The Music Of JC Harris

positively the most intelligent progressive rock on this here planet

positively the most intelligent progressive rock on this here planet

Superpower

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  • The Sea And SkyDownload

    The Sea And Sky?

    The sea is the end of the raging sky.
    The fallen wind that passes by
    It’s beyond our grasp to reach that top.
    But I just can’t seem to stop.

    Far above.
    I see the stars
    That are revealed to all the leaving eye
    I can’t explain the fiery rain
    To those who stay below.
    It’s a world they can never know.

    The world will remain as the edge of the earth
    For those who just won’t know.
    At the bones of the earth
    Are the hulls of the ships
    Set apart from the sky
    As a fall from grace.

    Dublin 1996

    On a plane, over the Irish Sea, it suddenly dawned on me what the world really is.
  • Gone To SeaDownload

    Gone To Sea?

    If I ever went to sea.
    Brought you back great diamonds.
    Would you think that oh so terribly wrong of me?
    Would you grieve for me? If I ever went to sea
    Lost all my love for you.
    But came back, with my eyes in my head.
    Would you grieve instead
    Or go home.

    CHORUS

    Oceans are forgotten now
    Think I should have told you how
    If I ever went to sea
    You would be with me.

    (CHORUS)

    If I ever went to sea
    Threw my pearls before the waves.
    Would you stand with me?
    And wonder where they’d gone?

    …They’ve gone home.

    Seattle 2012

    My people went to sea in boats for very long periods. It now seems so far away and distant that any 'modern' relationship can surive (or thrive) with that type of sacrifice.
  • The Road To DonegalDownload

    The Road To Donegal?

    There’s a road up in Donegal
    West of my heart
    We used to have a farm there
    Raised horses and sheep
    Gathered in my fields
    Against the coming winds
    Then the storm came
    And now it’s all gone.

    I was on the left bank
    Beside the running stream
    I heard the Black & Tans
    Within my wife and children’s screams
    Headed for the house
    As fast as any many could run
    But by then storm had come
    And now it’s all gone.

    What more can any man say?
    When suddenly nothing is as it was.
    And what would any of us do?
    Just quietly lose our minds,
    While our families lost their lives?

    Fighting back.

    There’s a road to the gallows now
    Further through the trees.
    Funny what one thinks of,
    As life passes before me.
    Hear the shouts of people,
    As I take that final walk
    If only we had left,
    Would now all be gone?

    Dublin 1996

    A story from the Irish Revolution.
  • What A Wonderful World!Download

    What A Wonderful World!?

    I’m a guy who loves his job.
    Work all day. Sometimes nights.
    I’m a guy who loves his job.
    Wonder if I’ll always feel that way?

    Now there’s a guy who lost his job.
    Worked my shift.
    Left this note.
    Near the gun in his garage.
    Guess he didn’t think he’d be retrained.

    And he said:

    If you take a look at what is happening
    You won’t look long before
    You will find that there’s nothing left at the factory.
    Most of what I walked in for is gone.
    And I don’t think it will be very long
    Before there’s nothing left.

    No more hours.
    No more clock.
    No more check every week.

    We can’t understand how this all worked out?

    (CHORUS)

    We made more tires
    And forged more steel
    But have no jobs
    So who buys the wheels
    There is no way to understand
    What we held in our hands
    What a wonderful world this was
    And still is

    Oh what world that we made happen
    Everything built with a smile
    Building a dream that reached everybody
    Building a dream so wild!

    CHORUS

    Story time is over.
    You can all go home

    Detroit 1994

    When I came to America, so many people had good jobs. It seemed like an equilibrium had been established for working people. Who knew?
  • ShyDownload

    Shy?

    Cross the floor
    beyond my door
    The mirror caught my eye

    I looked once more
    To see what I could not before
    The reason almost made me cry.

    Down the walk
    It’s always raining,
    No way to talk
    Yet somehow this old coat always stays dry
    But what can you expect?
    Such happenings can’t happen yet
    When all your chance appearances are gone.

    Close that door
    That image I would see no more.
    The pain increases every time I try
    But if you can,
    See strength inside this shaken man
    You’ll really see the truth’s not shy.

    Seattle 2012

    The problem with real shyness is not the 'shyness' per se, but rather the self-loathing which comes from seeing all the lost opportunities for happiness.
  • Lo FiDownload

    Lo Fi?

    Look back upon the memories that I still hear
    From when I was just nine.
    I tell you man, it’s fine!

    Let’s make a call and pass the walls at my old school
    When I was in my prime.
    I guess I’m past my time.

    But in the weeds of years that seemed to grow at such a cost.
    There is a thing called melody that’s somehow lost.
    And in it’s place an elegance begins to seem long past.
    I can’t escape the waves that all those Stones forgot.

    I’ll keep my lo-fi high.

    Let’s hear the call and storm the walls of your old school
    When I was in my prime.
    I long to see sometimes.

    Let’s take the walk and and skip the talk that I still hear.
    You can’t fool me this time.
    Those needles don’t do the job. (not for me!) And in between the data stream that comes and goes across.
    There is a feel for melody that’s somehow lost..
    And you can’t hear that eloquence for all the tools you’ve got.
    You can’t escape the relevance that sums up it all.

    So shoot the moon!
    Go all the way!
    I’m through revering yesterday.
    You seem to have picked the perfect lie!

    So keep your lo-fi high.

    Seattle 1999

    A dear old friend told me once that the reason music is so bad these days is that 'all the good notes were taken'. What he meant was that apparently there are no longer any really good songs written; that it's all rehashes and covers. He may be right: look at how we revere anything 'old school'.

    I find that attitude pessimistic and wrong. All the gear; all the music, passed from fashion for a reason. And if things aren't what we'd like now, simply returning to the Golden Age (was it the sixties? was it the seventies?) certainly isn't the answer. Things are better now. Or they ought to be.

    By the way: are the Stones even any longer alive? Maybe they've been digitised like everything else.

  • WrongDownload

    Wrong?

    I am an engineer
    So I drive the train
    I stoke the coals
    With a pace gone insane. I told myself to write this all down
    Because when I talked to you
    Then it all went wrong.

    I sense your tenderness
    I know what’s real
    I have a pulse
    So tell me what is the deal?

    Consider my life having gone too long
    Because when I talked to you
    Then the whole damned thing went wrong.

    I am responsible
    Both hands on the wheel
    I parked the car
    Then the brakes hit the squeal
    Surprise myself why my health’s still strong
    Because when I talk to you
    Then the whole damned thing goes wrong.

    New York 2003

    The tragic tale of a man who want to say something so badly. And did.
  • WillingDownload

    Willing?

    You want a love?
    You think you know what love is?
    Hey you don’t even know.
    You want a love?
    You think you’ll get what love is?
    I’m forty one and I don’t even know.

    But I swear
    There’s time for us.
    It all comes down to who you think you trust.
    We’ll all get by if we just try..
    And if everyone who’s on this bus is
    Willing.
    To show how much we understand
    Are you willing?
    To show that we can take command
    Are you willing?
    Before this all gets out of hand.

    Can’t you just understand what we’re going through?

    Y ou want to go?
    You think you’ll change the world?
    You gotta go?
    Hey, you don’t even know.

    You’re gonna go?
    You think you’ll change the world now?

    There’s the door,
    What’s stopping you? But I swear:
    There’s time for us.
    It all comes down to
    Who you think you trust.
    We’ll all get by if we just try..
    And if everyone who’s on this bus is

    Guitar Solo

    But I swear:
    There’s time for us.
    It all comes down to
    Who you think you trust.
    We’ll all get by if we just try..
    And if everyone who’s on this bus is
    Willing.
    To show how much we understand
    Are you willing?
    To show that we can take command
    Are you willing?
    Before this all gets out of hand.

    Can’t you just understand what we’re going through?
    Can’t you just understand what we’re going through?
    Can’t you just understand what I’m going through?

    I’m Willing.

    Seattle 2000

    You have to have a commitment to making a difference.
  • Hey Johnny!Download

    Hey Johnny!?

    Hey Johnny!
    Where are you going with that gun?
    If it’s strictly for protection, then why are you showin’ everyone?

    Now here’s the problem:
    You think you’re lookin’ real rough.
    But when they take your little toy from you,
    You won’t feel so tough.

    Johnny you’re a victim of a televised world
    That tells you lies everyday.
    And makes you think there’s only one number
    That’ll ever come up.

    Johnny won’t listen to anybody sayin’ that his life’s too much.
    ‘Cause’ everybody else is too scared to see Johnny hooked up.

    Hey Johnny!
    You aren’t lookin’ so tough.
    When they used your little toy on you it must have felt real rough.

    (Hey Johnny?)

    Detroit 1994

    Hand guns are really cool for teens. And here's the great part! They're not just for gangs anymore like when I wrote this.
  • LovedDownload

    Loved?

    I know you are something bright and beautiful
    Magical, fine and golden
    I know you are something bright and beautiful
    Let’s go there!

    I

    Thinking about all the things you been missing
    Thinking about all the things that have never seemed enough
    But in spite of the things you’ve been missing is that
    The one thing you’re sure of
    That you are LOVED!
    Cherished!
    You have plenty of!
    And you are right.

    II

    Think of all the time you’ve been given
    Think of all of the things in you heart you’re dreaming of
    Think about all the things you living
    And the things that all fell down

    But you are wrong!
    Falsehoods!
    You have plenty of!
    But you are loved…

    BRIDGE

    Oh, when you weep
    At least don’t weep for me.

    Am I not blown away
    As a breath goes out to sea.

    There are frozen wastes about the places
    I used to go
    But the boats still sail there
    And they always will you know.

    And every hurt that happens
    To hearts can repaired
    There is always a shoulder to hold to
    If you have yourself to share

    For everything that happens
    It happens to us all.
    We have all been set upon the rocks below.

    And every build
    And every shape
    And every thought we have
    Will make us whole.

    END

    Keep your eyes on the prize.
    But don’t ever think that you will know
    Keep your head away from all those feelings
    That you are so very LOVED!

    Seattle 2012

    At a certain point, I realized that the people closest to you don't necessarily feel what you feel for them. You have to make a conscious effort to make them understand.
  • One WordDownload

    One Word?

    Would it be no bother,
    To each day give the other?

    One new word that you could find.
    That had not been discovered.
    To show all the newest ways,
    To joy inside each other’s heart.
    No I would not mind searching
    Throughout a thousand books. Though I do not think within these covers.
    You’d find any words to describe my lover,
    Other than to say:
    ‘She is beautiful.’

    Detroit 1992

    The simplest song I ever wrote. And I mean that in the best possible way.
  • Oceans BelowDownload

    Oceans Below?

    The rush and the roll
    Of all the things we know
    Still comes back to me sometimes
    I still can’t see
    Why we all must grieve
    But I do agree there’s time.

    Oceans below.
    A world so far away
    Doesn’t matter to me anymore.
    If by chance I lost my way
    And I did fall
    Would you ever be there for me?

    The rush and the roll
    Of all the things we know
    Still comes back to me sometimes
    I still can’t see
    Why we all must grieve
    But I do agree there’s time.

    Yeah, I hear what you’re saying.
    I know that people change,
    Nothing stays the same,
    And that’s just the way it is nowadays.
    And there’s never going to be enough time,
    To go to the places you want to go,
    See the things you want to see,
    Do the things that I would like to do.
    I guess thought we were building something here.
    But if nothing really lasts,
    Then what’s the bloody point?

    This world has a face with it’s eyes torn out
    The blood streams down below
    The core of the earth has the bones of the ships
    All torn from sky like rain

    The sea is the place ‘neath a raging sky
    A sun seen only from below
    When all of the things that you ever loved
    Came true within my life.

    The storm and the dream
    And the great deep flowing
    Long to go far away

    At dawn comes a sun
    With a sky chang’d red
    But safely we turn to our chosen port.
    For now that you know
    that the things that you are
    can never be denied,

    For you are loved.

    Dublin 1996

    Something about what one sees in the heart of the sea.

If only you had the strength?

What in God's name are you talking about?
Compared to you, the Man Of Steel is a punk.
And Daredevil? Just weak.

You went to war when you sure didn't want to.
Or fought against it at great personal sacrifice.
Didn't you raise kids for twenty years and made sure they turned
out to be responsible people?
Weren't you attacked and beaten
And still did not turn out bitter?
And then I heard you lost all your dough.
But then made this amazing comeback
And did not let life get you down.

You had no idea your fate was to engage in such profound battles for life and death.
You were never trained or paid or prepared like those guys who fight blazes or track down men with guns every day.

So look, Chief: it's easy to be brave and true with x-ray vision,
amazing weapons and fantastic strength...
But you took care of business; against incredible odds armed
only with too-soft human flesh.

You are wonderful and I'd take my chances with you rather
than some guy in tights any day of the week.

Some personal notes on Superpower...

Look, There's Just No Reason To Be Shy!

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