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MP3 John Phillip McGraw and Leslie Elizabeth Buck - Step Inside My Dream
17 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Acoustic, BLUES: Guitar Blues
Show all album songs: Step Inside My Dream Songs
Details:
Step Inside the Dream
We can still take our world
To a better place
Step outside the greed and hatred
Be one race
Step inside the dream
Come face to face
Population
Sucking dry the beauty of our land
Turning all the great green forests
Into sand
Step inside my dream
You’ll understand
We can sing to make us happy
We can sing ‘til we feel free
We can dream a little closer
To the world we want to be
Step beyond the mindset
Change the bottom line
We are all accomplished
In this crime
Step outside the war machine
It’s a waste of time
If we can sing we might be happy
If we can sing we may just see
We can’t fight to bring us closer
We may have to disagree
Step out of the comfort
Let the fear go free
When my heart is open
I can start to see
Wake up to an old dream
With new harmony
We can sing and we’ll be happy
We can sing and we’ll be free
We can breathe a little closer
Take a step inside my dream
Step inside my dream
Step inside my dream
Step inside my dream
John wrote this song in the winter of 2006. Originally, the lyrics were very different. We collaborated on them, as we typically did, to produce what you see above. John performed all tracks, with the help of a synthesizer for the saxophone and the ‘doo doo’ back up vocals. Shari Yeomans sang harmony. Together, John and Shari performed beautiful vocal harmonies in their band, ‘Heart & Soul.’
John was the heart. Shari was the soul.
Old Soldier
I’m an old soldier
I don’t want to die
Don’t want to fade away
I don’t want to cry
I’m an old soldier
Skating through life
I want a new life
I’m a quiet man
Don’t like complications
I keep getting myself
In bad situations
I’m a simple man
I rarely speak
I just want my heart to beat
And I said, ‘Doctor! Doctor! Help me get out of my head!
These things in my brain
I’m gonna wind up dead!
Baby, baby please!
Tell me you love me!
Are you even thinking of me?’
I’m a simple soul
Trying to get peace
But I keep getting into myself
Real deep
I’m a simple soul
I don’t want to cry
Sometimes I feel I’m gonna die
So I said, ‘Doctor! Doctor! Help me get out of my head!
Some days I want to stay in
I just want to stay in bed
Baby, baby please!
Tell me you love me!
Are you even thinking of me?
Are you even thinking of me?’
John wrote this song before I knew him. He once shared with me that one performance of this song inspired a standing ovation by a jury of his peers.
For a While
Walk with me for a while
I’ll make you smile
And take your pain away for a while
Talk with me for a while
I’ll make you smile
And take your pain away for a while
I was lost and lonely
Found out you were my only
Laugh with me for a while
I’ll make you smile
And take your pain away for a while
Love with me for a while
I’ll make you smile
And take your pain away for a while
You were lost and lonely
Found out I was your only
(Listen to me baby)
Live with me for a while
You’ll make me smile
And take my pain away for a while
We will smile
And shake our pain away for a while
This is one of the first songs John wrote for me. It is his proposal to me. It is the fall of 2005.
All Good Things
I was lost and in the dark
I was hanging in the park
I was walking to the desert sands
With no shoes on feet and blood on my hands
Then one day came the light
I was blinded by your sight
And you looked into my eyes
Your loving took me by surprise
Take the low road
They implored me
Not the high road
They adored me
All good things will come they said
If you stay on the road ahead
Now I walk and I smile
For a long time, not a while
And I listen to what they said
On my journey to the road again
Take the low road
They implored me
Not the high road
They adored me
All good things will come they said
If you stay on the road ahead
John had originally intended this song to be the title track of the album but later changed his mind. In a hand-made card for me he once wrote, “You are All Good Things.”
It should be noted that this song was written about his parents, John and Alfrieda McGraw. He missed them dearly since their sudden passing, several years prior to the genesis of this composition.
We
When you walk and you smile
I forget about life for a while
When you speak and I listen
Mmmmm my knees get weak
Who am I?
Who are you?
Do you believe in a love that’s true?
Who am I?
Who are you?
Do you dream? Do you know I do?
When you cry baby
I want to wipe the tears from your eyes
When you scream at night
I want to be near to hold you tight
Who am I?
Who are you?
Do you love me? Do you know you do?
Who am I?
Who are you?
You are my breeze
I am songs for you
And when you walk away baby
Will you come back to me someway?
Many years from know maybe
You will be there for me somehow
Who am I?
Who are you?
You are for me
I am here for you
Who am I?
Who are you?
You are me and I am you
‘We’ is the song which evolved the most over our time together. This is also the song which I feel we had the greatest degree of collaboration on and the most fun with. We ran the full gamut from silly rancor to philosophical musing. This is truly our song. It is the first song that John ever wrote for me.
Just a Moment of Your Time
What are these feelings deep inside my heart?
Seems like they’ve been there right from the start
What are these thoughts deep inside my head?
Seems like they’ll be there until I’m dead
Just a moment of your time
I don’t have a reason
I don’t have a rhyme
Just a moment of your time
It’s all I asked for and I’d be fine
You drove me crazy – the things that you said
I tried to understand – turned around my head
I wish you could have reached into my soul
And let my feelings for you unfold
Just a moment of your time
I don’t have a reason
I don’t have a rhyme
Just a moment of your time
It’s all I asked for and I’d be fine
I’ve got my future. I’ve got my pride
I’ve got my freedom and I’ve got time
I’ll always keep you easy in my heart
As life goes on and we’re apart
Just a moment of your time
I don’t have a reason
I don’t have a rhyme
Just a moment of your time
It’s all I asked for and I’d be fine
Written for a former girlfriend, I helped him to rewrite the lyric so that he was comfortable performing it.
Glass Beach
Empty bottles on the shore
Reflect the dreams I hold no more
Broken glass on the beach
Of shattered lives no longer in reach
Can the tide wash me clean
And bring back my broken dreams
Can the tide take away the pain
And bring me back to somewhere that’s sane
Abandoned barges washed up and left to die
Like old loved ones, make me want to cry
Shattered remains on the ocean floor
Once was something someone adored
Can the tide take it away
And bring back my yesterdays
Can the ocean wash it clean
And bring back my broken dreams
City lights in the distant night
Let’s my heart still burn bright
Sunny skies and moonlit nights
Keeps me dreaming of wonderful life
Can the tide wash it away
And bring back the sunlit days
Can the ocean stay so blue?
It will always make me think of you
John composed Glass Beach in Astoria Queens, New York, somewhere along the East River while broken bottles hit the bulkhead with a tidal rhythm. We went to record this melodic inspiration for inclusion in the song’s backdrop, but fortunately, the bottle bill had been effective. The tidal sound effects were recorded on the Moriches Bay and at the Jamesport Marina, Long Island, NY. The glass sound was recorded in our basement using broken glass and a wooden spoon.
I Can’t Sleep
I can’t sleep at night
I just dream I’m alive
My mind wanders in the day
Seems like time’s slipping away
Everywhere I go and everything I do
It’s not just a passing thought
I’m always thinking of you
And when I’m stuck in stop
And thoughts are filling my head
I got to keep on pushing
Pushing straight ahead
I can’t sleep at night
I just dream I’m alive
My mind wanders in the day
Seems like time’s slipping away
How do I know what I should say?
If I get it wrong sometimes
It’s not meant that way
But my heart is open
and I’m filled with joy
Even then I feel like crying
Like a little boy
I can’t sleep at night
I just dream I’m alive
My mind wanders in the day
Seems like time’s slipping away
I can’t sleep at night
I just dream I’m alive
My mind wanders in the day
Seems like time’s slipping away
I Love My Baby
Love my baby
Love her all night long
Love my baby
Love her all night long
When she ain’t with me
I think of this song
Seem like I met her
Just the other day
Seem like I met her
Just the other day
With her in my life now
I won’t have hell to pay
Keep her with me
Long after judgment day
Keep her with me
Long after judgment day
I have God on my side
But if he’s gone she’ll be with me anyway
So I love my baby
Love her all night long
Love my baby
Love her all night long
Minutes go into hours
I hope it won’t be long
John wrote this song as he played it one afternoon with his best buddy, Lindsay Reeve (harmonica), at the Tuttle Cove restaurant in East Moriches. John frequently wrote songs on the fly like this. I was fortunate to have recorded it this time.
Ruby Gold Macaw
Vincent Van Gogh is a ruby gold macaw that lives with us. John and Vincent became very close over time. Vincent always loved it when John would play his guitar. John was occasionally frustrated by Vincent’s enthusiasm, especially when the bird would squawk while he was recording. One afternoon, Vincent somehow got his foot caught in the cage bars and was hanging and screaming. John rescued him, of course, and this song immediately came to him. Vincent insisted on singing the lyric for this recording. We are not sure what all the words are, however.
Special Places
Can you remember when you were born free
It was September
It was supposed to be
Do you see faces smiling in the sun
Remember the places where you had fun
Most of these places are gone
Most of these faces have moved on
But those places live on
Remember the winter you lived on the street
Then there was summer you couldn’t take the heat
Can you still see your mom and dad
You’ve got no pictures
I know that makes you mad
Most of these places are gone
Most of these faces have moved on
But those places live on
And now you are happy
A woman at your side
You keep on growing
You’ve got nothing to hide
You’ll always bring with you that cold winter year
And visit new places with nothing to fear
Most of these places are gone
Most of these faces have moved on
But those places live on
But those places live on
On and on
Without My Guitar
Well I was rolling
I was tumbling all night long
Couldn’t sleep
Just thinking of my song
I was singing
Yeah I was singing about a red house
I was singing
About a red house
My guitar
Don’t love my bleeding heart yeah
My guitar
Don’t love my bleeding heart yeah yeah yeah
Bleeding heart!
Well I was in a funk
Without my guitar
Well I was in a funk
Without my guitar
Yeah
Yeah
I ain’t coming no more
Yeah
Yeah
I ain’t coming no more no more
Time Takes
Walking through the young and sunny days of fun
with blinders on
Trying to find your way down the road
behind the rising sun
Running from the devil but you were the one
you were running from
Making friends with everybody
but being friends to no one
I have the time
I have the time
But time takes time
Time takes time
Time takes!
Running through the colors of my dreams
but just in my head
Falling from the sky with no wings
and facing death
Driving with no wheels on the road with no car
but you drove on
Stopping just to catch your breath to find out
the time had gone on
I have the time
I have the time
But time takes time
Time takes time
Time takes!
We’ll Never Hurt Again
Maybe some day we’ll walk through the forest
Breathing the air like we used to do
Girl I was broken-hearted and feeling sad
‘til I met the likes of you
We will never hurt again
Oh no
Maybe some day we’ll walk on the sandy beach
With the love of each other in our eyes
I’ll come home to you on some starry night
Give you that special loving surprise
We will never hurt again
Oh no
Once in this place
A lonely space
I was empty and not whole
Now in this place
I see your face
And I no it’s whole and it’s alright
Guess that’s all I gotta say
About a girl it seems like I met yesterday
Seems like I knew her all my life
I was born here just to make her my wife
We will never hurt again
You will never hurt again
I will never hurt again
Feel the Joy
Take the pain, the music in your head, make it into a song
These dark days will soon pass and you’ll carry on
Remember the music is for you and you alone
It has always been there
Doing this isn’t wrong
These are days you live for
These are days when you feel young
These are reasons to sing the blues
These songs must be sung
With the music you’ve never felt alone, even when life crumbles to dust
It sometimes brings joy to others, just like the new rising sun
Then all the emptiness you’ve felt on those days when people walked away
Is really only temporary
Because you get the chance to sing and say
These are days I live for
These are days when I feel joy
This is mine. It is mine alone
These are days to have fun
(musical verse break)
These are days I live for
This is the reason I’m alive
These are the reasons I sing
This is the reason I survive!
Feel the Joy is the last song that John wrote. It is unfinished, sometime in March of 2007.
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