Congratulations to all our July/August 2021 Lyric Contest winners! CLICK HERE to enter the September/October contest, deadline July 15 @ 11:59 PM CST.
1st place “Anymore” (Read Q&A) By Chelsea McWilliams & Tim Allard Burlington, ON (CAN) I don’t want to dream anymore See you standing in the door Feel your shadow by my bed Hear your voice inside my head So I’m not going to dream anymore I don’t want to drive anymore Hear your song play in my car Pass some place we used to go See the friends I used to know So I’m not going to drive anymore No more fighting, no more feeling Try to reason with myself Another night, another demon Another bottle off the shelf Forget the life that you and I used to live before And be someone who isn’t going to love you anymore I don’t want to drink anymore Walk into the liquor store See you standing in the line I’ll give up whisky, give up wine No I’m not going to drink anymore No more fighting, no more feeling Try to reason with myself Another night, another demon Another bottle off the shelf Forget the life that you and I used to live before And be someone who isn’t going to love you anymore
Since 1984, American Songwriter’s Lyric Contest has helped aspiring songwriters get noticed and have fun. Enter today before the deadline:
2nd Place “Corpus Christi” By Kevin Myers Liberty Hill, TX Verse 1: It’s raining down in Corpus And Christy’s in the shade Underneath the looming shadow The harbor bridge has made The feeling of the moment Was like the clouds It’s raining down in Corpus The sky is coming down Verse 2: It’s raining down in Corpus Christy’s all alone A long way from Crystal City She ran away from home It was on her 16th birthday She got a brand new car It’s raining down in Corpus How’d she ever get this far Verse 3: It’s raining down in Corpus And 7 days have passed Since she sped out of the driveway With her hormones on the gas She didn’t see her little brother Until it was far too late Storm clouds began to form So she headed for the rain Bridge: Watch yourself when you’re feeling down When you go to low coming back around Feels like a marathon And it’s hard to run Verse 4: When it’s raining down in Corpus The city’s all abuzz A newsman’s taking pictures Telling lies of who she was She took a walk that misty morning On the busy harbor bridge And it was raining so inside her She stepped off of the ledge Verse 5: It’s raining down in Corpus And Christy’s in the shade Underneath the looming shadow The harbor bridge has made The feeling of the moment Was like the clouds It’s raining down in Corpus The sky is coming down 3rd Place “JOHNNY WITHOUT JUNE” By Maxine Wallace Truro, NS (CAN) I feel the sunrise on my eyes The lightness of the morning air I tell myself the same old lies And picture you still lying there I feel the softness of your skin So beautiful it steals my breath The hunger when you pulled me in As real as if you never left CHORUS I'm the earth without the sun A bullet with no gun I'm a song without a tune A lone wolf howling at the moon I’m Johnny without June I feel the darkness closing in The world around me shutting down Night falling with familiar sin The bottle's all that calls me now The whiskey whispers tempting lies But I know how it always goes False promises to take me high Flying first, then sinking low CHORUS I'm a sailor lost at sea Finding how deep blue can be I'm a song without a tune A lone wolf howling at the moon I'm Johnny without June BRIDGE I’d give anything to turn back time Anything to walk the line CHORUS Nothing's real but memory Without you there is no me I'm a song without a tune A lone wolf howling at the moon I'm Johnny without June 4th Place “WHO KNEW LOVE COULD SOUND LIKE THIS” By Zach Henard, Hal ODell (entrant), Greg Wilson Nashville, TN V1 SHE WAS THE GIGGLE IN THE BACK OF HIS 9TH GRADE HISTORY CLASSROOM THE OFF-KEY SINGING BESIDE HIM IN HIS RUSTY JEEP THAT FALL ASLEEP ON THE COUCH SNORE, SHE SWORE NEVER HAPPENED SHE WAS THAT SCREAM YES ‘FORE HE COULD GET DOWN ON ONE KNEE WHO KNEW LOVE COULD SOUND LIKE THIS CH EVERYBODY KNOWS LOVE SOUNDS LIKE JUNE WEDDING BELLS IT’S SINATRA PLAYING SOFTLY IN THE DARK BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CRACKLING OF A BONFIRE IN OCTOBER OR THE BEATING OF A NEWBORN BABY’S HEART OR HIS NAME ROLLING SOFTLY OFF HER LIPS WHO KNEW LOVE, WHO KNEW LOVE COULD SOUND LIKE THIS V2 IT WAS NEVER QUIET IN THAT HOUSE OFF OF MAIN STREET DOGS AND CHILDREN, TEARS AND LAUGHTER SHOOK THE WALLS CRICKETS SANG AS THEY SPENT EVENINGS ON THAT PORCH SWING HOLDING HANDS NOT SAYING ANYTHING AT ALL WHO KNEW LOVE COULD SOUND LIKE THIS CH BRIDGE NOW HE’S SITTING IN A COLD CHAIR AT THE HOSPITAL ALWAYS THOUGHT HE’D BE THE FIRST TO LEAVE HE HOLDS HER HAND AND LISTENS TO HER BREATHE LAST CHORUS EVERYBODY KNOWS LOVE SOUNDS LIKE JUNE WEDDING BELLS IT’S SINATRA PLAYING SOFTLY IN THE DARK BUT WHAT ABOUT THE MUSIC OF A LIFETIME LIVED TOGETHER OR THE BEATING OF A LONELY BROKEN HEART OR HIS NAME ROLLING SOFTLY OFF HER LIPS WHAT HE'D GIVE TO HEAR HIS NAME ON HER LIPS WHO KNEW LOVE, WHO KNEW LOVE COULD SOUND LIKE THIS Honorable Mention “Ptarmigan Lake” By Christopher O'Brien Saint Paul, MN “You Really Don’t Know” Russell Lindway Seven Hills, OH “Me and Drinkin’” By Fred LeBaron Downer’s Grove, IL “Stardust and Clay” By Roger Blake Corry, PA “Bird’s Eye View” By Eley Buchanan Beckville, TX “Loneliness” By Nancy Haase Antioch, TN “I’ve Been on That Bridge” By Shelly Riff and Jerry Silverstein (entrant) Calverton, NY “Johnny’s Cash” By Brooke Brown Orange Beach, AL “He Made You For Me” By Robert Salas Austin, TX “The Garden at Granddad’s House” By Rhubert Blake Roberson Dunlap, TN
