3rd Place | “Unfinished Song”

3rd Place
“Unfinished Song”
Mike Blottenberger
Hanover, Pennsylvania

Videos by American Songwriter

Sometimes it gets a little crowded
Livin’ in this small town
Where the sidewalks and my dreams
Can easily track me down

Some nights I can actually see
The stars above the stars
As I sit on my doorstep
Strumming this second-hand guitar

(Chorus)
(Now/’Cause) I can’t tell you how many times
I find myself writing rhymes
Where they don’t really belong
But I’m so thankful my life is still
An unfinished song

Today I heard the preacher say,
“Don’t do anything to excess.”
Yet I spend hours missing her smile
And if I had to confess

Maybe what I want I shouldn’t have
Grabbin’ at things way too fast
Like some raging and untamed fire
That just wasn’t meant to last

(Repeat chorus)

(Bridge)
Oh why don’t I just let the composer upstairs
Do what He does best
And give my ego a much needed rest

(Repeat chorus)

(Tag)
Yes, I thank God my life is still
An unfinished song.

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4th Place | “Some Kinda Sexy”

3rd Place | “Nothing Gold”

3rd Place
“Nothing Gold”
Alan MacIsaac
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Videos by American Songwriter

He held the world in the palm of his hand
A one-way ticket to the promised land
He said ‘I’m sorry baby, I hope you understand
Some things work out this way
Wasn’t in my plans’

Hung out to dry, just south of Jolene
There were no last-minute comebacks, no Cinderella scenes
Just one young drifter, caught in between
The man he thought he was
The man he might have been

Nothing gold can stay, forever
Why do we push it so damn far?
If nothing can gold can stay forever
Why do we take it, so damn hard?

If nothing gold can last you a lifetime
Holding it close, is the price that we pay
I know there’s no real answer to my questions,
If nothing gold can stay

Just 21, heart on her sleeve
She didn’t love her man, but she could never leave
Her Mama told her ‘My angel, you stick to the end’
She dreams of runnin’ away and starting over again

Nothing gold can stay, forever
Why do we push it so damn far?
If nothing can gold can stay forever
Why do we take it, so damn hard?

If nothing gold can last you a lifetime
Holding it close, is the price that we pay
I know there’s no real answer to my questions,
If nothing gold can stay

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2nd Place | “Story Of A Runner”

4th Place | “Tennessee”