feel, when I’m alone with you
And I don’t want to try and put into the words
What you do to me when I’m by your side

I just want you to know

I want to be where you be
I want to sleep where you sleep;
to do whatever and anything
to make you feel wanted
to know that you’re wanted by me

I want to touch you everywhere
I want to feel your silky hair
and run my hands down your sides
to make you feel wanted
to know that you’re wanted by me

‘Cause I don’t want to have to explain to you
Just how much I feel, when I’m alone with you
And I don’t want to try and put into the words
What you do to me when I’m by your side

I just want you to know
I just need you to know

©2001 Nothing So Right Music

I recall making the original recording of this track on a little 4-track cassette recorder. Wow that’s old school. I also remember that the whole song took about 30~60 minutes to create and record. After that, I nearly wore out the tape listening to it over and over and over again. I think it really surprised me, and I don’t know if I was ever able to re-create the precise vibe originally captured. Still, both of the editions that now exist I’m quite happy with.

Runaway is lullaby, a ballad, and a story. It unravels slowly and – like any good love scene – takes you along and into the moment. It’s about losing yourself completely in somebody else. It’s about closeness and sensuality. It’s also about the palpable angst and newness of discovering a powerful, passionate connection with someone.

Runaway
Trance Blackman

Sweetly sweetly my love filters through
All the thoughts I’ve handled meant for you
Softly softly my hands touch on you
Dreamy creamy skin so soft so new

Hold me, hold me promise to never let go
There’s so much in my mind I have to let you know
Whisper whisper gentle words to me
I want to lose control now will you set me free

I’m a runaway… a runaway heart
I’m a runaway… I’m running to you…
I’m a runaway… a runaway heart
I’m a runaway… I’m running to you…

Gently gently a breeze comes in the room
The subtle light invades us from the moon
Slowly slowly the mood grows warmer still
Moving close as we kiss I am now at your will

I’m a runaway… a runaway heart
I’m a runaway… I’m running to you…
I’m a runaway… a runaway heart
I’m a runaway… I’m running to you…

..Instrumental Solo..

Join me join me in this dream come true
There’s only room in my thoughts left for you
Softly softly our hands finally touch
Moments passing like hours this is too much

Love me love me the way I will love you
It’s simple see if we trust each other too
Hold me hold me promise to never let go
I have so much I can give you my heart’s aglow

I’m a runaway… a runaway heart
I’m a runaway… I’m running to you…
I’m a runaway… a runaway heart
I’m a runaway… I’m running to you…

©1999 Nothing So Right Music

Ah, l’amour. This one’s a strong contender for “catchiest” of the bunch. I liked it enough to created a few alternate versions of it, and would likely make more…

I’d say a definite air of (stupid) chivalry influenced creating this song. The thing about a muse is that sometimes it’s the fantasy of what could be that outshines reality. You can’t save someone from themselves. But this is the stuff of romance, I tell you! The challenge of poetry and lyric throughout the ages to woo and coo our way into someone’s heart is an awesome thing. And falling for someone who needs rescuing is as cliché as it comes, but hey, whatever.

Suddenly I’m thinking of Enrique’s “Hero” for some reason…

Nothing So Right (As Loving You)
by Trance Blackman

For some time now it’s been around in my mind
Thoughts of you and me carry on in time
Funny how I seem to have held on for so long
For something love would bring maybe make me strong

When you tell me you’re not ready
I try to hold my soft heart steady
‘Cause something deep inside me knows
My love will follow anywhere she goes

Chorus
Whenever I dream, I dream of kissing you
Whenever I imagine my life, I imagine it with you
Whenever I dream, I dream of holding you
Whatever it takes, I’m gonna hold on,
There’s nothing so right as loving you…

I know you’ve heard it all before, for sure
So what makes my words different, or pure
I think you sense the nature of my tone and voice
But baby I can see you doubt my loving choice

Seems the rough and tumble is your usual
You know me and I offer what’s respectable
So if you want to live life beautiful and free
Set your soul to flight and trust in me

Chorus – Solo

Bridge
I can sense when you pull away
Go hiding somewhere like a stray
God help this heart be patient still
We’ll see the fruits of loving will
Give the gift of holding tight
My dream of loving you tonight… (Hook)

Chorus

©2001 Nothing So Right Music

I can recall the exact moment the lyrics popped into my head.

I was driving home one evening, and while climbing a hill, the big, bright moon was suddenly staring at me. Well, not directly, but I saw it out of the corner of my eye as it was lighting up the city below. More like a passenger in the car, then… Still, a powerful moment.

So the moon and I exchanged a few glances, and the lyrics formulated fairly easily during that drive. I wasn’t in a relationship at the time, so what does one do with romantic notions? I guess it becomes more rhetorical.

This song is about enjoying the simple things, quiet moments, the spaces between the rest of the experience. It’s the stuff that expands and fills in the cracks. The stuff of real importance that memories are made of. It’s about being straightforward, honest, open and real. It’s about expressing love in ways that words don’t usually approach in the slightest.

It’s also about living for now, not for tomorrow.

Today
by Trance Blackman

Have you ever taken the time to watch the moon rise
Have you taken a moment to see its graceful path
Have you taken the time to pick a flower for your lady
Today, today, do it today.

Have you ever taken the time to watch the sunset
Have you taken a moment to see its red glowing descent
Have you taken the time to kiss and tell her you love her
Today, today, do it today.

Do you ever recall those simple days, and running free
Do you reminisce about all the joy and laughter you’ve had
You’ve got to hold those things close, and face the world knowing it’s okay
Today, today, do it today

Do it today, you don’t know that tomorrow will ever come
Get to it right away, your gift of time may be almost none
Tell her the things that you think you should say
Tell her all that’s in that your mind of grey
Today…

Do you ever let yourself loose and just run free
Have you ever taken a chance, played around
Like the child you used to be
Will you ever drop your routine and just drive away
under the starlight..
Today, today, do it today.

Have you ever taken the time to watch the moon rise
Have you taken a moment to see its graceful path
Have you taken the time to pick a flower for your lady
Today, today, do it today.

Have you ever taken the time to watch the sunset
Have you taken a moment to see its red glowing descent
Have you taken the time to kiss and tell her you love her
Today, today, do it today.

©1997, 2002 Nothing So Right Music (all rights reserved)

I think it’s fairly obvious what it’s about… A romantic little ditty inspired by what to me is often the most telling part of a person. The eyes are quite simply marvelous.

This one has a distinct Phil Collins vein to it, resembling his song “Everyday” (from Both Sides), which I didn’t actually hear until a few months after first recording this song of mine. So perhaps Phil and I were on a similar wavelength or something… I love his tune.

Your Eyes
by Trance Blackman

Every time I look into your eyes,
I see something special, something so real

Every time I look into your eyes,
I feel something different, something so magical

Ooh, it’s like a fantasy
Ooh, I can’t deny ecstasy
Won’t you be with me, to hold me tight
Move with me, beautiful, come make it right

Every time I look into your eyes,
The life-blood inside me, grows fast in its flow

And every time I look into your eyes,
Oh how can I tell you, you just have to know

Ooh, it’s like a fantasy
Ooh, I can’t deny ecstasy
Holding your memory, it’s dear to me
I can’t be sad now, for I’ve found my peace

Instrumental Solo

Every time I look, at your face
I see pure mystery, I’m left with no clue

Every time I look, at your pretty soft face
I feel it in my heart, girl I’m so addicted to you

Ooh, it’s like a fantasy
Ooh, I can’t deny ecstasy
Bring yourself near me, I’ll cradle your soul
Open up your heart now, give me the controls

repeat and fade

©2002 Nothing So Right Music

With this one, I tried taking on a father-figure type role, or teacher/mentor stance. It’s about learning to live by living fully. Tripping, falling, failing and trying again. Life always provides us with lessons, or teachers, when we’re ready.

It’s about hope, and learning to trust the process; enjoying the journey and really taking it all in. Life’s pretty short, even if it doesn’t feel it at times. Put it into perspective by thinking outside of yourself… Our planet is billions of “years old”. If we manage a mere 100 or so in a lifetime, it’s really hardly even the blink of an eye, given a proper scope. Regardless, it’s here for us, we choose to experience it in just this way, for our own perfect reasons… And we never, ever “get it done”.

The more we learn from simply doing it, the more we learn to embrace and enhance even the simplest of experiences.

Musically speaking I can remember distinctly building a song around that guitar riff… then the “na na nas”… I had the name of the song before any lyrics were written. That happens frequently, if I compose music first. I’ll listen to a song and see what words or ideas pop out at me, and then off we go…

How To Fly
by Trance Blackman

I’m not gonna tell you, what to do, or what’s the right way
I’m not gonna tell you how to live, or to be careful

Like a child in innocence,
You’ve gotta make your own mistakes
If you fall who cares.
Get up and try again, get up and be someone

Murderers of the past, try to hide behind the broken glass.
Hideaway, don’t be shy, you’re gonna learn, how to fly!

‘Cause when the winds change again
All the leaves will blow back your way
When the storm turns around
Then you’ll know, what it’s all about
When the light shines your way, trust your wings
You know how to fly…

I’m not gonna show you, the proper way, of doing these things
I’m not gonna teach you the way that might cause you less pain

Acting on the simplest instinct
How you respond, is where your heart is
If you fail, who cares! On your feet, and try again

Murderers of the past, try to hide behind the broken glass.
Hideaway, don’t be shy, you’re gonna learn, how to fly!

‘Cause when the winds change again
All the leaves will blow back your way
When the storm turns around
Then you’ll know, what it’s all about

Yeah when the winds change again
All the leaves will blow back your way
When the storm turns around
Then you’ll know, what it’s all about
When the light shines your way, trust your wings
You know how to fly…

©2001 Nothing So Right Music

This one is directly influenced by the Conversations With God books written by Neale Donald Walsch. Reading those books was quite inspiring, and an excellent, mind-expanding experience.

I’m an avid believer of the idea that we are all one. What you see and sense in the physical is merely a superficial, tangible representation of something much more vast and complex. Blend that with universal love and you begin to see a unity beyond and beneath the skin, transcending religion, concept and thought.

Don’t forget who and what you really are…

Remember
words & music by Trance Blackman

Do you remember that day, not so long ago
When you and I sat together, had a good laugh
Do you remember the innocence we felt then
You could say it was a day and a half

Life has a way of slipping by
If you don’t learn to live it right
Everybody needs to be recognized
The same as you and me, just look in their eyes…

Remember, who and what you are
Remember, you don’t have to travel so far
Remember, that Love is all you need
And find comfort in Me, find comfort in Me…

Do you remember that moment, when we first met
When you and I became one in our thoughts
Do you remember the tingle and awakening in your heart
So close to perfection, like modern art

Life has a way of slipping by
If you don’t learn to live it right
Everybody needs to be recognized
The same as you and me, just look in their eyes…

Remember, who and what you are
Remember, you don’t have to travel so far
Remember, that Love is all you need
And find comfort in Me, find comfort in Me…

Solo / Break

Remember, who and what you are
Remember, you don’t have to travel so far
Remember, that Love is all you need
And find comfort in Me, find comfort in Me…
Find comfort in Me
Find comfort in Me
Find comfort in Me, just try to remember…

©1999 Nothing So Right Music