Lyric Contest Winners: November/December 2017

Congratulations to our November/December 2017 Lyric Contest winners listed below. Click here to enter the January/February 2018 Lyric Contest.

1st Place
“Old Habits”
Eryn Michel
Gaithersburg, Maryland

Old habits don’t die
They just find new life
In that church down the street
Or in your neighbor’s wife
In the scars that you earn
In the bridges you burn
Old habits, they never die
Old habits, they never die

The weight of your dreams
And the weight of your vices
Both feel the same when you’re trying to fly
Between our distractions and all our devices
It’s a wonder we look to the sky
‘Cause old habits, they never die

Old habits don’t die
They’re like an old friend
Who stayed out their welcome
But you can’t put an end
To the truth that they tell
To the lies that they sell
Old habits, no, they just won’t die
Old habits, they never die

The weight of your dreams
And the weight of your vices
Both feel the same when you’re trying to fly
Between all our screams and our sacrifices
What a wonder we ever try
‘Cause old habits, they never die

Tonight, your weakness waits

With a welcome embrace,
Tomorrow, you’ll find the cure
So you tuck yourself in
‘Til you can’t feel the spin
Of the earth in your chest anymore

Old habits don’t die
They don’t even sleep
They fill up your lungs
Like the air that you breathe
Like the glass that you fill
You fight it, but still
Old habits, they never die
Old habits, they never die

2nd Place
“You Are The Amazing One”
Doug Mahard
Bethlehem, Connecticut

Uninspired, unexpanded.
All ideas seem second handed.
Unrelenting, can’t get started.
Back to beauty once regarded.

Who’s writing your book?
Who’s singing your song?
Who’s painting your masterpiece?
You are the sun.
You are the stars.
You are the amazing one.

Like the seeds in the wind,

An endless flow of inspiration.
One takes hold in your soul
Thoughts are water, let em flow.

Start writing your book.
Start singing your song.
Start painting your masterpiece

You are the sun.
You are the stars.
You are the amazing one.

Every spark pushes out a little farther.
Hold the feeling and with it run.
Don’t ever think what you got don’t matter.
Cause you are the amazing one.

The world is like a canvas
Paint your feet and dance.
Untethered, uninhibited,
When I see you I’m held riveted.

I’m reading your book.
I’m hearing your song.
I’m viewing your masterpiece

You are the sun.
You are the stars.
You are the amazing one

3rd Place
“God Have Mercy On The Immigrant”
Mike Remmes
Lemon Grove, California

God Have Mercy On The Immigrant
There’s a river
That borders our land
It carries the earth
Of two different lands

It’s there to stare upon
After a hard working day
With calloused hands
And eyes that our glazed

God have mercy on the Immigrant
America is heaven sent
I don’t believe in bricks and mortar
Heaven has no borders
God have mercy on the immigrant

There’s a river
That borders our land

It’s crossed by families
Of a different lands

It washes away poverty
And chains of the downtrodden
Like the footprints
On the river’s bottom

God have mercy on the immigrant
America is heaven sent
I don’t believe in bricks and mortar
Heaven has no borders
God have mercy on the immigrant

There’s a river
That borders our land
It carries the dreams
Of every woman and man

To have no mercy
You create a ridge
To cross a river
You build a bridge

God have mercy on the immigrant
America is heaven sent
I don’t believe in bricks and mortar
Heaven has no borders
God have mercy on the immigrant

4th Place
“Survivor’s Guilt”
Patrice Taddonio
West Roxbury, Massachusetts

What kind of statement did you think you would make
When you showed up, bloodshot eyes and two hours late
With your father’s way of bringing old grudges along
And your mother’s way of maintaining that nothing was wrong?

At 10, you were sure you’d be different; 15, you raised hell and the stakes.
Now, you’re making and living inside of your parents’ mistakes.
You thought growing up would solve all the problems you’d seen
But the passing years just left you tired and mean.
At 20, you’d slam on the brakes for a bird in the road.
Now you say if he won’t fly away, he’ll just get what he’s owed.

Seems like some people get springboards, while others inherit a past
That promises if something’s good, then it’s not gonna last.

I was last in town for a funeral about four years back.
The Lutheran church was half-full of half-strangers in black.
Afterwards I passed your house, heading out to Route 8.
I didn’t slow down till I’d crossed right out of the state.

Why should it be me with the blind, dumb, good luck to be born with a fairly clean slate
While you’re frozen in amber, inside someone else’s mistakes?
I’m not saying you’re some tragic figure.
I’m not saying I saved you a dance.
I’m just saying you can’t make it out if you don’t get a chance.

They say some bees live whole lives without leaving their hive.
I’ve got survivor’s guilt, though we’re both still alive.