Congratulations to all our November/December 2022 Lyric Contest winners. Read the winning lyrics for first through fourth place, below.
CLICK HERE to enter the November/December contest.
1st Place:
“Long Line of Cars”
By Mason Caviness and Emily Rose
Lyrics:
There’s a long line of cars
Rolling down main street
In barely a town down in New Mexico
Hazard lights flashing
Making a scene
A sober parade through the dust and the weeds
The radios are down
The reverence is cutting
Through the silence in ways that you can’t see
No one’s a stranger
All friends and family
Taking a drive down their own memories
We’re born and we grow and we live and we die
But what is success when you measure a life?
It ain’t status or money at the end of the road
It’s the long line of cars bringing you home
Then it’s back to the house
For a meal and some stories
A toast to the glories with beer and sweet tea
We’re all crying and laughing
Over brisket and beans
Food for the soul if you know what I mean
We’re born and we grow and we live and we die
But what is success when you measure a life?
It ain’t status or money at the end of the road
It’s the long line of cars bringing you home
There’s a long line of cars
Waving goodbye
All headed back to the places they’re from
They carry you with them
The old and the young
You live on in them, yeah the story’s not done
We’re born and we grow and we live and we die
But what is success when you measure a life?
It ain’t status or money at the end of the road
It’s the long line of cars bringing you home
It’s the long line of cars bringing you home
Since 1984, American Songwriter’s Lyric Contest has helped aspiring songwriters get noticed and have fun. Enter today before the deadline:
2nd Place:
“Cut from the Same Cloth”
By Greg Tardie
Lyrics:
Verse 1
As we filed into the church pews
organ music filled the air
There were flowers on the casket
as we bowed our heads in prayer
When the preacher gave his sermon
old memories filled my head
But I struggled to find comfort in
the verses that he read
Verse 2
Tears fell with every gunshot
of the honor guard’s salute
A folded flag passed to me
and his story told with truth
In the marble’s carved engraving
was the essence of his life
Now he rests in peace forever
with his one love by his side
Chorus
From the denim to the flannel
I’m a mirror of that man
Scuffed leather on our work boots
Tattered gloves hide weathered hands
You’ll find grease stains on our canvas coat
wool sweaters fed the moths
In the fabric of our family
We’re both cut from the same cloth
Bridge
Verse 3
Now I think of that man often
and his legacy in life
The traits that he passed to me
countless stories and advice
So I bow my head in sorrow
as I kneel before this cross
and say a prayer for that fine man
‘cause I was cut from the same cloth
Chorus
3rd Place:
“The Painter”
By Brandon Walker
Lyrics:
Everyone was born an empty canvas
We stretch with every pass around the sun
And words and ideas, that children hear
Are the paints that color in who we become
So take care with what you say
‘Cause it cannot be erased
Only covered up with more layers of paint
And take care with what you do
Children are always watching you
And the world will be in their hands one day
Now I’ve been known to say some things that I regret
I guess it’s just human nature,
But when my baby girl was born
God put a brush into my hand
Saying son, now you are the painter
So take care with what you say
‘Cause it cannot be erased
Only covered up with more layers of paint
And take care with what you do
Children are always watching you,
And the world will be in their hands one day
My love one day I will grow old
My colors will grow fainter
And I’ll pass the brush to you
As I’m supposed to do
And that’s the day you’ll become the painter
So take care with what you say
‘Cause it cannot be erased
Only covered up with more layers of paint
And be sure to brush with love
‘Cause there’s surely not enough
But maybe there will be one day
Maybe there will be one day
Since 1984, American Songwriter’s Lyric Contest has helped aspiring songwriters get noticed and have fun. Enter today before the deadline:
4th Place:
“Made to be Played”
By Emily Carter and John Carter
Lyrics:
I’m the guitar in a case
Aching at the string
Wasting in the dark
Cause I was born to sing
I’m the bass in the woodshed
Longing for the pocket
Gone dormant with the dream
They the door and locked it
Buy me, find me, trade me
Play my melody
I’m no good cast in the dark
I’m the music, set me free
I’m the fiddle gone quiet
Sleeping by my bow
When someone decided
Weren’t no more notes to sow
I’m the keyboard in storage
My lid closed down tight
Likely they forgot the how
Bars sound on Friday night
Buy me, find me, trade me
Play my melody
I’m no good sitting in the dark
I’m the music, set me free
I’m the drum without rhythm
No groove to be found
My sticks beat out silence
And don’t leave a sound
I’m the harp in a junk drawer
No draw, no blow, no reed
My blues hushed to nothing
My soul hungry for feed
Buy me, find me, trade me
Play my melody
I’m no good rusting in the dark
I’m the music, set me free
Honorable Mention:
“Bottom”
By Timothy Goss
“Nowhere Town”
By Jonathan Smith
“An Inconvenient Truth”
By Debbi Hayward
“Four Across the Seat”
By Craig Greshaw & Corey William Schneider
“So Rudely Interrupted”
By Bruce Madole
“I Fish”
By Brenda Cay, Kristin Smith & Skot Bradley
“I Carry A Picture”
By Mark Cariker
“Fire In Glass Jars”
By Aimee Hare
“All the Corn in Kentucky”
By Ashley Atwell
“Drinkin’ Bout You”
By Adam Tomkowski
“American Rust”
By David Taub
Since 1984, American Songwriter’s Lyric Contest has helped aspiring songwriters get noticed and have fun. Enter today before the deadline:
(Photo credit: Molly Lins)
