Songs and Poems
What sets the songs apart from the poems is that they are actually set
to music. Someday, when I get the time, I expect to have them linked to
MP3 files so that you can download and listen. However, that probably
means hiring musicians and a recording studio, so don't expect it to
happen too soon.
Songs
All works below Copyright © 2001 Ace Starry, all rights
reserved.
I wrote this song when I was living in Houston, Texas. When I
discovered that I really didn't mind two-steppin, even though I'd grown
up a fan of rock and roll. This song looks at it the other way. A
country fan that discovers he's a ...
Rock & Roll Cowboy
We were going round in circles
On and off the floor
I liked that belly rubbin,
But I was lookin for somthin' more.
A case of Lonestar Longnecks, finally got her to the door,
But a kiss on the cheek and a handshake, kinda made me sore.
I drove my four wheel drive through the flower bed when I left from Bettysue's.
I headed back to Johnny B's I didn't know what else to do.
Turned Waylon on on the radio and reached for a pinch of chew.
When all the sudden long side of the road ... she looked like a dream come true.
She was a bleached blond bomb in a mini skirt, that made me stop the truck.
As she bounced on up in the rear view mirror, I thought I'll bet she cost a pretty buck.
She said her name was Cinthia, I said just call me Chuck.
I said "climb inside and I'll give you a ride for a little change of luck.
Well the next thing I knew I was at this little bar.
Gave a dollar to the valet, left my hat inside the car.
She grabbed me by the buckle and dragged me up to the door.
When I looked inside, it was like I'd never seen before.
There were people flaylin', bodies swayin', hands a wavin' in the air.
A bunch of drunk chicks and guys with orange and green hair.
But there was only one thing that I was surprised to see.
That was just when, this feelin' came over me.
I'm a rockin' roll cowboy...
Don't know what to do.
I'm a rockin' roll cowboy...
Don't know what to do.
One foot wears a boot.
The other tennis shoe.
Well, my Walkman won't fit up under my hat.
I traded in my horse and got a stray cat.
Fast dancin' presents a problem too.
I fell on my !@#!$ and broke my can of chew.
I'm a rockin' roll cowboy...
Don't know what to do.
I'm a rockin' roll cowboy...
Don't know what to do.
One foot wears a boot.
The other tennis shoe.
Hello Cynthia ... Goodbye Betty Sue.
This next song, I wrote to use to propose to my wife, Kristin. The
legend was all of my own making but it tells a story about our meeting
in Belize. The lines came from our actual events, building sandcastles,
drinking an dancing. etc. I also sang it at our wedding and there wasn't
a dry eye in the house.
The Legend of the Reef
Off the coast of Belize where the sky kisses the seas
they say that there's a magic in the tropical island breeze.
The islanders tell a tale about two lovers who set sail
There was no wind to move them but their love moved like a gale.
But the winds, they became envious, enraged with jealousy.
For they had never seen a love deep as the Caribbean Sea.
And as the stars came out, well a storm came up
and they crashed into the reef.
The winds they laughed.
But the stars did grieve.
Off the coast of Belize, where the sky kisses the seas,
If you see stars fall and you make a wish they say that it's meant to be.
Two stars fell from the sky just like tear drops from their eyes,
As the dying lovers made a wish, that their love would never die.
That's when the magic happened, on the Caribbean Sea.
The gods heard the winds laughing and the wish that was meant to be.
So the gods rushed in and they granted them
this wish that was meant to be.
He became the sky.
She became the sea.
Off the coast of Belize where the sky kisses the seas,
That's where I felt the magic of the tropical island breeze.
I was willing to take a chance. First we'd drink and then we'd dance.
It wasn't meant to be more than just a vacation romance.
But there was something happening, more than this to me
I began to feel the passion of a Caribbean Sea.
And when I held your hand on the warm white sand,
we made a castle by the sea.
I wondered to myself,
if it was meant to be.
Off the coast of Belize, where the sky kisses the seas,
if you see stars fall and you make a wish they say that it's meant to be.
Two stars fell from the sky as I stole a kiss that night
The jealous winds were blowing as we held each other tight.
That's when the magic happened, the magic of the reef
I understood the passion of the wish that was meant to be.
And when I saw your eyes under those starry skies
of the Caribbean Sea
I made a wish,
that was meant to be.
Now the island is behind us but my wish is still with me.
I still recall that starry night and the legend of the reef.
I look into your eyes. I see those starry skies
of a Caribbean Sea.
Make my wish come true,
say you'll marry me.
This is a song that I wrote with John Denver in mind as the artist. I
looked all over to find the original, but I couldn't find it, so I had
to just recall it from memory. That took a while and I am missing a
verse. I wrote this back in 1976 (when I was in high school.) Since I
grew up in Idaho, we spent a few summers back packing in the wilderness
area. I loved John Denvers songs and thought I'd write one and send it
to him. I never did send it, I had very little faith in my songwriting
abilitiies. The wilderness country is a beautiful place and needs to be
preserved so our children's children can invision what it was like to be
a ...
Mountain Man
If you ask them my name
they'll tell you I'm insane,
just for livin' all alone
in my Rocky Mountain home,
away from all the things that you call life.
Television, telephone, cars they're all unknown.
Have you ever watched a dream or listened to a stream?
Have you ever really walked the beat of life?
Birds singing you can hear,
Flowers blooming here and there,
Lush green trees everywhere,
Piney smell fills the air.
These are all the things that I call life.
How can you miss someone when there's no one to miss?
I'm lying in the sweet caress of Mother Nature's kiss.
She feeds me and protects me has from day to day.
The reason that I love her; there ain't no other way.
One day I walked to town,
damn near got run down.
Just for standing on my feet,
in the middle of your street.
Part of all the things that you call life.
They laughed at all my clothes,
buckskin hat and shoes.
Just for being something new,
I was well abused.
Part of all the things that you call life.
How can you miss someone when there's no one to miss?
I'm lying in the sweet caress of Mother Nature's kiss.
She feeds me and protects me has from day to day.
The reason that I love her; there ain't no other way.
Now I hear sounds of machines
making waste of all my dreams
tearing down the trees
and building factories.
Birds aren't singing anywhere
Flowers dying everywhere.
The piney smell is gone
and smoke just lingers on.
How can you miss someone when there's no one to miss?
I'm dying with the last caress of Mother Nature's kiss.
She feeds me and protects me has from day to day.
The reason that I loved her; there was no other way.
I was such a moony kid. When I was about 18 or 19, I wrote this song
about Mary Ann Anderson, a girl who just wasn't meant to be mine. Every
summer I had to leave Idaho and spend it with my father, working in
Texas. When I left that particular summer, I knew I was saying goodbye
forever. She was waiting for a Mormon missionary and would marry him
when he returned. It really did break my heart whenever I went to the
shoebox and found myself ...
Lookin' Over Love Letters
I opened up a drawer on my dresser,
found a box with your name on the side.
Though the box was filled with memories and love letters
they left me to an emptiness inside.
I remembered the last words I spoke as your lover,
"See you later," was simply all I said.
But for me the simple words were just a cover.
My eyes were holding back the tears and red.
"Hold me closer, don't let the feelings slip away.
Look at me," but the tears got in the way.
"Kiss me please," our lips were shaking, tears like rain
our hearts were breaking.
"And remember it, for it may be long before our lips touch again."
You'll often find locks on a treasure.
And a treasure only opens with a key.
But the lock he held made prisoners of our pleasure,
and our passion felt would never find us free.
Lookin' over love letters.
I remember a time when things were better.
Now my eyes are gettin' redder,
Lookin' over love letters.
Seems so sad the way things are between us,
Things just aren't the way they ought to be.
Old times are locked in those lettters
and reading them just doesn't set them free.
Lookin' over love letters.
I remember a time when things were better.
Now my eyes are getting redder.
Lookin' over love letters.
This was a song that I wrote as a tune to sing around a camp fire. The
trick was to teach the audience to sing along in different parts. If I
ever get a recording of it, I'm sure you'd like it. It is sung in a way
that it becomes really a positive uplifting tune, even though the lyrics
seem a downer. Most of my friends really like this song.
Poems
All works below Copyright © 2001, Ace Starry, all rights
reserved.
Here are a few poems, I've written over the years. I don't claim to be
a poet, however this should be a children's book
The One Hand Clap
I traveled from Bareem Clear to Yarap
in search of the sound of the one-handed clap.
I searched very high in the mountains for that,
but never did I find the one hand clap.
I asked the wild man and he said to me,
"It sounds like the stinger on teh end of a bee."
This which he said made no sense to me,
for I had seen the stinger on the end of a bee.
I asked the poor man from Galapoe.
He laughed aloud and told me to go.
He said, "Search for the high and search for the wise.
For the sound of the one hand clap is a prize."
I wandered wondering where I'd find the wise.
If he was so wise, he'd be in disguise.
I asked kings and princes which way to go,
But none knew what I wanted to know.
I found the wise man on a cliff by a cloud.
He said that the clap would no doubt be loud.
He said that the clap of one hand to me
is probably a lot like the sound of a tree.
I didn't know at all what he'd meant,
so I made my way to the land of Kent.
I searched and wandered thoughout the land.
Finally I found the man with one hand.
He said that the clap was as the stinger of a bee
and was a prize as big as a tree.
He said the sound was not there to hear
unless you listen closely without your ear.
Then I stopped and thought of what he'd said to me.
The sound is a sound that you can see.
I should have known from the very start.
It's the sound of an open heart.
When I was in high school I was in track. This poem discribes the
feeling I got at the moment before the starting gun went off.
Runners Take Your Mark
Endless seconds on the clock ticked by
as slow motion sprinters raced through my mind.
Each one his very hardest would try
to exert all forces through the end of the line.
The gun went up in the starters hand.
Visions of the victory that I would find,
of being the fastest in the land.
All this sped through my mind.
The word "set" rang through the air,
and six streamlined bodies rose slowly up.
There was but one question there,
"Who would drink from the silver cup?"
The six stood motionless not taking a breath
Through the thunderous silence their ears listened; there
the audience stood shouting silence like death.
All awaiting the sound of a gun in the air.