SONGWRITING

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PETER CROTON

SONGWRITING

I’ve been writing songs on and off since I was 6 years old.

It’s never been my main activity, but it’s always nourished

and enriched me in different ways than ‘interpreting’ music has.

Although I’ve more more or less been 'flying under the radar’

with my songwriting, I did record two CDs with Theresia Bothe:

“I’ll Sing a Song For You” (ZahZah, 2008)

"THE LUTE PLAYER and other songs” (Centaur, 2012).

In addition, two collections of my songs for voice & lute have been published:

REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST, four new settings of texts by William Shakespeare (Tree Edition 2009),

and OPEN HOUSE (German Lute Society, 1999).

I invite you to watch some of the videos and peruse the lyrics below.

LYRICS by Peter Croton

ON THE DEATH OF LANGSTON HUGHES

Have you heard the news

Have you heard the news?

Langston Hughes is dead

Have you heard the news

Have you heard the news?

Langston Hughes is gone

I went down to the graveyard, many folks were buried there

People from all walks of life, people dark and fair

I wondered who had held the whip

I wondered who had died raging at injustice

While their children cried

I looked upon the gravestones and gazed at every name

Thinking that their mortal flesh all ends up the same

And now reduced to ashes their vanity denied

The oppressed and the oppressor are lying side by side

Have you heard the news

Have you heard the news?

Langston Hughes is dead

Have you heard the news

Have you heard the news?

Langston Hughes is gone

The lowly worm will till the earth, it seems a lonely plight

Perhaps it is a blessing to be without sight

I close my eyes and wonder if he's better off than we

Who think we are on higher ground but look and do not see

I walked out of that graveyard and felt so all alone

I felt the sins of centuries as if they were my own

I felt like I had held the whip and felt like I had died

raging at injustice - and it was me who cried

Have you heard the news

Have you heard the news?

Langston Hughes is dead

Have you heard the news

Have you heard the news?

Langston Hughes is gone

YOU'RE FREE

You were a child all filled with wonder

What the future held we could not see

You had your dreams like any other

But not all dreams are not to be

There was a cloud on your horizon

And heavy hands upon your feet

There was a foe at every corner

Yet you would not accept defeat

Now you’re free

Free to discover

Free, free to move on

Free to reclaim what’s rightfully yours

Free to walk through any door

‘Cause there’s nothing to hold you back anymore

You searched for meaning in misfortune

Where no meaning could be found

You found your peace in silent slumber

And now your spirit’s homeward bound

And you’re free

Free to discover

Free, free to move on

Free to reclaim what’s rightfully yours

Free to walk through any door

‘Cause there’s nothing to hold you back anymore

We speak of you in present tenses

Because you haven’t truly gone away

We talk to you with all our senses

For we still have so much to say

And you’re free

Free to discover

Free, free to move on

Free to reclaim what’s rightfully yours

Free to walk through any door

‘Cause there’s nothing to hold you back anymore

No there’s nothing to hold you back anymore

ANOTHER DAY IN LIFE WITH YOU

You tell me not to stay so I go away

You tell me to come back

So I come running back into your arms again

It’s just another day in life with you

You call me on the phone and ask me to come home

You tell me don't be late

But when I reach the gate I see that you're gone again

It’s just another day in life with you

My friends all tell me that I'm out of my mind

To be hanging on a string for you

But sweet baby, if they knew what I knew

They'd be hanging there too!

My friends all tell me that I'm out of my mind

To be hanging on a string for you

But sweet baby, if they knew what I knew

They'd be hanging there too!

You give me finest wine and tell me you are mine

You make me close my eyes

And much to my surprise when I look you are gone again

It’s just another day in life with you

You disappear for days returning in a haze

You kiss me long and deep and then you fall asleep

But you're back in my arms again

It’s just another day in life with you

My friends all tell me that I'm out of my mind

To be hanging on a string for you

But sweet baby, if they knew what I knew

They'd be hanging, hanging, hanging,

They'd be hanging there too!

DOUBTS

When you look into my eyes

do you see where I have been?

Looking now into my mind

can you see what lies within?

Searching, opening the door

do you dare to enter in?

- and there is hope

that fortune will follow

where the spirit strives.

Do you see yourself in me,

do you find me everywhere?

Close your eyes, do I survive,

do I disappear in air?

Waiting, sensing empty space

where the fires used to flare

- and there is hope

that fortune will follow

where the spirit strives.

Children of this time and space,

are we joined by circumstance?

Winds that blew me to your door,

was it fate or was it chance?

Falling, rising, it's the same

in the universal dance

- and there is hope

that fortune will follow

where the spirit strives.

SONG TO A SLEEPING CHILD

Last night as I watched you

I watched you in a dream

You called my name in the darkness

The darkness of your dream

So come softly now into my arms

My love will never die

Never die

New dawn will awake you

Your eyes welcome the day

I'll see your face in the sunlight

And feel you slip away

So come softly now into my arms

My love will never die

Never die

New wonders await you

New fires will burn

You'll leave your castles behind you

Never to return

So come softly now into my arms

My love will never die

Never die

A MOMENT LIKE NO OTHER

I was lying in a meadow

looking up into the sky

when a moment like no other

came swiftly running by

I reached up very quickly

before it was all gone

and much to my surprise

I managed to hold on

It turned and looked upon me

and said quite soft and slow

“our kind is not for holding

so please do let me go”

I nodded to it sadly

admitted I was wrong

but held on for one more instant

and caught it’s image in this song

There’s a lily on the water

and her face is white as snow

there’s an endless sky above her

a thousand tears below

There’s beauty in her silence

in the words she does not say

and there’s beauty in the moment

I just let slip away

There’s a road that I must travel

to a place I have not been

there’s a world that’s full of wonder

without me and within

The sun will rise tomorrow

even if I’m gone

and the moments like no other

will keep me movin’ on

I was lying in a meadow

looking up into the sky

when a moment like no other

came swiftly running by

It turned and looked upon me

and said quite soft and slow

“please hold on for an instant

before you let me go”

IS IT TIME TO MOVE ON?

Who are you waiting for?

The time is passing

What are you hoping for?

The day is done

You were running ahead, falling behind

In another time

The grass is growing

And if you’re lost will he look,

if you fall will he be there for you,

or is it time to move on,

is it time to move on?

Images on the wall, they tell a story

Waiting for a call, the clock is still

Lost in a maze of counting the days,

Memories just won’t fade

The leaves are falling

And if you’re lost will he look,

if you fall will he be there for you,

or is it time to move on,

is it time to move on?

Who do you want to be?

The door is open

And how far can you see?

The sky is clear

Looking ahead, reaching behind

Open up your hand

The ice is melting

And if you’re lost will he look,

if you fall will he be there for you,

or is it time to move on,

is it time to move on?

PETER CROTON

SONGWRITING

Videos

LYRICS by Peter Croton