Song Lyrics
a selection...
Always By Your Side
Hear me now
promise that you’ll live
for each moment
Take your time
keep your thoughts unsaid
till you own them
You will find me
in the dawn light of a misty morn
You will hear me
in the waves that crash upon the shore
I’m always by your side
always here to guide
I’m always here...
​
Love the world
don’t let fear and hate
cloud your judgement
Find the hope
in every circumstance
count your blessings
You will find me
in the timeless truth that binds us all
You will hear me
as the music lifts and starts to soar
I’m always by your side
always here to guide
I’m always here...
​
Don’t look back
all that we regret
is an opening
Love yourself
know we’re all the same
yet so different
You will find me
in the winter frost upon your door
You will hear me
in the spring when swallows come to call
I’m always by your side
always here to guide
I’m always here...
​
© Mark McGann 2022
Child of the Moon
Keepin an eye on the world
as it flies by this window,
breathin’ a sigh for the waves crashing high
then dissolving in shadow
the sky is a blood red fire so cooled
with the changes in the afterglow,
a time to reflect, no pain, no regrets,
there's always tomorrow
Keepin’ the faith when all moves at such pace
without rhyme or reason,
feeling distaste when your suddenly displaced
by the changing season
Maybe we’re only really alive
when we’re startin’ all over again?
Maybe there’s only the will to survive
when the truth comes a-knockin’?
But what if there’s a rain clouds in June
with you I’m always in bloom
and though you’re not near me
I know you can hear me
saying ‘we’ll see this through’
So rise with the sun,
change with the tides,
my child of the moon.
Watching you smile, we walk mile after mile
through the fields of spring flowers
thanking the stars for your grace as you face
all those everyday showers
If I’m alive at a hundred and five
I’ll remember how you taught me to see:
where there’s love, there’s fear,
laughter, tears, if you want to make eternity
So what if there’s rain clouds in June
with you I’m always in bloom
and though you’re not near me
I know you can hear me
saying we’ll see this through
So rise with the sun
change with the tides,
my child of the moon.
​
© Mark McGann 2022
Right Now
Running down the time
corporate faces usual crime
leave the people with nowhere to go
Air is full of grime
oil-man laughs and pays the fine
his wife is on the board at Monsanto
​
How can we save our democracy
if we let them act with impunity
watch from their gated communities
as all is destroyed by their policies
We have to break the with the tendency
to think of our lives as immune to these dealers in misery
and all of their corporate obscenities
Right Now
can’t you see the child now
standing with her arms out
dying of your wanton greed?
Hey You
that animal has rights too
they feel just like we do
they deserve to live and breathe
​
Politics on trial
populism spreads its bile
trumped up leaders deal in fear and hate
Fascists on the rise
refugees pay with their lives
fleeing homes destroyed by western states
How can we save our democracy
If we let them act with impunity
watch from their gated communities
as all is destroyed by their policies
We have to break the with the tendency
to think of our lives as immune to these dealers in misery
and all of their corporate obscenities
Right Now
can’t you see the child now
standing with her arms out
dying of your wanton greed
Hey you
animals have rights too
they feel just like we do
they deserve to live and breathe
© Mark McGann 2022
​
I Promise You This
There it goes
fear-driven life reduction
everything's burning on the pyre
Obsession grows
with each perceived infraction
everything caught up in the mire
All the emptiness so frightening for you
can in a moment fade away,
there’s a world beyond just is waiting for you,
It’s but an open heart away
Nobody knows
why we are here or livin’
I promise you this
Faced with the truth
man falls on mind’s construction
we all practice this
I promise you this
All the victories so vital for you
they never reap their promised gains
they just build their walls to hide this from you
till you accept we’re all the same
Nobody knows
why we are here or living
I promise you this
faced with this truth
man falls on mind’s construction
we all practice this
I promise you this
​
© Mark McGann 2022
Please Stay
Morning, may I picture you this way
gently breathing in the sunlight
dancing on the window pane
Starling, may I hear your rich refrain
when the storm clouds roll with thunder
on a dark December day
Time, please hold this moment I pray
I’ve found my soul in this day
please stay
Jasmine, may I hold your sweet bouquet
make it linger in the night time
when I’m taken far away
Ocean, I’ll return to you one day
when this tempest life is over
I will gladly float away
Time, please hold this moment I pray
I’ve found my soul in this day
please stay
​
© Mark McGann 2022
A Heartbeat Away
I know you are in heaven
I know you're only a heartbeat away
I know that you can hear me
many things I have wanted to say
how I understand you
more and more each day
your words are spoken through me in your way
and though you cannot be with me
you're never far away
you are in the air I breathe today
​
I know you are in heaven
I feel that you are watching me now
I wonder what you're thinking
I wonder if I still furrow your brow
though the words would fail you
the times you tried to say
just how much I meant to you those days
I will not forget the kindness
the debt I can't repay
I know you would have wanted it that way
​
I know you are in heaven
I know I must keep moving along
the path to greater meaning
where I'll find where I truly belong
But there's one persistent question
keeps me coming back to you
'Was there really nothing I could do?'
While I try to find the answer
in every phase that I pass through
you know it's strange
but I grow more and more like you
​
I know you are in heaven
I know you're only a heartbeat away
​
© Mark McGann 2022
​
You Are The Sun
Just dry your tears
as I walk you back through all our joyful years
see what we’ve become
all the things that we have done
because we’re still here
Just hold me tight
as we face another long and sleepless night
we will find our way
keep it close till break of day
because we’re still here
And when you're all alone
a long long way from home
and nothing's going right
you're givin' up the fight
You just call your name
and I'll be there again
to lead you back into the light
​
It still feels right
like the moment when our eyes met that first night
always meant to be
have we really known each other for eternity?
​
So if you're in the cold
frozen by the fold
don’t know what they're thinking of
ust given up on love
I’ll find the words to say to set you on your way
my inspiration from above
​
You are the sun
shining your light on everything that we've become
with your loving warm embrace
there ain't nothin' I can't face
that's still to come
you are the sun
​
So if you're in the dark
life's a question mark
all is futility in everything you see
I'm standing by your side
a rock to stem the tide
and break the chains to set you free
​
You are the sun
shining your light on everything that we've become
with your loving warm embrace
there ain't nothin' I can't face
that's still to come
you are the sun
​
© Mark McGann 2022
​
Perplexed Music
In the warm tender evening
all is calm in the bay
your scent lingers, still appealing
where your head near mine would lay
like the vision of a woman

senses far beyond the veil

you still haunt my every feeling
where your head near mine would lay
but this world just keeps on spinning
seasons come and go away

state of mind, both in and out of time
keep your memory safe today
I still feel you in the shadows,

warm wind blows across my face,
you’ve come once again to please me,
where your head near mine would lay...
but this world just keeps on spinning
seasons come and go away

state of mind, both in and out of
keep your memory safe today
​
So I'll sing in perplexed minors,

’til we’re once again complete,

and angels with heavenly kindness,
will smile from stars and whisper ’sweet!’
smiling down the stars, they'll whisper, 'sweet'.
​
© Mark McGann 2022
African Girl
If I could just freeze the living day
so all that is we remain this way
I could replay the heaven in your smile
this African girl remains untamed
released by the sprawling savage plain
her eyes as they feast are open like a child
give her some time, give her some time
african girl is feeding in the wild
​
give her some time, give her some time
african girl is breathing in the wild
​
exiled she conceals her native ways
yearns to be free each passing day
burns with desire to find a space to roam
it’s all that she needs this vast domain
its wild killing fields, its cleansing rain
if i could just freeze the here and now she’s home
​
give her some time, give her some time
african girl is feeding in the wild
​
give her some time, give her some time
african girl is breathing in the wild
​
and she knows that life’s worth living
and it comes with a price
but she’s feeling like a kid again
so give her some more time
give her some more time
give her some more time
African girl she’s feedin’ in the wild
© Mark McGann 2022
Turn This World Around
We surely hold within the soul
the wisdom earned
by every human story told
we can build this dream of ours
There must exist within our midst
collective will
to break the chains of mindlessness
we can build this dream of ours
We can make amends
you must believe it
It’s not what we have done
But how we leave it
the time to act is now...
Can we begin to look within
to ask ourselves
Is this the life we want to live?
we can build this dream of ours
Take a hand, together stand
witness love
guide you to the promised land
we can build this dream of ours
​
We can make amends
you must believe it
it's not what we have done
it's how we leave it
The time to act is now...
​
We can turn this world around
​
© Mark McGann 2022
Funk Transfusion
What can you do with the worn-out mind
When the beat starts rockin’ won’t be pacified
Jump to the beat, start to move in time,
Yeah, the funked-up rhythm will be justified.
​
It’s alright, alright
Funky feelin’ on my mind tonight
It’s alright, alright
Funk transfusion fills my soul tonight
​
My head starts shakin’, feet are primed,
My souls escapin’ from the daily grind
Rockin’ my boppin’ now in double time
That express train's rollin’ down the railroad line
​
It’s alright, alright
Funky feelin’ on my mind tonight
It’s alright, alright
Funk transfusion fills my soul tonight
Work all day just to pay for bread
Get home late, wife and kids in bed
Friday night is when I shake it out
Because the funk transfusions what it’s all about
When this old world starts a gettin’ me down
I just park all my troubles and I drive uptown
Dance to the music, makes my life complete,
From my head right down into my achin’ feet
​
It’s alright, alright
Funky feelin’ on my mind tonight
It’s alright, alright
Funk transfusion fills my soul tonight It’s alright, alright
​
© M McGann & J Barnett 2022
Shared Not Owned
who are you to judge without reason
on something new?
how do we flow with all seasons
if you won’t too?
you can’t stop the movement
of a world in fluctuation oh no
this is the sound of changes
in a world that is shared, not owned
how can we see one another
if we won't look?
can't you see we all need one another
please share the news
you can’t stop the movement
of a world in fluctuation oh no
this is the voice of changes
in a world that is shared, not owned
​
this is the sound of changes
the sound of changes
​
© M McGann & J Barnett 2022
Believe
without getting off of your cloud
think about the time and space
say these words out loud,
‘I’m being what i want to be,
I open up my heart and I believe!’
before you start off making plans
think about the universe
where it is you stand
are you being what you want to be?
open up your heart and just believe
​
believe in your own determination
your story’s long been written in the stars
believe in the cosmic validation
be lifted to a higher place
by who you really are
who you really are
before you go out of your door
think about your history
what has gone before
are you being what you want to be?
open up your heart and just believe
​
before getting out of your head
give yourself to ‘here and now’
look inside instead
are you being what you want to be?
open up your heart and just believe
​
© Mark McGann 2022
​
Thinking About You
I’m thinkin’ ‘bout you
thinkin’ ‘bout you
thinkin’ ‘bout you
Many times I've called your name through fallen tears
I'm never far from our years
Every time I sense your trace upon the breeze
It keeps alive your memory
I still hear you laughing
I see you in my dreams
I can’t stop…
Thinking about you.
I’m thinkin’ ‘bout you
thinkin’ ‘bout you
thinkin’ ‘bout you
Thinking how never gifted to receive
you never asked for nothin’
Thinkin how you gave me back a joie de vivre
You figured out my reason
I would give ten lifetimes
to dance with you again
I can’t stop…
Thinking about you
I’m thinkin’ ‘bout you
thinkin’ ‘bout you
thinkin’ ‘bout you
© Mark McGann 2022