“THIS OLD HEART”
WRITTEN BY GARY BLACK
MESA, ARIZONA
Videos by American Songwriter
Sometimes I catch my reflection starin’ back at me
Wonderin’ who that old man in the mirror is that I see
It’s not the gray hair and whiskers that look out of place
But the sadness in the eyes and lines in the face
CHORUS
This old heart don’t beat the way it used to
This old heart still aches from missin’ you
And this old heart thinks that it’s still young
This old heart’s full of songs that need to be sung
More and more the things I see bring back memories
Before they made me dream of what could someday be
The things that never change are the ones I wish that would
And what used to make me cry now makes me wish I could
REPEAT CHORUS
To some I’ve been a stranger, to a few I’ve been a friend
There are some things I have done I would not do again
For every honky-tonk adventure bathed in neon lights
There have been nights in the desert under stars so bright
REPEAT CHORUS
sorry but i dont see why this won.. its okayyy
Its not o.k its really bad. A middle aged guy feeling sorry for himself. One line about a lost love and then nothing, some vague regrets about things I won’t do again and neon lights. The only thing I can see is that the judges are all middle aged guys and this resonated with them. That and they wouldn’t know a good lyric if it bit them on their butt. It doesn’t pass the who what where when why test in any way at all.
This reads like a first draft. The lyricist decided to forgoe a rewrite. This is not a great example of the craft of lyricwriting. It’s smeared on top as oppose to woven within.
Congratulations Gary…nice work my man.
OK, I’m an older person, and I think this is pretty good, and certainly better than many other “winners” I’ve seen here. Would I like it if I didn’t fit the demographic? I think so, and I really don’t need a song to be about something familiar to me to recognize quality of craft.
It probably could be better developed, but the chorus is quite good and I think it stands well enough as is.
i guess lyrics are subjective, but compare to a non-winner:
KISSES OF SYMPATHY
you got this cruel game
measuring love by inflicting pain
pretending to leave him just to see the hurt in his eyes
you couldn’t live in this town
not see he’s tired of being put down
you gave him the green light i don’t think he’ll be looking back
cause out on the street
kisses of sympathy are sweet
from so many girls feeling sorry
for how you treated him
if you had a dime
for every other time
you tried to take your words back
you couldn’t buy yourself out of lonely
all your friends say
we like you as much as we did yesterday
their words are still sounding sweet
while their smiles fade away
This is a piece of self-indulgent tripe. The best it can be called is, “Ho Hum”.
“This old heart’s full of songs that need to be sung”
Jesus Christ on a cracker! Give me fracking break!
Put aside the fact that the first verse is a lame Waylon Jennings rip-off, the rest of it is full of tired rhymes, weak imagery, uneven metre, and unnatural language rhythm. The chorus has damn little relevance to the verses, and as for an overall theme, it’s all over the place.
“There are some things I have done I would not do again”
What? Like write junk like this?
First place, people. First place. Nothing more needs to be said.
Spend your entry dollars on other, better contests. You’re just throwing it down the toilet here.